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Syria Says Foiled Cross-Border Attack by Assad Remnants, Hezbollah

Syrian soldiers inspect a tunnel on the Lebanon border in the Qusayr area. (AFP)
Syrian soldiers inspect a tunnel on the Lebanon border in the Qusayr area. (AFP)
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Syria Says Foiled Cross-Border Attack by Assad Remnants, Hezbollah

Syrian soldiers inspect a tunnel on the Lebanon border in the Qusayr area. (AFP)
Syrian soldiers inspect a tunnel on the Lebanon border in the Qusayr area. (AFP)

Syria's interior ministry said Sunday that security forces thwarted an alleged cross-border attack from the country's territory planned by remnants of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad and cells linked to Iran-backed Hezbollah. 

From March 2 until a 10-day ceasefire went into force on April 17, Hezbollah was battling Israel after drawing Lebanon into the Middle East war with rocket fire aimed at Israel in support of Tehran. 

In a statement, the interior ministry said security forces "arrested members of a sabotage cell" linked to Hezbollah and Assad remnants. 

The ministry said the cell "was working to carry out an attack from inside Syrian territory on targets outside the borders" from Quneitra province, which borders Israel. 

Syria's official SANA news agency, quoting an interior ministry source, said Hezbollah "intended to launch missiles across the border with the aim of destabilizing the country". 

Syrian authorities are hostile to Hezbollah as the group played a key role in Syria's civil war that ended in 2024, fighting alongside the forces of now ousted leader Bashar al-Assad. 

The ministry said the Quneitra incident was the latest among "several attempts to destabilize the country and undermine public security" involving remnants of the former regime and unscrupulous individuals linked to Hezbollah". 

Last week, Damascus accused Hezbollah of being linked to a cell that attempted to plant an explosive device in front of a house belonging to an unidentified religious figure in the Bab Tuma area of the Syrian capital. 

But the group denied the ministry's claims last week, saying they were "false and fabricated". 

Hezbollah said it has "no activity, no ties and no relationship with any party in Syria, and has no presence on Syrian soil". 

The group called on Syrian authorities "to conduct a thorough investigation before making accusations without evidence". 

It blamed "the presence of intelligence services" on Syrian soil that it said were "seeking to inflame tensions between Lebanon and Syria". 

In February, Syria said it had dismantled a cell responsible for recent attacks targeting Damascus's Mazzeh district, claiming the weapons came from Hezbollah, which denied any involvement. 

Under Assad, Syria was part of Iran's "axis of resistance" against Israel and enabled the transfer of weapons and money from Iran to Hezbollah. 

But since taking over, Syria's new authorities have rejected Iranian influence. 

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Arab World

Palestinians Say West Bank Teen Killed by Israeli Fire

An Israeli security force personnel patrols during a military raid at the Qalandia refugee camp, south of the city of Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on May 6, 2026. (AFP)
An Israeli security force personnel patrols during a military raid at the Qalandia refugee camp, south of the city of Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on May 6, 2026. (AFP)
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Palestinians Say West Bank Teen Killed by Israeli Fire

An Israeli security force personnel patrols during a military raid at the Qalandia refugee camp, south of the city of Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on May 6, 2026. (AFP)
An Israeli security force personnel patrols during a military raid at the Qalandia refugee camp, south of the city of Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on May 6, 2026. (AFP)

Palestinian health officials said a teenager was killed by Israeli fire in a village in the West Bank on Wednesday, the latest in a series of violent incidents shaking the Israeli-occupied territory.

The health ministry in Ramallah identified the victim as 16-year-old Yusef Ali Kaabnah, saying he was "killed by occupation bullets" near the town of Jiljilya, north of Ramallah.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said he had been shot in the chest during a raid by Israeli settlers who were accompanied by Israeli troops.

Four others were injured in the incident, it added.

The Israeli military told AFP that security forces were dispatched to the area "following reports of several Israeli civilians who entered Jiljilya after livestock had been stolen from an illegal outpost".

Troops "operated to prevent confrontation in the area and extract the livestock" and "escort all Israeli civilians out", and as they were leaving, "a violent riot developed, which included stone-throwing," the military said.

"The soldiers responded with riot dispersal means and live fire toward the primary instigators," it added.

Violence has increased in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

According to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,071 Palestinians in the West Bank since the war began.

Official Israeli figures show at least 46 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the same period.

Arab World

Lebanon Says Over 10,000 Homes Destroyed or Damaged Since Israel Truce

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Jarjouaa on May 13, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Jarjouaa on May 13, 2026. (AFP)
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Lebanon Says Over 10,000 Homes Destroyed or Damaged Since Israel Truce

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Jarjouaa on May 13, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Jarjouaa on May 13, 2026. (AFP)

More than 10,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed in Lebanon since a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, the head of the country's National Council for Scientific Research said on Wednesday.

"Since the current ceasefire... we have witnessed 5,386 housing units that were completely destroyed, and 5,246 housing units damaged," CRNS chief Chadi Abdallah told a news conference broadcast by local media.

Israel has kept up heavy airstrikes despite the April 17 ceasefire, and Israeli soldiers are operating inside an Israeli-declared "yellow line", which runs around 10 kilometers (six miles) north of the Israel-Lebanon border where troops have been carrying out broad demolition operations.

Arab World

UN Food Agency Halves Syria Food Aid, Halts Bread Subsidy Over Funding Shortages

11 May 2026, Syria, Badama: Agricultural workers hand-harvest a fresh crop of strawberries as the season begins in the highlands of western Idlib and the coastal range. (dpa)
11 May 2026, Syria, Badama: Agricultural workers hand-harvest a fresh crop of strawberries as the season begins in the highlands of western Idlib and the coastal range. (dpa)
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UN Food Agency Halves Syria Food Aid, Halts Bread Subsidy Over Funding Shortages

11 May 2026, Syria, Badama: Agricultural workers hand-harvest a fresh crop of strawberries as the season begins in the highlands of western Idlib and the coastal range. (dpa)
11 May 2026, Syria, Badama: Agricultural workers hand-harvest a fresh crop of strawberries as the season begins in the highlands of western Idlib and the coastal range. (dpa)

The World Food Program said ‌on Wednesday it had halved emergency food assistance in Syria due to funding shortages, warning that millions remained vulnerable despite signs of stabilization in parts of the country.

The UN agency's biggest donor, the United States, has slashed its foreign aid under President Donald Trump, and other countries have also made or announced cuts in development and humanitarian assistance.

The WFP said in a statement the number of people receiving emergency food aid in Syria fell to 650,000 in ‌May from 1.3 million, ‌while scaling back operations in all ‌14 ⁠Syrian governorates to just ⁠seven.

Meanwhile, 7.2 million people in Syria remain acutely food insecure, including 1.6 million facing severe hunger, the WFP said. Many households were already reducing meal portions, eating less nutritious food or skipping meals altogether, it added.

“The reduction in WFP’s assistance is driven solely by funding constraints, not by a ⁠decrease in needs,” Marianne Ward, the WFP’s country ‌director in Syria, said in ‌the statement.

The WFP also halted a bread subsidy program ‌that had supported more than 300 bakeries with fortified wheat ‌flour, helping provide subsidized bread to up to four million people daily in some of Syria’s most vulnerable areas.

Syria has faced a deep economic crisis after more than a decade of conflict ‌that devastated infrastructure, displaced millions and battered livelihoods.

Although fighting has eased in many parts of ⁠the ⁠country since the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad at the end of 2024, aid agencies say humanitarian needs remain severe.

The WFP said it requires $189 million between June and November to sustain and restore assistance inside Syria.

It said funding shortages were also affecting Syrian refugees in neighboring countries.

In Jordan, the agency halted cash-based food assistance for 135,000 Syrian refugees living in host communities, while maintaining reduced support for around 85,000 refugees in camps.

In Egypt, support for 20,000 Syrians has been reduced, while many refugee households in Lebanon remain heavily dependent on aid.