Current and former U.S. officials expressed fears on Tuesday that Israel's airstrikes on an Iranian embassy compound in Syria could escalate hostilities in the region, and prompt retaliatory strikes against Israel and its American ally. The officials said the attack on Monday, which killed three generals in Iran's Quds Force and four other officers, had dealt a serious blow to the force, the external military and intelligence service of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Ralph Goff, a former senior C.I.A. official who served in the Middle East, called Israel's strike "incredibly reckless." "It will only result in escalation by Iran and its proxies, which is very dangerous" to American troops in the region who could be targeted in retaliatory strikes by Tehran's proxies, Mr. Goff said. Indeed, after the Israeli strike in Damascus, Syria's capital, on Monday, American troops based in southeastern Syria knocked down an attack drone, a Defense Department official said.

This was the day that President Biden and his team had feared for more than three months, the day that relatively low-level attacks by Iranian proxy groups on American troops in the Middle East turned deadly and intensified the pressure on the president to respond in kind. With three American service members killed and two dozen more injured by a drone in Jordan, Mr. Biden must decide how far he is willing to go in terms of retaliation at the risk of a wider war that he has sought to avoid ever since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas touched off the current Middle East crisis. Until now, the president had carefully calibrated his responses to the more than 150 attacks by Iranian-backed militias on American forces in the region since Oct. 7. He essentially ignored the majority that were successfully intercepted or did little to no damage while authorizing limited U.S. strikes focused mainly on buildings, weapons and infrastructure after attacks that were more brazen, most notably against the Houthis in Yemen who have targeted shipping in the Red Sea. The first deaths of American troops under fire, however, will require a different level of response, American officials said, and the president's advisers were in consensus about that as they consulted with him by secure videoconference on Sunday.

Fox News reporter Stephanie Bennett has more on the rising tension in the Middle East on'Fox News Live.' Three U.S. service members were killed and 25 others were injured in a drone attack on an outpost in northeast Jordan near the Syria border, U.S. Central Command confirmed on Sunday. "On Jan. 28, three U.S. service members were killed and 25 injured from a one-way attack UAS that impacted at a base in northeast Jordan, near the Syria border. As a matter of respect for the families and in accordance with DoD policy, the identities of the servicemembers will be withheld until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified," CENTCOM said. "Updates will be provided as they become available," it added. The White House says President Biden was briefed Sunday morning by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer about the attack, which marked a significant escalation in the Middle East as the first time American troops have been killed by enemy fire in the region since the Israel-Hamas war began.

For the second time in nearly two weeks, the United States carried out airstrikes against a facility used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and its proxies in eastern Syria early Thursday, ratcheting up retaliation for a steady stream of rocket and drone attacks against American forces in Iraq and Syria. The strikes by two Air Force F-15E jets against a weapons warehouse in Deir al Zour Province, Syria, came after U.S. airstrikes on Oct. 27 against similar targets in eastern Syria failed to deter Iran or its proxies in Syria and Iraq, which the Biden administration has blamed for the attacks. Not only have the attacks continued -- there have been at least 22 more since the American retaliatory strikes last month -- but Pentagon officials said they have become more dangerous. Iran-backed militias have packed even larger loads of explosives -- more than 80 pounds -- onto drones launched at American bases, U.S. officials said. "This precision self-defense strike is a response to a series of attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by I.R.G.C.-Quds Force affiliates," Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said in a statement.

A U.S. Navy warship in the northern Red Sea on Thursday shot down three cruise missiles and several drones launched from Yemen that the Pentagon said might have been headed toward Israel. "We cannot say for certain what these missiles and drones were targeting, but they were launched from Yemen heading north along the Red Sea, potentially towards targets in Israel," Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, told reporters. The missiles and drones were launched by pro-Iranian Houthi rebels in Yemen amid a flurry of drone attacks against American troops in Iraq and Syria over the past three days, General Ryder said. The incidents underscored the risks that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas could spiral into a wider war.

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Two U.S. defense officials have confirmed to Fox News that the U.S. intercepted two one-way attack drones targeting Iraq's al-Asad air base where American troops are located. The incident happened early Wednesday morning local time. No injuries have been reported.

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Iran claimed responsibility Sunday for a missile barrage that struck near a sprawling U.S. consulate complex in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, saying it was retaliation for an Israeli strike in Syria that killed two members of its Revolutionary Guard earlier this week. No injuries were reported in Sunday's attack on the city of Irbil, which marked a significant escalation between the U.S. and Iran. Hostility between the longtime foes has often played out in Iraq, whose government is allied with both countries.

A former U.S. military interpreter says the Taliban have begun executing U.S. allies away from Kabul where there is not media attention. The House Problem Solvers Caucus has voted to officially call on President Joe Biden to extend the August 31 withdrawal date from Afghanistan as the administration scrambles to evacuate Americans stranded in Taliban-controlled Kabul. "As Democrats and Republicans, we stand united in our commitment to protecting U.S. citizens, diplomats, intelligence officers, and our foreign partners who are currently attempting to flee Afghanistan," the statement endorsed by the caucus read. "In this time of tremendous danger, politics must be put aside to advance our common goals. From this week's bipartisan Member briefing, it is apparent that the Administration's set date for departure from Afghanistan on August 31st does not provide enough time to evacuate all American citizens and our partners. We respectfully call on the Administration to reconsider its timeline and provide a clear plan to Congress that will result in the completion of our shared national objectives."

ABOARD, A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT – The top U.S. commander for the Middle East slipped quietly into Iraq Tuesday, as the Trump administration works to salvage relations with Iraqi leaders and shut down the government's push for an American troop withdrawal. Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie became the most senior U.S. military official to visit since an American drone strike in Baghdad last month killed a top Iranian general, enraging the Iraqis. McKenzie met with Iraq leaders in Baghdad and then went to see American troops at al-Asad Air base, which was bombed by Iran last month in retaliation for the drone attack. Later, he said he was "heartened" by the meetings, adding, "I think we're going to be able to find a way forward." His visit comes amid heightened anti-American sentiment that has fueled violent protests, rocket attacks on the embassy and a vote by the Iraqi parliament pushing for withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country.

Fox News Flash top headlines for Jan. 30 are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Joint military operations between coalition and Iraqi forces against the Islamic State group will resume, the Iraqi military said Thursday, after a nearly three-week pause that saw tensions between Washington and Tehran come to a boiling point. The escalations with Iran began after a U.S. drone strike killed one of its top generals in Baghdad earlier this month. Iraqi lawmakers subsequently voted to expel U.S. troops from the country in a non-binding resolution, a move Iraqi military officials said would jeopardize its fight against ISIS, which had overtaken large swaths of the country several years ago and has since been defeated.