Israel Demolishes Palestinian Home in East Jerusalem's Silwan

Palestinians inspect their home after Israeli forces demolished it (FIle/AFP)
Palestinians inspect their home after Israeli forces demolished it (FIle/AFP)
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Israel Demolishes Palestinian Home in East Jerusalem's Silwan

Palestinians inspect their home after Israeli forces demolished it (FIle/AFP)
Palestinians inspect their home after Israeli forces demolished it (FIle/AFP)

Israeli forces on Wednesday tore down a Palestinian house in Silwan town in occupied East Jerusalem.

Wafa news agency reported Hazem Abu Sneineh, the owner of the demolished house, as saying that the Israeli police and municipal crews escorted a bulldozer into the neighborhood where the heavy machinery tore down the 115-square-meter house, reportedly for being built without a license.

Police cordoned off the house, pushed people out of the area and detained three of Abu Sneineh's family members.

Israel demolishes houses on a regular basis on illegal building pretexts.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli military also raided the town of al-Zayyem and demolished structures, razed lands and seized agricultural tools.



Lebanon Hopes for Neighborly Relations in First Message to New Syria Government

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
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Lebanon Hopes for Neighborly Relations in First Message to New Syria Government

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)

Lebanon said on Thursday it was looking forward to having the best neighborly relations with Syria, in its first official message to the new administration in Damascus.

Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib passed the message to his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, in a phone call, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said on X.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah played a major part propping up Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad through years of war, before bringing its fighters back to Lebanon over the last year to fight in a bruising war with Israel - a redeployment which weakened Syrian government lines.

Under Assad, Hezbollah used Syria to bring in weapons and other military equipment from Iran, through Iraq and Syria and into Lebanon. But on Dec. 6, anti-Assad fighters seized the border with Iraq and cut off that route, and two days later, opposition factions captured the capital Damascus.

Syria's new de-facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa is seeking to establish relations with Arab and Western leaders after toppling Assad.