Israeli Strike Wounds Hezbollah Official in South Lebanon

Smoke billows during Israeli bombardment on the village of Kfarkila in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel on February 8, 2024. (Photo by RABIH DAHER / AFP)
Smoke billows during Israeli bombardment on the village of Kfarkila in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel on February 8, 2024. (Photo by RABIH DAHER / AFP)
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Israeli Strike Wounds Hezbollah Official in South Lebanon

Smoke billows during Israeli bombardment on the village of Kfarkila in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel on February 8, 2024. (Photo by RABIH DAHER / AFP)
Smoke billows during Israeli bombardment on the village of Kfarkila in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel on February 8, 2024. (Photo by RABIH DAHER / AFP)

An Israeli airstrike on a car in south Lebanon seriously wounded a Hezbollah official on Thursday, a Lebanese security source said.

The official was "seriously wounded and a companion was also injured" in the strike in the city of Nabatiyeh, some way from the border region that has seen almost daily exchanges of fire since the Israel-Hamas war broke out last October, the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that the vehicle had caught fire after it was hit by missile fired by an Israeli drone as it entered Nabatiyeh at around 4:15 pm (1415 GMT).

Earlier, Hezbollah said it had targeted a brigade headquarters in the Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona in the latest exchanges between the two sides.

The Israeli military also said a missile attack from Lebanon wounded three soldiers, one of them severely.

The military said it struck infrastructure and a military compound linked to Hezbollah in retaliation for Thursday’s attack, which involved an anti-tank missile.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire on a daily basis since the start of the war in Gaza.
In Israel, 18 people have been killed and more than 170 wounded in attacks from Lebanon. More than 200 people, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also more than 20 civilians, have been killed on the Lebanese side. Tens of thousands have been displaced on both sides. There are no immediate prospects for their return.



Syrian Christians Celebrate Christmas in Damascus Amid Tight Security

An aerial picture shows a view of a crowd around a Christmas tree in Damascus on December 25, 2024. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)
An aerial picture shows a view of a crowd around a Christmas tree in Damascus on December 25, 2024. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)
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Syrian Christians Celebrate Christmas in Damascus Amid Tight Security

An aerial picture shows a view of a crowd around a Christmas tree in Damascus on December 25, 2024. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)
An aerial picture shows a view of a crowd around a Christmas tree in Damascus on December 25, 2024. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)

Syrian Christians gathered at churches in the country's capital Damascus on Wednesday amid tight security measures to celebrate their first Christmas after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

"Today there is a large deployment of security to protect the churches, fearing sabotage, but things are normal," Nicola Yazgi told dpa, while attending a mass in eastern Damascus.

Security forces affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is now leading Syria's interim government, were deployed outside churches and in the streets in Christian-majority neighborhoods in the capital, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

According to the UK-based war monitor, churches across Syria - including in the southern city of al-Sweida, and in the northern cities of Aleppo and Idlib - opened their doors for Christmas celebrations.

Yazgi said he was celebrating two things this year: "Christmas and the victory of the revolution and the fall of the tyrant. We hope that today will be the day of salvation from the era of al-Assad family injustices."

Suad al-Zein, an engineer, also joined the mass in Damascus. She expressed her joy despite the lack of decorations in the streets: "For us, joy is in our hearts."

Civil war broke out in Syria in 2011 following pro-democracy protests against al-Assad's regime.

In late November, HTS and other opposition groups launched a rapid offensive, making major territorial gains before capturing Damascus earlier this month. Al-Assad fled to Russia with his family.

Since then, HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has tried to reassure minorities in Syria, promising moderation and respect for all religious sects.

A group of people burnt a Christmas tree in Hama province on Monday evening, prompting hundreds of protesters to take to the streets in several cities.