19 fighters killed, 18 wounded in airstrikes near Syria-Iraq border

Israeli soldiers operate in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights near the border with Syria, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas (REUTERS)
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Updated 30 December 2023
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19 fighters killed, 18 wounded in airstrikes near Syria-Iraq border

  • Israel launched hundreds of air strikes on its northern neighbor since Syria’s civil war began in 2011 targeting Iran-backed forces
  • Air raids over eastern Syria near Iraqi border kill 6 Iran-backed militants

Jerusalem: The Israeli army said early Saturday that it was carrying out strikes in Syria after two rockets fired from the country fell into territory under its control.
“Following the report regarding sirens sounding in northern Israel, a short while ago two launches that were identified crossing from Syria fell in an open area,” the army said.
“The IDF (military) is striking the sources of fire,” it added.
The Israeli army confirmed to AFP that the projectiles fired were rockets, but did not say the precise location where they fell.
Israel considers the annexed Golan Heights to be part of its northern region.

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The observatory said the airstrikes targeted military positions in Albu Kamal and its surroundings in Syria’s Deir Ezzor province, adding that a weapons shipment from Iraq and an ammunition warehouse were also hit.

Another three overnight airstrikes on eastern Syria were also carried Saturday near a strategic border crossing with Iraq killed six Iran-backed militants, two members of Iraqi militia groups told The Associated Press.
The strikes on the border region of Boukamal came hours after an umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militants — known as the Islamic Resistance — claimed an attack on a US military base in the city of Irbil in northern Iraq. The group has conducted over a hundred attacks on US positions in Iraq and eastern Syria since the onset of the Hamas-Israel war on Oct. 7.
Four of the killed were from Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah group while the other two militants were Syrian, the militants said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not cleared to talk to the press. Another two were injured, they added.
Meanwhile, an activist collective that covers news in the area, Deir Ezzor 24, said the airstrikes hit two militant posts and a weapons warehouse that it says was recently stocked with rocket launchers and munitions.
Elsewhere, Britain-backed opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in addition to the weapons warehouse, the strikes targeted a militants’ convoy that had arrived from Iraq to Syria as well as a location where a militia affiliated with Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard was training.
It added that the strikes killed nine people, three Syrians and six people from other nationalities.
Washington did not immediately comment on the strike, though it has announced some were planned on Iran-backed militia positions following the surge of attacks over the past two months.
The Boukamal region in Deir Ezzor, Syria, along the Iraqi border, has been a strategic area for Iran-backed militants after it was taken back from the extremist Daesh group in 2019. US coalition forces have conducted strikes targeting convoys there prior to recent tensions.


Israel says it will re-open crossing into Gaza as pressure builds to get more aid in

Updated 57 min 41 sec ago
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Israel says it will re-open crossing into Gaza as pressure builds to get more aid in

  • Aid agencies have warned of a gathering humanitarian crisis in the north of the enclave

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said on Friday it was planning to reopen the Kissufim crossing into central Gaza to increase the flow of aid into the southern end of the Gaza Strip.
The move comes amid growing international pressure on Israel to get more aid into Gaza, where aid agencies have warned of a gathering humanitarian crisis in the north of the enclave, where Israeli troops have been conducting a major operation for more than a month.
The new crossing would be opened following engineering work over recent weeks by army engineers to build inspection points and paved roads, the army said.
Last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote to Israeli officials demanding concrete measures to address the worsening situation in the Palestinian enclave.
The letter, which was posted to the Internet by a reporter from Axios, gave the Israeli government 30 days to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Among the demands included in the letter was for the opening of a fifth crossing into Gaza.


Sudan army govt accuses paramilitaries of causing 120 civilian deaths in 2 days

Updated 08 November 2024
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Sudan army govt accuses paramilitaries of causing 120 civilian deaths in 2 days

  • The Janjaweed militia (paramilitaries) committed a new massacre in the town of Hilaliya

PORT SUDAN: The Sudanese foreign ministry accused paramilitaries late Thursday of causing at least 120 civilian deaths over two days in Al-Jazira state, reportedly in attacks involving gunfire, food poisoning and lack of medical care.
“The Janjaweed militia (paramilitaries) committed a new massacre in the town of Hilaliya in Al-Jazira state over the past two days, resulting in 120 martyrs so far, killed either by gunfire or due to food poisoning and lack of medical care affecting hundreds of civilians,” the ministry of the army-backed government said in a statement obtained by AFP.


Yemen’s Houthi militants shoot down what they say was a US drone as American military investigates

Updated 08 November 2024
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Yemen’s Houthi militants shoot down what they say was a US drone as American military investigates

  • The US military acknowledged the videos circulating online showing what appeared to be a flaming aircraft dropping out of the sky
  • The Houthis claimed to have downed an American MQ-9 Reaper drone

DUBAI: Yemen’s Houthi militants shot down what they described as an American drone early Friday, potentially the latest downing of a US spy drone as the militants continue their attacks on the Red Sea corridor.
The US military acknowledged the videos circulating online showing what appeared to be a flaming aircraft dropping out of the sky and a field of burning debris in what those off-camera described as an area of Yemen’s Al-Jawf province. The military said it was investigating the incident, declining to elaborate further.
It wasn’t immediately clear what kind of aircraft was shot down in the low-quality night video. The Houthis, in a later statement, claimed to have downed an American MQ-9 Reaper drone.
The Houthis have surface-to-air missiles — such as the Iranian missile known as the 358 — capable of downing aircraft. Iran denies arming the militants, though Tehran-manufactured weaponry has been found on the battlefield and in sea shipments heading to Yemen for the Shiite Houthi militants despite a United Nations arms embargo.
The Houthis have been a key component of Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” during the Mideast wars that includes Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Hamas and other militant groups.
Since Houthis seized the country’s north and its capital of Sanaa in 2014, the militants have shot down MQ-9 Reaper drones in Yemen in 2017, 2019, 2023 and 2024. The US military has declined to offer a total figure for the number of drones it has lost during that time.
Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land. The aircraft have been flown by both the US military and the CIA over Yemen for years.
The Houthis have targeted more than 90 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have also included Western military vessels.
The militants maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran. The tempo of the Houthi sea attacks also has waxed and waned over the months.
In October, the US military unleashed B-2 stealth bombers to target underground bunkers used by the Houthis.


Israeli defense minister officially steps down

Updated 08 November 2024
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Israeli defense minister officially steps down

  • Israel has been rocked by Gallant’s dismissal, with the news setting off mass protests across the country
  • Israel Katz, his replacement, currently serves as foreign minister and is a longtime Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister
Israel has been rocked by Gallant’s dismissal, with the news setting off mass protests across the country
Israel Katz, his replacement, currently serves as foreign minister and is a longtime Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister

TEL AVIV: Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant officially stepped down Friday in a ceremony that replaced him with Israel Katz, the former foreign minister, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Gallant earlier this week.
Israel has been rocked by Gallant’s dismissal, with the news setting off mass protests across the country. Many in Israel view Gallant as the sole moderate voice in a far-right government, and see his removal as a sign that the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu has lost interest in returning hostages still held in Gaza.
Israel Katz, his replacement, currently serves as foreign minister and is a longtime Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister.
Also Friday, the Israeli military body handling aid to Gaza, COGAT, said it is preparing to open a new aid crossing into Gaza as the deadline for a US deadline to increase desperately-needed aid into the war-ravaged territory approaches. But the body did not say when the crossing will open nor if aid will be delivered to north of Gaza, where the UN and aid groups say the humanitarian situation is most dire.
The United Nations humanitarian office says Israel’s monthlong offensive in northern Gaza is preventing the estimated 75,000 to 95,000 Palestinians in the north from receiving essential items for their survival.
On Thursday, the Israeli military says it will allow 300 truckloads of humanitarian aid supplied by the United Arab Emirates to enter the Gaza Strip in the coming days. That’s less than the 350 trucks per day that the United States said it wants to see enter the war-ravaged territory.
The Israel-Hamas war began after militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others. Israel’s military response in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 people, Palestinian health officials say. They do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but say more than half of those killed were women and children.
Hezbollah began firing into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Since the conflict erupted, more than 3,100 people have been killed and some 13,800 wounded in Lebanon, the health ministry reported.

Greece and Turkiye press ahead with talks in effort to smooth often volatile relations

Updated 49 min 26 sec ago
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Greece and Turkiye press ahead with talks in effort to smooth often volatile relations

  • Issues between NATO allies Turkiye and Greece are not limited to disagreements over maritime boundaries and jurisdiction in the eastern Mediterranean

ATHENS: Recent efforts to smooth the frequently volatile ties between neighbors and regional rivals Greece and Turkiye are bearing fruit, their foreign ministers said Friday, although significant differences remain between the two countries as they seek ways to prevent spats from escalating dangerously.
Despite both being members of NATO, Greece and Turkiye have been at loggerheads for decades over a long series of issues, including complex maritime boundary disputes that led them to the brink of war in 1987 and in 1996. In 2020, tension over drilling rights led to Greek and Turkish warships shadowing each other in the eastern Mediterranean.
Over the past 16 months, the two sides have made concerted efforts to reduce tensions, with the Greek and Turkish leaders meeting six times. Last December, the two countries signed more than a dozen cooperation deals during a meeting in Athens between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
“I am not claiming that through the dialogue we have developed, all the problems in the two countries’ relations have been magically resolved,” Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said in statements to the media after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, in Athens. The ministers didn’t take any questions.
“There were indeed difficult moments during the past year,” Gerapetritis said. “But in all cases, there was an immediate and honest channel that prevented escalation.”
With two brutal conflicts raging in the wider region, in Ukraine and in the Middle East, mending ties and preventing flare-ups in tension between the two neighbors has become all the more essential.
“We are working to understand each other better on critical issues. The region we are in has many problems,” Fidan said. “Turkiye and Greece need to be able to act with mutual trust in this difficult geography. Through a win-win approach, we can contribute to the prosperity and peace of our people.”
Despite the positive climate, the two sides remain far apart on some of the thornier issues, notably on territorial rights in the Aegean Sea. The two disagree on the delineation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, which determines exploitation rights for resources, as well as on the extent of territorial waters.
Turkiye has said that any move by Greece to extend its territorial waters around its islands in the Aegean Sea from six nautical miles to 12 nautical miles, which Greece insists it has the right to do at any time, would be a cause for war.
Turkiye also doesn’t recognize that Greek islands off its borders have a continental shelf, while Greece insists that position is in contravention of international law.
Athens insists the issue of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone is the only dispute it has with Turkiye and is willing to bring it to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Friday’s talks “included the evaluation of the conditions for the start of a fundamental discussion for the delineation of the continental shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean,” Gerapetritis said. “It is an initial, honest approach of a difficult but also crucial issue.”
Fidan stressed that all areas of disagreement connected to the Aegean, the sea that lies between the two countries, must be tackled.
“There are many problems that are interconnected in the Aegean. These disputes cannot be reduced to the issues of the continent shelf and exclusive economic zones,” Fidan said. “We must address all issues that have the potential to create tensions and crises on the basis of mutual respect and cooperation.”
“As Turkiye, we continue to defend the principle of equitable sharing in the eastern Mediterranean,” he added.
Migration has been a source of tension between the two countries for years. Tens of thousands of people make their way each year from Turkiye to nearby Greek islands, using European Union-member Greece as a gateway to more prosperous countries in the 27-nation bloc.
While thousands of migrants continue to arrive in Greece, risking sometimes fatal sea crossings, the two ministers stressed the need to crack down on illegal migration and smuggling networks.
The two “emphasized the importance of acting together to combat irregular migration,” Fidan said.