Anti-ISIS Coalition Strike Kills 5 Extremists in E. Syria

Smoke rises from the last besieged ISIS-held neighborhood in the village of Baghouz, Deir Ezzour, Syria, March 18, 2019. (Reuters)
Smoke rises from the last besieged ISIS-held neighborhood in the village of Baghouz, Deir Ezzour, Syria, March 18, 2019. (Reuters)
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Anti-ISIS Coalition Strike Kills 5 Extremists in E. Syria

Smoke rises from the last besieged ISIS-held neighborhood in the village of Baghouz, Deir Ezzour, Syria, March 18, 2019. (Reuters)
Smoke rises from the last besieged ISIS-held neighborhood in the village of Baghouz, Deir Ezzour, Syria, March 18, 2019. (Reuters)

Five extremists were killed on Monday in a US-led coalition airstrike in eastern Syria, said coalition spokesman James Rawlinson.

He said the raid targeted an ISIS cell near Busayrah, a town in the Deir Ezzour province, the first such strike since the defeat of the terrorist group.

"This operation eliminated five terrorists who played a key role in facilitating attacks across the region against security forces and innocent civilians," he told AFP.

The five extremists were all Syrian, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.

It was the first aerial attack by coalition warplanes since ISIS was driven out of its last holdout in Syria four months ago, the Britain-based group added.

A US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces announced it had expelled the extremists from their last patch of territory in eastern Syria, the town of Baghouz, on March 23.

That came after a months-long campaign backed by coalition airstrikes.

The victory spelled the end of the extremists’ proto-state declared in 2014 after ISIS seized large parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq.

But despite losing their territory, ISIS fighters continue to launch regular attacks across war-torn Syria.

They have claimed operations in SDF-held areas, including targeted killings and setting fire to vital wheat crops.

In Syria's vast desert, they have repeatedly hit regime forces with deadly attacks and ambushes.

They also maintain a presence in the northwestern region of Idlib, which is dominated by an Al-Qaeda-linked radical group.

The US-led coalition has said it is backing the SDF in northeastern Syria against thousands of remaining ISIS loyalists.

"The coalition will continue to enable partner forces in their pursuit of enduring defeat of ISIS," Rawlinson said.

The war in Syria has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests.



Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

At least two people were killed and four rescued from the rubble of a multistory apartment building that collapsed Sunday in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, state media reported.

Rescue teams were continuing to dig through the rubble. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the building when it fell.

The bodies pulled out were of a child and a woman, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Dozens of people crowded around the site of the crater left by the collapsed building, with some shooting in the air.

The building was in the neighborhood of Bab Tabbaneh, one of the poorest areas in Lebanon’s second largest city, where residents have long complained of government neglect and shoddy infrastructure. Building collapses are not uncommon in Tripoli due to poor building standards, according to The AP news.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced that those injured in the collapse would receive treatment at the state’s expense.

The national syndicate for property owners in a statement called the collapse the result of “blatant negligence and shortcomings of the Lebanese state toward the safety of citizens and their housing security,” and said it is “not an isolated incident.”

The syndicate called for the government to launch a comprehensive national survey of buildings at risk of collapse.


Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
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Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)

Israel's security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.

The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank, The AP news reported.

They were also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offences and damage to archaeological sites.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.

The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.

Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement building, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.

Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.

His ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.

The United Nations' highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.


Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the attack by the Rapid Support Forces on humanitarian aid convoys and relief workers in North Kordofan State, Sudan.

In a statement reported by SPA, secretary-general's spokesperson Jamal Rushdi quoted Aboul Gheit as saying the attack constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the deliberate targeting of civilians and depriving them of their means of survival.

Aboul Gheit stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable, end impunity, and ensure the full protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, and relief facilities in Sudan.