Four U.S. service members have been killed during military operations against Iran, the military said Monday, marking the first American casualties in the latest U.S. offensive. Iranian missile strikes have also killed nine people in Israel as the conflict entered its third day.
The deaths of U.S. troops occurred during Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran, in which four American personnel were also seriously wounded, U.S. Central Command said Monday.
The command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, had initially reported Sunday that three service members were killed before confirming a fourth death a day later.
The fourth service member had been seriously wounded during Iran’s initial counterattacks and later died of injuries, the command said in a statement Monday morning.
The casualties occurred among American personnel based in Kuwait, and the identities of the dead were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
“We pray for the full recovery of the wounded and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen,” President Donald Trump said in a video on social media Sunday. “And sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That’s the way it is. Likely be more, but we’ll do everything possible where that won’t be the case.”
In Israel, an Iranian ballistic missile strike in the city of Beit Shemesh on Sunday killed nine people, some of them inside a bomb shelter, and wounded dozens, including several children, The Jerusalem Post reported. Up to eight residences and the shelter were destroyed in the attack.
Authorities identified three of the dead as siblings Yaakov Bitton, 16, Avigail Bitton, 15, and Sarah Bitton, 13. About half of those killed died when the roof of the shelter collapsed, while the remaining victims were outside the structure.
Israeli emergency services mounted a large response at the scene. About 30 ambulances from Magen David Adom were dispatched, and Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command search and rescue teams worked with medical crews and helicopter evacuation units to treat and transport the wounded.
Hadassah University Medical Center said 18 injured people, including three children, were taken to its Ein Kerem campus in Jerusalem, while another 17, including four children, were transported to its Mount Scopus facility.
The U.S. Central Command said major combat operations remain underway and that the response effort continues.
The escalating losses came after the United States and Israel launched a large military operation early Saturday inside Iran, including a strike on the compound of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran that killed him.
Iran’s military responded with retaliatory strikes targeting Israel and other U.S.-allied nations across the Middle East, while the Iranian Red Crescent reported that 555 people have been killed in Iran since the conflict intensified.
Iranian missile attacks have continued to target Israel and its Arab neighbors as exchanges of fire persist.
Senior U.S. officials publicly acknowledged the likelihood of losses as the campaign expanded.
President Trump said in media interviews that casualties were expected in the conflict and described the killed service members as having “outstanding records.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also issued condolences in a message posted on X honoring those killed and injured.
Continue reading
