Israel Responds to New Rocket Fire, Strikes Several Targets in Gaza

A member of Palestinian security forces loyal to Hamas inspects the scene of an Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip October 17, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
A member of Palestinian security forces loyal to Hamas inspects the scene of an Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip October 17, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
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Israel Responds to New Rocket Fire, Strikes Several Targets in Gaza

A member of Palestinian security forces loyal to Hamas inspects the scene of an Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip October 17, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
A member of Palestinian security forces loyal to Hamas inspects the scene of an Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip October 17, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Israel said its military struck targets in Gaza that include a weapons manufacturing site, after six rockets were fired from the territory early Friday.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage on either side.

In recent weeks, Israel and Hamas have traded fire on a number of occasions and Hamas has launched a wave of incendiary balloons across the frontier that have torched wide swathes of farmland.

Hamas is pressing Israel to ease its blockade on Gaza and allow large-scale development projects, while Egypt is trying to shore up an informal cease-fire.

Those efforts have grown more urgent in recent days as authorities in Gaza have detected the first cases of local transmission of the coronavirus, The Associated Press reported.

Hamas has imposed a lockdown in the coastal territory bordering Israel and Egypt, which is home to 2 million Palestinians.

Bassem Naim, a Hamas official, warned of further escalation, saying the "catastrophic conditions the Gaza Strip is experiencing are unprecedented."

He said the situation could lead to an "explosion in which things get out of control."



Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Syrian Youth Will Resist Incoming Government

A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)
A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Syrian Youth Will Resist Incoming Government

A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)
A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)

Iran's supreme leader on Sunday said that young Syrians will resist the new government emerging after the overthrow of President Bashar sl-Assad as he again accused the United States and Israel of sowing chaos in the country.

Iran had provided crucial support to Assad throughout Syria's nearly 14-year civil war, which erupted after he launched a violent crackdown on a popular uprising against his family's decades-long rule. Syria had long served as a key conduit for Iranian aid to Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in an address on Sunday that the “young Syrian has nothing to lose" and suffers from insecurity following Assad's fall.

“What can he do? He should stand with strong will against those who designed and those who implemented the insecurity," Khamenei said. “God willing, he will overcome them.”

He accused the United States and Israel of plotting against Assad's government in order to seize resources, saying: “Now they feel victory, the Americans, the Zionist regime and those who accompanied them.”

Iran and its armed proxies in the region have suffered a series of major setbacks over the past year, with Israel battering Hamas in Gaza and landing heavy blows on Hezbollah before they agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon last month.

Khamenei denied that such groups were proxies of Iran, saying they fought because of their own beliefs and that Tehran did not depend on them. “If one day we plan to take action, we do not need proxy force,” he said.