White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Sunday that President Biden is committed to staying in Syria following a series of attacks on US bases and US airstrikes in the country.
The Pentagon announced on Thursday night that it launched airstrikes in Syria after a drone attack killed a US contractor and wounded five US troops near Hasakah in northeast Syria.
In the early hours of 22 March, the Israeli air force launched renewed missile strikes on the vicinity of Aleppo International Airport in northeast Syria, marking the second attack on the civilian airstrip since a 7.7 magnitude earthquake devastated the region.
The House is expected to vote on a War Powers Resolution this Wednesday introduced by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) that would order President Biden to withdraw all US troops from Syria.
The House this week voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution to maintain sanctions on Syria following a devastating earthquake that has killed at least 5,900 people in the country, The Cradle reported on Wednesday.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has introduced a War Powers Resolution that would order President Biden to pull all US troops out of Syria, a move that came after four US troops were reported injured in a raid against ISIS in the country.
The US has issued a 180-day exemption for its sanctions on Syria that applies to “all transactions related to earthquake relief efforts,” according to the US Treasury Department.
US-imposed Caesar Act sanctions against the Syrian government have impeded humanitarian efforts in the country following the devastating 6 February earthquake, the UN Resident Coordinator for Syria, Mostafa Benlamlih, said on 8 February.
Cold, hunger and despair gripped hundreds of thousands of people left homeless after the earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria three days ago as the death toll passed 19,000 on Thursday.
After a devastating earthquake hit Syria and Turkey, killing thousands of people, the US State Department showed no interest in lifting crippling economic sanctions on Syria that are specifically designed to prevent the country’s reconstruction.
US Central Command announced last week that it was involved in 43 operations against ISIS in Iraq and Syria in the month of January. Task & Purpose reported the monthly average for US operations against ISIS in 2022 was 26 per month, signaling that the US military is stepping up its assaults against the terror group.
The first earthquake hit at a depth of 11 miles and was centred in southern Turkey, near the northern border of Syria, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
The State Department on Tuesday said that the US opposes other countries normalizing with the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad following high-level talks between Syria and Turkey.
A number of US troops and logistics forces have been arriving in the Syrian city of Raqqa recently, and are in the process of establishing a new military base in the area, in Hasakeh Province.
The US says it conducted two rounds of air strikes in eastern Syria in one day against groups affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC).
Turkish air strikes on Syria border posts run by regime forces killed 17 fighters on Tuesday, according to a war monitor, prompting the Damascus government to threaten retaliation.
Over the weekend, Israel carried out attacks against a poultry farm on the Syrian coast, wounding two civilians. Russia issued a statement Monday, warning such attacks are “categorically unacceptable.”
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Israel has been secretly coordinating with the US on many of its airstrikes in Syria, and senior officials at US Central Command have reviewed and approved many plans in recent years.
