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Palestinian medics transport casualties in an ambulance after a bombardment of the Firas Market area in Gaza City on Thursday. (AFP/Getty Images)

Israel braces amid fears of Iranian strike; U.S. shifts forces to region

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The Pentagon is beefing up its presence in the Middle East, U.S. officials said Friday, as Israel braces for Iran to retaliate for a strike near its embassy in Syria. President Biden, in remarks to reporters Friday, warned Iran not to strike but added that he expected the attack would come “sooner than later.” Israel has not publicly claimed responsibility for the attack in Syria that killed two senior members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. U.S. officials have not said whether the potential retaliation would come from Iran directly or from an Iran-backed group.

Key updates
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The United States is dispatching additional warships and aircraft to the region amid heightened concern about an imminent Iranian strike on Israel and fears of spillover violence directed at U.S. personnel. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has issued a security alert restricting the movement of government employees and their families.
“I am certain that the world sees the true face of Iran,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Friday, according to a statement from the ministry. “We are prepared to defend ourselves on the ground and in the air,” he said. The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that it had completed a review of its preparedness.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin complained to his Israeli counterpart that Israel did not notify Washington before the strike this month, an escalation the Pentagon sees as increasing risks to U.S. forces in the Middle East, U.S. officials told The Washington Post.
Aid group Anera said it will resume work in Gaza after a pause prompted by Israel’s deadly attack on a World Central Kitchen convoy. Anera said it was told by Israeli authorities that “certain measures would be taken to protect” aid workers and was “cautiously hopeful” about the assurances.
There was “no consensus” at a U.N. Security Council committee meeting to discuss the long-stalled Palestinian bid to join the United Nations as a full member, the council president told reporters, adding that the majority was “very clearly in favor” of moving toward membership.
At least 33,545 people have been killed and 76,094 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants and says the majority of the dead are women and children.
Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 260 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
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The United States is dispatching additional warships and aircraft to the region amid heightened concern about an imminent Iranian strike on Israel and fears of spillover violence directed at U.S. personnel. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has issued a security alert restricting the movement of government employees and their families.
“I am certain that the world sees the true face of Iran,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Friday, according to a statement from the ministry. “We are prepared to defend ourselves on the ground and in the air,” he said. The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that it had completed a review of its preparedness.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin complained to his Israeli counterpart that Israel did not notify Washington before the strike this month, an escalation the Pentagon sees as increasing risks to U.S. forces in the Middle East, U.S. officials told The Washington Post.
Aid group Anera said it will resume work in Gaza after a pause prompted by Israel’s deadly attack on a World Central Kitchen convoy. Anera said it was told by Israeli authorities that “certain measures would be taken to protect” aid workers and was “cautiously hopeful” about the assurances.
There was “no consensus” at a U.N. Security Council committee meeting to discuss the long-stalled Palestinian bid to join the United Nations as a full member, the council president told reporters, adding that the majority was “very clearly in favor” of moving toward membership.
At least 33,545 people have been killed and 76,094 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants and says the majority of the dead are women and children.
Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 260 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
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Israel-Gaza war

The Israel-Gaza war has gone on for six months, and tensions have spilled into the surrounding region.

The war: On Oct. 7, Hamas militants launched an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel that included the taking of civilian hostages at a music festival. (See photos and videos of how the deadly assault unfolded). Israel declared war on Hamas in response, launching a ground invasion that fueled the biggest displacement in the region since Israel’s creation in 1948.

Gaza crisis: In the Gaza Strip, Israel has waged one of this century’s most destructive wars, killing tens of thousands and plunging at least half of the population into “famine-like conditions.” For months, Israel has resisted pressure from Western allies to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave.

U.S. involvement: Despite tensions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some U.S. politicians, including President Biden, the United States supports Israel with weapons, funds aid packages, and has vetoed or abstained from the United Nations’ cease-fire resolutions.

History: The roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mistrust are deep and complex, predating the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Read more on the history of the Gaza Strip.