BEIRUT —
A drone strike early Sunday that killed three U.S. service members and wounded dozens more is threatening to upend the Biden administration’s delicate effort to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spiraling into a broader regional conflict or direct confrontation with Iran.
In the more than three months since Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis in a surprise attack and Israel responded with a punishing invasion of the Gaza Strip that has left more than 26,000 dead, President Biden has tried to keep hostilities from spreading in the restive region.
Before Sunday, U.S. bases in Syria and Iraq had been the targets of some 160 attacks by Iran-backed militias angry over American support for Israel and Israel’s attacks on Gaza. But despite numerous injuries to American troops in those strikes, the administration has avoided strong retaliation or counterattacks, with the notable exception of U.S. airstrikes against Houthi rebels who claimed responsibility for a string of maritime missile attacks in the Gulf of Aden.
Sunday’s deadly drone attack along the Jordan-Syria border may alter that approach, forcing Biden to find a way to respond without sparking a regionwide showdown with Iran.
Also complicating the task were reports Monday —first appearing in the Wall Street Journal — that U.S. forces protecting operations in the region may have mistaken the enemy drone for a U.S. one that was returning to its base about the same time. Believing it was an American drone, they allowed it to cross unchallenged to the base, Associated Press said Monday.
A Pentagon spokeswoman declined to comment on the reports and said it was still investigating the drone strike, including the possibility of human error.
Central to the question Biden now faces is what role Iran played in the strike, which marked the first time American troops have been killed by hostile fire in the region since the start of the war.
The attack was claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a catch-all label for a variety of Iranian-backed militias operating in Iraq and Syria. A statement released Sunday night said it was part of a trio of strikes on U.S. bases in the region and came “in respo