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Relative of Assad’s Wife Disappears in Lebanon

Head of Syrian Regime Bashar al-Assad (R) with his wife, Asma al-Assad [file photo]
Head of Syrian Regime Bashar al-Assad (R) with his wife, Asma al-Assad [file photo]
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Relative of Assad’s Wife Disappears in Lebanon

Head of Syrian Regime Bashar al-Assad (R) with his wife, Asma al-Assad [file photo]
Head of Syrian Regime Bashar al-Assad (R) with his wife, Asma al-Assad [file photo]

Reports said Tuesday that Merhef Akhras, the cousin of Syrian first lady Asma Assad, was “kidnapped” in Beirut last week.

The Lebanese National News Agency said that Akhras, the son of prominent businessmen Tarif Akhras, disappeared last Thursday under suspicious circumstances on the road between Aley and Chtaura while traveling to Damascus.

The man’s father is the cousin of Fawaz al-Akhras, the father of Asma Assad.

A local radio station reported that Akhras’ wife received a telephone call from the area of east Bekaa from her husband’s Syrian number, asking that she pay $2 million for his release.

Akhras’ car was found parked in Aley.

Local LBC television said that Akhras, who is in his 40s, had moved to Lebanon three years ago.

According to Syrian opposition figures, Tarif owns several food factories, including rice and sugar in Homs.

One opposition source said that Tarif acts on behalf of Asma in several investment projects in the banking, real estate and food industries.

In 2014, Britain’s High Court ordered a 12 month jail term for Tarif due to breach of contract in a deal with Archer Daniels Midland for food imports to Syria.

Akhras had failed to pay $26 million to ADM for corn and soybeans supplied by the commodities house for import to Syria in 2011.

EU and Swiss sanctions were imposed on Akhras for giving support to Syrian authorities.

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Hamas Claims Attack on Israeli Bus in West Bank That Wounded 8 People, Including 4 Soldiers

Four people suffered bullet wounds, three of them serious, and four others were lightly injured by shards of glass, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service - AFP
Four people suffered bullet wounds, three of them serious, and four others were lightly injured by shards of glass, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service - AFP
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Hamas Claims Attack on Israeli Bus in West Bank That Wounded 8 People, Including 4 Soldiers

Four people suffered bullet wounds, three of them serious, and four others were lightly injured by shards of glass, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service - AFP
Four people suffered bullet wounds, three of them serious, and four others were lightly injured by shards of glass, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service - AFP

Hamas claimed responsibility for a shooting attack on an Israeli bus in the occupied West Bank on Friday that wounded eight people, including four soldiers.

It was the latest violence to scar the territory as tensions run high 14 months into the Israel-Hamas war.

The attacker, who Hamas identified in a statement as Samer Hussein, 46, was killed by Israeli troops shortly after opening fire toward the bus at a junction near the Israeli settlement of Ariel.

The military said four soldiers were lightly wounded. Paramedics said three people were critically wounded.

Attacks by Palestinian fighters on Israelis in the volatile territory have grown more common since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, as Palestinian deaths have also spiked.  

Israeli fire has killed 796 Palestinians since Oct. 7, 2023, mostly in military raids on Palestinian cities and towns. Attacks by settlers on Palestinians and their property have also increased.