Drones Target Iraq’s Ain Al-Asad Airbase, No Casualties, Say Military Sources

An Iraqi military official said defense systems downed one drone near the base perimeter. (AFP)
An Iraqi military official said defense systems downed one drone near the base perimeter. (AFP)
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Drones Target Iraq’s Ain Al-Asad Airbase, No Casualties, Say Military Sources

An Iraqi military official said defense systems downed one drone near the base perimeter. (AFP)
An Iraqi military official said defense systems downed one drone near the base perimeter. (AFP)

Two armed drones on Tuesday targeted Iraq's Ain al-Asad airbase, which hosts US forces and other international forces in western Iraq, two Iraqi military sources told Reuters.

It was the second attack against US forces in Iraq since early February when Iranian-backed groups in Iraq stopped their attacks against US troops.

In April, two drones were shot down near Ain al-Asad base, according to a US official.

No casualties have been reported, said the sources.

An Iraqi military official said defense systems downed one drone near the base perimeter.

Iraqi army patrols stepped up patrolling the areas around the base to prevent possible further attacks, said an Iraqi army official.

The attack came less than a week before an expected visit by a high-level Iraqi military delegation to Washington to continue talks on ending the US-led military coalition in the country.

Washington and Baghdad in January initiated talks to reassess the draw-down of the US-led coalition in Iraq, formed in 2014 to help fight the ISIS group that overran large parts of the country.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a projectile appears to have targeted the base, but without causing casualties.



94 Palestinians Killed in Gaza, Including 45 People Waiting for Aid

A Palestinian inspects the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an overnight Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
A Palestinian inspects the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an overnight Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
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94 Palestinians Killed in Gaza, Including 45 People Waiting for Aid

A Palestinian inspects the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an overnight Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
A Palestinian inspects the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an overnight Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Airstrikes and shootings killed 94 Palestinians in Gaza overnight, including 45 while attempting to get much-needed humanitarian aid, hospitals and the Health Ministry said Thursday.

Israel’s military did not have immediate comment on the strikes, The Associated Press reported.

Five people were killed while outside sites associated with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the newly created, secretive American organization backed by Israel to feed the Gaza Strip’s population, while 40 others were killed waiting for aid trucks in other locations across the Gaza Strip.

Dozens of people were killed in airstrikes that pounded the Strip Wednesday night and Thursday morning, including 15 people killed in strikes that hit tents in the sprawling Muwasi zone, where many displaced Palestinians are sheltering, and a strike on a school in Gaza City sheltering displaced people.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza has passed 57,000, including 223 missing people who have been declared dead. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its death count but says that more than half of the dead are women and children.

The deaths come as Israel and Hamas inch closer to a possible ceasefire that would end the 21-month war.

Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. But Hamas’ response, which emphasized its demand that the war end, raised questions about whether the latest offer could materialize into an actual pause in fighting.

The Israeli military blames Hamas for the civilian casualties because it operates from populated areas. The military said it targeted Hamas members and rocket launchers in northern Gaza that launched rockets towards Israel on Wednesday.

The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.

The war has left the coastal Palestinian territory in ruins, with much of the urban landscape flattened in the fighting. More than 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has been displaced, often multiple times. And the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, leaving hundreds of thousands of people hungry.