Russia Raids Camps on Syrian-Turkish Border

Displaced citizens during the Russian raids north of Syria, near the Turkish border (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Displaced citizens during the Russian raids north of Syria, near the Turkish border (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Russia Raids Camps on Syrian-Turkish Border

Displaced citizens during the Russian raids north of Syria, near the Turkish border (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Displaced citizens during the Russian raids north of Syria, near the Turkish border (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Russian jets raided areas in northern Syria, near the Turkish border, including Syrian displacements camps and former military headquarters of the armed Syrian opposition.

Anas Kaddour, an official at the Idlib News Center, reported that the Russian warplanes carried out on Saturday eight airstrikes, with high-explosive missiles on Salwa and Qah, north of Idlib, which are about six kilometers from the Turkish border.

He indicated that the area contains more than 14 camps for displaced persons, noting that shrapnel from one of the missiles fell on a tent, injuring a child.

Kaddour also announced that the Russian fighters raided a mountain hill near the Salwa area, hosting the former headquarters of the Turkish-backed Syrian armed opposition factions without causing any casualties.

Russia has expanded its bombing targets to include camp areas, housing thousands of displaced people from different regions of Syria who left their homes due to military operations by Russia and the regime.

Opposition activist Samer al-Amin said that the Russian airstrikes over areas in northern Syria near the Turkish border aim to provoke Ankara, forcing it to make concessions.

He also noted that these attacks against the military headquarters of Turkey-backed factions, vital centers in cities within the de-escalation zone, and refugee camps on the border show that Ankara is incapable of preventing attacks against civilians within its areas of influence.

He pointed out that 45 air raids were executed over the de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria during October.

Amin also reported that the regime forces and Iranian-backed militias carried out over 190 ground attacks in various areas of the Idlib governorate, killing 21 civilians, including seven children, six during the Jericho massacre, and a child in the attack over the “widows’ camp,” north of Idlib.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that the regime forces and Iranian militias exchanged shelling with the opposition factions at the axes of the al-Ruwaiha area, south of Idlib, accompanied by Russian reconnaissance.

SOHR reported an exchange of shelling in the Idlib countryside with heavy weaponry, where Turkish artillery units stationed in the east of Sermin city shot regime positions in Saraqib.

Regime forces responded by shelling the perimeter of a Turkish post in Saan village in western Saraqib city.

Furthermore, ISIS carried out three sudden attacks targeting members of the Iraqi Hezbollah, the Lebanese Hezbollah, and groups affiliated with the regime forces in the eastern countryside of Hama. The attack resulted in the death of nine members and the injury of several others.

A source told Asharq Al-Awsat that a sudden attack by groups affiliated with ISIS on Friday evening targeted a military site of the Iraqi Hezbollah militia near the Uqayribat and Hammadi el-Omr area, killing four of its members and wounding others.

He also indicated that two other separate ISIS attacks targeted military vehicles belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah and other vehicles belonging to the regime forces near Palmyra, east of Homs.

Violent clashes erupted between the two, during which five were killed, and two cars were destroyed.

He pointed out that Lebanese Hezbollah's military vehicles were targeted while transporting a number of its members, vehicles, and ammunition from the Sukhna area, east of Palmyra, towards Jabal al-Qalamoun on the Syrian-Lebanese border.



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.