BEIRUT: The US military said it killed a senior operative of Al-Qaeda’s Syria branch in an air strike on northwestern Syria on Thursday.
The area was the stronghold of interim president Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham group before it led the rebel offensive that toppled Bashar Assad in December.
“US Central Command forces conducted a precision air strike in northwest Syria targeting and killing Muhammad Salah Al-Zabir, a senior operative in the terrorist organization Hurras Al-Din, an Al-Qaeda affiliate,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
Britain based-war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Zabir was killed when the vehicle he was traveling in on the Sarmada-Idlib road was hit by a US drone strike.
The US strike came days after Hurras Al-Din announced its dissolution in line with orders from the interim president.
The Observatory said Hurras Al-Din “announced its dissolution so as not to enter into armed conflict with HTS.”
Sharaa’s faction was Al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate until it broke ties with the jihadist network in 2016.
The US-based SITE Intelligence Group said Hurras Al-Din was founded in February 2018.
It did not publicly confirm its allegiance to Al-Qaeda until its dissolution announcement on Tuesday.
The United States designated Hurras Al-Din as a “terrorist” organization in 2019 and has offered financial rewards for information on several of its members.
It carried out successive air strikes targeting the group’s leadership in northwestern Syria in August and September last year.
Washington also still blacklists HTS as a “terrorist” group, although it has lifted some of its sanctions against Sharaa’s group since it toppled Assad last year.
US says killed senior Qaeda operative in Syria strike
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US says killed senior Qaeda operative in Syria strike
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- “US Central Command forces conducted a precision air strike in northwest Syria targeting and killing Muhammad Salah Al-Zabir,” CENTCOM said
- The US strike came days after Hurras Al-Din announced its dissolution in line with orders from the interim president
WASHINGTON: The White House said on Sunday that it supports Israel’s decision to delay releasing 600 Palestinian prisoners, citing the “barbaric treatment” of Israeli hostages by Hamas. Delaying the prisoner release is an “appropriate response” to the Pal
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- President Donald Trump is prepared to support Israel in “whatever course of action it chooses regarding Hamas,” he added
WASHINGTON: The White House said on Sunday that it supports Israel’s decision to delay releasing 600 Palestinian prisoners, citing the “barbaric treatment” of Israeli hostages by Hamas.
Delaying the prisoner release is an “appropriate response” to the Palestinian militant group’s treatment of the hostages, a statement from National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said.
President Donald Trump is prepared to support Israel in “whatever course of action it chooses regarding Hamas,” he added.
Hezbollah chief vows ‘resistance’ as masses mourn Nasrallah
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- As the funeral began at the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Israeli warplanes flew at a low altitude over Beirut in what Defense Minister Israel Katz said was a “clear message” to anyone who threatens Israel
BEIRUT, Lebanon: Hezbollah’s leader said “resistance” was not over as hundreds of thousands mourned slain chief Hassan Nasrallah Sunday at a Beirut funeral, demonstrating continued support for the group after a devastating war with Israel.
During the funeral, women wailed as a truck carrying the coffins of Nasrallah and his chosen successor Hashem Safieddine — both killed in Israeli strikes — slowly moved through the crowd, topped with two black turbans and draped in Hezbollah’s yellow flag.
A procession headed toward Nasrallah’s burial site near the airport, where a stampede erupted. A live broadcast by Al-Manar TV showed Hezbollah members in military uniform pushing crowds away from the coffin after it was unloaded from the truck before the burial.
Safieddine will be interred in his southern hometown of Deir Qanun Al-Nahr on Monday.
The September killing of the charismatic leader who led Hezbollah for more than three decades, in a massive Israeli strike, dealt a heavy blow to the Iran-backed group.
But Hezbollah, which dominated Lebanon’s politics for decades, has long had a support base in the country’s Shiite Muslim community.
As the funeral began at the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Israeli warplanes flew at a low altitude over Beirut in what Defense Minister Israel Katz said was a “clear message” to anyone who threatens Israel.
“You will specialize in funerals — and we in victories,” Katz said.
In a televised address at the ceremony, Nasrallah’s successor Naim Qassem said Hezbollah would keep following his “path,” and rejected any control by the “tyrant America” over Lebanon.
“The resistance is not over, the resistance is still present and ready” to face Israel, he said.
Nasrallah speeches were blasted as the mourners raised their fists in the air and chanted: “We are at your service, Nasrallah.”
Two Hezbollah sources told AFP that the estimated number of participants is “around 800,000” people.
Men, women and children walked in the biting cold to reach the site of the ceremony, which was delayed for months over security concerns.
“When I saw the coffin, reality dawned upon me,” said Lara, 26, adding that she had a hard time coming to terms with his killing.
“The pain is great... words cannot describe how I feel,” she added.
AFP correspondents said the stadium, which can accommodate roughly 78,000 people according to organizers, was fully packed.
As crowds gathered, the official National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s south — including one that wounded a Syrian girl — and in the east.
Israel’s military said it had struck “sites containing rocket launchers and weapons” in those areas.
Israel has carried out multiple strikes in Lebanon since a November 27 ceasefire deal with Hezbollah ended more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war.
The funeral comes days after the deadline for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon’s south, with Israeli troops pulling out from all but five locations. Both sides have accused each other of violating the truce.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam delegated officials to attend the ceremony on their behalf.
Speaking to Iran’s delegation ahead of the funeral, Aoun said: “Lebanon has grown tired of the wars of others on its land.”
Hezbollah’s weakening in the war has contributed to the election of Aoun, seen as a favorite among Western governments, after a two-year power vacuum. He named Salam as his premier last month.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed “resistance” against Israel as Hezbollah held the funeral.
He praised Nasrallah as “a great mujahid (fighter) and prominent leader” and Safieddine as “a close confidant and an inseparable part of the leadership.”
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were in attendance at the funeral.
Sam Heller of the Century Foundation think-tank said it was important for Hezbollah “to demonstrate that it remains a major social and political force, despite some of the setbacks it’s been dealt.”
Since Saturday, roads into Beirut have been clogged with carloads of supporters traveling in from Hezbollah’s other power centers in south and east Lebanon.
Khouloud Hamieh, 36, came from the east to mourn the leader who she said was “dearest to our souls.”
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television said the movement deployed 25,000 members for crowd control. A security source said 4,000 troops and security personnel were on duty.
Civil aviation authorities said Beirut airport would close exceptionally for four hours.
A founding member of Hezbollah in 1982, Nasrallah won renown around the Arab world in May 2000 when Israel ended its 22-year occupation of south Lebanon following relentless attacks by the group under his leadership.
In the decades since, Lebanese have been divided over Hezbollah, with many criticizing the group for initiating more recent hostilities with Israel in support of Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Father of freed Gaza hostage says fellow Arabs should be outraged by Hamas
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- Sayed, 37, was released by the Palestinian militant group on Saturday under a fragile truce in its war with Israel
JERUSALEM: The father of Hisham Al-Sayed, a Bedouin Muslim returned to Israel after nearly a decade in Gaza captivity, on Sunday urged “the Arab world” to speak out against abuses by Hamas.
Sayed, 37, was released by the Palestinian militant group on Saturday under a fragile truce in its war with Israel. The man, who is schizophrenic according to his family, had entered the Gaza Strip in 2015 and was held hostage there since.
“At the start of his captivity, when there were four hostages in Gaza, I thought that Hamas members would keep him safe, because it was in their interest” to exchange him for Palestinians in Israeli jails, said the father, Shaaban Al-Sayed.
Speaking to journalists at a hospital in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv, he said that after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war, “I began to tremble with fear.”
“I saw that Bedouins and Arabs were killed, working people who weren’t soldiers or fighters,” said Sayed of some of the hundreds killed during the attack.
“The Arab world doesn’t react, doesn’t give any response to that, doesn’t take any stance,” he said.
“We want the Arab world, and particularly Arab society in Israel, to voice their opinion: What do they think about the fact that innocent people were kidnapped and murdered?“
Sayed accused Hamas of violating the teachings of Islam by exploiting his son who “has mental problems.”
“When we got Hisham back, we were relieved to see him walking on his legs,” the father added, “but as I held him in my arms, I realized I was hugging a body... not a human being.”
“He doesn’t talk. He doesn’t have a voice. He can’t remember anything. It’s like he hadn’t been with other human beings” during his years in captivity, he said.
“This makes us angry,” added the father, calling to intensify efforts to free all remaining hostages in Gaza.
Hamas refuses further talks unless Israel releases agreed prisoners
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- After six were freed on Saturday, Israel put off the planned release of more than 600 Palestinians, citing what Netanyahu called “humiliating ceremonies” in Gaza
CAIRO: Hamas will not hold talks with Israel through mediators on any further steps in the fragile, phased ceasefire agreement unless Palestinian prisoners are released as agreed, group official Basem Naim told Reuters on Sunday.
Israel said on Sunday it was delaying the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners it had planned to free the day before until militant group Hamas met its conditions.
Kuwaiti emir discusses ties with UAE national security adviser
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- Sheikh Meshal welcomed Sheikh Tahnoon at Bayan Palace in Kuwait City
LONDON: Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait, discussed his country's ties with the UAE during a meeting on Sunday with Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the deputy ruler of Abu Dhabi and National Security Adviser.
Sheikh Meshal welcomed Sheikh Tahnoon at Bayan Palace in Kuwait City, along with his accompanying delegation, where they discussed relations between Kuwait and Abu Dhabi, focusing on ways to enhance and develop them, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
Sheikh Tahnoon conveyed the greetings of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan to the Kuwaiti emir, wishing further progress and prosperity for the Kuwaiti people, WAM added.
Sheikh Tahnoon met separately with Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, the Crown Prince of Kuwait, and Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the Prime Minister of Kuwait.