Russia Reveals Details About Israeli Raids Near Damascus Airport

Damascus Airport (Ashrq Al-Awsat)
Damascus Airport (Ashrq Al-Awsat)
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Russia Reveals Details About Israeli Raids Near Damascus Airport

Damascus Airport (Ashrq Al-Awsat)
Damascus Airport (Ashrq Al-Awsat)

Israel raided Damascus International Airport as the Syrian defenses downed seven of the eight missiles that were fired, according to the Russian Center for Reconciliation.

Deputy Head of the Center Rear Admiral Vadim Kolet said that four Israeli F-16 jets fired in December eight missiles from Golan airspace targeting the Damascus airport area.

Kolet said the Syrian air defenses shot seven of the missiles using Russian-made Pantsir-S systems. He confirmed that the Israeli airstrike caused damages to a warehouse and killed one person.

Also, a Syrian soldier was killed in an airstrike on Thursday, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

The agency quoted an unnamed military source saying that the Israeli enemy attacked the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting some points in the southern region, indicating that the air defenses shot down most of the missiles.

The Israeli army refused to comment on the news.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) indicated that Israel recently intensified its strikes in Syria. An attack on November 24 killed five people.

Meanwhile, the UK's Defense Ministry said that British fighter jets shot down a drone approaching al-Tanf base in Syria.

It is the first time the British army had shot down another enemy aircraft since the Falklands War nearly 40 years ago.

The Ministry of Defense said that the drone, which was downed on December 14, posed a threat to the coalition against ISIS in southern Syria.

The UK's Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said: "This strike is an impressive demonstration of the RAF's ability to take out hostile targets in the air that pose a threat to our forces."

"We continue to do everything we can alongside our coalition partners to stamp out the terrorist threat and protect our personnel and our partners."

Two RAF Typhoon FGR4s were patrolling over Syria and Iraq on Tuesday as part of the global coalition against ISIS and were ordered to investigate hostile drone activity near the al-Tanf military base.

The pilots identified a small hostile drone and shot it down using an advanced short-range air-to-air missile.

It was the first operational air-to-air engagement conducted by an RAF Typhoon and the first air-to-air missile firing during Operation Shader, targeting the remnants of ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

A spokesman for US Central Command, US Navy Capt Bill Urban, said two drones entered the al-Tanf garrison "deconfliction" zone on Tuesday. One of them was shot down as it moved closer to the base.

He indicated that there were no casualties or damage to facilities.



Israel Says Killed Head of Hezbollah Unit in South Lebanon

This photograph taken during a media tour organized by the Hezbollah shows a man installing a flag of Hezbollah on the balcony of a damaged building at Nabi Sheet town after an Israeli military operation in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, on March 7, 2026.  (Photo by FADEL itani / AFP)
This photograph taken during a media tour organized by the Hezbollah shows a man installing a flag of Hezbollah on the balcony of a damaged building at Nabi Sheet town after an Israeli military operation in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, on March 7, 2026. (Photo by FADEL itani / AFP)
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Israel Says Killed Head of Hezbollah Unit in South Lebanon

This photograph taken during a media tour organized by the Hezbollah shows a man installing a flag of Hezbollah on the balcony of a damaged building at Nabi Sheet town after an Israeli military operation in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, on March 7, 2026.  (Photo by FADEL itani / AFP)
This photograph taken during a media tour organized by the Hezbollah shows a man installing a flag of Hezbollah on the balcony of a damaged building at Nabi Sheet town after an Israeli military operation in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, on March 7, 2026. (Photo by FADEL itani / AFP)

Israel announced on Monday that its military had killed the head of Hezbollah's Nasr unit operating in part of southern Lebanon during renewed fighting with the Iran-backed armed group.

Defense minister Israel Katz "was briefed on the elimination of the commander of Hezbollah's Nasr Unit", Abu Hussein Ragheb, during an overnight strike, a statement from the defence ministry said, Reuters reported.

The Nasr unit operates in an eastern sector south of Lebanon's Litani River and opened Hezbollah's cross-border attacks on Israel following Hamas's attack in October 2023.


Israeli Fire Kills Priest in South Lebanon's Qlayaa

 Israeli tanks gather at a position along the Israel-Lebanon border on March 8, 2026. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
Israeli tanks gather at a position along the Israel-Lebanon border on March 8, 2026. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
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Israeli Fire Kills Priest in South Lebanon's Qlayaa

 Israeli tanks gather at a position along the Israel-Lebanon border on March 8, 2026. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
Israeli tanks gather at a position along the Israel-Lebanon border on March 8, 2026. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)

A south Lebanon parish lost its priest on Monday when Father Pierre al-Rai of Al-Qlayaa died of wounds sustained from Israeli tank fire, according to state media and a medical source.

The border village had not previously been caught up in the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

The National News Agency (NNA) reported that a house in the Christian town was "hit twice in succession by artillery shelling from a hostile Merkava tank" on Monday.

The first strike wounded the homeowner and his wife, according to NNA. After several neighbours, including Rai, and Red Cross paramedics rushed to the scene, the house was hit a second time, wounding Rai and three others.

The priest later died of his wounds, a medical source told AFP.

It was not clear why Israeli forces targeted the house, which is located on the outskirts of the town.

On Friday, Rai had taken part in a gathering organized by locals in the neighboring town of Marjayoun, where they said they were determined to remain in their homes despite evacuation warnings issued by the Israeli army to all residents south of the Litani river, about 30 kilometres from the border.

In a speech, Rai had said: "When we defend our land, we defend it peacefully, and we carry only the weapons of peace, goodness, love and prayer."

"We are compelled to remain in danger because these are our homes and we will not leave them."

Residents of Christian towns along or near the border are trying to stay out of the confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel.


Iraq: Strike Hits Former PMF Base Near Mosul

Iraqi Army soldiers secure streets in then-recently liberated village occupied by ISIS militants outside Mosul, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016.(AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
Iraqi Army soldiers secure streets in then-recently liberated village occupied by ISIS militants outside Mosul, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016.(AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
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Iraq: Strike Hits Former PMF Base Near Mosul

Iraqi Army soldiers secure streets in then-recently liberated village occupied by ISIS militants outside Mosul, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016.(AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
Iraqi Army soldiers secure streets in then-recently liberated village occupied by ISIS militants outside Mosul, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016.(AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

An airstrike on Monday hit a base belonging to the paramilitary coalition Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) coalition in northern Iraq, according to officials from the former paramilitary alliance, which includes pro-Iran factions.

One of the officials blamed the strike on the United States, saying it hit a base in Bartella area near the city of Mosul in Nineveh province, AFP reported.

Another PMF source and a local official confirmed the attack, with no casualties reported.

The PMF is an alliance of factions created in 2014 to fight militants and is now integrated into the Iraqi armed forces.

Iran-backed groups have brigades that operate within the PMF, but have a reputation for acting on their own.

Since the start of the Middle East war, bases belonging to PMF have been hit several times, with strikes targeting Tehran-backed armed groups.

These groups are also united under a loose alliance called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which has claimed attacks against US bases in Iraq.