Israeli Towns Bordering Lebanon Locked Down after Infiltration Reports

FILE PHOTO: An Israeli soldier stands by a mobile artillery unit, near the Israel-Lebanon border, in northern Israel January 15, 2024. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An Israeli soldier stands by a mobile artillery unit, near the Israel-Lebanon border, in northern Israel January 15, 2024. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo
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Israeli Towns Bordering Lebanon Locked Down after Infiltration Reports

FILE PHOTO: An Israeli soldier stands by a mobile artillery unit, near the Israel-Lebanon border, in northern Israel January 15, 2024. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An Israeli soldier stands by a mobile artillery unit, near the Israel-Lebanon border, in northern Israel January 15, 2024. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo

Israel’s i24 News television said on Thursday that several northern Israeli towns bordering Lebanon were placed under lockdown after reports of a possible "terrorist" infiltration.
The television did not provide any further details.
On Wednesday, the Israeli army said that rocket alert sirens were launched in North Israel.
Since the surprise October 7 attack by Hamas on southern Israel, there have been near daily exchanges of cross-border fire between the Israeli army, and Hezbollah and other armed Palestinian factions.



Erdogan Expects Support from Syria in Türkiye's Battle with PKK

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint news conference with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, Nigeria October 20, 2021. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint news conference with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, Nigeria October 20, 2021. (Reuters)
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Erdogan Expects Support from Syria in Türkiye's Battle with PKK

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint news conference with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, Nigeria October 20, 2021. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint news conference with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, Nigeria October 20, 2021. (Reuters)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Syria's new leadership is determined to root out separatists there, as Ankara said its military had "neutralized" 32 members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, in the country.

A rebellion by groups close to Türkiye ousted Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad last month. Since then, Türkiye-backed Syrian forces have occasionally clashed in the north with US-backed Kurdish forces that Ankara deems terrorists.

"With the revolution in Syria... the hopes of the separatist terrorist organization hit a wall," Erdogan told his party's provincial congress in Trabzon.

"The new administration in Syria is showing an extremely determined stance in preserving the country's territorial integrity and unitary structure," he said.

"The end of the terrorist organization is near. There is no option left other than to surrender their weapons, abandon terrorism, and dissolve the organization. They will face Türkiye's iron fist," Erdogan added.

The defense ministry separately announced the armed forces' operation in northern Syria that it said had "neutralized" - a term that usually means killed - the 32 PKK members. It said Türkiye's military had also "neutralized" four PKK members in northern Iraq, where the militants are based.