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5 Paramedics Killed In Israeli Airstrike On a Civil Defense Center in Southern Lebanon

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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5 Paramedics Killed In Israeli Airstrike On a Civil Defense Center in Southern Lebanon

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

An Israeli airstrike hit a Lebanese Civil Defense center Wednesday in the town of Dardghaya in southern Lebanon, killing five members who were stationed there, civil defense spokesperson Elie Khairallah told The Associated Press.
The Lebanese Health Ministry also confirmed the news in a statement, saying Israel has “renewed its targeting of rescue and ambulance crews tonight, disregarding international laws, norms and humanitarian conventions.”
There was no immediate statement from the Israeli military.
Among the victims was Abdullah Al-Moussawi, head of the Tyre Regional Center in the Lebanese Civil Defense, Khairallah said.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said teams continued to search for survivors in the rubble.
Israel's defense minister warned on Wednesday that his country's retaliation for a recent Iranian missile attack will be “lethal” and “surprising,” while the Israeli military pushed ahead with a large-scale operation in northern Gaza and a ground offensive in Lebanon against Hezbollah militants.
On the diplomatic front, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Joe Biden held their first call in seven weeks, with a White House press secretary saying the call included discussions on Israel's deliberations over how it will respond to Iran's attack.
“It was direct, it was productive,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said of the 30-minute call.
The Israeli operation in northern Gaza left dozens of people dead and threatened to shut down three hospitals over a year into the war with Hamas, Palestinian officials and residents said.
The continuing cycle of destruction and death in Gaza, unleashed by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, comes as Israel expands a weeklong ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon and considers a major retaliatory strike on Iran following Iran’s Oct. 1 missile barrage.
“Our strike will be lethal, precise and above all, surprising. They won’t understand what happened and how. They will see the results,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said during a speech to troops. “Whoever strikes us will be harmed and pay a price.”
Iran fired dozens of missiles at Israel on Oct. 1 which the United States helped fend off. Biden has said he would not support a retaliatory strike on sites related to Tehran’s nuclear program.
On Wednesday, Hezbollah claimed a rocket attack that killed two people in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona. The town’s acting mayor, Ofir Yehezkeli, said the two killed were a couple walking their dogs.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu said Lebanon would meet the same fate as Gaza if its people did not rise up against Hezbollah.
Video verified by The Associated Press shows what appears to be a group of Israeli soldiers raising an Israeli flag in a village in southern Lebanon.
In the video, which appears to have been filmed in Maroun A-Ras, three soldiers are seen hoisting up a flag atop a pile of debris. A soldier off camera speaks in Hebrew and refers to the nearby Israeli village of Avivim. The date it was filmed wasn't immediately known.
The video follows other similar acts that took place throughout Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
An Israeli strike killed four people and wounded another 10 at a hotel sheltering displaced people in the southern Lebanese town of Wardaniyeh on Wednesday, Lebanon's Health Ministry said.
An Associated Press reporter in a nearby town heard two sonic booms from Israeli jets before the strike. Plumes of smoke rose from the building after the explosion.
In recent weeks Israel has waged a heavy air campaign across large parts of Lebanon, targeting what it says are Hezbollah rocket launchers and other militant sites. A series of strikes had killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of his top commanders.
The Israeli military said Wednesday that Hezbollah has fired more than 12,000 rockets, missiles and drones at Israel in the past year.

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Arab World

Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: New Syrian Parliament to Convene on June 8

People walk past the parliament building in Damascus on October 1, 2025. (AFP)
People walk past the parliament building in Damascus on October 1, 2025. (AFP)
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Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: New Syrian Parliament to Convene on June 8

People walk past the parliament building in Damascus on October 1, 2025. (AFP)
People walk past the parliament building in Damascus on October 1, 2025. (AFP)

Syria’s new parliament will hold its first session on the preliminary date of June 8 after the approval of President Ahmed al-Sharaa's final share of seats in the legislature, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The president boasts 70 seats in the 210-member parliament.

The sources said the final list of the share is being finalized with some amendments expected if some of the lawmakers, who won in recent elections, are unable to assume their duties.

The list includes figures from across Syrian segments. Efforts were made to “fill gaps” that were a result of the elections to raise the level of representation of major cities that have high populations.

Efforts were also sought to increase the number of females in parliament.

The statements mean that the president’s share was subject to negotiations with the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). They revealed that the government agreed to “appeasing” the Kurdish forces by raising the level of parliamentary representation of the eastern region.

They spoke of the possibility of raising to more than ten representatives of eastern regions that used to be held by the SDF. Representation could also be increased in Manbij east of Aleppo through a presidential appointment. The same could apply for the two Ghouta regions in the Damascus countryside and for Druze and Christian segments.

Asharq Al-Awsat also learned that some members of the parliament may propose changing the official name of the legislature, known as the “People’s Assembly” that is associated with the ousted Assad regime, to “Syrian parliament”.

Such a change requires the approval of the majority of MPs, which is already available, said the sources.

Arab World

Israel Seeks to Exclude its Occupation of South Lebanon from US–Iran Agreement

Israeli military vehicles drive on a Lebanese road towards the Israel-Lebanon border, as seen from northern Israel, May 4, 2026. REUTERS/Avi Ohayon
Israeli military vehicles drive on a Lebanese road towards the Israel-Lebanon border, as seen from northern Israel, May 4, 2026. REUTERS/Avi Ohayon
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Israel Seeks to Exclude its Occupation of South Lebanon from US–Iran Agreement

Israeli military vehicles drive on a Lebanese road towards the Israel-Lebanon border, as seen from northern Israel, May 4, 2026. REUTERS/Avi Ohayon
Israeli military vehicles drive on a Lebanese road towards the Israel-Lebanon border, as seen from northern Israel, May 4, 2026. REUTERS/Avi Ohayon

Israel reportedly is trying to separate its occupation of parts of southern Lebanon from the anticipated agreement between the United States and Iran.

An Israeli source said on Sunday that the preliminary US-Iran agreement, which would also stipulate a ceasefire in Lebanon, grants Israel “the right to defend itself against attacks by Hezbollah.” To that end, the Israeli army would remain in the 600 square kilometers areas it occupied in southern Lebanon over the past year, extending 10 to 15 kilometers beyond the border between the two countries.

According to Israel’s Kan11 broadcaster, PM Benjamin Netanyahu had expressed concern during talks with US President Donald Trump on Saturday over “linking a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon with the agreement in Iran”. But Trump had reportedly "appeased" Netanyahu saying the US is directly monitoring the direct talks between the Lebanese and Israeli governments, assuring his keenness on preserving Israeli interests.

The channel quoted “a source familiar with the details” as saying that “Israel received a green light not only to remain on Lebanese territory, but also to retain 25 military positions until the negotiations are successfully concluded and the objective of disarming Hezbollah is achieved.”

Israeli media outlets quoted a political official on Sunday as saying that Netanyahu had stressed during his talks with Trump that “Israel will preserve its freedom of action against threats on all fronts, including Lebanon,” claiming that Trump “reiterated his support for this principle.”

For his part, Trump had stressed that he would “stand firm” in the negotiations regarding the disarmament of Hezbollah and “Israel’s right to respond forcefully to any violation of the ceasefire in Lebanon”, according to the source.

The official said Netanyahu will brief the cabinet and security chiefs on Israel’s position, stressing that Israel will remain in Lebanese territory and continue its operations against Hezbollah as long as negotiations are ongoing.

He added that Israel is committed to the ceasefire and does not strike all Hezbollah-linked locations, such as Beirut, but, backed fully by the United States, it targets Hezbollah cells and drones preparing attacks through so-called “preemptive strikes”.

Since October 2024, Israel continues its military operations and occupation of parts of south Lebanon despite a ceasefire agreement reached in November 2024.

Hezbollah launched six drones toward the Galilee, which Israel used as a pretext to escalate its incursion and expand its occupation, destroying villages, displacing 1.2 million Lebanese, and killing over 3,000 people.

Hezbollah’s operations displaced tens of thousands of Israelis in the north and killed 30, including 22 soldiers.

Arab World

Iraqi Security Delegation to Visit Tehran to Address Attacks on Kurdistan

Kurdistan President Masrour Barzani and Iraqi PM Ali al-Zaidi meet in Erbil. (Kurdistan government media file photo)
Kurdistan President Masrour Barzani and Iraqi PM Ali al-Zaidi meet in Erbil. (Kurdistan government media file photo)
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Iraqi Security Delegation to Visit Tehran to Address Attacks on Kurdistan

Kurdistan President Masrour Barzani and Iraqi PM Ali al-Zaidi meet in Erbil. (Kurdistan government media file photo)
Kurdistan President Masrour Barzani and Iraqi PM Ali al-Zaidi meet in Erbil. (Kurdistan government media file photo)

Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Masrour Barzani held talks in Baghdad on Sunday with new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on pending issues between Baghdad and Erbil.

Iraqi National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji said: “There is great understanding between the federal government and the Kurdistan Region on the need to resolve disputes and pending issues to ensure the interests of all Iraqi citizens.”

Speaking at a joint press conference with Barzani, he revealed that a senior joint security delegation from Baghdad and Erbil will soon visit Tehran.

The delegation will represent Baghdad in the Iraqi-Iranian High Security Committee that was previously announced, he added.

The committee will meet to address the attacks that have targeted Kurdistan and Iraq during the recent military conflict in the region, he went on to say. It will also tackle other issues of common interest.

For his part, Barzani said that Araji stressed his rejection of the attacks on Kurdistan and the whole of Iraq.

Araji did not disclose the date of the delegation’s visit.

Iraqi observers in Baghdad said the development marks a shift in the new Iraqi government’s stance towards the attacks that were likely launched by pro-Iran Iraqi armed factions, which have targeted Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, or by Iran against Erbil and other Kurdish regions.

Spokesperson for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces Sabah al-Numan had recently revealed that al-Zaidi had formed a committee that includes security agencies to probe the attacks against Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The committee will visit Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to further investigate the attacks.

An informed security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the official authorities and security agencies “are fully aware of the movements of the armed factions and the attacks they have carried out and their motivations for doing so.”

“The countries that have been targeted continue to have positive stances and they strongly support the peace negotiations,” it added.

It noted that the attacks “are an embarrassment to the new Iraqi government, which has nevertheless expressed a determination to resolve the issue” and cooperate with the concerned countries.

This marks a shift in Baghdad’s stance towards the possession of weapons outside the authority of the state, explained the source.