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.



Palestinian Infant Dies Due to Severe Cold in Gaza

Displaced Palestinians in a temporary camp in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip (EPA)
Displaced Palestinians in a temporary camp in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip (EPA)
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Palestinian Infant Dies Due to Severe Cold in Gaza

Displaced Palestinians in a temporary camp in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip (EPA)
Displaced Palestinians in a temporary camp in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip (EPA)

A Palestinian infant died Tuesday morning due to extreme cold in the Gaza City.

The Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA) quoted medical sources as saying that "the 7-month-old infant, Shatha Abu Jarad, died in Gaza due to severe cold."

According to the agency, "the number of children who have died in the Gaza Strip due to the extreme cold since the beginning of winter has risen to nine, amid a shortage of aid and a lack of heating".

The Civil Defense in Gaza warned on Monday of the possibility of increased deaths among children due to an unprecedented drop in temperatures.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for the Civil Defense in Gaza, said in a statement: "The sharp drop in temperatures we are witnessing tonight is unprecedented since the beginning of winter. The cold is so severe that we no longer feel our feet, so how about infants, patients, and families living in dilapidated tents?"

Displaced people in Gaza are facing a very difficult situation due to a stormy weather accompanied by strong winds and heavy rain, coinciding with temperatures dropping to freezing levels.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned last week that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip remains dire, as severe weather conditions threaten progress in the field of humanitarian response, noting that more than one million people are in dire need of shelter as rainstorms continue.


PKK Says Will 'Not Abandon' Syrian Kurds

Kurdish children and their families fleeing a government advance through Kurdish-controlled areas arrive in the Kurdish Syrian city of Qamishli on January 19, 2026. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
Kurdish children and their families fleeing a government advance through Kurdish-controlled areas arrive in the Kurdish Syrian city of Qamishli on January 19, 2026. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
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PKK Says Will 'Not Abandon' Syrian Kurds

Kurdish children and their families fleeing a government advance through Kurdish-controlled areas arrive in the Kurdish Syrian city of Qamishli on January 19, 2026. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
Kurdish children and their families fleeing a government advance through Kurdish-controlled areas arrive in the Kurdish Syrian city of Qamishli on January 19, 2026. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)

Outlawed Kurdish militants in Türkiye will "never abandon" Kurds in Syria following an offensive by Damascus, a leader of the PKK armed group said, quoted by the Firat news agency Tuesday.

Syrian forces began an offensive nearly two weeks ago which pushed Kurdish-led SDF forces out of the northern city of Aleppo, and expanded over the weekend to push deep into territory that has been held by Kurdish forces for over a decade.

"You should know that we will not leave you alone. Whatever the cost, we will never leave you alone.. we as the entire Kurdish people and as the movement, will do whatever is necessary," Murat Karayilan of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was quoted as saying by Firat.

A close ally of Syria's new leadership that overthrew Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, the Turkish government is simultaneously leading a drive to reach a settlement with the PKK -- listed as a terror group by Türkiye and its Western allies.

Karayilan said the Damascus-led offensive was an "attempt to nullify" the peace process in Türkiye.

"This decision by international powers to enable these attacks, will be a black mark for the US, the UK, Germany, France and other international coalition states," he said.

On Monday, at least 500 people rallied in Türkiye’s Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir against the Syrian offensive. Clashes erupted when police tried to break up the protest.

The pro-Kurdish DEM party, the third largest force in the Turkish parliament, called for a rally on Tuesday in the town of Nusaybin, located on the border with Syria.

 


Israel Begins Demolitions Inside UNRWA Headquarters in East Jerusalem

A photograph shows a demolished structure inside the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on January 20, 2026. (AFP)
A photograph shows a demolished structure inside the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on January 20, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Begins Demolitions Inside UNRWA Headquarters in East Jerusalem

A photograph shows a demolished structure inside the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on January 20, 2026. (AFP)
A photograph shows a demolished structure inside the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on January 20, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli bulldozers began demolishing structures inside the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in east Jerusalem on Tuesday, an AFP photographer saw, with the Israeli foreign ministry defending the move.

"UNRWA-Hamas had already ceased its operations at this site and no longer had any UN personnel or UN activity there. The compound does not enjoy any immunity and the seizure of this compound by Israeli authorities was carried out in accordance with both Israeli and international law," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Israel has repeatedly accused UNRWA of providing cover for Hamas, claiming that some of its employees took part in the group's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.