On Sunday, a drone assault on a Jordanian base killed three American troops, with President Joe Biden blaming Iran-backed extremists and vowing to hold the guilty accountable.
It is the first time American military personnel have been killed by enemy fire in the Middle East since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, and the tragedy will exacerbate regional tensions and increase fears of a larger battle involving Iran.
According to Hamas, the deaths of the troops demonstrate Washington’s support for Israel, which might place it at conflict with the entire Muslim world if the Gaza war continues, potentially leading to a “regional explosion.”
“While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” Vice President Biden said in a statement.
Hold perpetrators ‘to account’
“We will uphold their pledge to combat terrorism. And, without a question, we will hold all those responsible accountable at the time and in the manner that we choose,” the president stated.
The US Central Command reported 25 wounded in the incident near the Syrian border, and the identity of those deceased would be concealed until notification of their families.
According to Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, the death of the soldiers “is a message to the American administration that unless the killing of innocent people in Gaza stops, it may be faced with the entire (Muslim) nation.”
“The continuation of the American-Zionist aggression on Gaza risks a regional explosion,” Abu Zuhri said in a statement.
According to the Pentagon, US and ally soldiers in Iraq and Syria have been targeted in over 150 attacks since mid-October, prompting Washington to launch retaliatory strikes.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose alliance of Iran-linked armed organizations opposed to US assistance for Israel in the Gaza conflict, has claimed responsibility for many of the attacks on US forces.
The latest round of the Israel-Hamas confrontation began on October 7, when the Palestinian militant group carried out a stunning attack that killed around 1,140 people, the majority of whom were civilians, according to an AFP tally of official numbers.
Growing Middle East crisis
Following the incident, the US sent military aid to Israel, which has launched a relentless military offensive in Gaza, killing at least 26,422 people, the majority of them are women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry.
These fatalities have provoked significant outrage throughout the region, inciting conflict between Iran-backed forces in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.
The fight in Lebanon has been limited to near-daily exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel, while American forces are directly involved in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels have launched attacks on shipping for more than two months, claiming to be targeting Israeli-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
The US and the UK have retaliated with two rounds of cooperative strikes against the Huthis, while American forces have also conducted unilateral air raids against the rebels, who have proclaimed American and British interests to be legitimate targets.
The rising violence in many parts of the Middle East has fueled fears of a larger regional battle involving Iran — a worst-case scenario that Washington is desperately trying to prevent.