Missile attacks across Middle East raise tensions as Iranian forces killed in strike on Syria

Iran has said five senior members of its Revolutionary Guards were killed in a strike on a neighbourhood in Syria, while Iran-backed militants fired ballistic missiles at a base hosting US personnel in Iraq.

Rescuers and soldiers stand at the site of a residential building after a strike in a neighbourhood of Damascus in Syria. Iran said five of its Revolutionary Guards were killed in the strike. Source: AAP / STR/EPA

Key Points

• Iran said senior members of its Revolutionary Guards were among those killed by a strike on a building in Syria.
• Iranian state media reported President Ebrahim Raisi calling the strike a "crime" that would not go unanswered.
• A strike in Lebanon reportedly killed a Hezbollah member, while America says an attack injured US personnel in Iraq.

Missile attacks in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen have thrown into sharp focus the increasing risk of the war in Gaza triggering a wider regional conflict pitting Iran and its allies against Israel and the United States.

Iran said five of its Revolutionary Guards were killed in a missile strike on a house in Damascus which it blamed on Israel, and security sources in Lebanon said an Israeli strike there killed a member of Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Iran-backed militants launched ballistic missiles at a base hosting US forces in western Iraq, causing one Iraqi and possible American casualties, the US Central Command said Saturday.

Soldiers and people check a damaged car at the site of residential building that was targeted in an alleged Israeli strike in Damascus, Syria. Source: AAP / STR/EPA

"Multiple ballistic missiles and rockets were launched by Iranian-backed militants in western Iraq targeting al-Assad Airbase," CENTCOM said in a social media post, which placed the time of the attack at 3.30pm GMT Saturday evening (2.30am Sunday AEDT).

Most of the projectiles were intercepted by the base's air defence systems but "others impacted on the base," the statement said.

"A number of US personnel are undergoing evaluation for traumatic brain injuries. At least one Iraqi service member was wounded," it added.

The United States also said it had targeted a missile the Iran-backed Houthi group in Yemen was aiming into the Red Sea, which it called a threat to shipping.

The current conflict in Gaza was triggered on 7 October when Hamas fighters stormed border defences to attack Israeli bases and towns, killing more than 1,200 people and seizing more than 240 hostages.

Hamas is part of Iran's "Axis of Resistance", a regional alliance that also includes Lebanon's Hezbollah, the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad, Shi'ite militia groups in Iraq and the Houthis who control much of Yemen.

Amid increased regional tensions, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi vowed to punish Israel for its strike in Syria, calling it a "crime" that would not go unanswered, according to a statement on Iran state broadcaster IRIB.

There was no comment from Israel, which typically does not discuss such attacks publicly.

Israel's intense bombardment of Gaza since 7 October, which health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave say has killed nearly 25,000 Palestinians, quickly triggered border clashes between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

A Lebanese soldier stands next to a damaged car in the southern town of Bazouriyeh, Lebanon. An Israeli drone strike on the car near the Lebanese southern port city of Tyre killed two people, the state-run National News Agency reported. Source: AAP / Mohammad Zaatari/AP

Over the past three months, Israel has also repeatedly struck at Iranian targets in Syria, while Iranian-backed groups in Syria and Iraq have fired at US targets in those countries.

Aside from Gaza, the theatre of conflict with the widest international repercussions has been the Red Sea, where the Houthis have repeatedly targeted shipping they say is bound for or linked to Israel.

Some companies are avoiding the key waterway, dealing a blow to global trade. US and British strikes over the past week have targeted Houthi forces in Yemen.

Regional and Iranian sources say Iran and Hezbollah have personnel in Yemen helping direct attacks on shipping, though the Houthis have denied that.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister expressed concern that tensions in the Red Sea over Houthi strikes and US counterattacks could spiral out of control in the Middle East.

"I mean, of course, we are very worried," Prince Faisal bin Farhan told CNN in an interview that will be aired on Sunday.

"We are in a very difficult and dangerous time in the region, and that's why we are calling for de-escalation."

In Gaza on Saturday, Palestinian fighters battled tanks trying to push back into the eastern suburbs of the Jabalia area in the northern strip, where Israel had started pulling out troops and shifting to smaller-scale operations, residents and militants said.

The Israeli military said aircraft struck militant squads trying to plant explosives near troops and fire missiles at tanks in northern Gaza and said it was striking targets throughout Gaza.