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Drone Strike Hits Assad’s Ancestral Town

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. (AP)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. (AP)
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Drone Strike Hits Assad’s Ancestral Town

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. (AP)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. (AP)

A drone attack targeted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ancestral town of Qardaha on Friday with two projectiles, killing one person and lightly injuring another, Syrian state news agency Sana reported.

The strike came a day after Sana reported a drone attack on Salhab, another opposition-held town in northwest Syria, that killed a woman and a child.

The strikes on Qardaha and Salhab, which are around 35 kilometers apart, come amid a flare up in fighting in the northwest with shelling between Syrian government forces and opposition fighters on some front lines.

They came only days after the conclusion of Astana meetings attended by MPs and FMs of Syria, Russia, Iran, and Türkiye.

Arab News Agency (ANA) quoted Abdel Qader Azouz, advisor to the Syrian Presidency of the Council of Ministers, as saying that the Astana talks represent a test to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s wish to reach a settlement in Syria that leads to Turkish forces’ withdrawal and solutions to the pending issues between both countries.

Azouz affirmed on Wednesday Syria’s keenness on having normal ties with Türkiye given its geographical, strategic, and political weight.

He expressed hope that ties return to normal and disputes are resolved peacefully, saying these demands go in line with the UN principles in abstaining from using force.

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Arab World

Hezbollah Says Message from Iran Shows it 'Will Not Give up' on Group

Displaced residents wave Hezbollah flags, including one bearing a picture of its leader, Naim Qassem, as they pass rubble of destroyed buildings in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Displaced residents wave Hezbollah flags, including one bearing a picture of its leader, Naim Qassem, as they pass rubble of destroyed buildings in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
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Hezbollah Says Message from Iran Shows it 'Will Not Give up' on Group

Displaced residents wave Hezbollah flags, including one bearing a picture of its leader, Naim Qassem, as they pass rubble of destroyed buildings in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Displaced residents wave Hezbollah flags, including one bearing a picture of its leader, Naim Qassem, as they pass rubble of destroyed buildings in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Hezbollah said Saturday that a message from Tehran showed that Iran would not abandon the Lebanese militant group and that the Islamic republic's latest proposal to end the US-Iran war included a ceasefire in Lebanon.

Iran-backed Hezbollah said in a statement that its chief Naim Qassem had received a message from Tehran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, which indicated that Iran "will not give up its support for movements demanding justice and freedom, foremost among them Hezbollah".

In Iran's latest proposal through Pakistani mediators aimed at achieving "a permanent and stable end to the war, the demand to include Lebanon in the ceasefire was emphasised", the statement added.

Arab World

South Lebanon Hospital Damaged in Israeli Strikes

Volunteers from the Lebanese Red Cross rescue a woman in the city of Nabatieh in South Lebanon (AFP)
Volunteers from the Lebanese Red Cross rescue a woman in the city of Nabatieh in South Lebanon (AFP)
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South Lebanon Hospital Damaged in Israeli Strikes

Volunteers from the Lebanese Red Cross rescue a woman in the city of Nabatieh in South Lebanon (AFP)
Volunteers from the Lebanese Red Cross rescue a woman in the city of Nabatieh in South Lebanon (AFP)

Israel kept up strikes on Lebanon on Saturday, hours after overnight raids on the country's south and east, including one that damaged a hospital, its chief executive told AFP.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli airstrikes on around a dozen locations in the south on Saturday including one targeting an agricultural area, "wounding several Syrian workers".

The NNA said an overnight strike in the southern city of Tyre that targeted a site near the hospital caused "severe damage" to the facility.

An AFP correspondent saw shattered glass, ceiling panels blown out and damaged medical equipment at the multi-storey Hiram hospital.

The Israeli military late on Friday night had issued evacuation warnings ahead of strikes on two locations in Tyre, saying it would target "Hezbollah facilities".

Accompanying maps advised people to leave areas within 500 metres (yards) of the target buildings, with the Hiram hospital shown within the advised evacuation area.

The hospital's CEO Dr Salman Aydibi told AFP that around 40 patients were in the facility when the warning was issued, including seven in intensive care.

"We took the patients to a safer location" elsewhere inside the hospital, he said, adding that none were harmed but some 30 staff sustained minor injuries.

He said an evaluation of the damage was ongoing and that the hospital has remained operational, though the emergency department briefly closed.

He said it was the third strike near the facility since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war erupted on March 2.

Israel's army said Saturday that it had targeted "Hezbollah infrastructure sites in Tyre" overnight where operatives from the Iran-backed group worked to "plan and execute attacks" against Israeli soldiers.

"Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the issuing of advance warnings, the use of precise munitions, and aerial surveillance," it added.

Another AFP correspondent saw heavy damage at both targeted sites in Tyre, with a man searching for his belongings among the debris at one location.

Israel's army also targeted east Lebanon overnight, saying it struck a "Hezbollah underground compound" used to manufacture weapons.

Lebanon's Hamas-aligned Islamist group Jamaa Islamiya and its armed wing the Al-Fajr Forces said Saturday in a statement that one of its members was killed in an Israeli strike in east Lebanon.

Under the terms of the ceasefire published by Washington, Israel reserves the right to act against "planned, imminent or ongoing attacks".

Arab World

Israeli Strike Kills Five Gaza Police Officers

Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike at al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike at al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Israeli Strike Kills Five Gaza Police Officers

Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike at al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike at al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

An Israeli strike killed five police officers in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, said a hospital and the Palestinian territory's police force, which operates under Hamas authority

"Five martyrs, all police officers, and a number of wounded -- one of whom is in critical condition -- arrived following an Israeli airstrike that targeted a police site in the al-Tuam area," said al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Also, in a statement, the Gaza police directorate, charged with maintaining ‌security in ‌areas of Gaza ​that ‌fell ⁠under ​Hamas control following ⁠a US-brokered ceasefire in October, said two missiles had hit a police post in the Tawam area, Reuters reported.
Hamas' nearly 10,000 police ‌officers have ‌emerged as a sticking point ​in talks ‌to advance US President Donald ‌Trump's plan for Gaza. Hamas wants them included in a new police force envisaged under the plan. Israel objects ‌to the involvement of any officers with Hamas affiliations.
Those talks ⁠have ⁠also been deadlocked over Hamas’ refusal to lay down its weapons, as well as near-daily Israeli attacks in the enclave, which health officials say have killed more than 880 Palestinians since the truce. At least four Israeli soldiers have been killed in militant ​attacks over ​the same period.