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Arab World

In First, Lebanese Resistance Brigades Join Military Operations against Israel in the South

Family and the wife of Israeli reservist Master Sgt. Valeri Chefonov gather around his grave during his funeral at the military cemetery in Netanya, Israel, on Friday, July 12, 2024. Chefonov, 33, was killed, in northern Israel on Thursday in an explosive drone attack from Lebanon. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Family and the wife of Israeli reservist Master Sgt. Valeri Chefonov gather around his grave during his funeral at the military cemetery in Netanya, Israel, on Friday, July 12, 2024. Chefonov, 33, was killed, in northern Israel on Thursday in an explosive drone attack from Lebanon. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
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In First, Lebanese Resistance Brigades Join Military Operations against Israel in the South

Family and the wife of Israeli reservist Master Sgt. Valeri Chefonov gather around his grave during his funeral at the military cemetery in Netanya, Israel, on Friday, July 12, 2024. Chefonov, 33, was killed, in northern Israel on Thursday in an explosive drone attack from Lebanon. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Family and the wife of Israeli reservist Master Sgt. Valeri Chefonov gather around his grave during his funeral at the military cemetery in Netanya, Israel, on Friday, July 12, 2024. Chefonov, 33, was killed, in northern Israel on Thursday in an explosive drone attack from Lebanon. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

The Lebanese Resistance Brigades, a Lebanese paramilitary group affiliated with Hezbollah, claimed responsibility on Saturday for a military operation against Israel in southern Lebanon.
The announcement is the first for the group, founded by Hezbollah in 1997, since the Israeli war on Gaza. The group includes volunteer fighters from different sects in Lebanon.
According to a statement issued by the Brigades on Friday, it began its engagement in the war by shelling with rockets the Israeli 'Rweisat al-Qarn' site in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms, scoring a “direct hit”, it said.
Hezbollah and Israel have been trading near daily exchanges of fire since the Israel-Hamas war broke out last year.
Hezbollah says it is striking Israel in solidarity with Hamas, another Iran-allied group that ignited the war in Gaza with its Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel. The group’s leadership says it will stop its attacks once there is a cease-fire in Gaza, and that while it does not want war, it is ready for one.
Diplomatic talks to end the confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah have failed so far.
Hezbollah and the Lebanese government rejected Israel’s demands to evacuate the border area in Lebanon from Hezbollah fighters.
The parliamentary bloc of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, made that clear by welcoming any international efforts aiming at quelling Israel’s aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
The bloc affirmed “rejection of discussions regarding the establishment of buffer zones on Lebanon’s sovereign territory, whether in southern Lebanon or in its north."
Meanwhile cross-border fire continues in south Lebanon. A Lebanese army vehicle of type 'Humvee' came under Israeli machine gun fire from the village of Ghajar near Wazzani.
Reports said the vehicle was directly hit with four bullets. However, the personnel miraculously escaped unharmed from this attack.

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Arab World

Shabwa Deputy Governor to Asharq Al-Awsat: Houthis Supplied Terrorist Groups with Drone Technology

Shabwa Deputy Governor Fahd Al-Khulaifi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Shabwa Deputy Governor Fahd Al-Khulaifi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Shabwa Deputy Governor to Asharq Al-Awsat: Houthis Supplied Terrorist Groups with Drone Technology

Shabwa Deputy Governor Fahd Al-Khulaifi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Shabwa Deputy Governor Fahd Al-Khulaifi (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Fahd Al-Khulaifi, First Deputy Governor of Yemen's Shabwa province, warned that the Houthi group has supplied some terrorist organizations with drone technology as part of what he described as ongoing cooperation between the two sides.

His remarks came after a Houthi missile attack on Monday targeted the Martyr Ahmed Al-Sulaimani Training Center on the outskirts of Ataq, the capital of Shabwa province in southeastern Yemen.

Local authorities reported that the facility was struck by three ballistic missiles while newly recruited internal security personnel were undergoing training, leaving more than 70 people dead and over 200 wounded.

In exclusive remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Khulaifi said Houthi attacks would not break the resilience of Shabwa's residents but would instead strengthen their determination to confront the group.

He said local authorities possess information confirming cooperation between the Houthis and terrorist organizations, including Al-Qaeda and ISIS, noting that the Houthis had enabled some of these groups to acquire drone technology.

According to Al-Khulaifi, this cooperation is evident in attacks targeting security forces, the Shabwa Defense Forces and the Nation's Shield Forces as they pass through the province en route to other governorates.

Local authorities announced that those killed would be officially recognized as having died in the line of duty, with their salaries permanently allocated to their families. They also pledged to safeguard the rights and financial entitlements of the wounded and ensure payment without delay, while mobilizing the necessary resources to provide medical care.

Al-Khulaifi said the dead and wounded were newly recruited members of the province's police and security agencies.

He noted that Shabwa Governor Awad bin Al-Wazir had revealed that local authorities possess evidence of cooperation between the Houthis and other terrorist organizations.

Al-Khulaifi added that such coordination had intensified recently and was being monitored by security agencies.

He said the Houthis and terrorist organizations were carrying out direct attacks and planting explosive devices and booby traps along roads and at locations used by security forces and the Shabwa Defense Forces.

He added that their cooperation had expanded to include the use of drones after the Houthis provided some of these organizations with the necessary technology.

Al-Khulaifi stressed that such terrorist acts would not undermine the determination of Shabwa's residents to confront the Houthis.

He called on the Arab Coalition to support the front lines with advanced weapons capable of countering Houthi military capabilities, particularly drones, and to provide ground-based air defense systems to intercept ballistic missiles.

Shabwa's local authorities held the Iran-backed Houthi group fully responsible for the attack and the resulting casualties, describing the targeting of recruits during training as an extremely serious military escalation.

They also called for urgent measures to protect military and security facilities and their personnel.

Meanwhile, Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi was briefed on developments following the attack during a telephone call with Shabwa Governor Awad bin Al-Wazir.

Al-Alimi instructed the relevant authorities to provide necessary medical treatment to the wounded, care for the families of those killed, complete procedures to settle their entitlements and ensure payment of their salaries, and take the necessary measures to respond firmly to the sources of the attack.

He said the targeting of recruits reflected what he described as the Houthis' tendency to resort to attacks whenever they faced pressure or setbacks in plans backed by the Iranian regime.

Al-Alimi stressed that such attacks would not deter the state from fulfilling its responsibilities to protect citizens and restore national institutions.

He also vowed that the victims' deaths would not go unanswered, emphasizing that caring for their families and honoring their sacrifices was a national responsibility.

Arab World

Drone Strike in Disputed Sudan-South Sudan Area Kills Dozens, Minister Says

A person wounded in a drone strike on a market in the disputed Abyei region along the border between South Sudan and Sudan is carried to Ameth Bek hospital, October 20, 2026. (Reuters/Medecins Sans Frontieres/Handout)
A person wounded in a drone strike on a market in the disputed Abyei region along the border between South Sudan and Sudan is carried to Ameth Bek hospital, October 20, 2026. (Reuters/Medecins Sans Frontieres/Handout)
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Drone Strike in Disputed Sudan-South Sudan Area Kills Dozens, Minister Says

A person wounded in a drone strike on a market in the disputed Abyei region along the border between South Sudan and Sudan is carried to Ameth Bek hospital, October 20, 2026. (Reuters/Medecins Sans Frontieres/Handout)
A person wounded in a drone strike on a market in the disputed Abyei region along the border between South Sudan and Sudan is carried to Ameth Bek hospital, October 20, 2026. (Reuters/Medecins Sans Frontieres/Handout)

At least 73 people were killed when drones struck a market in the disputed Abyei region along the border of South Sudan and Sudan, the caretaker information minister for the jointly administered region said on Tuesday, accusing Sudan's army of carrying out the attack.

The minister did not provide evidence for his claim of who was responsible for Monday's attack.

Abyei is an oil-rich area that is jointly administered by South Sudan and Sudan, which have both staked claims to it. It experiences frequent bouts of ‌violence, with clashes ‌usually involving rival ethnic groups or armed militias.

"Around ‌73 ⁠people have been ⁠killed and 19 have been wounded ... a number of drones were shot yesterday by the Sudanese armed forces," Yohana Akol Ngor, the caretaker minister of information of the Abyei region, told Reuters on Tuesday.

Last year, at least six Bangladeshi peacekeepers were killed and eight wounded in a drone attack by separatist armed ⁠groups on a UN base in Abyei, Bangladesh's ‌armed forces said.

South Sudan's foreign ‌ministry said in a statement late Monday that drones struck a market ‌located north of Abyei town, but did not specify the ‌number of civilian casualties resulting from the attack.

The ministry said it had summoned the Sudanese ambassador to convey the government's "strong protest and deep concern regarding the attack and its implications for the security of civilians and ‌the stability of the Abyei Area."

The medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said in a statement that ⁠it was ⁠treating more than 20 wounded people at the nearby Ameth Bek Hospital.

"So far we received over 20 patients, including several critical cases. Patients with burns were also admitted. We are providing surgical services and wound dressing, along with other emergency care," said Christian Lindauer, MSF medical activities manager at Ameth Bek Hospital.

Sudan has been gripped by war since April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The conflict has devastated large parts of the country and created what the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Arab World

Israeli Fire Kills Four People in Gaza, Medics Say

Children stand at the site of an Israeli strike on a residential building that killed two people in Gaza City on October 20, 2026. (AFP)
Children stand at the site of an Israeli strike on a residential building that killed two people in Gaza City on October 20, 2026. (AFP)
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Israeli Fire Kills Four People in Gaza, Medics Say

Children stand at the site of an Israeli strike on a residential building that killed two people in Gaza City on October 20, 2026. (AFP)
Children stand at the site of an Israeli strike on a residential building that killed two people in Gaza City on October 20, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli strikes and ‌gunfire killed at least four Palestinians, including a married couple and a 17-year-old, in separate incidents in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, health officials said. 

Medics said an Israeli airstrike killed Akram Yassin and his wife Dina Abu Baker in an apartment in Gaza City. 

The Israeli military said it struck a fighter in the area, without giving further details. 

In Khan Younis, in the south, medics said a 17-year-old boy was killed by Israeli ‌gunfire near the ‌Qizan Al-Najar neighborhood, while another was ‌killed ⁠by Israeli gunfire ⁠in the Zeitoun suburb east of Gaza City, taking Tuesday's death toll to at least four. 

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on either of the two gunfire incidents. 

Palestinians inspected the aftermath of the strike on the apartment in Gaza City before gathering for the ⁠couple's funeral. 

"We’re supposed to be in a ceasefire ‌period, but honestly, we are ‌not seeing a ceasefire or anything. The war is ‌still going on, assassinations are continuing, and the shelling ‌has not stopped," said Mahmoud Yassin, whose brother was killed. 

Israel, which says the Hamas group has been rearming and launching attacks in violation of the ceasefire, has stepped up ‌strikes on the group in recent weeks. 

Hamas has denied trying to carry out ⁠attacks or ⁠rebuild its arsenal and accuses Israel of undermining the Gaza peace deal. 

The ceasefire, brokered by the US a year ago, calls for the eventual reconstruction of the territory. But little progress has been made towards implementing a deal to end the conflict that includes terms for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its troops. 

Gaza health officials have said at least 1,500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire. Israel says four of its soldiers have been killed by fighters in Gaza over the same period.