Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah Says It Suspends Attacks on US Forces 

Kataib Hezbollah fighters are seen at the site of an American strike in Hillah, Iraq in December 2023. (Reuters)
Kataib Hezbollah fighters are seen at the site of an American strike in Hillah, Iraq in December 2023. (Reuters)
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Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah Says It Suspends Attacks on US Forces 

Kataib Hezbollah fighters are seen at the site of an American strike in Hillah, Iraq in December 2023. (Reuters)
Kataib Hezbollah fighters are seen at the site of an American strike in Hillah, Iraq in December 2023. (Reuters)

Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group Kataib Hezbollah announced on Tuesday the suspension of all its military operations against US troops in the region, in a decision aimed at preventing "embarrassment" of the Iraqi government, the group said.

"As we announce the suspension of military and security operations against the occupation forces - in order to prevent embarrassment of the Iraqi government - we will continue to defend our people in Gaza in other ways," Kataib Hezbollah Secretary-General Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi said in a statement.

Three US troops were killed in a drone attack near the Jordan-Syria border on Sunday that the Pentagon said bore the "footprints" of Kataib Hezbollah, though a final assessment had not yet been made.

A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment on the group's statement, adding: "Actions speak louder than words."

The US has vowed to respond to the attack.

Iran-aligned groups, known collectively as the "Axis of Resistance", have been waging attacks against Israeli and US targets from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria, since their Palestinian ally Hamas and Israel went to war on Oct. 7.

Kataib Hezbollah is the most powerful faction in the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, an umbrella group of hardline Shiite armed factions that have claimed more than 150 attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria since the Gaza war began.

The US has responded with deadly strikes in a cycle of escalating violence that Iraqi officials said threatened to undo progress towards stabilizing the country after decades of conflict.

Kataib Hezbollah's decision followed days of intensive efforts by Iraq's prime minister to prevent a new escalation after the Jordan attack, his foreign affairs adviser Farhad Alaadin said.

"Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani has been hard at work in the past few days, engaging with all relevant parties inside and outside Iraq," Alaadin said in an interview.

"All sides need to support the efforts of the Prime Minister to prevent any possible escalation," he added.

In its statement, Kataib Hezbollah also said there were disagreements with allies over its attacks, singling out Iran.

It said counterparts in the Axis of Resistance "often object to the pressure and escalation against the American occupation forces in Iraq and Syria," the statement said.

Iran has denied involvement in attacks by Iraqi groups.

Founded in the aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, Kataib Hezbollah is one of the elite Iraqi armed factions closest to Iran.

Iraq's government is backed by parties and armed groups close to Iran, though not directly by the hardline groups that have been firing on US forces, Western and Iraqi officials say.

Baghdad has condemned the attacks while also saying regional escalation would continue as long as the Gaza war went on.



Rescuers Say Israeli Strike Killed at Least 12 People in South Gaza 

Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike on a tent sheltering displaced people at the Gaza seaport, in Gaza City, June 4, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike on a tent sheltering displaced people at the Gaza seaport, in Gaza City, June 4, 2025. (Reuters)
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Rescuers Say Israeli Strike Killed at Least 12 People in South Gaza 

Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike on a tent sheltering displaced people at the Gaza seaport, in Gaza City, June 4, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike on a tent sheltering displaced people at the Gaza seaport, in Gaza City, June 4, 2025. (Reuters)

The civil defense agency in Gaza said an Israeli strike on a tent housing displaced Palestinians near the southern city of Khan Younis on Wednesday killed at least 12 people.  

"At least 12 people were killed, including several children and women, in a strike by an Israeli drone this morning on a tent for displaced persons" near Khan Younis, the agency's spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP, adding that four more people had been killed in other strikes.  

The Israeli army did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.  

Since a truce collapsed in March, Israel has intensified its operations to destroy Hamas, the Palestinian group whose October 7, 2023 attack triggered the war in Gaza. 

Hamas's unprecedented attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. 

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 4,240 people have been killed in the territory since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 54,510, mostly civilians.