Iraqi Faction Says Its Drones Target Israeli Base 

Israeli men hang an Israeli flag over a damaged building that was hit by a rocket from Lebanon as emergency personnel work at a site of houses damaged following the attack, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, in Kiryat Bialik, Israel, September 22, 2024. (Reuters)
Israeli men hang an Israeli flag over a damaged building that was hit by a rocket from Lebanon as emergency personnel work at a site of houses damaged following the attack, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, in Kiryat Bialik, Israel, September 22, 2024. (Reuters)
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Iraqi Faction Says Its Drones Target Israeli Base 

Israeli men hang an Israeli flag over a damaged building that was hit by a rocket from Lebanon as emergency personnel work at a site of houses damaged following the attack, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, in Kiryat Bialik, Israel, September 22, 2024. (Reuters)
Israeli men hang an Israeli flag over a damaged building that was hit by a rocket from Lebanon as emergency personnel work at a site of houses damaged following the attack, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, in Kiryat Bialik, Israel, September 22, 2024. (Reuters)

Drones of the so-called “Islamic Resistance” in Iraq targeted the Israeli military's Golani observation base in the occupied Palestinian territories, the pro-Iranian militant group said on Monday.

On Sunday, the group said it had launched a drone attack on a target in the Israeli-occupied Jordan Valley.

Iraqi Shiite armed factions, like other pro-Iranian groups, pledged to carry out attacks in solidarity with the Palestinians after Hamas launched its attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, triggering the war in Gaza.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq vowed to escalate its attacks.

In separate statements, the Israeli military said interceptors were launched towards an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that had been launched from Iraq and was identified crossing into Israeli territory from Syria.

No injuries were reported.

The group said its drones hit a location in the Jordan Valley in the occupied Palestinian territories, but did not elaborate.

Tension in the Middle East has surged since thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by members of Lebanon's Hezbollah group exploded in an attack widely blamed on Israel.

Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged some of the heaviest cross-border fire in a conflict running in parallel with the almost year-long Gaza war.



US Links Ankara-Damascus Normalization to Political Solution in Syria

Meeting between Erdogan and Assad in 2010 (Archive)
Meeting between Erdogan and Assad in 2010 (Archive)
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US Links Ankara-Damascus Normalization to Political Solution in Syria

Meeting between Erdogan and Assad in 2010 (Archive)
Meeting between Erdogan and Assad in 2010 (Archive)

Recent statements by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his willingness to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to normalize relations between the two countries have sparked mixed reactions.
While the Syrian opposition sees the possibility of such a meeting despite the challenges, Damascus views the statements as a political maneuver by the Turks. Meanwhile, the United States has tied the normalization process to achieving a political solution in Syria based on UN Security Council Resolution 2254, issued in 2015.
Turkish media reported on Thursday that a US administration official, who was not named, confirmed that Washington is against normalizing relations with the Syrian regime under Assad. He emphasized that Washington cannot accept normalizing ties with Damascus without progress toward a political solution that ends the conflicts in Syria.
Meanwhile, the head of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, Hadi al-Bahra, stated that a meeting between Assad and Erdogan is possible despite the obstacles. In a statement to Reuters on Thursday, Bahra said the meeting is feasible, even though Ankara is fully aware that the Assad regime cannot currently meet its demands and understands the regime’s limitations.
Bahra pointed out that the UN-led political process remains frozen and that he had briefed US and Western officials on the latest developments in the Syrian file. On Saturday, Bahra participated in a consultative meeting in Ankara with the Syrian Negotiation Commission, along with a high-level delegation from the US State Department, during which they exchanged views on the political solution and the need to establish binding mechanisms for implementing international resolutions related to the Syrian issue.
On the other side, Assad’s special advisor, Bouthaina Shaaban, dismissed Erdogan’s announcement that Ankara is awaiting a response from Damascus regarding his meeting with Assad for normalization as another political maneuver with ulterior motives.
Shaaban, speaking during a lecture at the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was reported by Turkish media on Thursday, stated that any rapprochement between the two countries is contingent on its withdrawal of forces from Syrian territory.