US Says It Will Respond to Recent Deadly Drone Attack

The Biden administration has promised a response to the drone strike that killed three American servicemembers in Jordan. According to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, the US holds the Islamic Resistance in Iraq responsible for the attack, which itself is an umbrella organization that contains Kata'ib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shia militant group.

Kirby also said that the response from the US  would not ‘be a one-off,’ but would come in phases.

The three soldiers killed in the drone strike were Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23. All three were from Georgia.

Kata'ib Hezbollah did announce that it would suspend military operations against US force in the region, though whether it will truly back off from targeting US assets in the region is questionable.

The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC), Hossein Salami, warned that Iran was willing to respond to US retaliatory strikes, also saying, "We (Iran) are not looking for war, but we are not afraid of it either.” This echoes a similar sentiment from President Biden, who has also sought to avoid escalating the conflict in the Middle East.

The Middle East erupted into conflict after the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians, killing 1,139. Israel responded with large scale airstrikes and a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in over 25,000 dead (both civilians and Hamas militants). In response, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, which control Yemen’s capital Sana’a and much of its western region, have launched attacks on cargo ships and US military vessels, leading to US strikes on Houthi targets.

 

Israel Expands Ground Operation in Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have expanded their ground operations in the Gaza Strip after weeks of building up forces along the narrow strip of land. Israeli forces have moved into the north area of the strip just north of Gaza city as well just south of the city.

The beginning of the ground invasion comes after weeks of aerial bombardments throughout the strip, a response to the October 7 terrorist attack by Palestinian group Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip. The attacks by Hamas left over one thousand Israelis dead, with around 200 others taken hostage and brought back to the Gaza Strip. Hamas has only released a handful of hostages since, all foreign citizens.

The air strikes on Gaza by Israeli forces have drawn criticism for the collateral damage. Over 8,000 Palestinians are believed to have been killed in the strikes, with Israel responding that they try to avoid civilian causalities and blaming Hamas for keeping military targets near civilians.

Israel has claimed responsibility for a strike on a refugee camp on the Jabalia refugee camp on October 31. Israel says the strike killed Ibrahim Biari, a suspected key planner in the October 7 attacks.