France Says It Carried Out Missile Strikes against ISIS in Syria Last Weekend

French Minister of Defense Sebastien Lecornu leaving the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris after the weekly cabinet meeting, on October 1, 2024. (AFP)
French Minister of Defense Sebastien Lecornu leaving the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris after the weekly cabinet meeting, on October 1, 2024. (AFP)
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France Says It Carried Out Missile Strikes against ISIS in Syria Last Weekend

French Minister of Defense Sebastien Lecornu leaving the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris after the weekly cabinet meeting, on October 1, 2024. (AFP)
French Minister of Defense Sebastien Lecornu leaving the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris after the weekly cabinet meeting, on October 1, 2024. (AFP)

France carried out missile strikes last weekend in Syria, targeting ISIS sites in the country, French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Tuesday.

"On Sunday, French air forces carried out targeted strikes against Islamic State sites based on Syrian territory," Lecornu wrote on social media platform X.

The French airstrike followed a similar military strike by the United States in Syria, which the US said had killed two ISIS operatives.

Syria faces an uncertain political future after the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group ousted former President Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8.

The lightning campaign led by HTS ended a 13-year civil war, but it has left a host of questions about the future of a multi-ethnic country where foreign states including Türkiye and Russia have strong and potentially competing interests.



World Food Program Condemns Israeli Attack on Its Gaza Convoy

People and first responders inspect the rubble of a collapsed residential building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in the Saraya area in al-Rimal in central Gaza City on January 4, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
People and first responders inspect the rubble of a collapsed residential building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in the Saraya area in al-Rimal in central Gaza City on January 4, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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World Food Program Condemns Israeli Attack on Its Gaza Convoy

People and first responders inspect the rubble of a collapsed residential building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in the Saraya area in al-Rimal in central Gaza City on January 4, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
People and first responders inspect the rubble of a collapsed residential building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in the Saraya area in al-Rimal in central Gaza City on January 4, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

The UN World Food Program said on Monday that Israeli forces had opened fire on one of its convoys in the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza in what it called a "horrifying incident".

The agency said the convoy of three vehicles carrying eight staff members from central Gaza to Gaza City in the north was struck by 16 bullets near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint on Sunday, causing no injuries but immobilizing the convoy.

The vehicles were clearly marked and had received prior security clearances from Israeli authorities, a WFP statement said.

"The World Food Program (WFP) strongly condemns the horrifying incident on January 5," it said.

"This unacceptable event is just the latest example of the complex and dangerous working environment that WFP and other agencies are operating in today," WFP said, calling for improvements in security conditions to allow aid to continue.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident.

International aid agencies working to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza have frequently accused Israeli forces of hampering or threatening their operations amid Israel's campaign to wipe out Hamas fighters.