Bombing Rocks Syrian Regime Stronghold of Latakia

A car passes on a street in Latakia, Syria. (AP file photo)
A car passes on a street in Latakia, Syria. (AP file photo)
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Bombing Rocks Syrian Regime Stronghold of Latakia

A car passes on a street in Latakia, Syria. (AP file photo)
A car passes on a street in Latakia, Syria. (AP file photo)

At least one person was killed Tuesday in a car bombing in the Syrian regime's coastal stronghold of Latakia, reported state news agency SANA.

SANA cited the head of the Latakia health department as saying a "terrorist explosion" had killed one civilian and wounded 14.

SANA earlier said the person killed was the driver of the vehicle, a Suzuki minivan, that blew up in the Sahat al-Hamam district.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the blast was caused by an explosive device hidden inside the car or near it.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that the driver was not a suicide attacker.

Most of those wounded were hit by shrapnel, the director of the city's Tishrin hospital, Louay Naddaf, told state television.

Authorities found a second explosive device in the same place and defused it just before it was due to blow up, SANA said.

The city, the capital of Latakia province located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, has largely escaped the violence that has devastated other regions of Syria since the conflict began in 2011.

But the province has been targeted by "sporadic strikes" by opposition factions or extremists, according to the Observatory.

The region abuts the last major area outside of the regime's control and which includes much of Idlib province as well as adjacent parts of Hama and Aleppo provinces.



Egypt Says Gaza Reconstruction Plan Ready, Pushes Efforts for Ceasefire’s Second Phase

Buildings destroyed during the Israeli air and ground offensive stand in the Gaza Strip are seen from southern Israel, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP)
Buildings destroyed during the Israeli air and ground offensive stand in the Gaza Strip are seen from southern Israel, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP)
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Egypt Says Gaza Reconstruction Plan Ready, Pushes Efforts for Ceasefire’s Second Phase

Buildings destroyed during the Israeli air and ground offensive stand in the Gaza Strip are seen from southern Israel, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP)
Buildings destroyed during the Israeli air and ground offensive stand in the Gaza Strip are seen from southern Israel, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP)

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Sunday that Egypt's Gaza reconstruction plan, which ensures Palestinians remain in their land, is ready and will be presented at an emergency Arab summit in Cairo on Tuesday.

Arab states, which were swift to reject President Donald Trump's plan for the US to take control of Gaza and resettle Palestinians, are scrambling to agree on a diplomatic offensive to counter the idea.

Trump's plan, announced on February 4 amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, appeared to back away from longstanding US Middle East policy focused on a two-state solution and sparked anger among Palestinians and Arab nations.

Abdelatty said Egypt would seek international backing and funding for the plan and emphasized Europe's crucial role, particularly in the financing of Gaza's reconstruction.

"We will hold intensive talks with major donor countries once the plan is adopted at the upcoming Arab Summit," he said in a press conference with the EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica.

Israel on Sunday blocked the entry of aid trucks into Gaza as a standoff over the truce that has halted fighting for the past six weeks escalated. Abdelatty said the use of aid as a weapon of collective punishment could not be permitted.

The first phase of the fragile ceasefire agreement expired this weekend. Abdelatty reaffirmed Egypt's commitment to the originally agreed ceasefire that had been scheduled to move into a second phase. "It will be difficult, but with goodwill and political determination, it can be achieved," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said earlier that it had adopted a US proposal for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza for the Ramadan and Passover periods.

Abdelatty said after Tuesday's summit, foreign ministers of member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation would hold an urgent meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss how to present the plans.

"We will ensure that the results of the Arab summit are presented to the world in the best possible way," he said.