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Israel Says Eliminates Hezbollah 'Golan Heights' Member, Syrian Media Report Israeli Airstrikes

Forensic inspect a residential building hit by a reported Israeli air strike, in the Mazzeh suburb on the western outskirts of Syria's capital Damascus on October 8, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
Forensic inspect a residential building hit by a reported Israeli air strike, in the Mazzeh suburb on the western outskirts of Syria's capital Damascus on October 8, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
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Israel Says Eliminates Hezbollah 'Golan Heights' Member, Syrian Media Report Israeli Airstrikes

Forensic inspect a residential building hit by a reported Israeli air strike, in the Mazzeh suburb on the western outskirts of Syria's capital Damascus on October 8, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
Forensic inspect a residential building hit by a reported Israeli air strike, in the Mazzeh suburb on the western outskirts of Syria's capital Damascus on October 8, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)

Israel's military said it had eliminated a Hezbollah member in Syria who relayed intelligence against Israel in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, while Syrian media reported on Thursday that Israeli airstrikes hit targets in Syria.
Israel, which has carried out strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years, has ramped up its raids since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by the Iran-backed Palestinian group Hamas on Israeli territory, which ignited Israel's war in Gaza, Reuters said.
Israel has escalated its retaliation for the Hamas attack, sending troops into Lebanon and airstrikes into Iran, Yemen and Syria in the hunt for Iran-backed militants, raising fears of a wider Middle East conflict that could draw in Iran and the United States.
Ground clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, which is also backed by Iran, were spreading along southern Lebanon's mountainous frontier on Wednesday as the Middle East was on high alert awaiting Israel's response to an Iranian missile strike last week.
US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Wednesday about potential Israeli retaliation against Iran, in a call both sides described as positive.
The two leaders discussed Israel's plans in the 30-minute call, and Biden urged Netanyahu to minimize civilian harm in Lebanon, the White House said.
Israel has promised that arch-foe Iran will pay for its missile attack, which caused little damage, while Tehran has said any retaliation would be met with vast destruction, raising concerns of broader fighting in the oil-producing region.
Biden last week made comments discouraging Israel from striking Iranian oil fields and said he would not support Israel striking Iranian nuclear sites.
STRIKES IN SYRIA
The Israeli army said on Wednesday it had eliminated Adham Jahout, a member of Hezbollah’s “Golan Terrorist Network” in the area of Quneitra in Syria.
The army said Jahout's role was to relay information from Syrian regime sources to Hezbollah and transmit intelligence gathered on the Syrian front to facilitate operations against Israel in the Golan Heights.
Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed the area, a move not recognized by most countries.
Syrian state TV said early on Thursday that Israel had carried out airstrikes targeting an industrial site in the Syrian city of Homs and a military site in the countryside near the city of Hama, causing "some material damage".
The strikes targeted a car manufacturing plant in Homs and caused a fire, Syrian TV said, citing the director of the industrial site, Amer Khalil.
Explosions were also heard in the Syrian city of Daraa and were being investigated, state media reported.
The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had intercepted a drone that approached Israel over the Red Sea but did not cross into Israeli territory, minutes after the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said it had targeted Israel's Eilat with drones.

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Arab World

Syrian Govt Visits Notorious Al-Hol Camp for First Time Since Kurds Deal

A view of the Al-Hol camp. (AFP file)
A view of the Al-Hol camp. (AFP file)
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Syrian Govt Visits Notorious Al-Hol Camp for First Time Since Kurds Deal

A view of the Al-Hol camp. (AFP file)
A view of the Al-Hol camp. (AFP file)

A Syrian government delegation visited a notorious camp in the Kurdish-administered northeast that hosts families of suspected ISIS group members, the new authorities' first visit, both sides said Saturday.

Kurdish-run camps and prisons in the northeast hold tens of thousands of people, many with alleged or perceived links to ISIS, more than five years after the group’s territorial defeat in Syria.

Kurdish administration official Sheikhmous Ahmed said "a tripartite meeting was held on Saturday in the Al-Hol camp" that included a government delegation, another from the US-led international coalition fighting ISIS, and Kurdish administration members.

Al-Hol is northeast Syria's largest camp, housing some 37,000 people from dozens of countries, including 14,500 Iraqis, in dire conditions.

Discussions involved "establishing a mechanism for removing Syrian families from Al-Hol camp", Ahmed said.

The visit comes more than two months after interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, agreed to integrate the Kurds' civil and military institutions into the national government.

The deal also involved guaranteeing the return of all Syrians to their hometowns and villages.

No progress has yet been reported on the administration's integration into the new government.

In Damascus, interior ministry spokesperson Noureddine al-Baba told reporters Al-Hol is "part of the agreement" signed by Sharaa and Abdi.

He said the issue requires "a comprehensive societal solution for the families who are victims" of ISIS.

In February, the Kurdish administration said that in coordination with the United Nations, it aimed to empty camps in the northeast of thousands of displaced Syrians and Iraqi refugees, including suspected relatives of extremists, by the end of the year.

Al-Hol includes a high-security section for families of foreign ISIS fighters.

Ahmed said the fate of those families "is linked to the countries that have nationals (in the camp), and to the international coalition", which supported Kurdish-led forces who fought ISIS, detaining its fighters and their relatives.

The Kurds have repeatedly called on countries to repatriate their citizens, but foreign governments have allowed home only a trickle, fearing security threats and a domestic political backlash.

It is unclear who will administer prisons holding thousands of ISIS fighters in the northeast, with Abdi saying in February the new authorities wanted them under Damascus's control.