US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to embark on his 12th trip to the Middle East since the onset of the Israel-Hamas conflict last year. This visit marks his first since Syrian President Bashar Assad’s recent departure to Russia, an event that has heightened regional uncertainty.  Blinken’s two-day itinerary will include stops in Jordan and Turkey, with discussions centered on Syria and broader efforts to end the Gaza conflict that has ravaged the Palestinian territory since October 2023. According to the State Department, Blinken will meet Jordanian leaders, including King Abdullah II, in Aqaba on Thursday before heading to Ankara for talks with Turkish officials on Friday. Additional regional visits remain a possibility.  The Biden administration is intensifying its diplomatic engagement in the Middle East as it navigates complex crises during its final weeks in office. President-elect Donald Trump has stated that the US should avoid entanglement in Syria, while the Biden administration continues to conduct airstrikes and maintain a military presence to prevent an Islamic State resurgence amid Syria’s ongoing turmoil.  State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller emphasized that Blinken’s visit aims to reaffirm US support for a Syrian-led transition to a representative and accountable government. Discussions will address minority rights, humanitarian aid delivery, terrorism prevention, and the elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles.  US warns Russia may use new lethal missile against Ukraine soon Blinken has signaled US willingness to back a new Syrian government meeting these conditions. While American officials maintain the foreign terrorist organization designation of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), once linked to al-Qaida, they have not ruled out dialogue with its members.  Ahead of his trip, Blinken spoke with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the UAE to reinforce US positions on Syria and stress the urgency of a Gaza ceasefire. The US continues to push for the release of hostages taken by Hamas and a framework for post-war governance, security, and reconstruction in Gaza.  Blinken’s visit follows Syrian President Assad’s flight to Russia over the weekend. Meanwhile, other senior US officials, including National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Army Gen Erik Kurilla are engaging with leaders across the region. Trump’s designated Middle East envoy, Stephen Witkoff, is also active in the region as the US prepares for a presidential transition.    Source: With inputs from wires

Israel said Tuesday that one of its airstrikes outside Beirut earlier this month killed a Hezbollah official widely expected to have replaced the militant group's longtime leader, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike last month. There was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah about the fate of Hashem Safieddine, a powerful cleric who was expected to succeed Hassan Nasrallah, one of the group’s founders. Safieddine was killed in early October in a strike that also killed 25 other Hezbollah leaders, according to Israel, whose airstrikes in southern Lebanon in recent months have killed many of Hezbollah’s top leaders, leaving the group in disarray. Last week, Israel killed the top leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, during a battle in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a trip to Israel that leaders there should “capitalize” on Sinwar's death as an opportunity to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of hostages taken during the deadly Hamas attack that started the war. Blinken also stressed the need for Israel to do more to help increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Palestinians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office called his meeting with Blinken, which lasted more than two hours, “friendly and productive.” The Beirut suburb where Safieddine was killed was pummeled by fresh airstrikes Tuesday, including one that leveled a building Israel said housed Hezbollah facilities. The collapse sent smoke and debris flying into the air a few hundred meters (yards) from where a spokesperson for Hezbollah had just briefed journalists about a weekend drone attack that damaged Netanyahu's house. Tuesday's airstrikes came 40 minutes after Israel issued an evacuation warning for two buildings in the area that it said were used by Hezbollah. The Hezbollah news conference nearby was cut short, and an Associated Press photographer captured an image of a missile heading towards the building moments before it was destroyed. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Hezbollah’s chief spokesman, Mohammed Afif, said the group was behind the Saturday drone attack on Netanyahu’s home in the coastal town of Caesarea. Israel has said neither the prime minister nor his wife were home at the time. Blinken's meetings with Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders was part of his 11th visit to the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. He landed hours after Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets into central Israel, setting off air raid sirens in populated areas and at its international airport, but causing no apparent damage or injuries. Hospitals in Lebanon fear being targeted by Israel An Israeli airstrike late Monday in Beirut destroyed several buildings across the street from the country’s largest public hospital, killing 18 people and wounding at least 60 others. The Israeli military said it struck a Hezbollah target, without elaborating, and said that it hadn’t targeted the hospital itself. AP reporters visited the Rafik Hariri University Hospital on Tuesday. They saw broken windows in the hospital’s pharmacy and dialysis center, which was full of patients at the time. Staff at another Beirut hospital feared it would be targeted after Israel alleged that Hezbollah had stashed hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold in its basement, without providing evidence. The director of the Sahel General Hospital denied the allegations and invited journalists to visit the hospital and its two underground floors on Tuesday. AP reporters saw no sign of militants or anything out of the ordinary. The few remaining patients had been evacuated after the Israeli military's announcement the night before. “We have been living in terror for the last 24 hours,” hospital director Mazen Alame said. “There is nothing under the hospital.” Many in Lebanon fear Israel could target its hospitals in the same way it has raided medical facilities across Gaza. The Israeli military has accused Hamas and other militants of using hospitals for military purposes, allegations denied by medical staff. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that 63 people have been killed over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll over the past year of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah to 2,546. Three Israeli soldiers were killed on Tuesday, one in Gaza, one in Lebanon, and one in a rocket attack in northern Israel, according to the military. Blinken trying to restart efforts to reach a cease-fire in Gaza During his meeting with Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders, Blinken underscored the need for a dramatic increase in the amount of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza, according to U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. The need for more aid in Gaza is something Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made clear in a letter to Israeli officials last week. Miller said Blinken also stressed the importance of ending the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated earlier this month when Israel began a ground invasion of southern Lebanon. The United States, Egypt and Qatar have brokered months of talks between Israel and Hamas, trying to strike a deal in which the militants would release dozens of hostages in return for an end to the war, a lasting cease-fire and the release of Palestinian prisoners. But both Israel and Hamas accused each other of making new and unacceptable demands over the summer, and the talks halted in August. Hamas says its demands haven't changed following the killing of Sinwar. Israel said it invaded Lebanon to try to stop near daily rocket attacks from Hezbollah since the start of the war in Gaza. Israel has said it plans to strike Iran — which backs both Hamas and Hezbollah — in response to its ballistic missile attack on Israel earlier this month. War rages in Lebanon and northern Gaza The U.S. has also tried to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, but those efforts fell apart as tensions spiked last month with a series of Israeli strikes that killed Nasrallah and most of his senior commanders. Israel has carried out waves of heavy airstrikes across southern Beirut and the country’s south and east, areas where Hezbollah has a strong presence. Hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets, missiles and drones into Israel over the past year, including some that have reached the country’s populous center. On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and took another 250 hostage. Around 100 of the captives are still held in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead. Israel says more strikes coming against Hezbollah-run financial institution Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded tens of thousands, according to local health authorities, who don't say how many were combatants but say more than half were women and children. It has also caused major devastation and displaced around 90% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million.

Powerful new explosions rocked Beirut's southern suburbs late Saturday as Israel expanded its bombardment in Lebanon, also striking a Palestinian refugee camp deep in the north for the first time as it targeted both Hezbollah and Hamas fighters. Thousands of people in Lebanon, including Palestinian refugees, continued to flee the widening conflict in the region, while rallies were held around the world marking the approaching anniversary of the start of the war in Gaza. The strong explosions began near midnight and continued into Sunday after Israel's military urged residents to evacuate areas in Dahiyeh, the predominantly Shiite collection of suburbs on Beirut’s southern edge. AP video showed the blasts illuminating the densely populated southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. They followed a day of sporadic strikes and the nearly continuous buzz of reconnaissance drones. Israel's military confirmed it was striking targets near Beirut and said about 30 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory, with some intercepted. The strikes reportedly targeted a building near a road leading to Lebanon’s only international airport, and another building formerly used by the Hezbollah-run broadcaster Al-Manar. Social media reports claimed that one of the strikes hit an oxygen tank storage facility, but this was later denied by the owner of the company Khaled Kaddouha. Shortly thereafter, Hezbollah claimed in a statement that it successfully targeted a group of Israeli soldiers near the Manara settlement in northern Israel “with a large rocket salvo, hitting them accurately.” On Saturday, Israel's attack on the northern Beddawi camp killed an official with Hamas’ military wing along with his wife and two young daughters, the Palestinian militant group said. Hamas later said another military wing member was killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley. The aftermath showed smashed buildings, scattered bricks and stairways to nowhere. Israel has killed several Hamas officials in Lebanon since the Israel-Hamas war began , in addition to most of the top leadership of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah as fighting has sharply escalated. At least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million driven from their homes in less than two weeks. Israel says it aims to drive the militant group away from shared borders so displaced Israelis can return to their homes. Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the strongest armed force in Lebanon, began firing rockets into Israel almost immediately after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, calling it a show of support for the Palestinians. Hezbollah and Israel's military have traded fire almost daily. Read: Israeli airstrike cuts major highway linking Lebanon with Syria Last week, Israel launched what it called a limited ground operation into southern Lebanon after a series of attacks killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others. The fighting is the worst since Israel and Hezbollah fought a brief war in 2006. Nine Israeli soldiers have been killed in the ground clashes that Israel says have killed 440 Hezbollah fighters. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told reporters in Damascus that “we are trying to reach a cease-fire in Gaza and in Lebanon.” The minister said the unnamed countries putting forward initiatives include regional states and some outside the Middle East. Araghchi spoke a day after the supreme leader of Iran praised its recent missile strikes on Israel and said it was ready to do it again if necessary. On Saturday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “Israel has the duty and the right to defend itself and respond to these attacks, and it will do so.” On Lebanon, he said ”we are not done yet." Fleeing Lebanon on foot Israel’s military earlier Saturday said about 90 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory. Most were intercepted, but several fell in the northern Arab town of Deir al-Asad, where police said three people were lightly injured. At least six people in Lebanon were killed in more than a dozen Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Saturday, according to the Lebanese state-run National News Agency. Nearly 375,000 people have fled from Lebanon into Syria in less than two weeks, according to a Lebanese government committee. Associated Press journalists saw hundreds continuing to cross the Masnaa Border Crossing on foot, crunching over the rubble after Israeli airstrikes left huge craters in the road leading to it on Thursday. Much of Hezbollah’s weaponry is believed to come from Iran through Syria. “We were on the road for two days,” said Issa Hilal, one of many Syrian refugees in Lebanon who are now heading back. “The roads were very crowded … it was very difficult. We almost died getting here." Some children whimpered or cried. Read more: An Israeli airstrike cuts a major highway linking Lebanon with Syria Other displaced families now shelter alongside Beirut’s famous seaside Corniche, their wind-flapped tents just steps from luxury homes. “We don’t care if we die, but we don’t want to die at the hands of Netanyahu,” said Om Ali Mcheik. The Israeli military said special forces were carrying out ground raids against Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon. It said troops dismantled tunnel shafts that Hezbollah used to approach the Israeli border. More evacuation orders in Gaza Almost 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during the war, according to the Health Ministry there, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. Almost 90% of Gaza’s residents are displaced, amid widespread destruction. Palestinian medical officials said Israeli strikes in northern and central Gaza on Saturday killed at least nine people. One in the northern town of Beit Hanoun killed at least five, including two children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Another hit a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least four, Awda hospital said. Israel's military did not have any immediate comment but has long accused Hamas of operating from within civilian areas. An Israeli airstrike killed two children in Gaza City’s Zaytoun neighborhood, according to the civil defense first responders’ group that operates under the Hamas-run government. Read more: Israeli strike in Beirut kills 9 as troops battle Hezbollah in southern Lebanon Israel's military warned Palestinians to evacuate along the strategic Netzarim corridor in central Gaza that was at the heart of obstacles to a cease-fire deal. The military told people in parts of the Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps to evacuate to Muwasi, a coastal area it has designated a humanitarian zone. It’s unclear how many Palestinians are in those areas. Israeli forces have often returned to areas in Gaza to target Hamas fighters as they regroup.

It was a turbulent year for the Middle East. The region witnessed bouts of reconciliation, conflict and disaster. Despite an unsettling year, a glimmer of hope remains on the horizon. HISTORICAL RAPPROCHEMENT PROGRESS Reconciliation and cooperation were prominent features in the Mideast during 2023, the landmark event of which was the normalization of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran. With the mediation of China, the two arch-rivals agreed in March to restore ties after a seven-year hiatus and re-established respective embassies and consulates. The visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Riyadh in November to attend the Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit marked the first visit by an Iranian head of state to Saudi Arabia in over a decade. Osama Danura, a Syrian political expert, said that China played an important role in restoring Saudi-Iranian diplomatic relations, with the country's efforts welcomed by the two sides and other regional players. Israel launches heavy strikes across central and southern Gaza after widening its offensive At the end of 2023, the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council and the Houthi militia committed to implementing a nationwide ceasefire, lifting economic restrictions, and engaging in preparations to resume inclusive UN-led political negotiations. Hadeer Said, a professor of international relations at the Cairo-based Institute of Arab Research and Studies, said that rapprochement between Riyadh and Teheran helped in defusing the crisis between Houthis in Yemen and Saudi, which will contribute to settling the inflaming Yemeni crisis. Furthermore, several reconciliation developments have been achieved in the region in 2023. Syria regained its membership in the Arab League after a suspension of over a decade, Türkiye and Egypt exchanged ministerial visits for the first time in years, and Qatar resumed diplomatic relations with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). "Peace, unity, cooperation and development are in the interests of the people of Arab countries," said Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud at the 32nd Arab League Summit held in May, stressing that "we will not let the region become a conflict zone." In the meantime, countries in the Middle East have played an increasingly important role in international and regional multilateral organizations. In July, Iran officially joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. In August, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran were invited to join the BRICS cooperation bloc. Afghan schoolgirls are finishing sixth grade in tears. Under Taliban rule, their education is over DEADLY DISASTERS & CONFLICTS Yet multiple disasters, including earthquakes in Türkiye and Morocco, hurricanes in Libya, and conflicts in Gaza, Sudan and Yemen, all cast a shadow over the region. On Feb. 6, a powerful earthquake struck southern Türkiye near the border with Syria, killing more than 50,000 people, leaving millions homeless and causing an estimated 100 billion U.S. dollars in damage in the country. On Sept. 8, another quake hit Morocco, killing about 2,900 people and injuring more than 5,000. In addition to natural disasters, armed conflicts shattered peaceful hopes. On April 15, fierce clashes broke out in Sudan's capital Khartoum between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force, which continues up to the present. On Oct. 7, a large-scale armed conflict broke out between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, causing the deaths of more than 20,000 Palestinians and about 1,200 Israelis. The Palestinian-Israeli issue has once again become the focus of attention of the international community, which has disrupted the reconciliation process between Israel and Arab countries. Serkan Demirtas, a Turkish foreign policy analyst, said the ongoing Palestine-Israel conflict has dramatically increased geopolitical tensions across the Middle East, with a far-reaching impact on international relations. ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN Many economies in the region entered a downturn over 2023. Türkiye, Lebanon, Syria and Iran suffered from sharp depreciation, high inflation or soaring unemployment. The Lebanese pound, Egyptian pound and Turkish lira repeatedly hit new lows against the dollar. Lose a limb or risk death? Growing numbers among Gaza's thousands of war-wounded face hard decisions What's worse, the ongoing Gaza conflict heavily impacted the economies of both sides and neighboring countries, such as Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. The World Bank reported in October that the gross domestic product of the Middle East and North Africa was expected to decline sharply, from 6 percent in 2022 to about 1.9 percent in 2023. Zhao Jun, an associate professor of the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, said the economic downturn in many countries in the Middle East could hardly be reversed in the short term due to low oil prices resulting in oil production cuts, a tense global financial environment, the continued raising interest rates by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the spillover effect of the Ukraine crisis on food and raw materials prices. The good news was that the world's largest single photovoltaic power station, Al Dhafra, was completed recently in Abu Dhabi. The plant will generate electricity to power 200,000 homes annually. It will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2.4 million metric tons, again demonstrating the determination of the oil-and-gas-rich Gulf state to diversify its energy resources and green development. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, which aims to diversify its growth, gradually evolved from blueprint to reality. According to a recent report by the International Monetary Fund, Saudi Arabia is in a period of strong economic growth with a sound fiscal position.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to attend the Qatar Economic Forum, the Middle East's leading voice dedicated to global business and investment, to be held in Doha on May 23-25. However, there is no official announcement yet regarding the visit.  Strategically located in Doha, the Forum draws on Qatar’s ability to link Asia with Africa and beyond, as well as its position as a key global diplomatic hub and a leader in LNG energy technologies. Also Read: Economic cooperation needed among countries in South and Southeast Asia: PM tells outgoing Korean envoy The forum features a curated group of global leaders and innovators exploring solutions for some of today’s more pertinent challenges as they draw up a blueprint for our shared future, said the organisers.  Mohammed S. Al-Sudani, Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq, Irakli Garibashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia, Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, Akbar Al-Baker, Group CEO of Qatar Airways, Khalid A. Al-Falih, Minister of Investment, Also Read: PM Hasina: Election-time government can include opposition MPs in Parliament Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan, Minister of Finance, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, State of Qatar, President & CEO of QatarEnergy are among the guests.  The organisers of the event put Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s name as one of the guests among Heads of State and Government. Qatar Economic Forum 2023 will focus on prominent global challenges that affect societies and economies around the world.  Also Read: PM Hasina: Climate-induced disasters may disrupt Bangladesh’s smooth LDC graduation The 2023 edition will revolve around global growth and establishing a new roadmap for global growth in this challenging economic environment.  Once finalised, the Prime Minister will be heading for Doha on May 22 and will return home on May 26, says a diplomatic source.   

Economies across the Middle East and Central Asia will likely slow this year as persistently high inflation and rising interest rates bite into their post-pandemic gains, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday. The IMF's Regional Economic Outlook blamed in part rising energy costs, as well as elevated food prices, for the estimated slower growth. The report said that while oil-dependent economies of the Gulf Arab states and others in the region have reaped the benefits of elevated crude prices, other countries — such as Pakistan — have seen growth collapse after an unprecedented flooding last summer or as economic woes worsened. The regional slowdown also comes as an explosion of fighting in Sudan between two top rival generals — who only a year ago as allies orchestrated a military coup that upended the African country's transition to democracy — threatens a nation where IMF and World Bank debt relief remains on hold. Rising interest rates, used by central banks worldwide to try to stem inflation's rise, increase the costs of borrowing money. That will affect nations carrying heavier debts, the IMF warned. Also Read: IMF satisfied with progress of BBS’ GDP and inflation data updated under new method “This year we’re seeing inflation again being the most challenging issue for most of the countries," Jihad Azour, the director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the IMF, told The Associated Press. "For those who have high level of debt, the challenge of increase in interest rate globally, as well as also the tightening of monetary policy, is affecting them.” The IMF forecast predicts regional growth will drop from 5.3% last year to 3.1% this year. Overall, regional inflation is expected to be at 14.8%, unchanged from last year, as Russia's war on Ukraine continues to pressure global food supplies and affect energy markets. It will be even worse in Pakistan, where the IMF projected inflation to more than double, to about 27%. Pakistan and IMF officials have held repeated talks over the release of a stalled key tranche of a $6 billion bailout package loan to Islamabad. The IMF warned that financial conditions worldwide will tighten this year, brought on in part by two bank failures in the United States in March. The sudden collapse of Credit Suisse before it was purchased by UBS also strained markets. For Sudan, Azour acknowledged the challenge as the country faces a humanitarian crisis brought on by the weeks of fighting there. The violence has also worsened a debt crisis that has gripped the country for decades as it faced Western sanctions. “We have worked with the government of Sudan, for the Sudanese people, in order to help them by achieving a debt operation that would allow Sudan to have a debt relief of more than $50 billion," Azour said. "But unfortunately, the recent developments ... put in a halt to all of of those efforts,” he added.

Twenty years after the U.S. invaded Iraq — in blinding explosions of shock and awe — American forces remain in the country in what has become a small but consistent presence to ensure an ongoing relationship with a key military and diplomatic partner in the Middle East. The roughly 2,500 U.S. troops are scattered around the country, largely in military installations in Baghdad and in the north. And while it is a far cry from the more than 170,000 U.S. forces in Iraq at the peak of the war in 2007, U.S. officials say the limited — but continued — troop level is critical as a show of commitment to the region and a hedge against Iranian influence and weapons trafficking. A look at America's evolving role in Iraq: HOW DID IT START? The U.S. invaded Iraq in March 2003 in what it called a massive “shock and awe” bombing campaign that lit up the skies, laid waste to large sections of the country and paved the way for American ground troops to converge on Baghdad. The invasion was based on what turned out to be faulty claims that Saddam Hussein had secretly stashed weapons of mass destruction. Such weapons never materialized. Also Read: Iraq’s crackdown on booze, social media posts raises alarm Saddam was toppled from power, and America's war shifted the country’s governing base from minority Arab Sunnis to majority Shiites, with Kurds gaining their own autonomous region. While many Iraqis welcomed Saddam's ouster, they were disappointed when the government failed to restore basic services and the ongoing battles instead brought vast humanitarian suffering. Resentment and power struggles between the Shiites and the Sunnis fueled civil war, leading ultimately to America's complete withdrawal in December 2011. The divide was a key factor in the collapse of the nation's police and military forces when faced with the Islamic State insurgency that swept across Iraq and Syria in 2014. Also Read: Iraqi president says country now peaceful, life is returning THE U.S. RETURNS The rise of the Islamic State group — its roots were in al-Qaida affiliates — and its expanding threat to the U.S. and allies across Europe sent the U.S. back into Iraq at the invitation of the Baghdad government in 2014. Over that summer and fall, the U.S.-led coalition launched airstrike campaigns in Iraq and then Syria, and restarted a broad effort to train and advise Iraq's military. The coalition's train and advise mission has continued, bolstered by a NATO contingent, even after the Islamic State group's campaign to create a caliphate was ended in March 2019. The roughly 2,500 troops deployed to Iraq live on joint bases with Iraqi troops, where they provide training and equipment. That troop total, however, fluctuates a bit, and the Pentagon does not reveal the number of U.S. special operations forces that routinely move in and out of the country to assist Iraqi forces or travel into Syria for counterterrorism operations. “Iraq is still under pressure from ISIS,” said retired Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie, who led U.S. Central Command and served as the top U.S. commander for the Middle East from 2019 to 2022. “We still help them continue that fight. We’ve done a lot of things to help them improve the control of their own sovereignty, which is of very high importance to the Iraqis.” Also Read: Targeting Iran, US tightens Iraq's dollar flow, causing pain WHY THE U.S. PRESENCE CONTINUES The much-stated reason for the continued U.S. troop presence is to help Iraq battle the remnants of the Islamic State insurgency and prevent any resurgence. But a key reason is Iran. Iran's political influence and militia strength in Iraq and throughout the region has been a recurring security concern for the U.S. over the years. And the presence of American forces in Iraq makes it more difficult for Iran to move weapons across Iraq and Syria into Lebanon, for use by its proxies, including the Lebanese Hezbollah, against Israel. The same is true for the U.S. troop presence around the al-Tanf garrison in southeastern Syria, which is located on a vital road that can link Iranian-backed forces from Tehran all the way to southern Lebanon — and Israel’s doorstep. In both Iraq and Syria, U.S. troops disrupt what could be an uncontested land bridge for Iran to the eastern Mediterranean. U.S. troops in Iraq also provide critical logistical and other support for American forces in Syria, who partner with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces battling the Islamic State group. The U.S. conducts airstrikes and other missions targeting IS leaders, and also supports the SDF in guarding thousands of captured IS fighters and family members imprisoned in Syria. Military leaders successfully beat back efforts by then-President Donald Trump to pull all troops out of both Syria and Iraq. They argued that if anything were to happen in Syria that endangered U.S. forces, they would need to be able to quickly send troops, equipment and other support from Iraq. In a recent visit to Baghdad to meet with Iraqi leaders, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said U.S. forces are ready to remain in Iraq, in a noncombat role, at the invitation of the government. “We’re deeply committed to ensuring that the Iraqi people can live in peace and dignity, with safety and security and with economic opportunity for all,” he said. IRAQ BY THE NUMBERS By the time Washington withdrew its last combat troops in December 2011, tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians were dead, along with 4,487 American troops. More than 3,500 troops were killed in hostile action and nearly 1,000 died in noncombat deaths from 2003 to 2011. More than 32,000 troops were wounded in action; tens of thousands more have also reported illnesses to the Department of Veterans Affairs that are believed to be linked to toxic exposure from the burn pits in Iraq. Legislation signed into law by the Biden administration has expanded the number of those veterans who will qualify for lifetime care or benefits due to that exposure. From 2003 through 2012, the United States provided $60.64 billion to fund Iraq's security forces and civilian reconstruction, according to the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. Of that total, $20 billion went to funding, equipping, providing uniforms for and training Iraq's security forces. There were roughly 100,000 contractors each year in Iraq supporting U.S. forces and the U.S. mission from 2007 until 2010, according to the Congressional Research Service. As of late last year, there were about 6,500 contractors supporting U.S. operations in Iraq and Syria, according to U.S. Central Command.

A Palestinian man who entered a settlement in the occupied West Bank armed with knives and explosive devices was shot and killed by an Israeli settler on Friday, the Israeli military said, just hours after a Palestinian gunman shot and wounded Israelis in downtown Tel Aviv. The new violence was the latest to grip Israel and the West Bank in one of the deadliest periods of unrest among Israelis and Palestinians in years. The Israeli military said the armed Palestinian slipped into a farm near the settlement of Karnei Shomron, in the northern West Bank, and was fatally shot by an Israeli settler overseeing the land. Palestinian authorities identified the man as 21-year-old Abed al-Sheikh. His father, Badaie al-Sheikh, said Israeli security forces searched his house, interrogated him and confiscated his son's phone in the nearby Palestinian village of Saniriya. Hours earlier, Israeli security forces entered the Palestinian village of Naalin and prepared to demolish the family house of the Palestinian suspected of carrying out the shooting in Tel Aviv on Thursday night. The shooter had opened fire near Dizengoff Street in a bustling area of Tel Aviv’s city center and wounded three Israelis, including one critically. Hamas group claimed the attacker, a 23-year-old former prisoner named Moataz Khawaja, as a member of the organization’s armed wing. Hamas said the shooting came in response to an Israeli military arrest raid that day that killed three gunmen in the northern village of Jaba, along with another raid earlier this week that killed seven Palestinians in the flashpoint Jenin refugee camp, including a wanted assailant and a 14-year-old boy. “We promise more painful strikes throughout our occupied land as long as (Israel's) aggression continues and its crimes escalate,” the Palestinian group said. Israeli police said Friday they were continuing their investigation into the attack, and that two men from the Israeli town of Ramle, near Tel Aviv, and the Bedouin town of Kuseife, in the Negev desert, had turned themselves in over their alleged smuggling of the gunman and other Palestinians from the occupied West Bank into Israel. As Israeli forces stormed into Naalin and arrested two family members of the suspected attacker for questioning, they said they were met by a barrage of explosive devices, Molotov cocktails and stones. Israeli troops responded with gunfire, which they said struck at least one Palestinian. The person's condition was unclear. Before being arrested, Khawaja's father, Salah Khawaja, said he felt pride in his son for carrying out the attack. Like many Palestinians living in an environment where attacks on Israelis are celebrated and their perpetrators exalted, he expressed little sympathy for Israeli civilians and said he understood his son's desire for revenge. “Praise God, Moataz is beloved by everyone,” he told reporters. “Any young man who witnesses such massacres will naturally respond.” Further north, Israeli forces entered the Palestinian city of Tulkarm, home to an emerging armed group that has increasingly attracted young Palestinians angry at Israeli violence and disillusioned by their leadership. Gunmen opened fire, striking an Israeli military vehicle in the city, the army said. Others hurled explosive devices and shot at Israeli forces from a passing car. The Israeli army said it responded with live fire. There were no immediate reports of casualties on either side. The past few months have been marked by rising violence in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which Israel captured along with the Gaza strip in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians seek them for a future independent state. At least 75 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire during military arrest raids and other confrontations so far this year, according to a tally by The Associated Press. Over that same period, a series of attacks by Palestinians against Israelis has left at least 14 Israelis dead so far this year, all but one of them civilians. The upsurge in deaths has raised fears of a possible greater escalation under Israel's most right-wing government in history, which has pledged tough action against the Palestinians.

The Israeli army raided the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday, Palestinian health officials said, leading to a gunbattle that killed at least six Palestinians and wounded 10 others. Israeli military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss events still unfolding, said the army had entered Jenin to arrest suspects involved in the killing of two Israeli brothers in the northern West Bank town of Hawara last week. The army also said it was operating in the nearby flashpoint city of Nablus for the same reason. Residents of Nablus reported that at least two people were arrested before the army withdrew. The Jenin brigade, a loosely organized armed group based in the refugee camp, said its men were shooting and throwing explosive devices at Israeli soldiers who had surrounded a house in the refugee camp. Videos showed black smoke billowing from the house after the group reported that the army fired missiles at the house when the suspects refused to surrender, the group reported. The Palestinian Health Ministry said six people were shot and killed, including 26-year-old Mohammed Ghazawi, and at least 10 others wounded. The ministry did not immediately offer further details on the other five killed. The group said on Telegram that its fighters shot down two Israeli drones, posting pictures of young men cheering wildly and taking selfies as they held the charred aircraft aloft. The Israeli military said it was aware of the reports but declined to immediately comment. Tuesday’s raid was the latest in a string of deadly arrest operations by the Israeli military in the northern West Bank, as violence and deaths in the occupied territory surge to the highest levels seen in years. Over the last year of near-daily Israeli military raids, the densely populated Jenin refugee camp has emerged as a hub of activity. More than 60 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire this year, according to a tally by The Associated Press. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed 14 Israelis, all but one of them civilians, during that same time. Last month, a rare daytime military raid in the Old City of Nablus targeting the Lion’s Den, a recently formed group, sparked an hourslong gunfight that left 10 Palestinians dead. Palestinian armed groups said that six of the casualties were of theirs. Others appeared to be bystanders. Earlier on Tuesday, Israel’s far-right national security minister joined Jewish revelers in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, dancing with residents from the hard-line settler community as they celebrated the holiday of Purim. Itamar Ben-Gvir — dressed in a costume combining elements of various uniforms of forces under his command — danced, sang and took selfies with party-goers and soldiers at an event in an Israeli settlement in Hebron. Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist politician in Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government, lives in an adjacent settlement. It was the latest show of force by ultranationalist settlers in the occupied West Bank, who have been bolstered by Ben-Gvir and other allies in the new Israeli government. Overnight, settlers injured a Palestinian man in the same Palestinian town where a settler mob burned cars and houses last week. Hebron is a contested city that is home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a site considered holy to Muslims, Christians and Jews. Hundreds of hard-line settlers live in fortified enclaves under military protection in the heart of a city of more than 200,000 Palestinians. Tuesday’s celebration came under heavy security and passed from a settlement to the Israeli-controlled downtown area, where Palestinians have been evicted or forced to close shops over the years. Ben-Gvir, who leads a small ultranationalist faction in Netanyahu’s government, has been a well-known face in Hebron for many years. Before entering office, he was arrested dozens of times and was once convicted of incitement and supporting a Jewish terrorist group. Until recently, he hung a photo in his living room of Baruch Goldstein, a radical Jewish settler who in 1994 killed 29 Palestinians during prayers in the tomb, known to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque. The shooting happened on Purim that year. Ben-Gvir, surrounded by bodyguards on Tuesday, is now a prominent figure in Israel’s government, which includes leading members of the settler movement. He held a child and shook hands with the crowd as he explained the significance of his costume. “We love all of you, members of the security forces,” he said. The celebrations came at a time of heightened tensions between Israelis and Palestinians across the West Bank. Jewish settlers wounded a Palestinian man in a flashpoint town of Hawara late Monday that was torched in a settler rampage last week, medics said. The town, where a Palestinian shot and killed two Israeli brothers, was the scene of the worst settler-led attack in decades on Feb. 26, as mobs of Israeli settlers set buildings and cars on fire in revenge for the shooting. Late Monday, a group of settlers came to the main Hawara thoroughfare in a van, blasting music in what Palestinian officials described as a provocation. Monday evening marked the beginning of Purim, which is typically celebrated with costumes and revelry. Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official who monitors Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank, said several Israeli settlers attacked a supermarket. Paramedics said that one man was treated for a head injury. Security camera footage from near the shop appeared to show Israeli settlers throwing rocks at it, and Palestinians hurling stones back. Outside, Israeli men dressed in black are seen hurling stones and pounding the windows of a car with people inside. Amateur video footage appeared to show Israeli settlers dancing with soldiers on the main Hawara road, alongside a van with the words “Happy Purim” emblazoned on the side. The army said the soldiers’ conduct was “not aligned with the behavior expected” and that the incident was under review. Israel captured the West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war, territories the Palestinians seek for their future state. In the decades since, more than 500,000 Jewish settlers have moved into dozens of settlements, which the international community considers illegal and an obstacle to peace.

Two airplanes, carrying passengers from Qatar and Saudi Arabia headed for Dhaka airport, made emergency landings at Sylhet Osmani International Airport due to dense fog on Tuesday. The airplanes of US-Bangla Airlines and Biman from Doha of Qatar and Dammam of Saudi Arabia respectively made the emergency landing. Belayet Hossain, an officer of US-Bangla at the Osmani airport, said the US-Bangla flight carrying 140 passengers was supposed to land at Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport in the capital in the morning but it landed at the Osmani airport at 8.20am due to the dense fog. Biman flight makes emergency landing in Sylhet Later, the airplane with the passengers took off for Dhaka when normalcy returned around 10.20am, he said. Borhan Uddin, controller of Biman Bangladesh Airlines at Sylhet office, said the Dammam-return flight made the emergency landing in Sylhet around 10am due to the adverse weather in Dhaka. The airplane, however, left the airport for Dhaka an half-hour after its urgent landing, he added. Read more: Mechanical glitch: Biman flight makes emergency landing in Chattagram