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Israeli Military Calling Up Reservists for More Gaza Operations

An Israeli tank blocks the road as Internally displaced Palestinians who fled from the northern Gaza strip attempt to return from the southern Gaza strip, 14 April 2024. (EPA)
An Israeli tank blocks the road as Internally displaced Palestinians who fled from the northern Gaza strip attempt to return from the southern Gaza strip, 14 April 2024. (EPA)
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Israeli Military Calling Up Reservists for More Gaza Operations

An Israeli tank blocks the road as Internally displaced Palestinians who fled from the northern Gaza strip attempt to return from the southern Gaza strip, 14 April 2024. (EPA)
An Israeli tank blocks the road as Internally displaced Palestinians who fled from the northern Gaza strip attempt to return from the southern Gaza strip, 14 April 2024. (EPA)

The Israeli military said on Sunday it will soon call up two reserve divisions for operations in Gaza, where it has been conducting a war against the Hamas movement.

"In accordance with the situational assessment, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is calling up approximately two reserve brigades for operational activities on the Gazan front," the military said, though it provided no further details.

Earlier this month Israel pulled some forces out of Gaza, saying troops would be preparing for further operations in the territory, including in the southern area of Rafah, where more than a million people have taken shelter.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to evacuate civilians from Rafah before any incursion aimed at crushing Hamas battalions there, but that has done little to quell international concern over the planned assault.

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France Says EU Will Lift Some Sanctions Against Syria After Assad’s Fall 

People walk in front of the historic Hejaz train station in Damascus on January 26, 2025. (AFP)
People walk in front of the historic Hejaz train station in Damascus on January 26, 2025. (AFP)
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France Says EU Will Lift Some Sanctions Against Syria After Assad’s Fall 

People walk in front of the historic Hejaz train station in Damascus on January 26, 2025. (AFP)
People walk in front of the historic Hejaz train station in Damascus on January 26, 2025. (AFP)

Some European Union sanctions against Syria are being lifted, France's foreign minister said on Monday, as part of a broader EU move to help stabilize Damascus after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad in December.

EU foreign ministers were discussing the matter at a meeting in Brussels on Monday with the bloc's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas having told Reuters that she was hopeful an agreement on easing the sanctions could be reached.

"Regarding Syria, we are going to decide today to lift, to suspend, certain sanctions that had applied to the energy and transport sectors and to financial institutions that were key to the financial stabilization of the country," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on arrival at the EU meeting in Brussels.

He added that France would also propose slapping sanctions on Iranian officials responsible for the detention of French citizens in Iran.

"I will announce today that we will propose that those responsible for these arbitrary detentions may be sanctioned by the European Union in the coming months," he said.

Assad, whose family had ruled Syria with an iron first for 54 years, was toppled by opposition forces on Dec. 8, bringing an abrupt end to a devastating 13-year civil war that had created one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times.

The conflict left large parts of many major cities in ruins, services decrepit and the vast majority of the population living in poverty. The harsh Western sanctions regime has effectively cut off its formal economy from the rest of the world.