Iraq 

‘Islamic Resistance of Iraq’ Conducts A Wave Of Attacks Against The U.S. Military in Iraq 

Between October 17 and October 24, U.S. military personnel in Iraq were attacked ten times without provoking a kinetic U.S. response. According to Iranian media, the “Islamic Resistance of Iraq,” a coalition of Iran-backed militias in Iraq, claimed several of the attacks against the U.S., but neither Iran nor the U.S. has publicly identified the militias that make up this coalition. It therefore remains unclear which Iran-backed militias were responsible for the attacks.  

Israel and the Palestinian Territories 

Russia Hosts Hamas Officials, Defends Decision 

A group of high-ranking members of Hamas arrived in Moscow on Thursday, meeting with a senior Russian official in what looked like an affront to the West aimed at demonstrating how the Kremlin still holds sway over key players in the bloody conflict in the Middle East. A deputy foreign minister of Iran, another major power in the unfolding conflict, was also in Moscow on Thursday, meeting with his Russian counterpart. The delegation of the Palestinian terrorist group was led by Moussa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official, who met with Mikhail Bogdanov, the Russian deputy foreign minister, Hamas said in a statement.  

The two sides have discussed the release of foreign hostages from the Gaza Strip, the Russian foreign ministry said, according to RIA Novosti, a Russian state news agency. They also discussed the evacuation of Russians and other foreigners from the region. In its statement, Hamas praised Mr. Putin’s position on the conflict and the active efforts of Russian diplomacy. 

On Thursday, the Israeli foreign ministry called Russia’s decision to invite the Hamas delegation “a reprehensible step that gives support to terrorism and legitimacy to the horrific acts of Hamas terrorists.” The ministry called on Russia to immediately expel the Hamas officials. 

Russia on Friday defended its decision to invite a Hamas delegation to Moscow against strong Israeli criticism, saying it was necessary to maintain contacts with all sides in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Hamas delegation had met with representatives of Russia's foreign ministry but not with President Vladimir Putin or Kremlin officials. "We consider it necessary to continue our contacts with all parties and, of course, we will continue our dialogue with Israel," he told reporters.  

Lebanon and Hezbollah 

Hamas Official Says Group ‘Expects More’ From Hezbollah Involvement In War 

A senior Hamas official tells The Associated Press that the terror group had expected stronger intervention from Hezbollah in its war with Israel. Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said that “we need more” from allies, including Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. “Hezbollah now is working against the occupation,” Hamad said at the Hamas office in Beirut. “We appreciate this. But… we need more in order to stop the aggression on Gaza… we expect more.”  

Meanwhile, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah – unusually silent during the now 21-day conflict – met with officials from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including Hamas Politburo Deputy Chairman Saleh al-Arouri and Palestinian Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziyad al-Nakhala in Beirut, according to his group’s official newspaper Al-Ahed. The paper was sparse on details of what transpired during the meeting, save to say that the trio “discussed the latest events in the Gaza Strip, since the beginning of the Toufan al-Aqsa Operation, and its consequences on every front, as well as the ongoing confrontations on the Lebanese border with occupied Palestine.” The report adds that Nasrallah, al-Arouri, and al-Nakhala also conducted an “assessment of the stances taken internationally and regionally, and what all factions of the Resistance Axis must do at this sensitive juncture to achieve a true victory for the Resistance in Gaza and Palestine…”  

Syria 

U.S. Strikes Iran-Linked Targets in Syria 

The U.S. military launched airstrikes on two locations in eastern Syria linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Friday. The strikes, which the Pentagon said hit a weapons storage facility and an ammunition storage facility used by the IRGC and the militias it backs, were the first such U.S. military intervention since war broke out between Hamas and Israel on October 7. It was also the first time the U.S. military reportedly targeted IRGC assets under the Biden administration, with previous strikes targeting only IRGC-backed militias.  

U.S. facilities in Iraq and Syria have been hit by a series of low-level attacks by drones and rockets over the past 10 days that have been claimed by Iran-backed militias, amid growing fears that the Hamas-Israel war could escalate into a regional conflict. The attacks have injured at least 24 U.S. servicemen and killed one U.S. civilian contractor. There were three such attacks on Thursday, striking two U.S. bases in Syria and one in western Iraq.  

The U.S. retaliatory strikes were carried out by two F-16 fighter jets at about 4:30 am on Friday near Abu Kamal, a Syrian town on the border with Iraq and an Iran-backed militia stronghold. The U.S. has a major base near Abu Kamal in the Deir Ezzor province that has been the target of several recent attacks by Iran-backed militias. It was unclear if the U.S. targeted IRGC personnel and if Iranian nationals were killed. 

Meanwhile, Israel once again reportedly conducted airstrikes against targets in Syria. Israeli fighter jets carried out strikes on Aleppo International Airport on Wednesday afternoon, knocking it out of service, Syria’s state-run media said, marking the fourth such alleged attack in two weeks. No injuries were caused in the attack, the SANA state news agency said. According to SANA, the damage was limited to the airport’s runway, forcing it to be closed for repairs for several days. The strike on Wednesday afternoon marked the fourth time the runway at Aleppo Airport has been hit in recent weeks, following strikes on October 12, 14, and 22, and it was due to open on Wednesday after repairs following the latest strike. Israel is believed to be stepping up efforts to prevent the shipment of advanced weapons from Iran to its various Middle East proxies, chief among them Hezbollah. There was no immediate comment on the strike from the Israel Defense Forces, which does not generally report on individual strikes in Syria.  

The IDF did announce early Wednesday that it had struck several Syrian military targets after rockets were fired from Syria toward Israeli communities in the Golan Heights several hours earlier. SANA, citing a Syrian military source, said eight soldiers were killed and another seven were wounded in the overnight Israeli airstrike in the Daraa area. 

Yemen and the Red Sea 

Projectiles Hit Egypt’s Taba and Nuweiba in the Sinai, Israel Says Projectile Launched from Yemen 

A missile strike in the Egyptian Red Sea town of Taba originated from “the Red Sea area,” IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says, in an apparent reference to Yemen. “In the last few hours, an aerial threat was detected in the Red Sea area. Fighter jets were scrambled to the threat area and the issue is under investigation,” Hagari says. “To our understanding, the impact that occurred in Egypt originates from this threat. Israel will work together with Egypt and the U.S. and tighten the defense against threats from the Red Sea area,” he adds.  

Reuters reports that the Egyptian town of Nuweiba was also hit by a rocket. Taba borders Eilat, which was recently targeted by Gazan rockets, while Nuweiba is some 50 kilometers further south and likely out of range of Hamas’s arsenal. The incident comes about a week after Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen attempted to fire missiles and drones at Israel via the Red Sea. Those missiles were shot down by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, but the Pentagon assessed that they could have reached Israel, which means that the Houthis have the capability to strike targets over 2,000 kilometers away.