Iranian Rocket Shipment Enters Syria through Iraq

Iraqi militants who are loyal to Iran are seen in Deir Ezzor. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)
Iraqi militants who are loyal to Iran are seen in Deir Ezzor. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)
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Iranian Rocket Shipment Enters Syria through Iraq

Iraqi militants who are loyal to Iran are seen in Deir Ezzor. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)
Iraqi militants who are loyal to Iran are seen in Deir Ezzor. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)

A new arms shipment of rockets has been delivered to pro-Iran militias in Syria, said sources in the region west of the Euphrates River.

The shipment consisted of short and medium range rockets. It arrived in the Deir Ezzor countryside from an illegal border crossing with Iraq on Monday morning.

Three military vehicles, belonging to Iranian militias, and a car, belonging to the Fourth Armored Division, accompanied the shipment after it entered Syrian territories.

Sources from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two trucks were unloaded at warehouses belonging to the Afghan Fatemiyoun Division militia in the western Deir Ezzor countryside.

The two other trucks made their way to the eastern countryside of the Raqqa province.

Local sources in Deir Ezzor said the regime’s security agencies were closely monitoring the activity of Iranian militias in the Alboukamal and al-Mayadeen regions. They were closely studying the new local recruits to the groups and locals who are collaborating with them.

Some two weeks ago, Syrian security forces arrested a resident of the town of al-Herri that is located on the Syrian-Iraqi border. He was detained in Damascus on charges of helping carry out attacks against Iranian militias in Alboukamal.

The detainee is among the most prominent collaborators with Iranian militias and is close to the regime. He is known for his smuggling operations across the border and his relations with armed factions that control eastern parts of Syria. He had also cooperated with ISIS before Iranian militias swept in their place.

Iranian militias are deployed in the Deir Ezzor countryside west of the Euphrates. The Kurdish-Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are deployed east of the river. The Iranian militias boast some 15,000 fighters from different nationalities.



Talks Begin in Cairo on Advancing Gaza Ceasefire

A boy sits on an armchair amid the rubble of a building near the site of an Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, on June 7, 2026. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)
A boy sits on an armchair amid the rubble of a building near the site of an Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, on June 7, 2026. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)
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Talks Begin in Cairo on Advancing Gaza Ceasefire

A boy sits on an armchair amid the rubble of a building near the site of an Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, on June 7, 2026. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)
A boy sits on an armchair amid the rubble of a building near the site of an Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, on June 7, 2026. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)

Talks on advancing the fragile Gaza ceasefire have begun in Cairo between mediators and Palestinian factions, a Palestinian source familiar with the meeting told AFP.

The discussions, which started Sunday and are set to resume Monday, come as violence continues to plague the territory despite the truce in place since October.

The talks bring together mediators Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye, along with representatives of several Palestinian factions, as efforts continue to push forward negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

According to the source, mediators were due to meet a Hamas delegation before midday on Monday, followed by a wider meeting including all participating factions.

Egypt's state-linked Al-Qahera News channel said Sunday's talks focused on "the proposed roadmap for completing the implementation of the agreement.”

"It was held in a positive atmosphere," the channel reported, adding that there was agreement on the need to continue implementing US President Donald Trump's plan.

The talks come amid rising regional tensions, after Israel and Iran traded fire on Monday, in a serious test of another fragile truce and a potential threat to hopes for a deal to end the wider Middle East war.

Despite the Gaza truce technically in effect since October, daily violence has rocked the territory, over half of which is under Israeli military control in defiance of the ceasefire's terms.

Israel has killed at least 936 people since the ceasefire began, according to Gaza's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.

Both Hamas and Israel accuse each other of violating the truce.

The first phase of the ceasefire involved the release of the last Israeli hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.

A transition to the second phase, which was supposed to involve Hamas's disarmament and a gradual withdrawal of the Israeli military, has been stalled for months.

The question of Gaza's post-war governance also remains one of the main sticking points in negotiations on implementing the provisions of phase two.

Israel rejects any return of Hamas to power, but also rejects a direct takeover by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority at this stage.

Hamas, meanwhile, demands the establishment of a Palestinian administration before considering handing over part of its arsenal -- a key stipulation for the second phase, along with Israel's withdrawal.


Houthis Attack Israel, Declare Ban on Israeli Shipping in Red Sea

A Houthi soldier mans a machine gun mounted on a vehicle while on patrol in Sanaa, Yemen, 04 June 2026. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
A Houthi soldier mans a machine gun mounted on a vehicle while on patrol in Sanaa, Yemen, 04 June 2026. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
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Houthis Attack Israel, Declare Ban on Israeli Shipping in Red Sea

A Houthi soldier mans a machine gun mounted on a vehicle while on patrol in Sanaa, Yemen, 04 June 2026. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
A Houthi soldier mans a machine gun mounted on a vehicle while on patrol in Sanaa, Yemen, 04 June 2026. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB

Yemen's Houthi militias announced a missile attack on Israel on Monday and declared a ban on Israeli shipping in the Red Sea, raising the specter of a return to major disruption on the key route.

"We declare a complete and total ban on Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea," said a statement from the Houthis' armed forces, which also confirmed the first missile attack on Israel since early April.

The announcement was made after Israel and Iran traded fire on Monday.

The new attacks, including a strike on an Iranian petrochemical complex, came hours after US President Donald Trump called on Israel to refrain from retaliating against Tehran's missiles.


At Least 21 Iraqis Killed, 19 Wounded in Bus Crash and Fire Near Nassiriya

 Vehicles enter and exit an underpass road during rainfall in Baghdad on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
Vehicles enter and exit an underpass road during rainfall in Baghdad on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
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At Least 21 Iraqis Killed, 19 Wounded in Bus Crash and Fire Near Nassiriya

 Vehicles enter and exit an underpass road during rainfall in Baghdad on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
Vehicles enter and exit an underpass road during rainfall in Baghdad on March 15, 2026. (AFP)

At ‌least 21 Iraqis were killed and 19 others injured when a passenger bus crashed and caught fire near the southern city of Nassiriya on Sunday, police and health officials said.

The accident occurred after the driver lost control of ‌the bus on ‌a highway near ‌Nassiriya, ⁠causing the vehicle ⁠to overturn and burst into flames, the officials said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered an investigation into the causes of the crash and ⁠directed authorities to submit a ‌report ‌on the circumstances surrounding the accident, ‌his office said.

Police and medical ‌officials said 21 people were confirmed dead at the scene and in hospital, while 19 others ‌were wounded.

Most of the injured were in critical ⁠condition ⁠and suffering from severe burns, health officials said.

The cause of the crash was under investigation, police said.

Road accidents are common in Iraq, where speeding, poor road conditions and inadequate enforcement of traffic regulations contribute to a high number of fatalities each year.