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An explosion in Damascus killed four Iranian military advisers on Jan. 20, according to a statement from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. (Video: AP)

Iran accuses Israel of deadly Syria strike

January 21, 2024 at 1:32 a.m. EST
2 min

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Iran accused Israel of carrying out a strike on the Syrian capital, Damascus, which it said killed five Iranian military advisers and “a number of Syrian forces.” Tehran called the strike a “desperate attempt to spread instability” and said it has the right to respond. The Israeli military declined to comment. U.S. Central Command said Saturday night that “damage assessments are ongoing” after a volley of ballistic missiles and rockets were fired by Iranian-backed militants at Ain al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq.

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Centcom said “a number of U.S. personnel” are undergoing evaluation for traumatic brain injuries after the attack on al-Assad Air Base. At least one Iraqi service member was wounded, Centcom added. “Most of the missiles were intercepted by the base’s air defense systems while others impacted on the base,” it said.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he was “seriously concerned” about reports of the death of a Palestinian American teenager in the West Bank. Tawfic Hafeth Abdel Jabbar, 17, had gone to the occupied territory for his senior year of high school and had planned to return to Louisiana, a mosque leader told The Washington Post.
U.S. forces destroyed a Houthi missile that was being prepared to launch in the Gulf of Aden early Saturday, Central Command said in a statement. They made a similar preventive strike Friday on three Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed at targets in the Red Sea, Centcom said that day.
Mohammed Abdulsalam, a spokesman for the Houthis, told Reuters that their attacks would remain focused on blockading Israel and retaliating for U.S.-led airstrikes, and wouldn’t expand into a new fight against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Iranian-backed rebels have taken an outsize bite out of global shipping and are threatening the Israeli economy.
The Israeli army confirmed reports that it has removed bodies from gravesites in Gaza in the search for hostages. “The hostage identification process, conducted at a secure and alternative location, ensures optimal professional conditions and respect for the deceased,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. “Bodies determined not be those of hostages are returned with dignity and respect.”
At least 24,927 people have been killed in Gaza and 62,388 wounded since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack.
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Centcom said “a number of U.S. personnel” are undergoing evaluation for traumatic brain injuries after the attack on al-Assad Air Base. At least one Iraqi service member was wounded, Centcom added. “Most of the missiles were intercepted by the base’s air defense systems while others impacted on the base,” it said.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he was “seriously concerned” about reports of the death of a Palestinian American teenager in the West Bank. Tawfic Hafeth Abdel Jabbar, 17, had gone to the occupied territory for his senior year of high school and had planned to return to Louisiana, a mosque leader told The Washington Post.
U.S. forces destroyed a Houthi missile that was being prepared to launch in the Gulf of Aden early Saturday, Central Command said in a statement. They made a similar preventive strike Friday on three Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed at targets in the Red Sea, Centcom said that day.
Mohammed Abdulsalam, a spokesman for the Houthis, told Reuters that their attacks would remain focused on blockading Israel and retaliating for U.S.-led airstrikes, and wouldn’t expand into a new fight against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Iranian-backed rebels have taken an outsize bite out of global shipping and are threatening the Israeli economy.
The Israeli army confirmed reports that it has removed bodies from gravesites in Gaza in the search for hostages. “The hostage identification process, conducted at a secure and alternative location, ensures optimal professional conditions and respect for the deceased,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. “Bodies determined not be those of hostages are returned with dignity and respect.”
At least 24,927 people have been killed in Gaza and 62,388 wounded since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack.
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Israel-Gaza war

U.S. naval forces launched three additional strikes against Houthi forces in Yemen on Friday morning, targeting anti-ship missiles, according to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. In the Gaza Strip, internet and cellphone communications were gradually restored, ending a week-long outage that kept most of the territory’s 2.1 million people cut off, amid a war and humanitarian crisis.

Pakistan launched retaliatory strikes Thursday on militants in Iran, its Foreign Ministry said, as tensions in the Middle East appeared to be spreading.

Oct. 7 attack: Hamas spent more than a year planning its assault on Israel. A Washington Post video analysis shows how Hamas exploited vulnerabilities created by Israel’s reliance on technology at the “Iron Wall,” the security barrier bordering the Gaza Strip, to carry out the deadliest attack in Israel’s history. Stock traders earned millions of dollars anticipating the Hamas attack, a study found.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip has a complicated history. Understand what’s behind the Israel-Gaza war and read about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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