Israel Carries Out Strikes Near Damascus

Smoke rising over the capital, Damascus, after an Israeli raid in 2022 (File- Reuters)
Smoke rising over the capital, Damascus, after an Israeli raid in 2022 (File- Reuters)
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Israel Carries Out Strikes Near Damascus

Smoke rising over the capital, Damascus, after an Israeli raid in 2022 (File- Reuters)
Smoke rising over the capital, Damascus, after an Israeli raid in 2022 (File- Reuters)

Israel carried out air strikes near Syria's capital Damascus late Sunday, Syrian state news agency SANA said.

"At around 23:05 (2105 GMT) the Israeli enemy carried out an air assault... targeting various points on the outskirts of Damascus," a security source told the agency, AFP reported.

"Our anti-aircraft defences shot down some missiles while others caused limited material damage."

An AFP correspondent reported strong explosions in the suburbs of Damascus, which have been previously targeted by strikes that Syrian authorities have blamed on Israel.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the strikes had targeted "Hezbollah sites" in the Sayeda Zeinab district and near Damascus airport.

The Israeli army declined to comment on the incident, but said separately that shots had been fired from Lebanon towards northern Israel on Sunday evening.

"The army retaliated by targeting the source of the fire. Earlier in the day, we had struck a Hezbollah terrorist cell," it said in a statement.

Israel's army chief Herzi Halevi visited his forces near the northern border with Lebanon on Sunday, where he spoke of the need "to kill Hezbollah operatives, to demonstrate our superiority".

"It can also come in the form of a strike and war," he said.



Lebanon's Speaker Sets Jan. 9 Date to Elect President

FILED - 01 October 2020, Lebanon, Beirut: Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri speaks during a press conference. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa
FILED - 01 October 2020, Lebanon, Beirut: Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri speaks during a press conference. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa
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Lebanon's Speaker Sets Jan. 9 Date to Elect President

FILED - 01 October 2020, Lebanon, Beirut: Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri speaks during a press conference. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa
FILED - 01 October 2020, Lebanon, Beirut: Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri speaks during a press conference. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri set a Jan. 9 date for lawmakers to elect the country's president, the state news agency (NNA) reported on Thursday.
Lebanon has not had a president or a fully empowered cabinet since October 2022 due to a power struggle.

Israel's offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon had prompted a renewed bid by some leading Lebanese politicians to fill the two-year-long presidential vacuum.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect on Wednesday under a deal brokered by the US and France, allowing people in both countries to start returning to homes in border areas shattered by 14 months of fighting.

Berri has said that, once there's a ceasefire, he supported the election of a president who doesn't represent "a challenge" to anyone.

The presidency is decided by a vote in Lebanon's 128-seat parliament. No single political alliance has enough seats to impose its choice, meaning an understanding among rival blocs is needed to secure the election of a candidate.