Two U.S. military bases in Syria were attacked early Thursday, according to reports, after Iran said it considered Washington, D.C. complicit in Israel’s ongoing strikes against Gaza.
The Iran-aligned Lebanese TV channel Al Mayadeen reported that a drone attack had been launched on America’s Al-Tanf base and a missile attack had been conducted at the Conoco base, according to Reuters. No further details were given as to whether there were any casualties.
Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who serves as the executive of the Deir Ezzor 24 outlet, said that three drones carrying explosive struck the Conoco gas field in Deir el-Zour, an eastern province which borders Iraq, on Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based opposition war monitor, separately reported that explosions were heard within the gas field “base of the International Coalition.” Earlier, the Observatory said “three drones of the Iranian militias” had attacked the U.S. military base of Al-Tanf in eastern Syria near to where the borders of Iraq, Jordan, and Syria meet.
The opposition organization said according to its sources, “Iranian-backed militias will continue launching attacks on American forces’ bases under the slogan of ‘Revenge for Gaza.’”
Thursday’s reported attacks come after the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that U.S. forces had been attacked by drones in Iraq. It said American troops engaged two drones in western Iraq, successfully destroying one and damaging a second. It said Coalition forces sustained “minor injuries” in the incident. A third drone was destroyed in northern Iraq, resulting in no injuries, CENTCOM added.
The assaults come after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that the U.S. “is formulating the Zionist regime’s current policy,” referring to Israel’s strikes in Gaza which massively escalated after Hamas militants slaughtered 1,400 Israeli civilians and soldiers earlier this month. Khamenei said the U.S. “must be held responsible” for what is happening in Gaza, where local health officials say nearly 3,500 people have been killed in Israeli strikes.
Iran has been warned by the U.S. not to get involved in the war and has sent two aircraft carriers to Israel in an effort to stop the conflagration spreading. But reports of Tehran-backed militias carrying out attacks are appearing after another Iranian-supported group, Hezbollah, has already been involved in multiple lethal exchanges with the Israeli military across Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.
On Wednesday, Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine used a speech to respond to American warnings about the conflict widening, saying President Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and “malicious Europeans” should tread carefully. “The response to the mistake you might make with our resistance will be resounding,” Safieddine said to thousands of supporters, according to Reuters. “Because what we have is faith, and God is stronger than you, all your battleships, and all your weapons.”
The following morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had carried out attacks on “targets belonging to Hezbollah” inside Lebanon in response to shooting attacks on Wednesday. Violence has also been reported in the West Bank, where at least 72 Palestinians have been killed since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, according to Al Jazeera. The Times of Israel reported Thursday that the IDF had conducted a drone strike on the Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank, with local health officials saying that three people were killed and a fourth was shot dead overnight.
While Biden has attempted to contain the crisis in Israel, Netanyahu on Thursday called for greater international involvement in his country’s fight. “Hamas are the new Nazis, they’re the new ISIS,” he said Thursday alongside British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who traveled to Israel the day after Biden’s departure. Netanyahu said that just as “civilized world united to fight the Nazis,” it “must now stand with Israel as we fight and defeat Hamas.”
“It’s the battle of Israel, it’s the battle of modern Arab countries, it’s the battle of Western civilization, the battle of the free world, the battle for the future,” Netanyahu added.
