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Dozens Injured During Protests Marking 27th Anniversary of Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre

Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian demonstrators in Hebron during protests marking 27th anniversary of Ibrahimi Mosque massacre on Friday, February 26, 2021. (AFP) 0
Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian demonstrators in Hebron during protests marking 27th anniversary of Ibrahimi Mosque massacre on Friday, February 26, 2021. (AFP) 0
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Dozens Injured During Protests Marking 27th Anniversary of Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre

Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian demonstrators in Hebron during protests marking 27th anniversary of Ibrahimi Mosque massacre on Friday, February 26, 2021. (AFP) 0
Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian demonstrators in Hebron during protests marking 27th anniversary of Ibrahimi Mosque massacre on Friday, February 26, 2021. (AFP) 0

Two Palestinian children were injured and dozens of civilians suffocated in Hebron and various occupied Palestinian cities on Friday as the Israeli army attempted to oppress peaceful protests marking the anniversary of the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre.

In Hebron, Israeli soldiers fired stun grenades and tear gas at citizens who marched the streets from Ali al-Bakka Mosque in the city center to commemorate the massacre’s 27th anniversary and condemn the occupation forces’ measures and attacks on the Mosque.

Demonstrators raised the Palestinian flag and pictures of the mosque and the martyrs while chanting slogans denouncing the settlers and the army’s crimes against Palestinians.

On Feb. 25, 1994, during dawn prayer, hundreds of Palestinians were attacked by mass shootings and bombings at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. The attack killed 29 worshippers and injured 150 others.

Israeli soldiers who were present back then closed the doors of the mosque to prevent worshipers from leaving and did not allow the entrance of people who tried to save the wounded.

Later, other Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli bullets, taking the number of martyrs to 50.

Palestinians launched their weekly peaceful rallies after Friday prayers to protest this massacre and the continuation of repression, Judaization, occupation, and settlement policies.

The Israeli army used rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters to disperse the marchers.

In Saffa village, west of Ramallah, Israeli forces shot and injured 16-year-old Ahmad Falna in the leg with live ammunition.

Occupation soldiers took the child in an ambulance to Hadassah Hospital in West Jerusalem.

In the weekly anti-settlement protest in Kafr Qaddum to demand the reopening of the village street, which has been closed for more than 17 years, a 10-year-old child was wounded with a sponge-tipped bullet in the chest.

Dozens suffocated and five others were arrested after the Israeli army dispersed marches condemning settlement in the occupied West Bank.

On Friday at dawn, dozens of settlers, under the protection of the Israeli army forces, stormed the Islamic shrines in Kafel Haris town, north of Salfit city.

Friday prayers were performed on the ruins of the Alayan family demolished building by the occupation municipality in Deir Jarir village.

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Arab World

Strikes Hit Inactive Abu Duhur Military Airport in Northwest Syria

A picture taken on January 21, 2018 shows damaged Syrian air force fighter planes at the Abu Duhur military airport area in Syria's Idlib province. (File/AFP)
A picture taken on January 21, 2018 shows damaged Syrian air force fighter planes at the Abu Duhur military airport area in Syria's Idlib province. (File/AFP)
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Strikes Hit Inactive Abu Duhur Military Airport in Northwest Syria

A picture taken on January 21, 2018 shows damaged Syrian air force fighter planes at the Abu Duhur military airport area in Syria's Idlib province. (File/AFP)
A picture taken on January 21, 2018 shows damaged Syrian air force fighter planes at the Abu Duhur military airport area in Syria's Idlib province. (File/AFP)

Unidentified aircraft on Tuesday struck an out-of-service military airfield in northwest Syria where forces from the country's defense ministry are present, a security source told AFP.

"Early on Tuesday morning, unknown aircraft bombed the Abu Duhur military airport in Idlib province," the source said on condition of anonymity.

The facility has been out of service since 2012 and is currently protected by Syrian defense ministry forces, the source said, without immediately reporting casualties.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, the strikes came after "a visit by a Turkish military delegation to the airfield in recent days as part of efforts to reactivate it".

Türkiye is a key ally of the new authorities.

No side has claimed the strikes on the airfield, which suffered heavy damage during Syria's civil war.

The Israeli military said "no comment" in response to an AFP inquiry about the strikes.

Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on Syria since the December 2024 toppling of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad by opposition forces.

A US-led international coalition against the ISIS group has previously carried out strikes on senior extremist figures in the northwest.

Syria is now part of the coalition.

After taking power, the new authorities in Damascus took control over the Abu Duhur airfield which had been held since late 2018 by Assad's forces.

Arab World

Committee Led by Assistant Interior Minister Investigates Death of Young Man in Syrian Police Custody

Mohammad Ghamira, a Syrian Civil Defense worker who died after mistreatment at a police station in al-Haffah, in the Latakia countryside. (Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management)
Mohammad Ghamira, a Syrian Civil Defense worker who died after mistreatment at a police station in al-Haffah, in the Latakia countryside. (Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management)
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Committee Led by Assistant Interior Minister Investigates Death of Young Man in Syrian Police Custody

Mohammad Ghamira, a Syrian Civil Defense worker who died after mistreatment at a police station in al-Haffah, in the Latakia countryside. (Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management)
Mohammad Ghamira, a Syrian Civil Defense worker who died after mistreatment at a police station in al-Haffah, in the Latakia countryside. (Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management)

Syrian authorities have detained seven people in connection with the death of a 29-year-old man who was beaten while in police custody, as two government ministers pledged to hold those responsible accountable once investigations are completed.

Mohammad Hossam al-Din Ghamira died Sunday at Latakia University Hospital from complications of bleeding in the brain and digestive tract after being beaten following his detention at al-Haffah police station in Latakia province.

Interior Ministry spokesman Nour al-Din al-Baba announced that a committee had been tasked with investigating the circumstances of his death. Its work would extend beyond the case to evaluate the performance of police departments across Syria, particularly in the Latakia province.

In comments to the Syrian state news agency SANA on Monday, al-Baba said that the committee would issue recommendations and that citizens would see improvements in police performance in the coming weeks.

The ministry “does not deny its responsibility for this unfortunate incident,” al-Baba acknowledged, while urging that the case be kept within its proper context without exaggeration.

He explained that the committee had arrived in al-Haffah to hear testimony from Ghamira’s family and local residents and had three days to complete its work.

A separate independent and professional medical committee was also formed to conduct a forensic examination of the body.

The Emergency and Disaster Management Ministry reported that Ghamira, one of its employees and a father of two, suffered from hemophilia, a disorder that prevents blood from clotting properly.

According to the ministry, he died from complications of cerebral and gastrointestinal bleeding caused by the beating.

A family source who requested anonymity told AFP that Ghamira had been accused in a financial case and detained for three days before being released for lack of evidence. The source alleged that he was “severely tortured,” causing his health to deteriorate before his death.

Emergency and Disaster Management Minister Raed al-Saleh mourned Ghamira as a “brother, friend and colleague” and confirmed that personnel at the police station accused of beating him had been detained and would face legal action.

“Syrians sacrificed for 14 years to reach a Syria that safeguards their dignity and humanity,” al-Saleh wrote, pledging there would be “no impunity.”

Interior Minister Anas Khattab ordered an investigative committee headed by Maj. Gen. Ahmad Mohammad Latouf, assistant interior minister for police affairs.

Khattab stressed that any violations or abuses by Interior Ministry personnel would be dealt with firmly under established laws and procedures, adding that anyone found responsible would receive “just punishment.”

Ghamira’s uncle, Issam Ghamira, told Al-Ikhbariya television that his nephew died after being struck inside the police station. He recounted that the family had informed the station chief that Ghamira suffered from hemophilia and asked that he not be harmed.

Activists and youths in al-Haffah announced a peaceful protest outside the police station following Ghamira’s burial, demanding disclosure of the circumstances surrounding his death, a transparent and independent investigation, and accountability for anyone found responsible.

Calls have also made for peaceful demonstrations in several other parts of Syria.

According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, several people have died while in custody since the new authorities took power. In January 2025, state media reported that a detainee died in Homs following “violations” by security personnel, who were subsequently arrested and referred to the judiciary.

Arab World

Risk of Escalation in Lebanon as Israeli Military Prepares for ‘Intensified’ Fighting

The rubble and debris of flattened buildings litter the hillside following an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in the southern Lebanese village of Nabatieh al-Fawqa on August 15, 2026. (AFP)
The rubble and debris of flattened buildings litter the hillside following an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in the southern Lebanese village of Nabatieh al-Fawqa on August 15, 2026. (AFP)
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Risk of Escalation in Lebanon as Israeli Military Prepares for ‘Intensified’ Fighting

The rubble and debris of flattened buildings litter the hillside following an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in the southern Lebanese village of Nabatieh al-Fawqa on August 15, 2026. (AFP)
The rubble and debris of flattened buildings litter the hillside following an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in the southern Lebanese village of Nabatieh al-Fawqa on August 15, 2026. (AFP)

The confrontation in southern Lebanon is entering a sensitive phase as Israeli military operations continue alongside US-mediated negotiations, while Israel’s Channel 12 has reported that the Israeli military is preparing for the possibility of several days of intensified fighting in Lebanon.

The report has raised questions over whether any escalation would remain contained or spread, although there has been no public indication of a decision to launch a wider war or set a deadline for negotiations.

Channel 12 reported that Israel remains determined to complete its operations in the Ali al-Taher Heights and linked the intensity of military activity to the negotiations. Washington, meanwhile, has reiterated its commitment to the “pilot zones” plan, maintaining that Hezbollah’s disarmament is part of the process.

Retired Lebanese Brig. Gen. Khalil Gemayel told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israeli preparations for several days of fighting did not, in his assessment, mean Israel intends to launch a broader war.

Rather, it wants to settle the battle for the Ali al-Taher Heights, securing a battlefield achievement, he added.

Any expansion of the confrontation would largely depend on the scale of Hezbollah’s response, particularly if it broadened its operations and struck Israeli communities, potentially prompting Israel to widen the fighting, he explained.

Gemayel described Ali al-Taher as a key defensive hub for Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, noting that Israeli forces were attempting to advance gradually along the hills toward sensitive positions, tunnel entrances and underground facilities with the assistance of specialized engineering units.

Hezbollah intervenes locally when Israeli troops approach critical points in its defensive network, he remarked.

Capturing the area could give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a military and political achievement while dealing Hezbollah a significant military loss, he noted.

15 August 2026, Lebanon, Nabatieh District: First responders are searching the rubble following an Israeli airstrike on a house in a tourist area of Ansar, southern Lebanon, before dawn, completely destroying the building and causing extensive damage to surrounding properties. (dpa)

Retired Brig. Gen. Naji Malaeb, meanwhile, said Israel’s escalation could be part of an attempt to draw Hezbollah into a response that would provide grounds for widening its operations.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat Israel may have used an incident that caused casualties in the Ali al-Taher Heights as a pretext to expand its operational reach beyond areas it occupies. He questioned whether Israel was attempting to provoke Hezbollah into a response that would allow it to broaden its military campaign.

Malaeb said increasingly forceful rhetoric from Hezbollah and its secretary-general, Naim Qassem, including warnings that Israel would “pay the price,” made that scenario worth considering.

A wider escalation would not necessarily begin with a ground advance. Israel could instead rely heavily on air power and expand its strikes to other areas, he went on to say.

Malaeb warned that expanding the conflict from the south deeper into Lebanon could also bring Iran into the confrontation, particularly if Beirut’s southern suburbs were targeted.

An Iranian response could provide Israel with a pretext to resume attacks on Iran even without US participation, he argued.

On the ground, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported a “significant increase in Israeli military activity in southern Lebanon” over the previous two weeks, recording an average of 137 projectiles a day between August 5 and 16.

Israeli operations continued across several areas. Drones dropped explosives around the Ali al-Taher Heights and Dabsha Hill, while Mansouri came under artillery fire. Strikes and shelling were also reported around Wadi al-Hujeir, Qantara, Aitaroun, Khiam, Hadatha and Mais al-Jabal, while Israeli forces carried out explosions in Bani Hayyan and Majdal Zoun.