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Damascus Condemns Deadly Majdal Shams Strike, Holds Israel Responsible

A man stands near a damaged gate around a football pitch after a reported strike from Lebanon fell in Majdal Shams village in the Israeli-occupied Golan area on July 28, 2024. (AFP)
A man stands near a damaged gate around a football pitch after a reported strike from Lebanon fell in Majdal Shams village in the Israeli-occupied Golan area on July 28, 2024. (AFP)
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Damascus Condemns Deadly Majdal Shams Strike, Holds Israel Responsible

A man stands near a damaged gate around a football pitch after a reported strike from Lebanon fell in Majdal Shams village in the Israeli-occupied Golan area on July 28, 2024. (AFP)
A man stands near a damaged gate around a football pitch after a reported strike from Lebanon fell in Majdal Shams village in the Israeli-occupied Golan area on July 28, 2024. (AFP)

Damascus accused on Sunday Israel of “creating excuses to expand its aggression” in the region, holding it “fully” responsible for the recent escalation after the attack on the Majdal Shams area in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

A rocket strike that killed 12 teenagers and children in the Golan Heights on Saturday has added to concerns that Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah could engage in a full-scale war.

Israel's security cabinet on Sunday authorized the government to respond to the strike. Hezbollah vehemently denied any responsibility for the attack, the deadliest in Israel or Israeli-annexed territory since Hamas' Oct. 7 assault sparked the war in Gaza, which has since spread to several fronts.

In a statement on Sunday, the Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the attack in the predominantly-Druze region.

“Our people in the occupied Syrian Golan, who for decades have rejected Israeli proposals to abandon their Syrian Arab identity, will not be fooled by the lies of the occupation and false accusations against the Lebanese national resistance that it was behind the Majdal Shams attack,” said the statement.

“That is because our people in the Syrian Golan have and still remain an authentic part of the resistance against the occupation, its policies and aggression,” it went on to say.

It stressed that Israel’s accusations that Hezbollah was behind the strike were part of attempts to escalate the situation in the region. It instead accused Israel of being behind the attack.

Earlier, the spiritual leadership of the Druze in Syria condemned the attack, calling on the international community to uncover the criminals behind it.

The perpetrators are “clear to everyone” it said in a statement without elaborating.

The statement was signed by Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri, one of the leading Druze figures in Syria’s Sweida that has been a hub for anti-government protests.

Protestors took to the streets in Sweida to voice their solidarity with the people of Majdal Shams.

Israel occupied the Golan in 1967. Majdal Shams is home to around 12,000 people, according to 2022 figures.

Israel has offered the residents of the area the Israeli citizenship, but the majority have refused it. As of 2018, only 20 percent of the population have obtained the citizenship.

Israel does not recognize the Syrian identity of the remainder of the population. The Damascus government considers them Syrian, while the people have maintained their ties with Syria and its people.

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Arab World

Tunisia Flood Death Toll Rises to Five

 A man removes water from his flooded home in La Goulette, near the Tunisian capital Tunis. AFP 
 A man removes water from his flooded home in La Goulette, near the Tunisian capital Tunis. AFP 
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Tunisia Flood Death Toll Rises to Five

 A man removes water from his flooded home in La Goulette, near the Tunisian capital Tunis. AFP 
 A man removes water from his flooded home in La Goulette, near the Tunisian capital Tunis. AFP 

Authorities in Tunisia said flooding caused by three days of exceptional rainfall has killed five people, causing property damage in several provinces and leaving schools and businesses shut and transportation disrupted after parts of the country experienced their heaviest rainfall in years.

The death toll rose to five, Khalil Mechri, a civil defense spokesman told AFP. “Two people swept away by floodwaters, while a woman drowned in her home,” he said.

Mechri said since the flooding started, the emergency services pumped water from 466 inundated homes and have rescued 350 people trapped by floodwaters.

Tunisian media said four fishermen were missing on Wednesday. A fifth was rescued in Teboulba, south of Monastir, while authorities are searching for the remaining crew.

Mechri said while the bad weather was now less intense, “the level of alert remains high.”

President Kais Saied visited several affected areas on Tuesday, including Moknine and Teboulba, local media said.

Footage and videos widely circulated on social media showed significant flooding to homes and roads, with cars stranded in water, particularly in the capital, Tunis.

Authorities suspended classes on Wednesday in public and private schools and universities in 15 of the country's 24 governorates because of the weather. Transportation was also disrupted in several areas.

Abderazak Rahal, head of forecasting at the National Institute of Meteorology (INM), told AFP some Tunisian regions had not seen so much rain since 1950.

“We have recorded exceptional amounts of rainfall for the month of January,” Rahal said, with the regions of Monastir, Nabeul and greater Tunis the hardest hit.

The latest rainfall has proved record-breaking, but Tunisian streets often flood after heavy downpours, largely because of the state of the country's infrastructure.

Drainage and stormwater networks are often old and poorly maintained, particularly in rapidly expanding urban areas, with waste sometimes clogging the system.

Rapid urbanization of some areas has also led to less rainwater being absorbed into the ground, increasing runoff.

The dramatic deluge comes as Tunisia grapples with a seven-year drought, worsened by climate change and marked by a sharp decline in water reserves in dams nationwide.

In neighboring Algeria, several regions have also been hit by massive downpours and floods.

Algerian civil defense authorities said they had recovered the body of a man in his sixties who died in flooding in the northwestern province of Relizane.

Arab World

Lebanon: Israel Launches New Phase of Escalation in the South

Lebanese residents flee after an Israeli air strike on the town of Qennarit in the South on Wednesday (AP). 
Lebanese residents flee after an Israeli air strike on the town of Qennarit in the South on Wednesday (AP). 
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Lebanon: Israel Launches New Phase of Escalation in the South

Lebanese residents flee after an Israeli air strike on the town of Qennarit in the South on Wednesday (AP). 
Lebanese residents flee after an Israeli air strike on the town of Qennarit in the South on Wednesday (AP). 

Israel has intensified its military campaign in areas north of the Litani River in South Lebanon over the past two weeks, carrying out air strikes at least twice a week—well above the tempo seen before the start of the year.

The intensified moves have been accompanied by near-daily surveillance and pursuit operations, signaling a sharper escalation as the Lebanese army prepares to launch the second phase of its plan to place weapons under state control north of the Litani.

After heavy strikes on Monday targeting areas north of the river, the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings on Wednesday afternoon for residents of five towns in southern Lebanon. The alerts came hours after Israeli strikes that killed two people, whom Israel said were Hezbollah members.

Local sources monitoring the developments told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israeli air raids now occur every two to three days — at least twice weekly — double the frequency recorded last year.

Previously, strikes were largely confined to areas south of the Litani and its banks at a rate of about once a week, often on Thursdays. The current campaign includes strikes on valleys and village outskirts, alongside repeated evacuation warnings in several towns north of the river. The warnings increasingly target large buildings and entire neighborhoods, with heavy munitions causing widespread damage to property and surrounding areas.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Israeli army issued evacuation orders in two phases for five villages north of the Litani, triggering the displacement of hundreds of residents. Israeli army Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the military would strike Hezbollah infrastructure to counter what he described as attempts to rebuild its activities in the region.

He identified targets in Jarjoua and Kfar Kila in Nabatieh district and Qennarit in Sidon district, about 40 kilometers from the border, and urged residents to evacuate immediately. After strikes destroyed the targeted buildings and damaged nearby structures, further evacuation orders were issued for Ansar and Zrariyeh, around 30 kilometers from the Israeli border.

The Lebanese army is expected next month to submit a plan to the government outlining mechanisms for disarming Hezbollah north of the Litani, following its announcement that it had dismantled the group’s weapons in border areas south of the river.

Earlier in January, the army said it had completed the first phase of the plan, aimed at placing weapons exclusively under state control, and asserted that it had established operational control over areas south of the Litani — roughly 30 kilometers from the Israeli border — except for territories still under Israeli occupation.

Israel has questioned the adequacy of these measures, describing them as insufficient. Under the ceasefire agreement, Israel was expected to withdraw from South Lebanon but has maintained its presence at five strategic positions, which Lebanon continues to demand it vacate.

Arab World

Lebanese Army Affirms Commitment to Protect Borders with Syria

Lebanese Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal holds a meeting of the High Supervision Committee on the Border Protection Assistance Program in the presence of British, US and Canadian Ambassadors to Lebanon (Lebanese Army Directorate of Orientation) 
Lebanese Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal holds a meeting of the High Supervision Committee on the Border Protection Assistance Program in the presence of British, US and Canadian Ambassadors to Lebanon (Lebanese Army Directorate of Orientation) 
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Lebanese Army Affirms Commitment to Protect Borders with Syria

Lebanese Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal holds a meeting of the High Supervision Committee on the Border Protection Assistance Program in the presence of British, US and Canadian Ambassadors to Lebanon (Lebanese Army Directorate of Orientation) 
Lebanese Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal holds a meeting of the High Supervision Committee on the Border Protection Assistance Program in the presence of British, US and Canadian Ambassadors to Lebanon (Lebanese Army Directorate of Orientation) 

The Lebanese Army on Wednesday reaffirmed its commitment to protect the border with Syria, stressing that achieving this goal successfully “requires qualitative military support.”

The announcement came in parallel with preparations to hold a fundraising conference in support of the country’s army, scheduled to be held in Paris on March 5.

The Lebanese Army is deployed along its northern and eastern border with Syria, where its forces work on implementing security measures and combat smuggling.

Other tasks include deployment on the southern border with Israel, implementing the Lebanese government’s plan to dismantle all armed militias, as well as protecting internal stability and combating drug smuggling.

In this regard, a meeting of the Higher Supervisory Committee on the Assistance Program for Land Borders Protection was held in Yarzeh, in the presence of Lebanese Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal, British Ambassador to Lebanon Hamish Cowell, US Ambassador, Michel Issa, Canadian Ambassador Gregory Galligan, and members of the joint working team.

In a statement, the Lebanese Army Command said the meeting highlighted the implemented phases of the program and the necessary steps to support the LAF units tasked with protecting Lebanon’s eastern and northern borders and combat smuggling and illegal activities.

The British embassy said in a statement that the ambassadors underlined the LAF’s pivotal role in maintaining security and stability during a period of significant challenge.

They stressed the need to support the military institutions to further strengthen Lebanon’s security, stability, and territorial integrity.

“The Committee convened to review progress and challenges in securing Lebanon’s eastern and northern borders, and reaffirmed support for the LAF’s (Lebanese Army’s) efforts to reinforce state authority at this critical time,” the British embassy said.

For his part, General Haykal said, “We are committed to protect the borders and we have made many efforts and sacrifices to this end.”

However, he added, “achieving this goal successfully requires qualitative military support, given the size of challenges on the northern and eastern borders.”

Haykal hailed the US, British, and Canadian authorities for their continuous support to the army, which plays a fundamental role in enhancing the capabilities of military units and enabling them to carry out their missions amid the current challenges.