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Israel Strikes House of Hamas Political Chief in Gaza

Gaza's Hamas Chief Yehya Al-Sinwar talks to media, in Gaza City October 28, 2019. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Gaza's Hamas Chief Yehya Al-Sinwar talks to media, in Gaza City October 28, 2019. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
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Israel Strikes House of Hamas Political Chief in Gaza

Gaza's Hamas Chief Yehya Al-Sinwar talks to media, in Gaza City October 28, 2019. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Gaza's Hamas Chief Yehya Al-Sinwar talks to media, in Gaza City October 28, 2019. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Israeli airstrikes hit the home of Yahya Sinwar, the top Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, the army said Sunday, but without saying if he was killed.

"Among the targets struck are the residences of Yahya Sinwar, Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau in Gaza, as well as of his brother, Muhammad Sinwar, Head of Logistics and Manpower for Hamas," Israel's army said in a statement, releasing a video showing plumes of smoke and intense damage.

"Both residences served as military infrastructure for the Hamas terror organization."

Sinwar, a former commander of Hamas's military branch, served more than two decades in an Israeli jail before he was released in 2011 as a part of a prisoner exchange.

First elected as the head of Hamas's political wing in Gaza in 2017, he was re-elected in March, extending his tenure as the movement's de facto leader in the Palestinian enclave.

The army said it had also carried out strikes targeting Hamas tunnel systems.

As of 07:00 am (0400 GMT) Sunday, Israel's army said that Palestinian militants in Gaza had fired some 2,900 rockets towards Israel.

The army said 450 rockets fell short inside Gaza, while Israel's Iron Dome air defense system has intercepted approximately 1,150 rockets.

Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have acknowledged 20 fighters killed since the fighting broke out Monday, while Israel says the real number is far higher.

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Arab World

Deadly Algeria Orphanage Fire Caused by Air Conditioner, Police Say

Rescuers and police officers work at the site of a fire at an orphanage near Algiers, Algeria, July 16, 2026. Algerian Civil Protection/Handout via REUTERS
Rescuers and police officers work at the site of a fire at an orphanage near Algiers, Algeria, July 16, 2026. Algerian Civil Protection/Handout via REUTERS
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Deadly Algeria Orphanage Fire Caused by Air Conditioner, Police Say

Rescuers and police officers work at the site of a fire at an orphanage near Algiers, Algeria, July 16, 2026. Algerian Civil Protection/Handout via REUTERS
Rescuers and police officers work at the site of a fire at an orphanage near Algiers, Algeria, July 16, 2026. Algerian Civil Protection/Handout via REUTERS

Algerian police on Friday said a fire that killed 11 people at an orphanage in the capital was caused by an electrical spark from an air conditioning unit.

The blaze broke out before dawn on Thursday at the childcare facility in the Mohammadia suburb of Algiers.

A 52-year-old caregiver was among the dead, police said Friday, but it remains unclear how many children were killed.

Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune posted online Thursday that "several children" had died.

Nineteen others were injured during the fire, according to Algeria's civil defense.

Forensic experts determined that the blaze originated from an air conditioner that had been running continuously as Algeria endures a heatwave.

The civil defense has said nearly a thousand fires have broken out across the country's north during the past week, with the majority contained.

A municipal worker earlier died battling a fire in the northern province of Setif, according to a local mayor.

Every summer, northern Algeria is struck by forest fires, a phenomenon exacerbated by drought and climate change.

The fires have killed dozens of people in recent years and destroyed thousands of hectares of forest or farmland, along with numerous homes.

Arab World

Germany Proposes EU Force to Replace UN Mission in Lebanon

15 July 2026, Finland, Helsinki: Johann Wadephul, German Minister of Foreign Affairs, speaks during a press conference following a meeting with his Finnish counterpart in the Finnish capital. (dpa)
15 July 2026, Finland, Helsinki: Johann Wadephul, German Minister of Foreign Affairs, speaks during a press conference following a meeting with his Finnish counterpart in the Finnish capital. (dpa)
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Germany Proposes EU Force to Replace UN Mission in Lebanon

15 July 2026, Finland, Helsinki: Johann Wadephul, German Minister of Foreign Affairs, speaks during a press conference following a meeting with his Finnish counterpart in the Finnish capital. (dpa)
15 July 2026, Finland, Helsinki: Johann Wadephul, German Minister of Foreign Affairs, speaks during a press conference following a meeting with his Finnish counterpart in the Finnish capital. (dpa)

German ‌Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has proposed replacing the expiring United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon with an EU-mandated force to prevent a security vacuum, he told the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland.

"We should examine in the EU whether we can ensure that no security vacuum arises with ‌a European ‌mandate following the UNIFIL ‌mission," ⁠Wadephul said in ⁠an interview published on Friday.

The UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) mission expires on December 31, 2026. Germany's parliament extended the country's participation in the mission for the final time just weeks ⁠ago.

Wadephul said Lebanon, with ‌a stabilizing ‌government, represented "one of the most hopeful developments ‌in the region at the moment."

Lebanon ‌and Israel held ambassador-level talks at the US embassy in Rome on Tuesday and Wednesday — their sixth ‌round of face-to-face negotiations since a new war erupted on ⁠March ⁠2 between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, triggered by the wider regional conflict.

An EU-mandated force could "create the conditions for the Israeli army to withdraw without Hezbollah returning with its terror," the minister added.

The proposal comes as European nations seek to maintain regional stability while balancing relations with Israel and Lebanon.

Arab World

Syria Military Source Denies Iran Bombed Al-Tanf Base

The al-Tanf military outpost in southern Syria is seen on Oct. 22, 2018. (AP)
The al-Tanf military outpost in southern Syria is seen on Oct. 22, 2018. (AP)
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Syria Military Source Denies Iran Bombed Al-Tanf Base

The al-Tanf military outpost in southern Syria is seen on Oct. 22, 2018. (AP)
The al-Tanf military outpost in southern Syria is seen on Oct. 22, 2018. (AP)

A Syrian military source denied to AFP on Friday that Iran had bombed the al-Tanf base near Syria's southeastern borders with Jordan and Iraq, after Tehran's Revolutionary Guards said they targeted the facility in response to US strikes. 

"We deny any Iranian bombardment targeting the al-Tanf area," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.  

US forces said they withdrew from the base earlier this year after troops were stationed there as part of a US-led anti-ISIS coalition. 

Earlier on Friday, Iran's ‌Revolutionary Guards claimed they had attacked a US special operations command center at al-Tanf in retaliation for the killing of Iranian soldiers in Iranshahr, state media reported. 

Reuters could not independently verify the claim.

The US ‌military said in February ‌it ⁠completed a withdrawal from ⁠the al-Tanf base positioned at the tri-border confluence of Syria, Jordan and Iraq. 

Syria has sought to avoid being drawn into the regional conflict that has engulfed neighboring countries, including Lebanon, ⁠where Hezbollah has fought Israeli ‌forces, and ‌Iraq, where Iran-backed armed groups have launched drone ‌and rocket attacks. 

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa ‌said in March that his country would stay out of any conflict unless it came under attack. 

"Unless Syria is targeted by ‌any party, Syria will remain outside any conflict," Sharaa said at ⁠an ⁠event hosted by the Chatham House think tank in London. 

The Guards also said Iran retained full control of the Strait of Hormuz and that no oil or gas would be exported through the waterway for as long as US attacks continued, according to the state media report.