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Israel Has Deported Two Gaza Flotilla Activists

This combination of file pictures created on May 9, 2026 shows Spanish activist Saif Abu Keshek (L) and Brazil's activist Thiago Avila arriving in court, in the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon on May 5, 2026. (Photo by ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
This combination of file pictures created on May 9, 2026 shows Spanish activist Saif Abu Keshek (L) and Brazil's activist Thiago Avila arriving in court, in the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon on May 5, 2026. (Photo by ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
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Israel Has Deported Two Gaza Flotilla Activists

This combination of file pictures created on May 9, 2026 shows Spanish activist Saif Abu Keshek (L) and Brazil's activist Thiago Avila arriving in court, in the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon on May 5, 2026. (Photo by ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
This combination of file pictures created on May 9, 2026 shows Spanish activist Saif Abu Keshek (L) and Brazil's activist Thiago Avila arriving in court, in the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon on May 5, 2026. (Photo by ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)

Israel has deported two foreign activists taken off a Gaza-bound flotilla, the foreign ministry said on Sunday.

Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national of Palestinian origin, and Brazilian Thiago Avila were among dozens of activists aboard a flotilla intercepted by the Israeli navy in international waters off the coast of Greece on April 30.

The pair were seized by Israeli forces and brought to Israel for questioning, while the others were taken to the Greek island of Crete and released.

"Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila, from the provocation flotilla, were deported today from Israel," following an investigation the Israeli foreign ministry posted on X on Sunday.

Israel would "not allow any breach" of the blockade on Gaza, it added.

Spain, Brazil and the United Nations had all called for the men's swift release.

On Wednesday an Israeli court rejected an appeal contesting the pair's detention, with the rights group representing them calling the ruling as "unlawful."

The flotilla had set sail from France, Spain and Italy with the aim of breaking Israel's blockade of Gaza and delivering humanitarian aid to the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

The Global Sumud Flotilla's first voyage last year was also intercepted by Israeli forces off the coasts of Egypt and Gaza.

Israel controls all entry points into Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007.

Throughout the Gaza war that started in October 2023, there have been shortages of critical supplies in the territory, with Israel at times cutting off aid entirely.

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Arab World

Syria Sets First Cabinet Reshuffle Since Assad Ouster, State Media Reports

This handout photo provided by Syria's SANA news agency's Telegram channel on May 9, 2026, shows Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meeting with the Lebanese Prime Minister (unseen) at the People's Palace in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)
This handout photo provided by Syria's SANA news agency's Telegram channel on May 9, 2026, shows Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meeting with the Lebanese Prime Minister (unseen) at the People's Palace in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)
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Syria Sets First Cabinet Reshuffle Since Assad Ouster, State Media Reports

This handout photo provided by Syria's SANA news agency's Telegram channel on May 9, 2026, shows Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meeting with the Lebanese Prime Minister (unseen) at the People's Palace in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)
This handout photo provided by Syria's SANA news agency's Telegram channel on May 9, 2026, shows Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meeting with the Lebanese Prime Minister (unseen) at the People's Palace in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)

Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced a series of government changes in late-night presidential decrees published by state news agency SANA.

Sharaa appointed Khaled Zaarour as information minister, replacing Hamza Mustafa, who was moved to the foreign ministry. As agriculture minister, he named Bassel Sweidan, ‌who also ‌heads a committee tasked with ‌reaching ⁠settlement agreements with business ⁠tycoons linked to the Assad-era elite.

Sharaa replaced governors in the provinces of Homs, al-Quneitra and Deir Ezzor, the eastern province where most of Syria’s oil ⁠fields are located.

The reshuffle ‌is the ‌first since the ouster of former President ‌Bashar al-Assad and comes around ‌a year and a half into the five-year transitional period set out in Syria’s constitutional declaration.

No official reason was ‌given for the changes, but protests and social media campaigns ⁠have ⁠emerged in recent months over worsening economic conditions and what critics describe as poor government performance.

Sharaa also appointed a new secretary-general for the presidency, a post previously held by one of his brothers, a move that had drawn criticism from opponents who accused the administration of favoring nepotism over merit.

Arab World

Israeli Drone Strikes Near Beirut Kill 4 and Southern Airstrikes Kill at Least 13

People ride a scooter past a destroyed car that was targeted by an Israeli strike, in Saadiyat, Lebanon, May 9, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
People ride a scooter past a destroyed car that was targeted by an Israeli strike, in Saadiyat, Lebanon, May 9, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Israeli Drone Strikes Near Beirut Kill 4 and Southern Airstrikes Kill at Least 13

People ride a scooter past a destroyed car that was targeted by an Israeli strike, in Saadiyat, Lebanon, May 9, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
People ride a scooter past a destroyed car that was targeted by an Israeli strike, in Saadiyat, Lebanon, May 9, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Three Israeli drone strikes on vehicles just south of Beirut on Saturday killed four people while a series of airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed at least 13, state media and the Health Ministry said.

The three drone strikes south of Beirut marked another escalation since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect on April 17. Both Israel and Hezbollah have continued their daily attacks despite the truce.

On Wednesday night, Israel’s air force carried out an airstrike on a southern suburb in which Israel said it killed a senior Hezbollah military official. It was the first strike near the capital since the ceasefire was reached.

Two of the strikes on Saturday took place on the highway linking Beirut with the southern port city of Sidon in which several people were wounded, while the third happened on a road leading to Lebanon’s Chouf region killing three, the state-run National News Agency said.

An Associated Press journalist at the scene saw a dead body on the highway in the town of Saadiyat.

The Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike on the southern village of Saksakiyeh killed at least seven, including a child, and wounded 15. The ministry said this was an initial count.

The agency reported strikes in southern Lebanon, including one on the village of Bourj Rahhal that killed three and another in Maifadoun that killed one.

The Health Ministry, meanwhile, said three Israeli drone strikes killed a Syrian man who was riding a motorcycle with his 12-year-old daughter in the city of Nabatiyeh.

The ministry said that after the initial strike, the man and his daughter managed to move away from the site only to be attacked again by the drone instantly killing the man. The girl then moved about 100 meters (yards) away and was hit again by the drone after she had been already wounded. The girl later died in a hospital, NNA said.

 

Residents search for survivors through the rubble of houses damaged by an Israeli airstrike in the village of Saksakieh, south Lebanon, Saturday, May 9, 2026. A car is seen damaged at the site. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

 

“The Ministry of Public Health denounces this barbaric targeting and the deliberate violence against civilians and children in Lebanon,” the ministry said in its statement added that the strike marks an ongoing series “of grave violations of International Humanitarian Law.”

The Israeli military said Hezbollah fired explosive drones into Israel near the border with Lebanon adding that three soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously, in one of the attacks. It added that Hezbollah fired drones inside Lebanon as well in which one hit an Israeli vehicle without inflicting casualties.

Hezbollah claimed several attacks inside Lebanon as well as firing a drone at an Israeli military post in the northern town of Misgav Am.

Arab World

Syria President Discusses Security with Visiting Lebanon PM

This handout photo provided by Syria's SANA news agency's Telegram channel on May 9, 2026, shows Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shakes hands with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at the People's Palace in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)
This handout photo provided by Syria's SANA news agency's Telegram channel on May 9, 2026, shows Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shakes hands with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at the People's Palace in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)
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Syria President Discusses Security with Visiting Lebanon PM

This handout photo provided by Syria's SANA news agency's Telegram channel on May 9, 2026, shows Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shakes hands with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at the People's Palace in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)
This handout photo provided by Syria's SANA news agency's Telegram channel on May 9, 2026, shows Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shakes hands with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at the People's Palace in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Damascus on Saturday on a visit tackling issues including security, transport and energy.

Beirut and Damascus have been rebuilding their ties after the December 2024 overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in Syria, whose family dynasty exercised control over Lebanese affairs for decades and is accused of assassinating numerous officials in Lebanon who expressed opposition to its rule.

A statement from the Syrian presidency said the officials discussed "developing economic and trade cooperation... and bolstering security coordination in order to support stability and confront challenges", as well as regional and international developments, AFP reported.

Syrian state news agency SANA said the visit aimed to "develop joint cooperation... particularly the economy, transportation and energy" sectors.

Salam was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri as well as Lebanese ministers for energy, economy and transport.

Salam hailed "significant progress" on joint issues at the end of the visit, telling reporters that "we discussed continuing efforts to address the issue of detained Syrians (in Lebanon) and to uncover the fate of the missing and forcibly detained in both countries".

In March, Lebanon transferred more than 130 Syrian convicts to their home country to serve the remainder of their sentences there, as part of an agreement signed a month earlier.

Lebanon has also been seeking information on political assassinations in the country under the Assad dynasty.

The discussions also addressed "the need for stricter Syria-Lebanon border controls and preventing all types of smuggling", Salam added.

Lebanon and Syria share a porous, 330-kilometre (205-mile) border notorious for the smuggling of people and goods.

Last month, the main border crossing was closed for several days due to an Israeli threat to target it, with Israel accusing Hezbollah of using the crossing for military purposes and smuggling, though it ultimately did not carry out the strike.

Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting since the Iran-backed group drew Lebanon into the Middle East war with rocket fire at Israel on March 2, though a ceasefire was announced last month.

Hezbollah, which fought alongside Syrian government forces during the country's civil war, lost a major ally and cross-border supply route with Assad's ouster.

Syria's new authorities are hostile to the Lebanese group and its sponsor, and have announced the arrest of alleged Hezbollah-affiliated cells in recent months, while the group has denied having any presence in Syria.

Salam said that "we will not allow Lebanon to be used as a platform to harm any of its Arab brothers, including Syria".