Hezbollah Says it Struck Explosives Factory South of Haifa

A street in Haifa in northern Israel is nearly deserted as Yom Kippur begins at sunset on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
A street in Haifa in northern Israel is nearly deserted as Yom Kippur begins at sunset on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
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Hezbollah Says it Struck Explosives Factory South of Haifa

A street in Haifa in northern Israel is nearly deserted as Yom Kippur begins at sunset on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
A street in Haifa in northern Israel is nearly deserted as Yom Kippur begins at sunset on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Saturday that it launched a salvo of missiles at an Israeli military base to the south of the city of Haifa.
Hezbollah fighters were "targeting the explosives factory there with a salvo of... missiles," the group said in a statement.
Air raid sirens sounded in northern Israel, with the Israeli military saying it had intercepted a projectile launched from Lebanon.
This came as the Israeli military made more evacuation orders to southern Lebanon residents.
The military has ordered residents of 22 southern Lebanese villages to evacuate to areas north of the Awali River, according to a statement released on Saturday.

Lebanese authorities said Friday that 60 people were killed and 168 wounded in the past 24 hours, raising the total toll over the past year of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah to 2,229 dead and 10,380 wounded.
Israel has been escalating its campaign against Hezbollah with waves of heavy airstrikes across Lebanon and a ground invasion at the border, after a year of exchanges of fire.



Türkiye Says It Believes Kurdish Fighters Will Be Forced Out of All Syrian Territory

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Says It Believes Kurdish Fighters Will Be Forced Out of All Syrian Territory

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)

Türkiye believes Syria's new rulers, including the Syrian National Army (SNA) armed group which Ankara backs, will drive Kurdish YPG fighters from all territory they occupy in northeastern Syria, Defense Minister Yasar Guler said on Sunday.

Türkiye regards the Syrian YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for 40 years and are deemed terrorists by Ankara, Washington, and the European Union.

The YPG spearheads an alliance, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is backed by the United States and controls territory in northeastern Syria. Since the fall of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, Türkiye and Syrian groups it backs have fought against the SDF, seizing the city of Manbij.

"We believe that the new leadership in Syria and the Syrian National Army, which is an important part of its army, along with the Syrian people, will free all territories occupied by terrorist organizations," Guler said during a visit to Turkish troops on the Syrian border with military commanders.

"We will also take every necessary measure with the same determination until all terrorist elements beyond our borders are cleared," he said in a video released by his ministry.

Ankara has demanded the Syrian Kurdish fighters disband, and has called on Washington to withdraw its support. The US military acknowledged last week it has 2,000 troops on the ground in Syria, twice as many as it had said previously.

On Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Türkiye would do "whatever it takes" to ensure its security if Syria's new administration was unable to address its concerns.