Israel Says Strikes Lebanon-Syria Border Crossings Used by Hezbollah 

A crater created by an airstrike carried out by an Israeli warplane on the Jousiyeh border crossing between Syria and Lebanon near the military security outpost, October 29, 2024 (AFP)
A crater created by an airstrike carried out by an Israeli warplane on the Jousiyeh border crossing between Syria and Lebanon near the military security outpost, October 29, 2024 (AFP)
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Israel Says Strikes Lebanon-Syria Border Crossings Used by Hezbollah 

A crater created by an airstrike carried out by an Israeli warplane on the Jousiyeh border crossing between Syria and Lebanon near the military security outpost, October 29, 2024 (AFP)
A crater created by an airstrike carried out by an Israeli warplane on the Jousiyeh border crossing between Syria and Lebanon near the military security outpost, October 29, 2024 (AFP)

Israel said Friday it struck crossings on the Lebanon-Syria border used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons, with a Syria war monitor reporting an unspecified number of people wounded in the attack.

The Israeli military said its air forces "struck crossing points in the area of the Lebanon-Syria border" used by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group "in attempts to smuggle weapons into Lebanese territory".

"These activities constitute a blatant violation of the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon," the statement added.

A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has been in place since November 27, after more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war. Both sides have accused the other of violating the deal.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the overnight strikes put an "illegal crossing" near Lebanon's frontier town of Wadi Khaled, which borders Syria's Homs province, "out of service" and wounded a number of people.

The raids came "after a convoy of smugglers' vehicles was observed headed from Syria towards Lebanon", added the Britain-based Observatory, which has a network of sources inside Syria.

Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman reported "heavy material damage to buildings and vehicles".

Lebanon's official National News Agency reported "enemy aircraft flying at low altitude over the city of Hermel" and villages in the Bekaa Valley in the country's northeast near the Syrian border.

Under the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, Lebanon's military was to deploy in south Lebanon alongside UN peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdrew over a 60-day period that was later extended to February 18.

Hezbollah was to pull back north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, and dismantle remaining military infrastructure in the south.

Israel announced just before the latest deadline that it would temporarily keep troops in "five strategic points" near the border.

Earlier this month, the Israeli military said it carried out an air strike targeting a tunnel on the Syria-Lebanon border used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons.

In January, Israel carried out air strikes in Lebanon targeting areas in the east and south according to Lebanese state media, with the Israeli military saying it hit Hezbollah targets including smuggling routes along the border with Syria.

Syria shares a 330-kilometer (205-mile) border with Lebanon, with no official demarcation.

Hezbollah lost a key supply route when opposition factions in December ousted ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria, where Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes since war broke out in 2011.

Hezbollah holds sway in large parts of the Lebanese-Syrian border region, and had fought alongside Assad's troops during the war.



Italian Authorities Arrest 9 for Allegedly Funding Hamas Through Charities

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Italian Authorities Arrest 9 for Allegedly Funding Hamas Through Charities

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Italian authorities arrested nine people linked to three charitable organizations on suspicion of raising millions of euros in funds for the Palestinian group Hamas, anti-terrorism prosecutors said in a statement Saturday. 

The suspects are accused of sending about 7 million euros ($8.2 million) to “associations based in Gaza, the Palestinian territories, or Israel, owned, controlled, or linked to Hamas,” the statement said. 

Among those arrested was Mohammad Hannoun, president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, prosecutors said, describing him as the “head of the Italian cell of the Hamas organization.” 

The European Union has Hamas listed on its terror list. 

According to Italian prosecutors, who collaborated with other EU countries in the probe, the illegal funds were delivered through “triangulation operations” via bank transfers or through organizations based abroad to associations based in Gaza, which have been declared illegal by Israel for their ties to Hamas. 

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi wrote on X that the operation “lifted the veil on behavior and activities which, pretending to be initiatives in favor of the Palestinian population, concealed support for and participation in terrorist organizations.” 

There was no immediate comment from the suspects or the associations. 

In January 202, the European Council decided to extend existing restrictive measures against 12 individuals and three entities that support the financing of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 


Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
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Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)

Türkiye held a military funeral ceremony Saturday morning for five Libyan officers, including western Libya’s military chief, who died in a plane crash earlier this week.

The private jet with Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, four other military officers and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Ankara, Türkiye’s capital, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.

Al-Hadad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing, UN-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military.

The high-level Libyan delegation was on its way back to Tripoli, Libya’s capital, after holding defense talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.

Saturday's ceremony was held at 8:00 a.m. local time at the Murted Airfield base, near Ankara, and attended by the Turkish military chief and the defense minister. The five caskets, each wrapped in a Libyan national flag, were then loaded onto a plane to be returned to their home country.

Türkiye’s military chief, Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, was also on the plane headed to Libya, state-run news agency TRT reported.

The bodies recovered from the crash site were kept at the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institute for identification. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told reporters their DNA was compared to family members who joined a 22-person delegation that arrived from Libya after the crash.

Tunc also said Germany was asked to help examine the jet's black boxes as an impartial third party.


Syrian Foreign Ministry: Talks with SDF Have Not Yielded Tangible Results

SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
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Syrian Foreign Ministry: Talks with SDF Have Not Yielded Tangible Results

SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)

A source from the Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the talks with the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) over their integration into state institutions “have not yielded tangible results.”

Discussions about merging the northeastern institutions into the state remain “hypothetical statements without execution,” it told Syria’s state news agency SANA.

Repeated assertions over Syria’s unity are being contradicted by the reality on the ground in the northeast, where the Kurds hold sway and where administrative, security and military institutions continue to be run separately from the state, it added.

The situation “consolidates the division” instead of addressing it, it warned.

It noted that despite the SDF’s continued highlighting of its dialogue with the Syrian state, these discussions have not led to tangible results.

It seems that the SDF is using this approach to absorb the political pressure on it, said the source. The truth is that there is little actual will to move from discussion to application of the March 10 agreement.

This raises doubts over the SDF’s commitment to the deal, it stressed.

Talk about rapprochement between the state and SDF remains meaningless if the agreement is not implemented on the ground within a specific timeframe, the source remarked.

Furthermore, the continued deployment of armed formations on the ground that are not affiliated with the Syrian army are evidence that progress is not being made.

The persistence of the situation undermines Syria’s sovereignty and hampers efforts to restore stability, it warned.