US Airstrikes Target Multiple ISIS Camps in Syria

US soldiers are seen during a joint military exercise between US-led forces and members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on September 7, 2022. (AFP)
US soldiers are seen during a joint military exercise between US-led forces and members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on September 7, 2022. (AFP)
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US Airstrikes Target Multiple ISIS Camps in Syria

US soldiers are seen during a joint military exercise between US-led forces and members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on September 7, 2022. (AFP)
US soldiers are seen during a joint military exercise between US-led forces and members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on September 7, 2022. (AFP)

A series of US airstrikes targeted several camps run by ISIS in Syria in an operation the US military said will disrupt the extremists from conducting attacks in the region and beyond.

The US Central Command said the airstrikes were conducted Friday, without specifying in which parts of Syria. About 900 US troops have been deployed in eastern Syria alongside the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that were instrumental in the fight against ISIS militants.

Despite their defeat, attacks by ISIS sleeper cells in Iraq and Syria have been on the rise over the past years, with scores of people killed or wounded.

ISIS seized territory at the height of its power and declared a caliphate in large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014, but was defeated in Iraq in 2017. In March 2019, the extremists lost the last sliver of land they once controlled in eastern Syria.

The US military said the strikes will disrupt the ability of the ISIS group to plan, organize and conduct attacks against the United States, its allies and partners, and civilians throughout the region and beyond.

It said battle damage assessments were underway and there were no civilian casualties.

Last month, Iraq’s military said that Iraqi forces and American troops killed a senior ISIS commander who was wanted by the United States, as well as several other prominent militants.



Netanyahu Tells Macron He Opposes Ceasefire Deal in Lebanon

Caption: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron (L), as they hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem on October 24, 2023. (AFP)
Caption: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron (L), as they hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem on October 24, 2023. (AFP)
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Netanyahu Tells Macron He Opposes Ceasefire Deal in Lebanon

Caption: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron (L), as they hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem on October 24, 2023. (AFP)
Caption: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron (L), as they hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem on October 24, 2023. (AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said he was opposed to agreeing to a "unilateral ceasefire" in Lebanon during a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to a statement released by his office.

"The prime minister said in the conversation that he is opposed to a unilateral ceasefire, which does not change the security situation in Lebanon, and which will only return it to the way it was," Netanyahu said, according to a statement from his office.

The remarks came as Macron upped pressure on Israel to abide by UN decisions, telling his cabinet that "Netanyahu must not forget that his country was created by a decision of the UN," a participant in the meeting told AFP.

The statement refers to the resolution adopted in November 1947 by the United Nations General Assembly on a plan to partition the territory into separate Jewish and Arab states.

"Therefore, this is not the time to disregard the decisions of the UN," Macron said from the closed-door meeting at the Elysee Palace were quoted by a participant who spoke to AFP and asked not to be named.

Tensions have increased between Netanyahu and Macron with the French leader last week insisting that stopping the export of weapons used by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon was the only way to stop the conflicts.

France has also repeatedly denounced Israeli fire against UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, which includes a French contingent.

On Sunday, Netanyahu called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to move the peacekeepers in south Lebanon out of "harm's way."

The PM said he had asked UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) several times to leave, saying that the peacekeepers' presence had "the effect of providing Hezbollah terrorists with human shields."

On Tuesday evening, Netanyahu hit back at Macron, saying Israel’s founding was achieved by the 1948 "War of Independence”, not a UN ruling.