Israeli strikes kill six in Syria after Palestinian rocket barrage

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency on February 24, 2020, reportedly shows Syrian air defense intercepting an Israeli missile over Damascus. (SANA/AFP)
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Updated 25 February 2020
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Israeli strikes kill six in Syria after Palestinian rocket barrage

  • Residents said multiple explosions shook Damascus and lasted for about 15 minutes as air defenses fired back
  • Israel claimed responsibility, saying it staged a series of strikes targeting the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in Syria and the Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM: Israeli air strikes targeting the Islamic Jihad militant group in the Gaza Strip and Syria killed at least six fighters, a war monitor said Monday, after the militants fired a barrage of rockets at Israel.

In the latest tit-for-tat violence ahead of a March 2 general election in the Jewish state, the Israeli Air Force targeted “Islamic Jihad terror sites” throughout Gaza and near the Syrian capital Damascus, a military statement said.

It followed more than 20 rockets and mortars fired from the Palestinian enclave, themselves a response to the killing of an Islamic Jihad militant along the Gaza-Israel border.

Islamic Jihad, which along with allied group Hamas has fought three wars with Israel since 2008, operates in both the Gaza Strip and Syria.

The Israeli army said it had struck Islamic Jihad targets on the outskirts of Damascus, including a base “used as a hub” for the group’s activities in the country.

Islamic Jihad, which is allied with Syrian President Bashar Assad, confirmed early Monday that two of its fighters were killed.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, later confirmed that four additional pro-Assad, Iran-backed fighters died in the strike.

At least one of the Iran-backed fighters was Syrian, while the nationalities of the others remained unknown, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria, mainly targeting government troops as well as allied Iranian forces and fighters from the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

It is rare for them to claim such strikes directly.

Earlier on Sunday, Israel’s military said it had killed a militant in Gaza who had tried to plant an explosive device near the border fence.

Israel later confirmed that it extracted the militant’s body with a bulldozer.

Israel’s hawkish Defense Minister Naftali Bennett has pursued a policy of retaining the bodies of militants from Gaza as bargaining chips to pressure Hamas, which has held the bodies of two Israeli soldiers since 2014.

A video emerged later on social media, which was authenticated by AFP, showing a bulldozer approaching a body while a group of young, apparently unarmed men, were trying to retrieve it.

The sound of gunfire is heard and the men ultimately run away as the bulldozer scoops up the body.

Hours later, more than 20 rockets and mortars were launched from Gaza toward Israel, setting off warning sirens in the southern city of Ashkelon and several other locations.

More than a dozen were intercepted by the Jewish state’s Iron Dome missile defense system, the Israeli army said, adding there were no reports of serious injuries in Israel.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the rockets, calling them a response to the killing of one its fighters along the Gaza border early Sunday.

Israeli military said it responded to the rocket fire by targeting “dozens” of Islamic Jihad targets throughout Gaza.

Health officials in Gaza said four people were wounded.

Hamas and Israel last fought a full-scale war in 2014, but smaller flareups are relatively common.

In November, Islamic Jihad and Israel fought a three-day conflict that left 35 Palestinians dead and more than 100 wounded, according to official figures.

Under the informal agreements in the past year, Israel has slightly eased a blockade of the impoverished Palestinian enclave in exchange for relative calm.

 


Saudi conjoined twins center leading global medical understanding, Al-Rabeeah says

Updated 5 min 37 sec ago
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Saudi conjoined twins center leading global medical understanding, Al-Rabeeah says

  • Centralized healthcare key for advancing research and expertise, conference told
  • Abdullah Al-Rabeeah: Building a center of excellence with a large volume, it brings value of experience, value of research, value of outcome and value of care for the patients

RIYADH: Centralizing medical knowledge in the Arab world is key to improving specialized medical care, Saudi Arabia’s top surgeon has said.

Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, who also serves as supervisor-general of Saudi aid agency KSrelief and was once minister of health, was speaking at Riyadh’s International Conference on Conjoined Twins.

The Saudi Conjoined Twins Program, established in 1990, has separated dozens of conjoined twins from countries around the world under the care of Al-Rabeeah.

He said that dealing with rare specialties in medicine requires experience and volume, which comes with population. Most countries in the Middle East can go decades without seeing a case of conjoined twins, he added.

“Building a center of excellence with a large volume, it brings value of experience, value of research, value of outcome and value of care for the patients,” Al-Rabeeah said.

Quoting Lord Ara Darzi of the UK, who spoke at an earlier ministerial roundtable at the conference, Al-Rabeeah added: “In certain specialties you need to decentralize, like family medicine, women’s care — you have to have access anywhere. But in certain specialties, like conjoined twins, you need to centralize.”

Al-Rabeeah said that as health minister, he constantly called for collaboration between GCC and Arab countries to concentrate specialties into central reference centers to promote research and development, and advance expertise in the region.

Compared to worldwide numbers, Al-Rabeeah added that the conjoined twins program in Saudi Arabia is “on the top … in terms of volume and expertise and success rates, we are one of the highest in the world.”

With 143 evaluated cases and 61 separations, there are now seven cases waiting to be evaluated.

“The unique thing about Saudi Arabia: It is a large volume done by one team,” Al-Rabeeah said.

The team of conjoined twins specialists in Saudi Arabia have “collected the wealth of knowledge and developed their expertise,” and are ready to pass it on to younger generations of surgeons, he said.

Al-Rabeeah recommends early antenatal care to ensure the health and wellness of both mother and the baby, and to prepare any necessary treatment plans early on.

“One thing which has changed in the last three-and-a-half decades is the early diagnosis … during pregnancy, we have to ensure the level of anomalies and the risk on the mother,” he said.

Once the twins are born, a complete picture of the heart’s conditions, spinal columns, nerves and vital organs must be established before a plan of operation is set in place.

“After separation, now another dilemma is rehabilitation … how they can go into society, the independence, the separation trauma. We have to deal with all of those until the child moves from one body to two bodies which are independent,” he added.

For a complete transformation for both the patients and their family, the post-operative psychological and rehabilitative follow-up is a crucial step in the procedural process.

“If you have not lived with those families, you will not feel it. I have lived with them; I have listened to them. And it is actually a trauma to the mother, a trauma for the father and a challenge for the babies,” Al-Rabeeah said.

He recounted babies who cannot be bottle-fed because their sibling is in the way, so the doctors have to create tubes that connect between the nipples and each baby.

This creates an uncomfortable experience for the mother, and a difficult situation to encounter for women living in rural areas, lower-income families, or those living in countries with fragile health systems.

“(After) this trauma and uncertainty, as soon as you separate them … their whole lives have changed,” he added.

The Riyadh conference is set to hear from separated twins, who will tell audiences how surgery has changed their lives, allowing them to become more independent and integrated into society, Al-Rabeeah said.

In partnership with the UN Population Fund, Children’s Fund, as well as local and regional NGOs, nine agreements were signed on Sunday at the conference, two of which related to conjoined twins.

Additionally, four agreements were signed for the establishment of prosthetic centers aimed at improving children’s quality of life.

Al-Rabeeah also highlighted the signing of an agreement for children in Gaza: “This is something that is important and they deserve attention by us and others.”


Saudi Tadawul Group rolls out 2nd phase of post-trade enhancements

Updated 14 min 40 sec ago
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Saudi Tadawul Group rolls out 2nd phase of post-trade enhancements

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s capital markets are on track for substantial growth following the successful rollout of the second phase of the post-trade transformation enhancements by the Saudi Tadawul Group.

This latest phase, which includes upgrades across key subsidiaries — the Saudi Exchange, the Securities Clearing Center (Muqassa), and the Securities Depository Center (Edaa)—marks a significant milestone in the ongoing efforts to expand investment opportunities and bring the market in line with international standards.

Building on the first phase completed in 2022, these enhancements represent the largest transformation of the Saudi capital market to date. The upgrades are designed to broaden access to a wide range of financial instruments, improve market efficiency, and reduce systemic risks.

This initiative is part of the Tadawul Group’s contribution to the Financial Sector Development Program, a core element of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which aims to position the kingdom as a leading global investment hub.

Wael Al-Hazzani, program director of the post-trade transformation and CEO of Muqassa, described the second-phase rollout as a “pivotal moment” for the Saudi capital market. He highlighted the role of these enhancements in diversifying investment options, expanding opportunities, and creating a more efficient, transparent, and secure post-trade infrastructure.

“This initiative reinforces our commitment to strengthening the Saudi capital market’s infrastructure, ultimately positioning it as a leading global financial hub,” Al-Hazzani said.

The first phase of the post-trade infrastructure enhancements, completed in 2022, brought significant improvements to the market, including updates to business models and the transformation of post-trade technologies. These upgrades enhanced clearing, settlement, and custody services, laying the groundwork for the more advanced changes seen in phase two.

Among the key innovations in phase two are important upgrades to the Saudi Exchange, including enhancements to the derivatives market and market-making processes.

Market makers and high-frequency traders now benefit from unified trading functionalities across both cash and derivatives markets, improving liquidity and overall market efficiency. These updates also bring the Saudi Exchange in line with global best practices by improving transparency and harmonizing market microstructure elements, further solidifying its competitive position on the global stage.

Other improvements at the Saudi Exchange include an automated order flagging mechanism to cancel orders during trading engine disconnections, a new reporting service to enhance trade monitoring, and synchronized bid/ask quotes for market makers to optimize their quoting activity. Additionally, exchange members can now execute and accept bilateral trades directly through their order management systems.

Muqassa has introduced enhancements aligned with global Central Counterparty best practices. These updates include real-time trade reconciliation, improved reconciliation processes, and updates to trading limits for derivatives and covered call margining. These changes strengthen pre-trade risk management and operational efficiency. Furthermore, Muqassa’s transition to a multi-asset clearing engine places it among a select group of CCPs worldwide, capable of managing clearing activities across multiple asset classes on a single platform. These upgrades are expected to reduce costs, increase transparency, and enhance overall efficiency for market participants.

Edaa has made significant improvements to its post-trade infrastructure, particularly in messaging protocols and reporting processes. These upgrades, in line with international standards, aim to improve market efficiency, governance, and stability. The changes enhance the experience for capital market institutions, custodians, settlement agents, and investors, providing a seamless and secure post-trade environment.

Together, these enhancements are expected to bolster market stability, reduce systemic risks, and attract both domestic and international investors, positioning the Saudi capital market as a world-class financial center aligned with global best practices.


Closing Bell: Saudi main index closes in red despite $3.2bn in trade volume 

Updated 14 min 8 sec ago
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Closing Bell: Saudi main index closes in red despite $3.2bn in trade volume 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index dropped by 0.65 percent or 77.18 points to settle at 11,787.72 points on Monday.    

The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR12.2 billion ($3.2 billion), as 69 of the listed stocks advanced, while 158 retreated.    

The MSCI Tadawul Index also decreased by 13.96 points, or 0.94 percent, to close at 1,477.60.    

The Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu also dropped, losing 20.69 points, or 0.07 percent, to close at 30,864.65 points. This came as 39 of the listed stocks advanced while as many as 47 retreated.    

The index’s top performer, National Co. for Learning and Education, saw a 6.51 percent increase in its share price to close at SR229.    

Other top performers included Retal Urban Development Co., which saw a 6.45 percent rise to reach SR16.50, while Jadwa REIT Saudi Fund’s share price rose by 5.80 percent to SR10.94.   

Saudi Research and Media Group also recorded a positive trajectory, with share prices rising 5.71 percent to reach SR266.40. 

Mobile Telecommunication Co. Saudi Arabia also witnessed positive gains, with 3.82 percent reaching SR10.86. 

Saudi Chemical Co. was TASI’s worst performer, with the company’s share price dropping by 4.95 percent to SR9.60.  

Saudi Automotive Services Co. followed with a 4.77 percent drop to SR71.80. Batic Investments and Logistics Co. also saw a notable drop of 3.90 percent to settle at SR3.45.  

Walaa Cooperative Insurance Co. and Electrical Industries Co. were among the top five poorest performers, with shares declining by 3.78 percent to settle at SR21.36 and by 3.69 percent to sit at SR7.57, respectively. 

On Nomu, International Human Resources Co. was the best performer, with its share price rising by 10.22 percent to reach SR6.04.  

AME Co. for Medical Supplies and Leaf Global Environmental Services Co. also delivered strong performances. AME Co. for Medical Supplies saw its share price rise by 9.90 percent, reaching SR108.80, while Leaf Global Environmental Services Co. recorded a 5.94 percent increase, standing at SR107.  

Paper Home Co. also fared well with 5.83, and the Academy of Learning Co. increased 5.38 percent. 

Naseej for Technology Co. shed the most in Nomu, with its share price dropping by 5.71 percent to reach SR66.  

Naas Petrol Factory Co. experienced a 5.43 percent decline in share prices, closing at SR64.50, while Al Rashid Industrial Co. dropped 5.17 percent to settle at SR44. 

Alhasoob Co. and Dar Almarkabah for Renting Cars Co. were also among the top decliners, with Alhasoob Co. falling 4.92 and Dar Almarkabah for Renting Cars Co. declining 4.58 percent. 


US believes Israel, Lebanon have agreed terms to end Israel-Hezbollah conflict

Updated 14 min 21 sec ago
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US believes Israel, Lebanon have agreed terms to end Israel-Hezbollah conflict

WASHINGTON: Israel and Lebanon have agreed to the terms of a deal to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, Axios reported on Monday citing an unnamed senior US official.
Israel’s government on Monday said it was moving toward a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah but there were still outstanding issues.


Arrest Warrant: UK would follow ‘due process’ if Netanyahu were to visit – foreign minister

Updated 25 min 41 sec ago
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Arrest Warrant: UK would follow ‘due process’ if Netanyahu were to visit – foreign minister

  • ICC issued arrest warrants on Thursday against Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
  • Several EU states have said they will meet commitments under the statute if needed

FIUGGI: Britain would follow due process if Benjamin Netanyahu visited the UK, foreign minister David Lammy said on Monday, when asked if London would fulfil the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister.
“We are signatories to the Rome Statute, we have always been committed to our obligations under international law and international humanitarian law,” Lammy told reporters at a G7 meeting in Italy.
“Of course, if there were to be such a visit to the UK, there would be a court process and due process would be followed in relation to those issues.”
The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged crimes against humanity.
Several EU states have said they will meet their commitments under the statute if needed, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his country, assuring him he would face no risks if he did so.
“The states that signed the Rome convention must implement the court’s decision. It’s not optional,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, said during a visit to Cyprus for a workshop of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.
Those same obligations were also binding on countries aspiring to join the EU, he said.