American forces in the Middle East are constantly under attack, but they aren't really retaliating. Here's why the US is holding its fire.

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US soldiers at Al Tanf in Syria fire a mortar
US soldiers at At-Tanf Garrison in Syria fire an 81 mm mortar during a readiness exercise on April 22, 2020.

US Army/Staff Sgt. William Howard

Hamas leaders say they have no regrets after the October 7 attack and that the goal was to 'overthrow' the status quo

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fireball with smoke rising in distance, israeli flag in foreground
An Israeli flag flies in southern Israel as a fireball erupts across the border in the Gaza Strip.

RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images

Russia says a battalion made up of Ukrainian prisoners of war is about to be sent to fight against their own country

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Russian troops conscripts Omsk
A Russian serviceman adjusts the uniform of a conscript at a gathering point in Omsk on November 10, 2022.

REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko

A father who said he was relieved when he was told his daughter was killed by Hamas now thinks she's likely alive

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A house ransacked by Hamas during attacks in Kibbutz Be'eri, Israel.
An interior view of one of the homes destroyed during the attack by Hamas, within Kibbutz Be'eri on October 14, 2023 in Kibbutz Be'eri, Israel.

Leon Neal/Getty Images

Brand-new Russian warship hit by Ukraine is so badly damaged that it is likely out of the action for the foreseeable future, war analysts say

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Russian Navy warships take part in the Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg on July 25, 2021.
Russian Navy warships take part in the Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg on July 25, 2021.

OLGA MALTSEVA/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images

Ukraine says it used a car bomb to take out a Russian-backed politician in an occupied city

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A burned car in Donesa
A burned car in the center of Odesa, Ukraine.

Getty Images

Protesting the Ukraine war is banned in Russia, so young people are sabotaging trains and railroad tracks instead: UK intel

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Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Moscow's mayor Sergey Sobyanin (R) sit in a train as they attend a ceremony to launch the Line D3 of the Moscow Central Diametres (MCD) suburban railway network in Moscow on August 17, 2023.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on a train before the launch the Line D3 of the Moscow Central Diametres suburban railway network on August 17, 2023.

KRISTINA KORMILITSYNA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

A Ukrainian military official who blew himself up with a grenade he got as a gift probably 'did not believe' it was real

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A military man with a grenade in his hand
A military man holding a grenade in his hand.

Liza Ovchynnykova

The US Army needs tanks to win a war in the Pacific, but it knows the Abrams isn't the right tank for the job

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M1A2 Abrams tank fires gun cannon
A US Army M1A2 Abrams tank at Fort Stewart in Georgia in December 2016.

US Army/Staff Sgt. Antonio Vincent

Take a look at the warships of the second US Navy carrier strike group sent to keep the powder keg from blowing in the Middle East

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A photo of large aircraft carriers moving through water.
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group makes its way through the Strait of Gibraltar.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Merissa Daley/DVIDS

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