sites used by iran-backed mil militants. the pentagon says it s payback for attacks on american troops who are increasingly being targeted in the region. here s cnn s pentagon correspondent oren lieberman. reporter: rising tensions in the middle east with u.s. fighter jets carrying out a series of strikes in iraq against taiib hezbollah. mourners leading a funeral procession through the streets of baghdad as u.s. central command said the strikes likely killed a number of militants. president joe biden ordered the strikes after katayyib hezbollah, recognized by the u.s. as a terror organization, claimed responsibilior an attack clurring three u.s. service members, one in critical condition. the national security council said the president places no higher priority than the protection of american personnel serves in harm s way. the united states will act at a time and in a manner of our choosing should these attacks continue. u.s. forces in iraq and syria have been targeted a
welcome to this special year ending edition of hardtalk with me, stephen sackur. it s our chance to look back on some of the most telling and compelling encounters of 2023. how will this past year be remembered? well, a grim new phase in an intractable conflict will loom large. on october the 7th, hamas the islamist group which controls gaza and is proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the uk and the us launched a murderous attack on southern israel. 1,200 israelis were killed. israel s response was a ferocious assault on gaza, now in its third month, which has already inflicted tens of thousands of palestinian casualties. we cannot guarantee 100% safety for the people in gaza who will be around hamas militants. and that s why i keep saying, move out, move out from those neighbourhoods, because we are coming to hunt down hamas and we will do whatever is necessary from the air, from the sea, from the land. we will get to those people and we will kill them. you cannot d
the red sea as israel says it is being attacked from seven directions. plus, former president trump telling his foes to quote, rot in hell, the fbi investigating death threats against colorado judges. and a cnn investigation. the california man scammed out of more than a million dollars. it all started with a simple text message and you ll never believe who is behind it. let s go outfront. good evening. i m erica hill. outfront tonight, fears of a widening war and a greater u.s. involvement. the us navy intercepting krdron day tacks today. these are just the latest in a growing number of attacks in the area. they also come just one day after president biden directed strikes against a militia group. now iraq accusing the u.s. of quote hostile acts. all of this raising questions and concern about how deeply the u.s. is being drawn into the conflict in the middle east. israel s chief says his country is facing a multiarena war with attacks coming from seven directions. he of
baier, breaking tonight the conflict in the middle east escalates across the region. israeli forces are expanding the war zone, threatening more targeted attacks amid international pressure for a ceasefire. u.s. officials are asking prime minister benjamin netanyahu to deescalate in gaza, as the administration says, it s ramping up pressure on iranian backed groups. we have fox team coverage tonight chad pergram looks at the u.s. response to a drone attack that left three service members injured in northern iraq but we begin with trey yingst live from tel aviv. good evening trey. reporter: bret good evening. there is concern tonight about the possibility of a broader conflict with iran and its proxies as the war in gaza rages on. israeli forces in northern israel are on high alert as attacks from the lebanese militant group hezbollah continue. today a church took a direct hit from an anti tank guided missile injuring one civilian. when israelis troops arrived to evacuate th
and drill, drill, drill. that s not retribution. i am going to be he says, you are not going to be a dictator, are you? i said, no, no, no, other than day one. donald trump telling the world he plans to be a, quote, dictator on day one of his presidency. defenders at the former president at this missed that comment as a joke, a one-off quid that was never meant to be taken literally. trump himself had continued to promote the idea that he will be a vengeful dictator in a second trump presidency. over the holiday weekend, he shared this image of a word cloud put together by the daily mail. the image was based on a survey of what voters sent about trump s ambitions for a second term. and you can see that the most popular responses, the biggest ones represented in the middle r, power, revenge and dictatorship. revenge being the most devoted. that is the image that trump himself wants to cultivate ahead of the 2024 presidential election, an image she wants to promote, eve