TEHRAN: Iran said it fired missiles on Monday at Daesh militants in Syria it blames for an attack on its soil last month and said the action shows the government’s readiness to punish the “wickedness” of its enemies.
The Sept. 22 attack on a military parade in south-western Iran killed 25 people, nearly half of them members of the elite Revolutionary Guards.
Monday’s strike targeted the bases of “takfiri terrorists” backed by Washington and regional powers in eastern Syria, the Guards said in a statement. It killed a number of militant leaders and destroyed their supplies and infrastructure, they said.
The strike targeted the last pocket of territory in southeastern Syria held by Daesh, said an official in the Iran-backed regional alliance fighting in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
It is an area where the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched a new offensive last month against Daesh.
The US-led coalition confirmed Iranian forces had conducted “no notice strikes last night.”
“At this time, the coalition is still assessing if any damage occurred and no coalition forces were in danger,” Col. spokesman Sean Ryan said.
Fars News posted video footage of several missiles streaking into a dark sky during the attack.
The six ballistic missiles used in the attack flew 570 km to hit the targets, the Guards said. A map shown on state TV pinpointed Kermanshah in western Iran as the launch site and Albu Kamal in southeast Syria as the target.
The missiles were Iranian-made Zolfaqar and Qiam missiles, Fars News reported.
“Our iron fist is prepared to deliver a decisive and crushing response to any wickedness and mischief of the enemies,” the Guards, the most powerful military force in the Islamic Republic, said.
Seven drones were also used to bomb militant targets during the attack, they said.
The Ahvaz National Resistance, an Iranian ethnic Arab separatist movement, and Daesh have both claimed responsibility for the attack. Neither group has presented conclusive evidence to back up its claim.
A senior Revolutionary Guards commander said on Monday that Daesh militants in Syria’s Deir Ezzor province had helped coordinate the parade attack.
These Daesh militants were the target of the missile strike, said Major General Mohammad Baqeri, the armed forces chief of staff, according to Fars News.
“The area east of the Euphrates where Islamic State is based is under the control of the American military and the Guards’ missiles hit an area that is close to the area under American control,” Baqeri said.
He added, “All of these are a warning for the enemies so they don’t move toward creating insecurity in Iran.”
Iranian military support has been vital to helping Assad through the Syrian war, and Iran-backed forces are deployed in southeastern Syria on the west bank of the Euphrates River. Iran has dismissed US demands that it leave Syria.
The official in the Iran-backed alliance described Monday’s strike, targeting an area on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, as a “limited message.” “One of the messages, to those it concerns, is that ‘our missiles are one of our powerful cards that are ready to respond whenever we want’,” the official said.
Saudi Arabia strongly dismissed and condemned Iranian accusations that the militants responsible for the Sept. 22 attack were paid by the Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran launches missiles into Syria over parade attack
Iran launches missiles into Syria over parade attack
- State television and the state-run IRNA news agency said the attacks "killed and wounded" militants, without elaborating
- The report Monday specified the missile launches came after the Ahvaz attack, which killed at least 24 people and wounded over 60
US, Britain launch raids on Yemeni capital Sanaa, elsewhere, Al-Masirah TV says
- Houthi media and residents said about nine raids had targeted the Sanaa, its suburbs and Amran governorate
- Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched attacks on international shipping near Yemen since November last year
CAIRO: The United States and Britain launched raids on the Yemeni capital Sanaa, the Amran governorate and other areas, Al-Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by the Houthi movement, reported on Sunday.
Houthi media and residents said about nine raids had targeted the Sanaa, its suburbs and Amran governorate.
Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched attacks on international shipping near Yemen since November last year, in solidarity with the Palestinians in Israel’s war with Hamas.
The attacks have drawn US and British retaliatory strikes and disrupted global trade as ship owners reroute vessels away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal to sail the longer route around the southern tip of Africa.
Israelis fear for hostages as Qatar says Gaza mediation on hold
- Thousands rally in Tel Aviv to demand return of Israeli hostages despite 400 days passing
- Qatar pulls out of Gaza ceasefire mediation efforts till both sides show “willingness and seriousness”
TEL AVIV: Israeli protesters expressed concern for hostages in Gaza Saturday, after Qatar said it was pulling back as a key mediator for a ceasefire that would help bring the captives home.
Thousands of people rallied in Tel Aviv holding signs reading “400,” the number of days since the hostages were taken when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7 last year.
Efforts to broker a truce in the ensuing war between Hamas and Israel have proven fruitless, and on Saturday Qatar put its mediation on hold until the two sides showed “willingness and seriousness” in talks.
Protester Ruti Lior said she was unsure how much sway Qatar had, but was still “very, very worried” by their decision to pull back from negotiations.
“This is further proof for me that there really is no seriousness, and these deals are being sabotaged,” the 62-year-old psychotherapist told AFP.
Fellow demonstrator Gal voiced his disappointment with Qatar, saying it was good the Gulf emirate was stepping back because it had done a “lousy” job.
Qatar “failed in the matter of mediation, and not only them, others also failed,” said the HR worker, also putting the blame on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Saturday’s rally featured an installation of masks representing Netanyahu along with signs bearing the word “Guilty.”
Other placards read “Hostage deal now” and “Drop your weapon, stop the war.”
“How many more tears must fall and how much more blood must be shed before someone does what needs to be done and brings our children home?” Niva Wenkert, mother of hostage Omer Wenkert, was quoted as saying in a statement released by campaign group Hostage and Missing Families Forum.
The Hamas attack that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,552 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
Of the 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the October 7 attack, 97 remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israelis have been protesting weekly to pressure their government to do more to secure the captives’ release.
Qatar, which has hosted Hamas’s political leadership since 2012 with US blessing, has been involved in months of protracted diplomacy aimed at ending the war in Gaza.
But the talks, also mediated by Cairo and Washington, have repeatedly hit snags since a one-week truce in November 2023 — the only one so far — with both sides trading blame for the impasse.
Israel army slams soldiers for burning Lebanese flag
- In the video, some of the soldiers were jumping and singing a religious maxim as one of them sets fire to the flag with a lighter
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military on Saturday accused a group of soldiers of burning a Lebanese flag in southern Lebanon where they are fighting the Hezbollah militant group.
The military spoke after a video circulated on social media showing around half a dozen people dressed in Israeli uniforms jumping and singing a religious maxim as one of them sets fire to the flag with a lighter.
“We view the act of some soldiers burning the Lebanese flag in southern Lebanon as a violation of orders, inconsistent with the values of the defense forces, and misaligned with the goals of our military activities in Lebanon,” said military spokesman Avichay Adraee.
“Our war is against the terrorist Hezbollah, which has never been truly Lebanese in creed, ideology, or identity,” he added in an Arabic-language post on social media platform X.
The post did not mention any possible sanctions against the soldiers.
It did include a video allegedly showing a Hezbollah militant tearing a Lebanese flag off its pole and replacing it with the group’s banner.
Israel has been at war with Hezbollah since late September, when it broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border, even as the Gaza war continues.
Hezbollah began low intensity strikes on Israel in support of Hamas following its ally’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which triggered the Gaza war.
Israelis fear for hostages as Qatar says Gaza mediation on hold
- Israel has killed 43,552 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable
- Of the 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the October 7 attack, 97 remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead
TEL AVIV: Israeli protesters expressed concern for hostages in Gaza Saturday, after Qatar said it was pulling back as a key mediator for a ceasefire that would help bring the captives home.
Thousands of people rallied in Tel Aviv holding signs reading “400,” the number of days since the hostages were taken when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7 last year.
Efforts to broker a truce in the ensuing war between Hamas and Israel have proven fruitless, and on Saturday Qatar put its mediation on hold until the two sides showed “willingness and seriousness” in talks.
Protester Ruti Lior said she was unsure how much sway Qatar had, but was still “very, very worried” by their decision to pull back from negotiations.
“This is further proof for me that there really is no seriousness, and these deals are being sabotaged,” the 62-year-old psychotherapist told AFP.
Fellow demonstrator Gal voiced his disappointment with Qatar, saying it was good the Gulf emirate was stepping back because it had done a “lousy” job.
Qatar “failed in the matter of mediation, and not only them, others also failed,” said the HR worker, also putting the blame on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Saturday’s rally featured an installation of masks representing Netanyahu along with signs bearing the word “Guilty.”
Other placards read “Hostage deal now” and “Drop your weapon, stop the war.”
“How many more tears must fall and how much more blood must be shed before someone does what needs to be done and brings our children home?” Niva Wenkert, mother of hostage Omer Wenkert, was quoted as saying in a statement released by campaign group Hostage and Missing Families Forum.
The Hamas attack that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,552 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
Of the 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the October 7 attack, 97 remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israelis have been protesting weekly to pressure their government to do more to secure the captives’ release.
Qatar, which has hosted Hamas’s political leadership since 2012 with US blessing, has been involved in months of protracted diplomacy aimed at ending the war in Gaza.
But the talks, also mediated by Cairo and Washington, have repeatedly hit snags since a one-week truce in November 2023 — the only one so far — with both sides trading blame for the impasse.
At least 64 attacks against schools reported in Gaza last month, says UNICEF
- Strikes in October led to estimated 128 deaths, many children, said UN body
LONDON: At least 64 attacks targeting schools were reported in the Gaza Strip last month, averaging nearly two incidents per day, according to data from UNICEF and its partners released on Saturday.
The strikes in October led to an estimated 128 deaths, many of whom were children, the report added.
These schools, which often double as shelters for displaced families and children fleeing violence, have seen 226 attacks since the conflict began on Oct. 7 last year. Over one million children have been displaced in the past 14 months, facing unimaginable hardship and trauma, UNICEF said.
Schools should never be on the frontlines of war, and children should never be indiscriminately attacked while seeking shelter,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
“The horrors we are seeing in Gaza are setting a dark precedent for humanity, one where children are hit with bombs at record numbers while looking for safety inside classrooms. Trauma and loss have become their daily norm.”
Nearly half of the attacks in October – 25 in total – were concentrated in northern Gaza, an area experiencing relentless bombardment, widespread displacement, and limited humanitarian aid.
Many of these schools also serve as critical malnutrition treatment points, providing essential services to those in need.
International Humanitarian Law designates schools as protected spaces. However, since the renewed hostilities in October 2023, more than 95 percent of Gaza’s schools have been partially or completely destroyed. UNICEF reports that 87 percent will need extensive reconstruction before they can be used again.
The plight of children in Gaza underscores the urgent need for adherence to international laws protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure, particularly in conflict zones where the most vulnerable bear the brunt of violence and devastation, UNICEF added.
