2023-10-27 19:28:16
The US carried out airstrikes with fighter jets on Friday once morest alleged Iranian facilities in Syria. The attacks are said to have hit ammunition depots of Iranian militias, said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Friday evening. Like the Pentagon announced, the attacks took place “independently of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas” and served “exclusively to protect and defend U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria,” said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The attacks were directed once morest the “Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups.” They have carried out drone attacks once morest American personnel since October 17th, in which one American died of a heart attack and 21 people were injured. The defense minister warned Iran, saying Tehran cannot hide that it is behind the recent escalation of violence in the Middle East. The US government warned all “state and non-state” actors to take actions that would lead to an escalation of the conflict.
It is unclear whether the US coordinated the attacks with Russia. Russia, together with Damascus, controls the airspace over Syria. In recent months there have been repeated incidents between Russian aircraft and American drones, the Air and Space Forces magazine reported at the end of August: The USA had used MQ-9 drones in missions to combat IS. These flights often take place in northwestern Syria, an area where Isis fighters are said to have sought refuge. Israel has been coordinating its air strikes once morest targets in Syria for many years. Coordination is important to avoid mistakes that might lead to a direct confrontation between the two nuclear powers.
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An analyst from Carnegie Endowment writes that “Washington has no intention of giving in to Russian-Iranian pressure in Syria – especially given that any additional tension in Syria will distract Moscow from Ukraine.” Russia’s goal of maintaining a “relatively restrained presence in Syria that does not require excessive financial resources or distract from the Ukrainian fronts” is becoming “increasingly unrealistic, not least because of the larger US presence triggered by Moscow’s own provocative actions there.” “.
Israel’s army has meanwhile announced that it will expand its ground operations in the Gaza Strip once morest the Islamist Hamas. It initially remained unclear whether the announcement marked the start of the Israeli military’s widely expected ground offensive. The Israeli military had previously made isolated, time-limited advances on the ground. Media reports indicated massive Israeli bombing raids in the Gaza Strip in the evening. According to reports, the internet also failed in the sealed-off coastal strip with more than two million inhabitants. The Internet monitor Netblocks also spoke of a breakdown in Internet connections in a post on Platform X. According to the Times of Israel, Israeli tanks are battling militants in the Gaza Strip.
Army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement: “The Air Force is attacking underground targets very heavily. “Underground targets and terrorist infrastructure are increasingly being attacked,” he continued. He announced that ground forces would “expand” their activities this evening. Hagari said the Israeli army would continue to attack Gaza City and surrounding areas in the north of the Gaza Strip and renewed his call for Palestinians to evacuate to the south of the Gaza Strip. “We are ready to defend in all arenas. We act to protect the security interests of the State of Israel,” the spokesman said.
New tensions might also arise between China and the USA: According to American military information, a Chinese fighter jet approached a USA B-52 bomber over the South China Sea in a dangerous maneuver. The pilot of the J-11 plane flew in an “unsafe and unprofessional manner” below and in front of the bomber at a distance of only ten feet (regarding three meters), the US command in the Indo-Pacific said on Friday night. A fighter jet was seen approaching in a video released. According to American information, the incident occurred at night and with poor visibility.
The air incident occurred during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s talks in Washington, where he met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday. A meeting with President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, was scheduled for Friday at the White House. China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman blamed the US for the unstable situation in the South China Sea. The fact that a US military aircraft travels all the way to China’s doorstep to show strength is the cause of the security risk at sea and in the air, said Mao Ning in Beijing on Friday. China will continue to protect its territorial integrity. In Washington, Blinken emphasized following his meeting with Wang that the meeting served, among other things, “to keep communication channels open.” Officially the meeting was said to have been regarding North Korea. However, it can be assumed that the Middle East conflict was particularly an issue. Beijing calls for a “ceasefire” following the Hamas massacre. President Joe Biden strictly rejects this demand because the White House has spoken out in favor of Israel’s unrestricted right to self-defense. It is unclear whether this was carried out in a ground offensive. On Friday, a residential building in Tel Aviv was hit by a rocket, and a rocket hit Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. She might have come from Yemen, Egypt reserves the right to answer.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is facing a changing situation among the younger generation of Democrats: They are demanding a radical change in Middle East policy and a move away from unconditional support for Israel. This had been state doctrine in Washington for decades. The New York Times reports that what is most concerning for Biden is the fact that in the halls of Congress, the most critical Democratic voices are Black and Hispanic Democrats, who powered his victory in 2020. All 18 House members who had signed a resolution calling for “immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Israel and occupied Palestine” as of Thursday were people of color (PoC).
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