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Moroccan King, French President Inaugurate Al Boraq High Speed Train

Thursday's launch marks the end of a seven-year project [Youssef Boudlal/Reuters]
Thursday's launch marks the end of a seven-year project [Youssef Boudlal/Reuters]
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Moroccan King, French President Inaugurate Al Boraq High Speed Train

Thursday's launch marks the end of a seven-year project [Youssef Boudlal/Reuters]
Thursday's launch marks the end of a seven-year project [Youssef Boudlal/Reuters]

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI and French President Emmanuel Macron inaugurated on Thursday Morocco’s first high-speed rail line, the first ever such line in Africa.

The project required an investment of USD2.3 billion of which 51 percent was financed by France, 27 percent by Morocco and 22 percent by four sovereign Gulf funds.

The Moroccan and French leaders boarded the train in Tangier after they were handed tickets by Director General of the National Railway Office Mohamed Rabie Khlie, according to State agency MAP.

The new railway linking Casablanca to Tangier through Rabat and Kenitra will be a landmark in the field of road transportation of passengers in Morocco.

The French president arrived Wednesday in Tangier Airport in a short visit to Morocco, in which the Elysee statement revealed that Macron is committed to another event in Paris during the same day.

This achievement required 11 years to be completed since sealing the agreement in 2007 during a visit to Morocco by former French President Nicolas Sarkozy – construction works commenced in 2011 because the project was supposed to be inaugurated in 2015.

The high-speed train can run up to 320km/h reducing the journey time from Tangier to Kenitra then up to 180km/h between Kenitra, Casablanca passing through Rabat.

According to Morocco’s National Railway Office (ONCF), the trip duration between Tangier and Kenitra will be reduced from 3.15 hr to only 47 minutes thanks to Al Boraq. As for the trip duration from Rabat to Tangier then it will become 1.20 hr instead of 3.45 hr. Once the railway is fully completed in 2020, the trip duration between Rabat and Tangier will take one hour only. After the trip from Casablanca to Tangier was 4.45 hr, it will become 2.10 hr and in 2020 only 1.30 hr.

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Damascus Says Israel Arrested Civilians During Beit Jin Raid

Residents sit outside their house in the Beit Jin village, southern Syria, where Israeli troops made a pre-dawn raid, arresting several alleged members of Hamas, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP)
Residents sit outside their house in the Beit Jin village, southern Syria, where Israeli troops made a pre-dawn raid, arresting several alleged members of Hamas, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP)
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Damascus Says Israel Arrested Civilians During Beit Jin Raid

Residents sit outside their house in the Beit Jin village, southern Syria, where Israeli troops made a pre-dawn raid, arresting several alleged members of Hamas, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP)
Residents sit outside their house in the Beit Jin village, southern Syria, where Israeli troops made a pre-dawn raid, arresting several alleged members of Hamas, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP)

A source at the Syrian Interior Ministry denied Israeli claims that its forces had arrested Palestinian Hamas members during a raid on the southern village of Beit Jin in the early hours of Thursday.

The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the detainees were civilians and not affiliated with any party.

Saleh Daher, a resident of Beit Jin, told Asharq Al-Awsat the Israeli soldiers entered the village at 2:40 am on Thursday.

“We were awakened by the sound of gunfire,” he revealed. A unit of dozens of soldiers were raiding the village, while ten tanks were stationed at its entrance.

The forces surrounded the houses of the people they wanted to arrest, calling out their names on loudspeakers. They detained seven people, continued Daher.

One person, who is known in the village for having a mental disability, attempted to stop the soldiers, who shot and killed him, he said.

The soldiers left at 4:15 am after detaining the people they were after.

Daher said they were all Syrian natives of the village and used to be members of armed opposition groups that rose up against the Bashar al-Assad's ousted regime.

Sources revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat the names of the detainees: Amer al-Badawi, Mamoun al-Saadi, Ahmed al-Safadi, Mohammed al-Safadi, Hassan al-Safadi, Mohammed Badi Hamadeh and Ali Qassem Hamadeh.

Daher said he and his family had returned to Beit Jin in 2018 and that they never noticed any behavior by the detainees that they were working against Israel.

Israel had previously assassinated three residents of the village. They too were members of armed factions.

Moreover, Daher said he hasn’t noticed any activity by residents that indicate that they are members of or associated with Palestinian factions.

The Israeli army said it detained Hamas members during the Beit Jin raid and that they were planning attacks against it.

They have been taken to Israel for investigation. The army also said it discovered weapons in the area.

Syrian media confirmed the arrest of seven people and death of one person during the raid.

Since the fall of Assad’s government in early December, Israeli forces have moved into several areas in southern Syria and conducted hundreds of airstrikes throughout the country, destroying much of the assets of the Syrian army.

Tensions ticked up in early June after projectiles were fired from Syria towards Israel. Israel retaliated with its first strikes in nearly a month.

On June 8, Israel carried out a strike on the outskirts of Beit Jin on what it described as a Hamas member.

A resident of the village denied the claim, saying Israel targeted a youth called Anas Abboud and that he was a former member of a Syrian opposition armed group.