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Israeli Army Intercepts Target from Lebanon, Israel Says

This picture taken from Kibbutz Manara in northern Israel on November 27, 2023, shows the southern Lebanon village of Hula. (Photo by jalaa marey / AFP)
This picture taken from Kibbutz Manara in northern Israel on November 27, 2023, shows the southern Lebanon village of Hula. (Photo by jalaa marey / AFP)
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Israeli Army Intercepts Target from Lebanon, Israel Says

This picture taken from Kibbutz Manara in northern Israel on November 27, 2023, shows the southern Lebanon village of Hula. (Photo by jalaa marey / AFP)
This picture taken from Kibbutz Manara in northern Israel on November 27, 2023, shows the southern Lebanon village of Hula. (Photo by jalaa marey / AFP)

The Israeli military said it intercepted an "aerial target" that crossed from Lebanon on Thursday, in an incident that jolted the calm prevailing at the frontier since the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel agreed a temporary truce.
Reuters witnesses heard blasts along the southeastern Lebanese frontier. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for any attacks from Lebanon.
Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, had been trading fire across the border for weeks following the eruption of the Hamas-Israel war on Oct. 7, in their worst fighting since a 2006 war.
Other groups, including Hamas and the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, also launched attacks from Lebanon against Israel during the conflict.
The Israeli army said on Thursday it had "successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory".
A spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) told Reuters a launch was detected from Lebanon towards Israel, followed by Israeli retaliation.
Israel and Hamas struck a last-minute agreement on Thursday to extend their ceasefire for a seventh day, and Washington said it hoped the truce could be extended further to free more hostages and let aid reach Gaza.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.