Lebanon is closing all its land border crossings with Syria aside from a primary one which hyperlinks Beirut with the Syrian capital Damascus, the General Security Directorate mentioned Friday. The choice got here hours after an Israeli airstrike broken a border crossing in northern Lebanon simply days after it was reopened.
Separately, Jordan’s inside minister mentioned the Naseeb border crossing with Syria had been closed due to the safety scenario on the Syrian aspect. He spoke after Syrian opposition activists mentioned insurgents had captured the primary border crossing with Jordan, forcing the Syrian authorities to depart.
Israel’s navy mentioned it deliberate to bolster its positions within the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and close to the border with Syria. Israel mentioned it was “monitoring developments and is ready for all eventualities, offensive and defensive alike.”
Meanwhile, Syrian insurgents entered the central cities of Rastan and Talbiseh early Friday simply north of the central metropolis of Homs, bringing them nearer Syria’s third largest metropolis, an opposition warfare monitor and pro-government media each reported. The breakthrough got here a day after jihiadi-led opposition fighters captured the central metropolis of Hama, Syria’s fourth largest.
In different developments, a Hamas official mentioned worldwide mediators have resumed negotiations with the Palestinian militant group and Israel over a ceasefire in Gaza, and he was hopeful a deal to finish the 14-month warfare is inside attain.
Israel’s warfare towards Hamas has destroyed huge areas of Gaza and displaced 90% of the inhabitants of two.3 million, typically a number of occasions. The warfare started when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel in October 2023, killing some 1,200 individuals, largely civilians, and taking round 250 individuals hostage.
Israel’s blistering retaliatory offensive has killed at the least 44,600 Palestinians, greater than half of them girls and youngsters, based on Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say how most of the lifeless had been combatants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, with out offering proof.
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Israeli strike kills at the least 12 individuals and wounds 46 extra in central Gaza
DEIR AL-Balah, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike hit a residential constructing in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp on Friday night, killing at the least 12 individuals, together with six youngsters and 4 girls, based on officers at Awda Hospital.
The strike wounded at the least 46 others, together with 13 youngsters and 12 girls, and broken a number of neighboring homes, the hospital mentioned.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 44,600 Palestinians in Gaza, largely girls and youngsters, based on the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t say what number of had been combatants. The Israeli navy says it has killed over 17,000 militants, with out offering proof.
Israel says ‘hundreds’ of meals packs had been delivered to besieged northern Gaza
CAIRO — Israel mentioned Friday that “hundreds of meals packages and sacks of flour” had been delivered to the remoted northernmost reaches of Gaza, the place starvation consultants warn famine could possibly be underway.
The supply would mark one of many first profitable convoys to the world, which is besieged by Israeli troops which have mounted a fierce offensive in Gaza’s north since early October.
COGAT, the Israeli navy company that controls the border crossings into Gaza, mentioned the help was delivered to the city of Beit Hanoun. Israeli authorities didn’t publicly say who delivered the help, and didn’t present particulars on the precise quantity of assist concerned. COGAT launched photographs of flatbed vans driving previous rubble, some carrying what gave the impression to be 25-kilogram (55 pound) sacks of assist and others with cargo lined underneath tarps.
The U.N. has struggled to ship assist to the world in latest weeks. Alia Zaki, a spokesperson for the World Food Program, informed The Associated Press that almost no meals has entered the world for 2 months, and that the company’s day by day requests to enter the world have been denied by Israel. Of two missions which have been authorized since Oct. 6, Zaki mentioned, solely two vans of assist had been delivered to a shelter that Israeli troopers ordered to evacuate quickly after after which burned.
The scenario in northern Gaza has prompted starvation consultants to warn that famine is both close to or might already be underway.
Kurdish-led power in Syria says it has taken positions alongside Iraq border
BEIRUT — A Kurdish-led power in Syria that’s backed by the United States says it has taken positions alongside the border with Iraq, changing Syrian authorities forces.
The transfer by the Syrian Democratic Forces to seize areas on the west financial institution of the Euphrates River is more likely to reduce the land line that hyperlinks Iran with the Mediterranean coast.
The SDF mentioned in an announcement that its fighters had been deployed within the japanese metropolis of Deir el-Zour and west of the Euphrates for the security of civilians. “Our major goal is to guard our safety and the safety of our individuals,” it mentioned concerning the deployment.
SDF spokesman Farhad Shami informed The Associated Press that their fighters should not answerable for the Boukamal border crossing with Iraq.
Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition warfare monitor, mentioned Iran-backed fighters have evacuated the border crossing level of Boukamal and the SDF is predicted to regulate it later.
The Boukamal border crossing has been a primary provide line for Iran-backed fighters, together with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, who had opened the hall that hyperlinks Iran with the Mediterranean in 2017.
The developments come as jihadi-led insurgents in northwestern Syria have made gorgeous advances over the previous week which have to date met little resistance from authorities troops.
Many displaced Palestinians at an assist kitchen in southern Gaza go away empty-handed
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Crowds of displaced Palestinians, some carrying cooking pots and crying youngsters, gathered at an assist kitchen within the southern Gaza metropolis of Khan Younis on Friday, however many left with nothing.
“The meals ran out,” mentioned Adel Mohammad, who hoped to get a meal of rice – the one meals being served — for his youngsters. “At night time they get up hungry.”
After the kitchen shut down, youngsters used their arms to scoop bits of rice left in giant empty cooking pots.
The World Food Program has warned that the humanitarian response in Gaza is “nearing collapse as famine looms.” The U.N. company says Israeli restrictions on assist deliveries, together with the breakdown of regulation and order in Gaza, has made it troublesome for assist convoys to achieve displaced Palestinians.
Concerns are rising with the onset of one other winter of warfare. Hundreds of hundreds of Palestinians, many displaced repeatedly by Israeli assaults, live in tent camps, reliant on worldwide assist. Experts have already warned of famine in northern Gaza, which Israeli forces have nearly utterly remoted since early October.
Lebanon closes all its land border crossings with Syria besides one
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s General Security Directorate mentioned Friday the nation is closing all land border crossing with Syria aside from a primary one which hyperlinks Beirut with the Syrian capital Damascus.
The choice by the safety company in command of border crossings got here hours after an Israeli airstrike broken the Arida border crossing with Syria in north Lebanon, days after it was reopened.
“Border crossings will likely be closed till additional discover for the security of vacationers,” the company mentioned in an announcement posted on X.
It mentioned that the one border crossing that will likely be saved open is Masnaa in Lebanon’s japanese Bekaa Valley.
Lebanon’s state information company mentioned Friday the airstrike on the Arida crossing precipitated heavy materials injury and reduce the street.
The Israeli navy mentioned fighter jets attacked the border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, including that they had been used to switch munitions for Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
Syrian insurgents seize key crossing level on border with Jordan
BEIRUT – Syrian opposition activists say insurgents have captured a primary border crossing with Jordan forcing Syrian authorities to depart it.
Shortly afterward, Jordan’s Interior Minister al-Frayeh mentioned the Naseeb border crossing with Syria had been closed due to the safety scenario on the Syrian aspect.
Opposition activists posted movies on-line exhibiting individuals storming the border crossing with Jordan, which was in insurgent arms till authorities forces regained management of it in 2018.
Ahmad al-Masalmeh, an opposition activist based mostly in France who covers occasions in southern Syria, informed The Associated Press that native gunmen have captured the Naseeb crossing in addition to a number of different areas within the southern province of Daraa the place the rebellion towards President Bashar Assad started in March 2011. Syrian troops have evacuated checkpoints in a number of areas together with the villages of Inkhil, Nawa and Jassem, he added.
Israel reinforces troops in Golan Heights amid Syria tensions
JERUSALEM — Israel’s navy mentioned on Friday that it deliberate to bolster its forces stationed within the Golan Heights and close to the border with Syria, the place civil warfare has reignited between the federal government and insurgent teams.
The Israeli navy mentioned in an announcement that it was “monitoring developments and is ready for all eventualities, offensive and defensive alike.”
After 13 years of civil warfare, Syrian insurgents are gaining floor, first taking cities within the nation’s north and on Friday getting into cities in central Syria.
It comes as insurgent teams mount new challenges to Russia- and Iran-backed Syrian forces, together with in Aleppo, the nation’s largest metropolis. Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has intermittently struck areas in Syria seen as strongholds of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group it’s at warfare with in Lebanon.
The advances of the Syrian insurgents provides new instability on Israel’s northern border, two months after it invaded neighboring Lebanon. Israel’s protection minister and navy chief of workers met to debate the scenario Thursday.
Israeli media reported there’s concern within the nation’s safety institution that the rebels would advance till they reached the Golan Heights, territory occupied by Israel, gaining management of Syrian weapons stockpiles alongside the way in which.
Writing within the Israeli day by day Yedioth Ahoronoth Friday, veteran navy correspondent Ron Ben-Yishai wrote that Israel might “choose” to destroy the weapons storehouses in order that they received’t fall into the arms of the rebels.
Israel seized management of the Golan Heights from Syria within the 1967 Mideast warfare. Syria has continuously accused Israel of launching assaults towards it from territory it occupies within the Golan Heights. Israel has ceaselessly struck Syria over time.
Syrian insurgents enter 2 central cities, bringing them near the town of Homs
BEIRUT — Syrian insurgents entered two central cities early Friday simply north of the central metropolis of Homs, bringing them nearer Syria’s third largest metropolis, an opposition warfare monitor and pro-government media each reported.
The break into Rastan and Talbiseh got here a day after opposition gunmen captured the central metropolis of Hama, Syria’s fourth largest, after the Syrian military mentioned it withdrew to keep away from preventing inside the town and spare the lives of civilians.
The insurgents, led by the jihadi Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have mentioned that they’ll march to Homs and Damascus, President Bashar Assad’s seat of energy.
The metropolis of Homs, elements of which had been managed by insurgents till 2014, is a significant intersection level between the capital, Damascus, and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus the place Assad enjoys vast help. Homs province is Syria’s largest in dimension and borders Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan.
Insurgents at the moment are 5 kilometers (3 miles) away from Homs, based on the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition warfare monitor.
“The battle of Homs is the mom of all battles and can determine who will rule Syria,” mentioned Rami Abdurrahman, the Observatory’s chief.
Iran says it performed a profitable area launch in a program lengthy criticized by the West
MANAMA, Bahrain — Iran mentioned Friday it performed a profitable area launch, the most recent for its program the West alleges improves Tehran’s ballistic missile know-how.
Iran performed the launch utilizing its Simorgh program, a satellite-carrying rocket that had had a collection of failed launches, at Iran’s Imam Khomeini Spaceport in rural Semnan province. That’s the positioning of Iran’s civilian area program.
The Simorgh carried what Iran described as an “orbital propulsion system,” in addition to two analysis programs to a 400-kilometer (250-mile) orbit above the Earth. A system that would change the orbit of a spacecraft would permit Iran to geo-synchronize the orbits of its satellites. Tehran has lengthy sought that capability.
Iran additionally put the payload of the Simorgh at 300 kilograms (660 kilos), heavier than its earlier profitable launches.
There was no fast unbiased affirmation the launch was profitable. The U.S. navy didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The announcement comes as heightened tensions grip the broader Middle East over Israel’s continued warfare on Hamas within the Gaza Strip and as an uneasy ceasefire holds in Lebanon.
Australian chief blames antisemitism for arson that extensively broken a Melbourne synagogue
MELBOURNE, Australia — Arsonists extensively broken a Melbourne synagogue on Friday in what Australia’s prime minister condemned as an antisemitic assault on Australian values.
The blaze within the Adass Israel Synagogue is an escalation in focused assaults in Australia for the reason that warfare started between Israel and Hamas final 12 months. Cars and buildings have been vandalized and torched round Australia in protests impressed by the warfare.
A witness who had come to the synagogue to wish noticed two masked males spreading a liquid accelerant with brooms contained in the constructing at 4:10 a.m., officers mentioned.
About 60 firefighters with 17 hearth vans responded to the blaze, which police mentioned precipitated in depth injury. Investigators have but to determine a motive, however Prime Minister Anthony Albanese blamed antisemitism.
“This was a surprising incident to be unequivocally condemned. There is not any place in Australia for an outrage reminiscent of this,” Albanese informed reporters. “To assault a spot of worship is an assault on Australian values. To assault a synagogue is an act of antisemitism, is attacking the suitable that every one Australians ought to should apply their religion in peace and safety,” he added.
Hamas official says Gaza ceasefire talks have resumed after weekslong hiatus
ISTANBUL — A Hamas official says worldwide mediators have resumed negotiating with the militant group and Israel over a ceasefire in Gaza, and that he was hopeful a deal to finish the 14-month warfare was inside attain.
Ceasefire negotiations had been halted final month when Qatar suspended talks with mediators from Egypt and the United States due to frustration over an absence of progress between Israel and Hamas. But there was a “reactivation” of efforts in latest days to finish the preventing, launch hostages from Gaza and free Palestinian prisoners in Israel, based on Bassem Naim, an official in Hamas’ political bureau who spoke with The Associated Press in Turkey on Thursday.
Another official conversant in the talks confirmed the return of Qatari mediators. The official spoke Thursday on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t approved to debate the negotiations with the media.
Since the talks broke down, there have been important shifts within the world and regional panorama. Donald Trump received the U.S. presidential election, and a ceasefire was declared final week between Israel and Hamas ally Hezbollah in Lebanon. Trump is a staunch supporter of Israel, however Naim mentioned he believes the incoming administration might “have an effect on the scenario positively” on condition that Trump had made halting wars within the area a part of his marketing campaign platform.
Trump this week known as for the discharge of all hostages held in Gaza by the point he takes workplace on Jan. 20, saying there can be “hell to pay” if that doesn’t occur.
Attack close to US base in japanese Syria might have wounded 3 service members, Pentagon says
WASHINGTON — Three U.S. service members had been being evaluated for potential traumatic mind accidents following an assault close to a base in japanese Syria this week, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder mentioned Thursday.
Ryder mentioned U.S. Central Command remains to be evaluating who was behind the assault close to Mission Support Site Euphrates, which prompted the U.S. to conduct counter strikes on Tuesday. At the time, the Pentagon mentioned rockets and mortars had landed within the neighborhood of the bottom.
The U.S. has about 900 troops in Syria to conduct missions to counter the Islamic Stage group.
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By Lolita Baldor
