Israeli Soldiers Kill Five Palestinians in West Bank

An Israeli soldier loads a guided mortar munition system at an area near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, 01 January 2024. EPA/ABIR SULTAN
An Israeli soldier loads a guided mortar munition system at an area near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, 01 January 2024. EPA/ABIR SULTAN
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Israeli Soldiers Kill Five Palestinians in West Bank

An Israeli soldier loads a guided mortar munition system at an area near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, 01 January 2024. EPA/ABIR SULTAN
An Israeli soldier loads a guided mortar munition system at an area near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, 01 January 2024. EPA/ABIR SULTAN

Israeli soldiers killed five Palestinians in exchanges of fire in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, Israeli military said.
There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials, Reuters reported.
A statement from the military said that soldiers on a “counter-terrorism” operation killed four armed militants who had fired at them from within a house in the Palestinian village Azzun and one Israeli soldier was wounded in the fire exchange.
In Qalqilya, soldiers shot and killed a gunman who opened fire at them while they were on a raid to seize weapons, the military said.
Israeli security forces have stepped up raids across the West Bank since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in southern Israel and the subsequent Israeli offensive now raging in the Gaza Strip.



First Class of Syrian Police Cadets Since Assad’s Ouster Graduates

Syrian police members attend their graduation ceremony, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, at the Police Academy under the Syrian Salvation Government, in Damascus, Syria January 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Syrian police members attend their graduation ceremony, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, at the Police Academy under the Syrian Salvation Government, in Damascus, Syria January 14, 2025. (Reuters)
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First Class of Syrian Police Cadets Since Assad’s Ouster Graduates

Syrian police members attend their graduation ceremony, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, at the Police Academy under the Syrian Salvation Government, in Damascus, Syria January 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Syrian police members attend their graduation ceremony, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, at the Police Academy under the Syrian Salvation Government, in Damascus, Syria January 14, 2025. (Reuters)

The first class of Syrian police cadets has graduated since the ouster of President Bashar Assad.

The newly reopened police college in Damascus began accepting applications shortly after opposition groups toppled Assad last month, ending decades of his family rule that was known for widespread surveillance, arbitrary detentions, torture and deaths of real and perceived opponents.

The country’s new leadership under the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group has been working on restructuring Syria’s military and security forces, Oussama Mohammad, a military official at the police college, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

“The purpose of this course is to preserve security and safety in Syria’s provinces and to track down remnants of the (Assad) regime,” he said.

Over 400 young men applied to join the police, Mohammad said.