The US reprisal strikes in Syria and Iraq will have disastrous consequences for the region, the military spokesman for the Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, has warned. Maj Gen Yahya Rasool’s response was one of many from inside the Iraqi government that furiously condemned a violation of its sovereignty.

The US military launched airstrikes on Friday against more than 85 targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the militias it backs, in retaliation for last weekend’s drone attack in Jordan that killed three US troops. Iraq’s Anbar Operations Command reported 16 fatalities and 25 injuries, but no official death toll has been issued.

Iran claimed the attacks would only hasten the withdrawal of US troops from both countries and insisted that no Revolutionary Guards had been present in the areas struck by US forces, a claim that will be tested in the hours ahead.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, said it was “an adventurous action and a strategic mistake that will result in increased tension and instability in the region”, adding that the attacks would only lead to the US government becoming “more engaged” in the region than it was before.

The US decision to strike inside Iraq, relayed to the Iraqi government in advance, was always a high risk since political pressure has been mounting in the Iraqi parliament for months to conclude negotiations that end with an agreement for US troops to withdraw.

Initial responses suggested that political pressure on the US would now build, especially if the death toll of 16 inside Iraq started to rise. The relatively low death toll for the size of the attack reflects the warnings the militias received that an attack was imminent.

Bassem al-Awadi, an Iraqi government spokesman, said: “Iraq reiterates its refusal to let its lands be an arena for settling scores, and all parties must realise this. Our country’s land and sovereignty are not the appropriate place to send messages and show force between opponents.

“At the same time, we affirm that the presence of the international coalition, which has deviated from the tasks assigned to it and the mandate granted to it, has become a reason for threatening security and stability in Iraq and a justification for involving Iraq in regional and international conflicts.

“The Iraqi government will make every effort required by moral, national, and constitutional responsibility to protect our land, our cities, and the lives of our children in all types of armed forces.”

The spokesman added that “the US had deliberately tried to deceive public opinion and falsified the facts by claiming there had been prior consultations with the government before the attacks were mounted”.

Britain called the US its “steadfast” ally on Saturday and said it supported Washington’s right to respond to the attacks.

“The UK and US are steadfast allies. We wouldn’t comment on their operations, but we support their right to respond to attacks,” a British government spokesperson said.

“We have long condemned Iran’s destabilising activity throughout the region, including its political, financial and military support to a number of militant groups.”

Iranian sources said there had been no direct contact between Washington and Tehran before the attacks, but messages had been sent via third parties that a US attack on Iranian soil would be viewed differently from attacks on Iraq and Syria.

Rasool, the spokesperson for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces, gave details of where the strikes had been launched within Iraq and said on X: “These strikes constitute a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, an undermining of the efforts of the Iraqi government, and a threat that will drag Iraq and the region into unforeseen consequences, the consequences of which will be disastrous for security and stability in Iraq and the region.”

The Iranian backed groups inside Iraq have coalesced into a loose coalition termed Islamic Resistance in Iraq and contain at least six different militia. Kataib Hezbollah, the most powerful of these groups and the one responsible for the drone attack that killed three US soldiers a week ago on the Jordan-Syria border, announced two days ago that it was suspending its operations against US bases. The claim was met with scepticism from the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin.

US Hits Iran’s Militias in Syria, Iraq, Raising Escalation Fears

The US launched airstrikes against Iranian forces and militias in Syria and Iraq in retaliation for a drone attack that killed three American soldiers, pulling the Biden administration deeper into the conflict that erupted when Hamas militants struck Israel in October.

Iraq warned of potential “disastrous” consequences for national and regional security and stability from the strikes, and European foreign ministers meeting in Brussels urged all parties to avoid further escalation.

The US military action was a “violation of Iraq’s sovereignty,” General Yehia Rasool, a spokesperson for Iraq’s prime minister, said in a statement reported by Agence France Presse. The Syrian military said “a number of civilians and soldiers” had been killed or wounded in the strikes,” with “significant” damage incurred to property.

Aircraft including long-range B-1 bombers flown from the US struck 85 targets at seven locations linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Quds Force and to militant groups that Iran funds, according to US officials. Targets included command-and-control facilities and supply depots for rockets, missiles and drones, US Central Command said.

The airstrikes had been seen as all but inevitable after the Jan. 28 attack on a US base in Jordan, in which three soldiers were killed and many more were wounded. President Joe Biden had sought to calibrate the US response to send a message to Iran and degrade the militant groups’ ability to attack American forces while avoiding a bigger conflict.

“Our response began today,” Biden said in a statement. “It will continue at times and places of our choosing.”

More strikes will take place “in the coming days,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. Biden has so far elected not to target Iranian territory, a move that would have almost certainly provoked a counterattack and risked war with a key regional adversary.

Even so, targeting the Quds force — which is responsible for the IRGC’s foreign operations — marks a significant escalation in the conflict that began with the Hamas attack on Israel and Israeli forces’ subsequent military campaign in the Gaza Strip. The US has become increasingly embroiled in the conflict, launching repeated strikes to defend US troops in Syria and Iraq, and targeting Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen that have hit commercial shipping in the Red Sea, a vital trade waterway.

How Iran-Backed Groups Provoke Wider Mideast Conflict: QuickTake

Josep Borrell, the EU’s top foreign affairs official, told reporters on Saturday that the Middle East is like “a boiler that can explode.”

“We call on everybody to try to avoid an escalation,” Borrell said before the start of the Brussels meeting. His comments were echoed by other officials. “Our common goal has to be to prevent a spillover,” said Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg. “This is a powder keg.”

The US attacks came days before Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to return to the region in a bid to help secure a cease-fire and hostage deal in Gaza that officials believe could serve as a tentative step toward ending the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

While backing Israel’s right to defend itself after the Oct. 7 attack, US officials believe a cease-fire could help ease tensions and deny Iranian proxies a reason to keep attacking American forces.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that Biden has directed more action against the IRGC and militias backed by the group, though he didn’t say when that would happen. US bases scattered across Iraq and Syria had come under attack more than 160 times in the weeks since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, though no US soldiers had been killed until last week.

The US strikes targeted “logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against US and Coalition forces,” Central Command said. Briefing reporters afterward, US officials said the airstrikes had lasted about 30 minutes and that Iraqi government was informed beforehand. They said three of the sites were in Iraq and four were in Syria and that good weather in the targeted locations contributed to the timing of the strikes.

Earlier Friday Biden was joined by family members of the three slain Americans for the return of their remains to US soil. Biden, first lady Jill Biden and Austin witnessed the unloading of three flag-draped coffins at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

The US blamed last week’s deadly attack on an Iranian-backed umbrella group known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. That group is part of what’s known as the Axis of Resistance, a web of anti-Israel and anti-US militants in the region that encompasses groups in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, as well as Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It also includes the Kata’ib Hezbollah militant group, which said earlier in the week that it was halting military operations in Iraq after pressure from the Iraqi government.

Earlier: Binance Sued by Hamas Hostage, Families of Victims in Attack

Like the US, Iranian officials have sought to balance promises of retaliation against assurances that they don’t seek a wider conflict. Earlier in the week, an IRGC commander said the country wasn’t seeking a confrontation with the US but has “no fear of war.”

And Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, said “If any party attacks Iran’s territory, or its interests or citizens abroad, it will be met with a decisive response,” according to state-run media.

Iran accuses US of ‘strategic mistake’ after strikes

Iran’s foreign ministry has condemned overnight US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as “violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of the two countries.

Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani, in a statement, said the attacks symbolised “another adventurous and strategic mistake by the United States that will result only in increased tension and instability in the region”.

He added that the US attacks were designed “to overshadow the Zionist regime’s crime in Gaza”. He did not say if Iran would take any action in response to the strikes.

Prior to the US retaliatory strikes on Friday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Iran would not start a war but would “respond strongly to anyone who tries to bully it”.

The US military launched airstrikes against more than 85 targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and the militias it backs in Iraq and Syria, in response to last weekend’s drone attack in Jordan that killed three US troops.

The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq took credit for the attacks, marking the first combat deaths of US troops in more than three years.

Joe Biden, US president, vowed to retaliate after the attack by “radical Iran-backed militant groups”, saying “If you harm an American, we will respond.”

US bombers, some of which had flown across the Atlantic for the mission, targeted command and control headquarters, intelligence centres and storage facilities.

04:08 PM GMT

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• Deadly strikes were reported on Saturday morning in the overcrowded Gaza border town of Rafah.

• Iraq denounced US air strikes in its territory on Friday night after American forces hit at least two Iranian militia targets in Iraq.

• The United Arab Emirates has allocated $5 million in support of efforts of chief United Nations Coordinator for the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA)

• Joe Biden, the US president, said that the US air strikes on Iraq and Syria on Friday night were just the beginning of Washington’s response to the deadly drone attack on American troops, saying: “If you harm an American, we will respond.”

• Iran’s foreign ministry has condemned overnight US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as “violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of the two countries.

03:54 PM GMT

Eighteen Palestinians ‘killed in airstrikes on two cities’

Israeli airstrikes have killed 18 Palestinians in the Gaza cities of Rafah and Deir al Balah today, the Hamas-run Gaza ministry has said.

There was no confirmation from the Israeli military that it carried out the strike.

03:39 PM GMT

10,000 pro-Palestinian protesters march in London

More than 10,000 pro-Palestine protesters have marched in Central London to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, according to estimates from Scotland Yard.

Hundreds of officers from the Metropolitan Police were on duty with additional dispersal powers as the march started at Portland Place and continued to Whitehall.

03:33 PM GMT

US ships destroy 12 drones

The US has destroyed 12 drones in the last 24 hours, the US Central Command has said.

One drone was shot down by the destroyer USS Carney over the Gulf of Aden at around 7.30am UK time on Friday, the US military announced today.

An additional seven drones were shot down over the Red Sea by the USS Laboon at 6.30pm UK time, while American forces also destroyed four more before they could be launched.

CENTCOM said that the four drones destroyed on the ground belonged to Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, but did not identify a group linked to those that were shot down.

No injuries or damage have been reported.

03:21 PM GMT

Northern Ireland's new first minister calls for immediate ceasefire

Michelle O’Neill, Northern Ireland’s first minister, has called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza in a historic acceptance speech.

As Northern Ireland’s first nationalist prime minister, O’Neill remarked that “we know the value of peace”

03:12 PM GMT

Iraqi militants claim to launch drone attack on base hosting US troops

Islamic Resistance in Iraq fighters claimed to have launched a drone attack on the al-Harir airbase hosting American forces in northern Iraq on Saturday, the group said.

However, security sources soon told Reuters that no attack was detected.

According to reports, attacks were also carried out by Iran-aligned groups on the Tanf military base in Syria, and on the Ain al-Assad base in western Iraq, which host US and coalition troops.

It comes as Joe Biden warned that the US air strikes on Iraq and Syria on Friday night were just the beginning of Washington’s response to the deadly drone attack on American troops in Jordan last week.

The US carried out airstrikes on 85 targets in Iraq and Syria, targeting command and control headquarters, intelligence centres and storage facilities.

02:11 PM GMT

IDF hits Hezbollah sites in Lebanon amid continued rocket fire towards northern Israel

The IDF says it carried out airstrikes against several Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon today, in response to continued attacks on northern Israel.

A Hezbollah command centre, where operatives were gathered, and a nearby rocket launch site used in a recent attack, were hit in the southern Lebanese village of Yaroun, the IDF says, as well as two Hezbollah observation posts in Marwahin and Ayta ash-Shab.

The IDF also reported that rockets and missiles were fired by Hezbollah in the northern communities of Bar’am and Zar’it, causing no injuries.

01:57 PM GMT

Russia condemns US airstrikes

Russia has condemned US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria and called for the situation to be examined by the UN Security Council.

Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said the strikes were “deliberately designed to further inflame” tensions in the Middle East.

01:47 PM GMT

Pictured: The aftermath of US airstrikes in Iraq

 

12:52 PM GMT

US strikes were ‘inevitable’ but will not put an end to Iran-backed militia attacks, says former ambassador

Sir Richard Dalton, former British ambassador to Libya and Iran, has said on Sky News that strikes on Iraq and Syria were “inevitable”.

He said “the US is like a boxer with an extremely strong left but a very weak right hand”, due to the fact that the US has not proven to be strong in getting aid into Gaza or dealing with the “increasing evidence” of war crimes being committed, meaning it can’t advance the essentials for a more stable region.

The former ambassador said that he does not believe America’s actions will put an end to the Iran-backed militia attacks.

12:16 PM GMT

Hamas says Washington has poured 'oil on the fire'

Hamas has condemned the US strikes in Iraq and Syria, saying Washington has poured “oil on the fire” in the Middle East.

The Palestinian terrorist organisation went on to say that the region would remain at war until “the Zionist (Israeli) aggression, genocidal crimes and ethnic cleansing” in Gaza ends.

US air strikes killed at least 23 pro-Iranian fighters in Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said. In Iraq, strikes killed 16 people, including civilians, the Baghdad government said.

11:46 AM GMT

Iranian foreign ministry urge UN Security Council to prevent US strikes

A Reuters report has added more detail to the Iranian ministry’s statement on the US strikes on Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said that the US attacks were designed “to overshadow the Zionist regime’s crime in Gaza”. He did not say if Iran would take any action in response to the strikes.

He also urged the UN Security Council to prevent “illegal and unilateral US attacks in the region”.

Prior to the US retaliatory strikes on Friday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Iran would not start a war but would “respond strongly to anyone who tries to bully it”.

11:21 AM GMT

Iraq to summon US envoy over strikes

The Iraqi foreign ministry is to summon the US envoy to deliver a formal memorandum of protest in response to overnight US strikes.

The US has said it notified Iraq of the strikes before they took place, but Iraq has claimed that this was not the case.

The US struck 85 targets in seven locations across Syria and Iraq in response to the Iran-backed drone attack in Jordan that killed three American soldiers.

10:51 AM GMT

Signs of Hamas resurgence in Gaza areas Israeli troops have left

Hamas has begun deploying police forces and making partial salary payments to some of its civil servants in Gaza City in recent days, resurfacing in areas from which Israel had withdrawn the bulk of its troops a month ago, according to four residents and a senior Hamas official.

Gaza city residents told AP that uniformed and plain clothed police officers were deployed near police headquarters and other government offices, including near Shifa Hospital, the territory’s largest.

In addition, reports of partial salary payments of $200 for at least some civil servants signal that Israel has not crushed Hamas yet, despite it saying it has killed more than 9,000 fighters in the region over the last four months.

10:31 AM GMT

Gaza civilian death toll rises to 27,238

The number of civilians killed in Gaza has risen to 27,238 after 107 people were killed in the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry has said.

It added 165 people have also been wounded in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of people injured to 66,452 since October 7.

10:21 AM GMT

Iran condemns US airstrikes as violations of Iraqi and Syrian sovereignties

Iran’s foreign ministry has condemned overnight US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as “violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of the two countries.

Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani, in a statement, said the attacks symbolised “another adventurous and strategic mistake by the United States that will result only in increased tension in instability in the region”.

The US military launched airstrikes against more than 85 targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and the militias it backs, in response to last weekend’s drone attack in Jordan that killed three US troops.

10:07 AM GMT

US airstrikes in Iraq killed 16 including civilians, says Iraqi PM’s office

Sixteen people were killed, among them civilians, and 25 injured in overnight US airstrikes on pro-Iran targets in Iraq, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s office said on Saturday.

In a statement, it condemned the strikes as a “new aggression against Iraq’s sovereignty” and denied they were coordinated by the Baghdad government beforehand with Washington.

09:58 AM GMT

Israel strikes Gaza as fears grow of push into Rafah

Israel continued its strikes in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, as fears grow of a push into Rafah, the southern city packed with civilians displaced by the nearly four-month war.

Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled south to Rafah since the outbreak of the war, with the former city of 200,000 now housing more than half of Gaza’s two million-plus population, according to the United Nations.

According to reports, air strikes and tank fire rocked Khan Yunis overnight, with the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza saying that more than 100 people died. The IDF has said its forces have killed “dozens of terrorists” in northern and central Gaza over the past 24 hours.

09:45 AM GMT

Biden says US strikes on Iraq and Syria are just the beginning

The US air strikes on Iraq and Syria on Friday night are just the beginning of Washington’s response to the deadly drone attack on American troops, Joe Biden has said.

The US carried out airstrikes on 85 targets in Iraq and Syria, targeting command and control headquarters, intelligence centres and storage facilities.

The US president had vowed to deliver a decisive response, but insisted the US did not want a wider war with Iran. However, Mr Biden warned that those who harm Americans will be punished.

“This afternoon, at my direction, US military forces struck targets at facilities in Iraq and Syria that the IRGC and affiliated militia use to attack US forces.

“Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing.

“The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: If you harm an American, we will respond.”

Senior White House sources stressed on Friday that US action would not include any strikes on targets within Iran itself.

09:38 AM GMT

Top Hamas leaders split on ceasefire deal proposal, says WSJ

Senior Hamas leaders are currently split on the US-backed ceasefire and hostage-release proposal, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

The report claims US officials state that Hamas’ top leader, Yahya Sinwar, amongst others, are looking to accept a six-week pause in fighting that will enable Hamas to “regroup and allow humanitarian aid to reach civilians in Gaza”.

Egyptian officials say that Hamas is asking for approximately 3,000 Palestinian prisoners to be freed, including some who participated in the October 7 massacre, in exchange for 36 Israeli civilian hostages, according to the report. Meanwhile, Israel is demanding the return of all hostages across a multiphase deal. The Egyptian sources told the WSJ that Hamas has said it requires more time to locate all the hostages.

09:10 AM GMT

US airstrikes fuelling conflict in 'very dangerous way,' says Syrian foreign ministry

Syria’s foreign ministry has condemned overnight retaliatory US airstrikes against more than 85 targets in Syria and Iraq linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the militias it backs.

“What (the US) committed has served to fuel conflict in the Middle East in a very dangerous way,” Damascus’ foreign ministry said in a statement.

08:48 AM GMT

UK calls US a 'steadfast' ally

Britain has called the US its “steadfast” ally and said it supports Washington’s right to respond to attacks, after the US military launched airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran-linked targets.

“The UK and US are steadfast allies. We wouldn’t comment on their operations, but we support their right to respond to attacks,” a British government spokesperson said in a statement.

“We have long condemned Iran’s destabilising activity throughout the region, including its political, financial and military support to a number of militant groups.”

08:43 AM GMT

Everybody must 'avoid escalation' in Middle East, says top EU diplomat

Josep Borrell, the European Union foreign policy chief, has called on all parties to avoid further escalation in the Middle East after US strikes on Iran-linked groups in Syria and Iraq.

“Everybody should try to avoid that the situation becomes explosive,” Mr Borrell said at a meeting on EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

The United States launched air strikes against Iranian forces and allied militias in Iraq and Syria on Friday, with Joe Biden vowing more to come in retaliation for a deadly drone attack on an American base in Jordan.

Mr Borrell did not address the US strikes directly, but repeated a warning that the Middle East “is a boiler that can explode”.

He pointed to the war in Gaza, violence along the Lebanese border, bombings in Iraq and Syria and attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

“That’s why we call everybody to try to avoid an escalation,” Mr Borrell said.

08:36 AM GMT

UAE allocates $5 mln to support UNRWA's Gaza efforts

The United Arab Emirates has allocated $5 million in support of efforts of chief United Nations Coordinator for the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), Sigrid Kaag, towards the reconstruction of the Gaza strip, state news agency WAM reported.

Major donors to UNRWA earlier suspended funding after allegations emerged that around 12 of its tens of thousands of Palestinian employees were suspected of involvement in the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel by Hamas.

08:33 AM GMT

US strikes result of Iranian proxies 'playing with fire'

Poland said that US retaliatory strikes on Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria were the result of Iranian proxies “playing with fire”.

“Iran’s proxies have played with fire for months and years, and it’s now burning them,” Radek Sikorski, the Polish foreign minister told reporters as he arrived for a meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels.

08:20 AM GMT

Strikes came 'far too late, ' says Republican senator

Roger Wicker, a Republican Senator, has said the strikes are “welcome” but “far too late for the three brave Americans who died and the nearly 50 wounded”.

He added: “Iran and its proxies have tried to kill American soldiers and sink our warships 165 times while the Biden administration congratulates itself for doing the bare minimum.

“Instead of giving the Ayatollah the bloody nose that he deserves, we continue to give him a slap on the wrist.”

07:52 AM GMT

Syrian defence ministry condemns 'air aggression'

The Syrian defence ministry said that US forces’ “blatant air aggression” led to a number of civilians and soldiers being killed and others being wounded and some significant damage to public and private property.

“Occupying parts of Syrian lands by American forces cannot continue ... the Syrian army affirms continuing its war against terrorism until it is eliminated and is determined to liberate the entire Syrian territories from terrorism and occupation,” the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The Iraqi military said the strikes were in the Iraqi border area and warned they could ignite instability in the region.

07:23 AM GMT

Republican Senator reacts to strikes

07:01 AM GMT

Who are the Iranian targets?

06:48 AM GMT

Iraq fury at US strikes

Iraq has angrily denounced US air strikes in its territory on Friday night.

American forces hit at least two Iranian militia targets in Iraq, including the headquarters of the Axis of Resistance in Al-Qaim and the base of the Popular Mobilisation Forces in Akashat.

But Gen Yehia Rasool, a spokesman for Iraq’s prime minister, called the strikes a “violation” of his country’s sovereignty and said they would bring “disastrous consequences for the security and stability of Iraq and the region”.

Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani has recently called for the departure of American troops from Iraq after a previous US strike in Baghdad.

John Kirby, the US National Security Council spokesman, said the Biden administration “did inform the Iraqi government prior to the strikes,” but did not elaborate on Baghdad’s response.

06:17 AM GMT

Revealed: Israel’s new Gaza border

Israel is accused of clearing a 1km “buffer zone” inside the Gaza Strip as part of a new security border that could shrink the overall size of the Palestinian territory.

Satellite images analysed by The Telegraph show more than 1,000 buildings destroyed around the land perimeter of Gaza since the Oct 7 Hamas terror attacks.

06:06 AM GMT

US House Speaker criticises Biden for delaying strikes

Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the House, has criticised the White House for delaying its retaliation against Iranian militia groups after the killing of US troops in Jordan last week.

Mr Johnson said: “The public handwringing and excessive signaling undercuts our ability to put a decisive end to the barrage of attacks endured over the past few months.”

05:35 AM GMT

Where the strikes took place

Here are five of the seven locations targeted by US forces on Friday night. The other two sites have not yet been confirmed.

Syria

Deir al-Zour – Media in Lebanon are reporting videos of large explosions in the eastern city

Mayadin – There were reports of explosions in the ancient town, which lies on the Euphrates

Bukamal – There were also reports of strikes in Bukamal, on the border with Iraq

Iraq

Al-Qaim – US forces struck weapons depots and targeted the headquarters of the Axis of Resistance

Akashat – The base of the Popular Mobilisation Forces was reported to have been struck by a missile

04:49 AM GMT

Deadly attacks in Rafah

Deadly strikes were reported on Saturday morning in the overcrowded Gaza border town of Rafah.

Witnesses in the city heard powerful explosions shortly after midnight on Saturday, with the Hamas-run health ministry reporting 14 people killed in two strikes there.

Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled south to Rafah since the outbreak of the war, with the former city of 200,000 now housing more than half of Gaza’s two million-plus population, according to the United Nations.

The UN humanitarian agency Ocha said it was deeply concerned about the escalation of hostilities in nearby Khan Yunis, which have pushed more and more people south in recent days.

“Most are living in makeshift structures, tents or out in the open,” Ocha spokesman Jens Laerke said.

“Rafah is a pressure cooker of despair, and we fear for what comes next.”

04:13 AM GMT

Watch: US fighter jet takes off during Friday's operation

03:35 AM GMT

Iran escaping with a ‘slap on the wrist’, say Republicans

Democrats and Republicans are divided over Joe Biden’s strikes against Iranian targets in the Middle East on Friday night.

Jack Reed, the Democratic senator and chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee, welcomed the attack and said Iran had to be held accountable for the deaths of US troops in Jordan.

“Iran’s proxy forces in Syria and Iraq have been dealt a significant blow, and Iranian-linked militias around the Middle East should understand that they, too, will be held accountable,” Mr Reed said.

“I salute the brave US military members who carried out today’s strikes, and I support President Biden’s robust action.

“These strikes, in concert with wise diplomacy, send a clear signal that the United States will continue to take appropriate action to protect our personnel and our interests.”

Across the House floor, Republicans have been highly critical of the White House’s soft stance on Tehran and Senator Roger Wicker, also a member of the Armed Services Committee, said Friday’s strikes will do little to frighten the Iranian regime.

“These military strikes are welcome, but come far too late for the three brave Americans who died and the nearly 50 wounded,” Mr Wicker said.

“Iran and its proxies have tried to kill American soldiers and sink our warships 165 times while the Biden administration congratulates itself for doing the bare minimum.

“Instead of giving the Ayatollah the bloody nose that he deserves, we continue to give him a slap on the wrist.”

03:20 AM GMT

Analysis: Biden is entering political peril

Joe Biden’s reprisal strikes on Iranian military targets in Iraq and Syria on Friday night posed one of the riskiest tests of his presidency to date.

The president’s actions were carefully aimed at treading a delicate balance: refuting charges of weak leadership while avoiding dragging the US into a wider regional conflict.

Mr Biden faced pressure at home and abroad to respond to the killing of three US troops in Jordan last weekend in a manner that would unequivocally signal he will not let American deaths go unpunished.

But in the tinderbox of the Middle East conflicts, even the most carefully planned military action can have unforeseen consequences.

02:40 AM GMT

Militia deaths not yet known

It is unclear whether militia members were killed in the US attacks on Friday night.

Lt Gen Douglas Sims, the director of the Joint Staff, said: “We know that there are militants that use these locations, IRGC as well as Iranian-aligned militia group personnel.”

He added: “We made these strikes tonight with an idea that there there would likely be casualties associated with people inside those facilities.”

Syrian state media reported that there were casualties but did not give a number.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 18 militants were killed in the Syria strikes.

02:29 AM GMT

Today's top stories

• The United States dropped more than 125 bombs on Iran’s military and its allies in Iraq and Syria on Friday night as it began retaliation for attacks on American troops

• US bombers hit more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria, including sites held by the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

• Joe Biden, the US president, vowed to retaliate for the attacks against its soldiers, saying: “If you harm an American, we will respond”

• An Israeli minister has compared Lord Cameron to Neville Chamberlain after the foreign secretary suggested the UK may formally recognise Palestinian statehood