US strikes Iran-linked targets in Syria

US weapons are being rushed to the region to protect troops amid fears that the conflict between Israel and Hamas could widen. Washington has pressed Israel to delay its expected ground incursion into Gaza until American troops are sufficiently supplied.

In a statement, Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, said: “[The] precision self-defence strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17.”

At the UN, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, warned the US about its support for Israel. “I say frankly to the American statesmen and military forces who are now managing the genocide in Palestine, that we do not welcome the expansion and scope of the war in the region,” he said.

“But I warn if the genocide in Gaza continues, they will not be spared from this fire.”

Hundreds of UK-based lawyers have sent an open letter to Rishi Sunak warning he must “act urgently” against war crimes committed in Gaza (Joshua Thurston writes).

The letter from 260 lawyers, addressed to the prime minister along with James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, and Grant Shapps, the defence secretary, called upon the government to halt arms sales to Israel in case the weapons are used in severe violations of international humanitarian law.

“The starvation of a civilian population as a method of warfare, including wilfully impeding adequate relief supplies, as Israel is doing in Gaza, is strictly prohibited under customary international law… and constitutes a war crime,” said the letter, signed by 36 Kings Counsel, 49 partners and directors of law firms and 16 law professors.

It added: “Hamas’s war crimes cannot be justified by reference to prior war crimes by Israel; neither do they justify further such crimes by Israel in its response, which must comply with international law.”

The letter asked the government to comply with the UK’s legal obligations to “exert its influence to press for a ceasefire to allow aid into Gaza”.

The Gaza health ministry, run by Hamas, has issued a document listing 6,747 Palestinians they say have been killed in Israeli strikes (Joshua Thurston writes).

The 212-page list gives the names, ages, sex and identity card numbers of each victim and comes after President Biden cast doubt on the death toll in the territory, which Hamas has ruled since 2007.

The document adds that 281 bodies had not yet been identified, bringing the death tollto 7,028.

A further 1,600 people, including 900 children, are said to be missing and may be under rubble, according to the UN, citing local authorities.

Biden said on Wednesday that he had “no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using” for the death toll in Gaza.

A missile struck an Egyptian resort town on its border with Israel’s Red Sea port of Eilat early on Friday, according to Al Qahera News (Joshua Thurston writes).

Launched as part of the fighting between Hamas militants and Israel, the missile hit a medical centre in Taba — an ambulance facility and a residential building for the administration — injuring at least six people, the Egyptian news program reported. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Hamas said on Wednesday that it had targeted Eilat with a missile, which the Israeli military said had hit an outlying area. Israel’s military said only that it was aware of a security incident outside its borders.

Taba is 135 miles from the Gaza Strip and a popular tourist town. If confirmed as a Hamas rocket, the incident would be their longest-range attack since the Gaza conflict began on October 7.

Egypt’s proximity to the front line has caused it to become caught up in the conflict. On October 22, several Egyptian border guards were injured by fragments from a shell fired by an Israeli tank. Israel apologised for the incident.

The UN general assembly will vote today on a draft resolution put forward by Jordan calling for an immediate ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip.

The text calls on all parties to comply with the “protection of civilians”.

Speaking at a session of the assembly on behalf of 22 Arab countries, Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s foreign minister, charged Israel with “making Gaza a perpetual hell on Earth”.

He said: “The trauma will haunt generations to come. The right to self-defence is not a license to kill with impunity. Collective punishment is not self-defence, it is a war crime.”

The draft resolution did not mention the Hamas attack on October 7 that sparked the war.

Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, said: “The drafters of the resolution claim to be concerned about peace. Yet the depraved murderers who initiated this war are not even mentioned in the resolution. The only place this resolution belongs is in the dustbin of history.”

Iran is holding two days of army drills to increase its “level of deterrence against potential threats” and the “capabilities and battle readiness of the ground forces,” according to the country’s state TV (Abbie Cheeseman writes).

According to Al Mayadeen, a Hezbollah-affiliated news channel, the “large scale” drills are being held near Isfahan in central Iran.

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The drills “will encompass a wide range of military units, including armoured, artillery, missile, airborne, unmanned, and other divisions utilising various equipment employed by the nation’s army,” Mayadeen said.

Iran has criticised Washington for sending more troops to the Middle East as fears grow that the Israel-Hamas war will escalate into a regional conflict.

The Israeli army said its ground forces carried out another “targeted raid” in Gaza overnight as it prepares for a land invasion (Joshua Thurston writes).

Backed by fighter jets and drones, troops and armoured vehicles “identified and struck numerous terror targets, including anti-tank missile launch sites, military command and control centres, as well as Hamas terrorists,” an army statement said this morning.

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The military said its troops “exited the area at the end of the activity”.

The army conducted a similar ground operation using tanks and infantry on Wednesday night in the northern part of the Palestinian territory.

EU leaders have called for “humanitarian corridors and pauses” in Israel’s shelling of Gaza (Joshua Thurston writes).

Late last night, the bloc demanded “continued, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need through all necessary measures including humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs”.

A total of 74 lorries loaded with food, water and medicine have been permitted to enter the besieged territory since the conflict began.

Before the war, about 500 lorries a day entered Gaza, home to 2.4 million people, according to the United Nations.

Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas, says that airstrikes have killed more than 7,000 people, mostly civilians.

Israel has cut power, water and supplies of food, and insists that fuel cannot be imported because it could be used by Hamas.

The fuel shortage has forced 12 of the territory’s 35 hospitals to close and the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) to “significantly reduce its operations”.

Tailored strikes upon Syrian targets were directed by President Biden “to make clear that the United States will not tolerate such attacks and will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests”, said Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder.

He added that the Syria operation was separate and distinct from the war in Israel and Gaza.

Biden held no public engagements on Thursday.

Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, stressed that the US was not seeking a broader conflict but said that if Iranian proxy groups continued to attack, America would not hesitate to take additional action to protect its forces.

Before the strikes were carried out, Ryder said: “I think we’ve been crystal clear that we maintain the inherent right of defending our troops and we will take all necessary measures to protect our forces and our interests overseas.”

John Kirby, US National Security Council spokesman, said: “There was a direct message relayed. That’s as far as I’m going to go.”