Saudi fighter jets bombed targets linked to powerful Tehran-backed Shi’ite militias in Iraq during the Iran war, while retaliatory strikes were also launched from Kuwait into ​Iraq, Reuters reported citing multiple sources familiar with the matter.

The strikes are part of a broader pattern of military responses around the Gulf that remained largely hidden during a conflict ‌that began with U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran and has spread to the wider Middle East.

For this report, Reuters spoke to three Iraqi security and military officials, a Western official, and two people briefed on the matter, one of them in the U.S.

The Saudi strikes were carried out by Saudi air force fighter jets on Iran-linked militia targets near the kingdom’s northern border with Iraq, one Western official and the person briefed on the matter said. The Western ​official said some strikes took place around the time of the April 7 U.S.-Iran ceasefire.

They targeted sites from which drone and missile attacks were launched at Saudi Arabia and other ​Gulf states, the sources said.

Citing military assessments, the Iraqi sources said rocket attacks were launched on at least two occasions from Kuwaiti territory on ⁠Iraq. One set of strikes hit militia positions in southern Iraq in April, killing several fighters and destroying a facility used by Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah for communications and drone operations, they said.

Reuters ​could not determine whether the rockets from Kuwait were fired by the Kuwaiti armed forces or the U.S. military, which has a large presence there. The U.S. military declined to comment. The Kuwaiti ​information ministry and the Iraqi government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

SAUDI ARABIA ALSO HIT IRAN

A Saudi foreign ministry official said Saudi Arabia sought de-escalation, self-restraint and the “reduction of tensions in pursuit of the stability, security and prosperity of the region,” but did not address the issue of strikes on Iraq. A spokesperson for Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Tuesday, Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia launched strikes ​directly on Iran during the war in retaliation for attacks on the kingdom, the first time Riyadh is known to have hit Iranian soil. The UAE also carried out similar strikes on ​Iran, three people familiar with the matter said.

But hundreds of the drones that targeted the Gulf emanated from Iraq, all the sources said.

Militia-linked Telegram channels repeatedly posted statements during the war claiming attacks on targets in Gulf ‌states, including ⁠Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Reuters could not independently confirm their authenticity.

Sustained attacks from a second front in Iraq prompted Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to lose patience with the militias, which collectively command tens of thousands of fighters and arsenals including missiles and drones.

Kuwait summoned Iraq’s representative in the country three times during the war to protest cross-border attacks, as well as the storming of the Kuwaiti consulate in the city of Basra on April 7. Saudi Arabia also summoned Iraq’s ambassador on April 12 to protest attacks.

IRAQ-GULF TIES DEFINED BY SUSPICION

Gulf Arab relations with Iraq have long been defined by suspicion. Ties were ​severely damaged in 1990 when Iraqi President Saddam ​Hussein’s forces invaded Kuwait and fired Scud ⁠missiles at Saudi Arabia, and they remained strained for decades.

The 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq deepened Gulf concerns by empowering Shi’ite political factions and armed groups closely tied to Tehran, turning Iraq into a key node in Iran’s regional network of proxies.

Gulf states have repeatedly accused Baghdad of failing to ​rein in those groups, which operate with significant autonomy and have launched attacks across borders.

A China-brokered détente between Iran and Saudi Arabia in ​2023 had offered hope for ⁠broader regional stabilisation. But the outbreak of war has severely tested those gains, drawing Gulf states into a conflict they had sought to avoid and exposing the limits of diplomatic progress made in recent years.

In March, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait had warned Baghdad via diplomatic channels to curb rocket and drone attacks by pro-Iranian groups against Gulf states, according to two Iraqi security officials and a government security adviser.

Iraqi forces say ⁠they intercepted some ​attempted attacks, including the seizure of a rocket launcher west of Basra intended to strike Saudi energy facilities.

But Iran-backed ​militias continue to fly surveillance drones along Iraq’s borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, conducting reconnaissance and feeding intelligence to Iran, according to four Iraqi security sources and a person briefed on the matter.

“They are gathering information on what has been ​damaged, what is still working. They are preparing for the next strike,” the person briefed on the matter said.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says 70 children have been killed in the occupied Palestinian territories excluding Gaza since the beginning of 2025, averaging about one child per week.

UNICEF also reported that more than 800 children have been injured in the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the same period. According to the agency, most of those killed or injured were struck by live ammunition, while others were stabbed, beaten, or exposed to pepper spray.

UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said the cases reflect “a sustained pattern of the worst kind of violations against children” during a briefing in Geneva following a visit to the West Bank.

The agency stated that 93% of the children killed since January 2025 were reportedly killed by Israeli forces, while others were killed in settler attacks, by unexploded ordnance, or in incidents involving Palestinian forces.

The Israeli military has not yet commented on the report.

Human rights organizations have previously reported an increase in violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers and security forces since 2023.

President Donald Trump’s swift rejection of Iran’s response to a U.S. peace proposal ​sent oil prices surging higher on Monday amid concerns the 10-week-old conflict will drag on, keeping shipping through the Strait of Hormuz paralyzed.

Days ‌after the U.S. floated an offer in the hopes of re-opening negotiations, Iran on Sunday released a response focused on ending the war on all fronts, especially Lebanon, where U.S. ally Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. Tehran also included a demand for compensation for war damages and emphasized Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state TV said, Reuters reported.

It also called on the U.S. to ​end its naval blockade, guarantee no further attacks, lift sanctions and end a U.S. ban on Iranian oil sales, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said.

Within ​hours, Trump dismissed Iran’s proposal with a post on social media.

“I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, ⁠without giving further detail.

The U.S. had proposed an end to fighting before starting talks on more contentious issues, including Iran’s nuclear program.

Oil prices jumped $3 a barrel on Monday ​following news of the continued stalemate that leaves the narrow Strait of Hormuz largely closed. Before the war the waterway carried one-fifth of the world’s oil supply and ​has emerged as one of the central pressure points in the war.

Surveys show the war is unpopular with U.S. voters facing sharply higher gasoline prices less than six months before nationwide elections that will determine whether Trump’s Republican party retains control of Congress.

The U.S. has also found little international support, with NATO allies refusing calls to send ships to open the Strait of Hormuz without a ​full peace deal and an internationally mandated mission.

It’s not clear what fresh diplomatic or military steps may be ahead.

Trump is expected to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday. ​With mounting pressure to draw a line under the war and the global energy crisis it has ignited, Iran is among topics Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to ‌discuss.

Trump has ⁠been leaning on China to use its influence to push Tehran to make a deal with Washington.

Addressing whether combat operations against Iran were over, Trump said in remarks aired on Sunday: “They are defeated, but that doesn’t mean they’re done.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war was not over because there was “more work to be done” to remove enriched uranium from Iran, dismantle enrichment sites and address Iran’s proxies and ballistic missile capabilities.

The best way to remove the enriched uranium would be through diplomacy, Netanyahu ​said in an interview that aired Sunday on ​CBS News’ “60 Minutes.” But he did ⁠not rule out removing it by force.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a social media post that Iran would “never bow down to the enemy” and would “defend national interests with strength.”

Despite diplomatic efforts to break a deadlock, the threat to shipping lanes and ​the economies of the region remained high.

Recent days have seen the biggest flare-ups in fighting in and around the strait since ​a ceasefire began.

On Sunday, ⁠the United Arab Emirates said it intercepted two drones coming from Iran, while Qatar condemned a drone attack that hit a cargo ship coming from Abu Dhabi in its waters. Kuwait said its air defences had dealt with hostile drones that entered its airspace.

Clashes have also continued in southern Lebanon between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, despite a ⁠U.S.-brokered ceasefire announced ​on April 16.

An end to hostilities with Iran would not necessarily bring an end to the ​war in Lebanon, Netanyahu said in the “60 Minutes” interview, in which he also said Israeli planners had underestimated Iran’s ability to choke off traffic through the Hormuz Strait.

“It took a while for them to understand ​how big that risk is, which they understand now,” he said.