عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Syria’s Assad to Head to China This Week

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, center, waves to his supporters at a polling station during the Presidential elections in the town of Douma, in the eastern Ghouta region, near the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria, May 26, 2021. (AP)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, center, waves to his supporters at a polling station during the Presidential elections in the town of Douma, in the eastern Ghouta region, near the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria, May 26, 2021. (AP)
TT
TT

Syria’s Assad to Head to China This Week

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, center, waves to his supporters at a polling station during the Presidential elections in the town of Douma, in the eastern Ghouta region, near the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria, May 26, 2021. (AP)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, center, waves to his supporters at a polling station during the Presidential elections in the town of Douma, in the eastern Ghouta region, near the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria, May 26, 2021. (AP)

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad will head to China later this week in his first visit to Beijing since the start of his country's 12-year conflict during which China has been one of his main backers, his office said Tuesday.

China has been continued to support Assad in the Syrian conflict, which has killed half a million people and left large parts of the nation in ruins.

China could play a major role in the future in Syria’s reconstruction, which is expected to cost tens of billions of dollars. Syria last year joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative in which Beijing expands its influence in developing regions through infrastructure projects.

Assad’s office said the Syrian leader was invited by Chinese President Xi JInping for a summit and will head Thursday to Beijing along with a high-ranking Syrian delegation.

Syria’s worsening economic crisis has led to protests in government-held parts of the country, mainly in the southern province of Sweida. Syria blames the crisis on Western sanctions and US-backed Kurdish-led fighters who control the country’s largest oil fields in the east near the border with Iraq.

Diplomatic contacts between Syria and other Arab countries have intensified following the Feb. 6, earthquake that hit Türkiye and Syria killing more than 50,000 people, including over 6,000 in Syria. Assad flew to Saudi Arabia in May where he attended the Arab League summit days after Syria’s membership was reinstated in the 22-member league.

Since Syria’s conflict began in March 2011 with pro-democracy protests and later turned into a deadly civil war, Iran and Russia have helped Assad regain control of much of the country.

China has used its veto power at the UN eight times to stop resolutions against Assad’s government, the latest of which came in July 2020.

Assad's last and only visit to China was in 2004, a year after the US-led invasion of neighboring Iraq and at a time when Washington was putting pressure on Syria.

Assad’s office said that his wife, Asma, will accompany him to China this week. Over the past years, Assad has made several trips abroad including visits to Russia, Iran, United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Israel Announces Arrest of Prominent Jamaa Islamiya Member in Southern Lebanon

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in the southern Lebanese village of Ain Qana on February 2, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in the southern Lebanese village of Ain Qana on February 2, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

Israel Announces Arrest of Prominent Jamaa Islamiya Member in Southern Lebanon

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in the southern Lebanese village of Ain Qana on February 2, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in the southern Lebanese village of Ain Qana on February 2, 2026. (AFP)

The Israeli army announced on Monday the arrest of a member of the Jamaa al-Islamiya group in Lebanon.

The military said a unit carried out a night operation in Jabal al-Rouss in southern Lebanon, arresting a “prominent” member of the group and taking him to Israel for investigation.

Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adree revealed that the operation took place based on intelligence gathered in recent weeks.

The military raided a building in the area where it discovered combat equipment, he added, while accusing the group of “encouraging terrorist attacks in Israel”.

He vowed that the Israeli army will “continue to work on removing any threat” against it.

Also on Monday, an Israeli drone struck a car in the southern Lebanese village of Yanouh, killing three people, including a child, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency. 

Adree confirmed the strike, saying the army had targeted a Hezbollah member.

The Jamaa al-Islamiya slammed the Israeli operation, acknowledging on Monday the kidnapping of its official in the Hasbaya and Marjeyoun regions Atweh Atweh.

In a statement, the group said Israel abducted Atweh in an overnight operation where it “terrorized and beat up his family members.”

It held the Israeli army responsible for any harm that may happen to him, stressing that this was yet another daily violation committed by Israel against Lebanon.

“Was this act of piracy a response to Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s tour of the South?” it asked, saying the operation was “aimed at terrorizing the people and encouraging them to leave their villages and land.”

The group called on the Lebanese state to pressure the sponsors of the ceasefire to work on releasing Atweh and all other Lebanese detainees held by Israel. It also called on it to protect the residents of the South.

Salam had toured the South over the weekend, pledging that the state will reimpose its authority in the South and kick off reconstruction efforts within weeks.

After the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, the Jamaa al-Islamiya's Fajr Forces joined forces with Hezbollah, launching rockets across the border into Israel that it said were in support of Hamas in Gaza.

Hezbollah started attacking Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel, triggering the latest Israel-Hamas war. Israel later launched a widespread bombardment of Lebanon that severely weakened Hezbollah, followed by a ground invasion.

The conflict ended with a US-brokered ceasefire in 2024, and since then, Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes and ground incursions into Lebanon. Israel says it is carrying out the operations to remove Hezbollah strongholds and threats against Israel.

The Israel-Hezbollah war killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of civilians, and caused an estimated $11 billion in damage and destruction, according to the World Bank. In Israel, 127 people died, including 80 soldiers. 

Arab World

Israel Says Killed Four Militants Exiting Tunnel in Gaza’s Rafah

Boys walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in the northern Gaza Strip on February 8, 2026. (AFP)
Boys walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in the northern Gaza Strip on February 8, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

Israel Says Killed Four Militants Exiting Tunnel in Gaza’s Rafah

Boys walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in the northern Gaza Strip on February 8, 2026. (AFP)
Boys walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in the northern Gaza Strip on February 8, 2026. (AFP)

Israel's military said it killed four suspected militants who attacked its troops as the armed men emerged from a tunnel in southern Gaza on Monday, calling the group's actions a "blatant violation" of the ceasefire.

Despite a US-brokered truce entering its second phase last month, violence has continued in the Gaza Strip, with Israel and Hamas accusing each other of breaching the agreement.

"A short while ago, four armed terrorists exited an underground tunnel shaft and fired towards soldiers in the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip.... Following identification, the troops eliminated the terrorists," the military said in a statement.

It said none of its troops had been injured in the attack, which it called a "blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement" between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli troops "are continuing to operate in the area to locate and eliminate all the terrorists within the underground tunnel route", the military added.

Gaza health officials have said Israeli air strikes last Wednesday killed 24 people, with Israel's military saying the attacks were in response to one of its officers being wounded by enemy gunfire.

That wave of strikes came after Israel partly reopened the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on February 2, the only gateway to the Palestinian territory that does not pass through Israel.

Israeli forces seized control of the crossing in May 2024 during the war with Hamas, and it had remained largely closed since.

Around 180 Palestinians have left the Gaza Strip since Rafah's limited reopening, according to officials in the territory.

Israel has so far restricted passage to patients and their accompanying relatives.

The second phase of the Gaza ceasefire foresees a demilitarization of the territory -- including the disarmament of Hamas -- along with a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Hamas has repeatedly said that disarmament is a red line, although it has indicated it could consider handing over its weapons to a future Palestinian governing authority.

Israeli officials say Hamas still has around 20,000 fighters and about 60,000 Kalashnikovs in Gaza.

A Palestinian technocratic committee has been set up with a goal of taking over day-to-day governance in the strip, but it remains unclear whether, or how, it will address the issue of demilitarization.

Arab World

Building Collapse in Lebanon's Tripoli Kills 13, Search for Missing Continues

Rescue workers and residents search for survivors in the rubble of a building that collapsed in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo)
Rescue workers and residents search for survivors in the rubble of a building that collapsed in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo)
TT
TT

Building Collapse in Lebanon's Tripoli Kills 13, Search for Missing Continues

Rescue workers and residents search for survivors in the rubble of a building that collapsed in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo)
Rescue workers and residents search for survivors in the rubble of a building that collapsed in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo)

The death toll from the collapse of a residential building in the Lebanese city of Tripoli rose to 13, as rescue teams continued to search for missing people beneath the rubble, Lebanon's National News ‌Agency reported ‌on Monday. 

Rescue ‌workers ⁠in the ‌northern city's Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood have also assisted nine survivors, while the search continued for others still believed to be trapped under the ⁠debris, NNA said. 

Officials said on ‌Sunday that two ‍adjoining ‍buildings had collapsed. 

Abdel Hamid Karameh, ‍head of Tripoli's municipal council, said he could not confirm how many people remained missing. Earlier, the head of Lebanon's civil defense rescue ⁠service said the two buildings were home to 22 residents, reported Reuters. 

A number of aging residential buildings have collapsed in Tripoli, Lebanon's second-largest city, in recent weeks, highlighting deteriorating infrastructure and years of neglect, state media reported, ‌citing municipal officials.