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Syria Says Arrested Hezbollah-Affiliated Cell Planning Attacks

Syrian Internal Security Forces during the security operation against the Hezbollah cell. (Syrian Internal Security Forces on X)
Syrian Internal Security Forces during the security operation against the Hezbollah cell. (Syrian Internal Security Forces on X)
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Syria Says Arrested Hezbollah-Affiliated Cell Planning Attacks

Syrian Internal Security Forces during the security operation against the Hezbollah cell. (Syrian Internal Security Forces on X)
Syrian Internal Security Forces during the security operation against the Hezbollah cell. (Syrian Internal Security Forces on X)

Syrian authorities said on Tuesday that they had arrested a Hezbollah-affiliated cell in the country's south near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, accusing it of planning attacks on unspecified targets.

The new authorities in Damascus, who ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024, are hostile to the Lebanese group, which is a sworn enemy of Israel and fought on Assad's side during the Syrian civil war.

Tuesday's announcement came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were "indications" that Israel's enemies could try to attack ahead of elections scheduled for late October.

Syrian intelligence services and security forces "thwarted a sabotage plot in the Yarmuk basin in Daraa (province) and arrested a Hezbollah-affiliated cell composed of three individuals", Syrian state television reported, quoting a statement from the internal security forces.

A suspect detained in the security operation. (Syrian Internal Security Forces on X)

The Yarmuk basin area, where state media has previously reported Israeli incursions and shelling, borders the Israeli-annexed Syrian Golan Heights, as well as Jordan.

"The operation followed careful monitoring of an attempt by the cell to prepare rocket launch platforms with the aim of carrying out attacks to destabilize security and stability," the statement said.

It did not specify the target of the alleged planned attacks and said investigations were ongoing.

Syrian authorities have previously said they dismantled several Hezbollah-linked cells preparing attacks in Syria, accusations the group has denied.

Authorities have also previously announced several seizures of weapons they said were bound for Hezbollah, which lost a key supply route from its backer Iran when Assad was toppled.

In recent weeks, Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz have issued repeated warnings to Iran and Hezbollah promising retaliation in case of any attack.

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March with rocket fire at Israel, which responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion.

Suspects detained in the security operation. (Syrian Internal Security Forces on X)

The latest war and a previous round of hostilities with Israel in 2023-2024 have weakened the group.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since Assad's ouster and sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that had separated Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan since 1974.

It has also carried out repeated incursions deeper into Syrian territory and has vowed to keep troops in a so-called "security zone" in southern Syria, where it seeks a broader demilitarized area.

Israel captured most of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and later annexed the areas under its control, a move only recognized by the United States and Colombia.

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Arab World

Israeli Drone Strike Kills 2 Palestinians in Gaza

Palestinians walk through a tent camp housing displaced people amid buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP)
Palestinians walk through a tent camp housing displaced people amid buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP)
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Israeli Drone Strike Kills 2 Palestinians in Gaza

Palestinians walk through a tent camp housing displaced people amid buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP)
Palestinians walk through a tent camp housing displaced people amid buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP)

An Israeli drone strike killed two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, hospital officials said.

The drone struck two Palestinians walking down a street in Jabaliya, on the northern edge of Gaza City, said Mohamed Abu Selmiya, director of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where the casualties were taken.

The American field hospital said several other people were wounded but did not provide a number.

Asked about the attack, the Israeli military said it had struck two Hamas fighters in the area.

Near-daily Israeli fire and airstrikes have continued in Gaza more than a year after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire deal.

At least 1,600 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, maintains detailed records and is seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its toll but says women and children make up around half the dead.

Arab World

Thousands Mourn al-Alwani as Lebanese Probe Awaited

Relatives receive former MP Ahmed al-Alwani's coffin upon its arrival at Baghdad airport on Saturday. (X)
Relatives receive former MP Ahmed al-Alwani's coffin upon its arrival at Baghdad airport on Saturday. (X)
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Thousands Mourn al-Alwani as Lebanese Probe Awaited

Relatives receive former MP Ahmed al-Alwani's coffin upon its arrival at Baghdad airport on Saturday. (X)
Relatives receive former MP Ahmed al-Alwani's coffin upon its arrival at Baghdad airport on Saturday. (X)

Thousands of Iraqis on Saturday escorted the body of former MP Ahmed al-Alwani from Baghdad Airport to Ramadi in Anbar Governorate, where tribespeople and residents from across the province awaited his arrival amid scenes of grief and anger.

Meanwhile, the circumstances surrounding his killing in Beirut remain under investigation, even as Lebanese authorities have made progress in identifying two suspects.

A private jet carrying al-Alwani's body from the Lebanese capital landed at Baghdad Airport in the morning, with large crowds of mourners gathering at the airport.

Local media reported that Iraqi politician Khamis al-Khanjar, head of the Sovereignty Alliance, covered the cost of transporting the body aboard the private aircraft.

The funeral procession traveled toward Ramadi, located 110 kilometers from Baghdad, under heavy security and accompanied by military vehicles.

Mourners are seen at al-Alwani's funeral on Saturday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Security Media Cell had urged the public to await the investigation's findings and refrain from reading broader motives into the case before it concludes, noting the ongoing coordination between the Iraqi Embassy in Beirut, Lebanese judicial and security authorities, and the Iraqi National Intelligence Service.

Al-Alwani's killing has sparked uproar across Iraq, particularly in his home province of Anbar. Discussion of the case has been accompanied by political debates and sectarian commentary on social media, amid demands to identify those responsible for his death.

Kamel al-Dulaimi, former head of the Iraqi Presidential Diwan, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the circumstances and motives behind the crime still require clear and transparent disclosure to the public, underscoring the Iraqi state's responsibility to uncover the truth.

The funeral procession traveled toward Ramadi, located 110 kilometers from Baghdad, under heavy security and accompanied by military vehicles. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

He added that the case requires security and judicial cooperation among Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria to track down the perpetrators and those behind them, particularly if the investigation calls for cross-border coordination.

He warned that the sectarian rhetoric surrounding the incident reflects a persistent tendency to view national issues through a narrow lens, emphasizing that the matter concerns the sanctity of Iraqi blood and must not be reduced to the affiliation of an individual or a governorate.

Legal researcher Saif al-Saadi, who hails from Anbar, said al-Alwani was not merely a former lawmaker, but a prominent tribal, social, and political figure in the province, adding that the funeral reflects the depth of grief and anger across Anbar's cities.

Al-Alwani, who rose to prominence during the late 2013 Anbar protests, was arrested in December of that year and sentenced to death in 2014 after being convicted of killing two soldiers during clashes accompanying his arrest.

He was released in April 2025 after spending more than 11 years in prison, following the withdrawal of a complaint by one of the victims' families and his inclusion under the General Amnesty Law.

Arab World

Over 11,000 Migrants Arrive in Yemen Despite Conflict

The total number of African migrants arriving in Yemen since the beginning of this year has risen to 145,776. (Government media)
The total number of African migrants arriving in Yemen since the beginning of this year has risen to 145,776. (Government media)
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Over 11,000 Migrants Arrive in Yemen Despite Conflict

The total number of African migrants arriving in Yemen since the beginning of this year has risen to 145,776. (Government media)
The total number of African migrants arriving in Yemen since the beginning of this year has risen to 145,776. (Government media)

More than 11,000 migrants from the Horn of Africa arrived in Yemen last October despite escalating fighting between government forces and the Houthis along the country's coasts facing their transit routes. Ethiopians accounted for the vast majority of arrivals, according to the latest data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The organization recorded a slight decrease in the number of arrivals compared to the previous month amid security tensions along the western coast and disruptions to boat traffic in maritime corridors, particularly in the Bab al-Mandeb area.

In its monthly flow monitoring report, the IOM stated that it tracked the arrival of 11,677 African migrants last month, marking a 1.2 percent decline compared to September, which saw 11,841 arrivals.

The organization attributed this decrease primarily to escalating fighting that disrupted boat movements and limited the ability of field teams to safely gather information and monitor migration flows.

According to data from the organization's Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), Djibouti topped the points of departure, accounting for 60.6 percent of the total recorded flows, followed by Somalia at 36 percent, while 3.4 percent arrived from Oman.

The Abyan Governorate received 94 percent of the migrants departing from Djibouti, compared to 6 percent who arrived in the Taiz Governorate.

Demographically, the migrants comprised 70 percent men, 14 percent women, and 16 percent children.

Despite the slight decline in October, the total number of African migrants arriving in Yemen since the beginning of this year has risen to 145,776, most of them Ethiopians, even as military escalation along Yemen's Red Sea coast threatens one of the key maritime transit routes from Djibouti.

Yemen serves as a major transit point for tens of thousands of migrants fleeing conflict, poverty, and drought in the Horn of Africa, who take the perilous "Eastern Migration Route" across the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in hopes of reaching Gulf countries in search of job opportunities.

Migrants stranded in Yemen face dire humanitarian conditions amid ongoing armed conflict and deteriorating basic services, in addition to the risks of exploitation, detention, and difficulties moving across frontlines, according to repeated UN and human rights reports.