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Lebanon says 3 killed in Israeli strike near Sidon city

A man stands amid the destruction following an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Haret Saida neighbourhood in Lebanon's southern city of Sidon on November 3, 2024. (AFP)
A man stands amid the destruction following an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Haret Saida neighbourhood in Lebanon's southern city of Sidon on November 3, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 03 November 2024

Lebanon says 3 killed in Israeli strike near Sidon city

A man stands amid the destruction following an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Haret Saida neighbourhood in Lebanon.
  • Also on Sunday, an Israeli strike hit the town of Ghaziyeh, south of Sidon, the official National News Agency (NNA) said

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry said three people were killed and nine others wounded in an Israeli strike Sunday on Haret Saida, a densely populated area near the southern city of Sidon.
“The Israeli enemy’s raid on Haret Saida resulted in an initial death toll of three people killed and nine others injured,” the ministry said. The strike was not preceded by an Israeli evacuation warning.
Also on Sunday, an Israeli strike hit the town of Ghaziyeh, south of Sidon, the official National News Agency (NNA) said.
That strike hit a residential building, according to an AFP correspondent, who said a child was rescued from beneath the rubble.
The health ministry did not provide a death toll.
Several Israeli strikes also hit near a governmental hospital in Tebnin, a town in the south Lebanon district of Bint Jbeil.
Strikes have previously been reported in the Bint Jbeil area since war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah began more than a month ago.
The latest strikes caused significant damage to the hospital facility, according to Tebnin mayor Nabil Fawaz.
Fawaz told AFP that the hospital may be put of service as a result of the damage but an official decision has yet to be taken.
Sunday’s raids on south Lebanon came without an evacuation warning.
The Israeli army on Sunday had called for the evacuation of the eastern Baalbek region ahead of expected strikes there.
Israel escalated its air raids on Hezbollah strongholds in south Lebanon, Beirut and the eastern Bekaa Valley from September 23, after a year of cross-border fire. A week later it sent in ground troops to southern Lebanon.
The war has killed more than 1,930 people in Lebanon since September 23, according to an AFP tally of health ministry figures, though the real toll may be higher due to gaps in the data.


Syrian and Turkish authorities arrest dangerous drug kingpin

Syrian and Turkish authorities arrest dangerous drug kingpin
Updated 03 August 2025

Syrian and Turkish authorities arrest dangerous drug kingpin

Syrian and Turkish authorities arrest dangerous drug kingpin
  • A joint operation between Syria’s Anti-Narcotics Directorate and their Turkish counterparts led to his arrest inside Turkish territory
  • Amer Jdei Al-Sheikh is wanted by several countries for serious organized crimes related to drug manufacturing and smuggling

LONDON: Syrian anti-narcotics authorities announced on Sunday the arrest of Amer Jdei Al-Sheikh, a highly dangerous kingpin involved in drug networks in Syria and the Middle East region.

Al-Sheikh is wanted by several countries, including Turkiye, for serious organized crimes related to drug manufacturing and smuggling, according to Syrian authorities.

On Sunday, a joint operation between Syria’s Anti-Narcotics Directorate and their Turkish counterparts led to his arrest inside Turkish territory.

The head of Syria’s Anti-Narcotics Directorate, Brig. Gen. Khaled Eid, told SANA: “The arrested individual was traveling using forged IDs and passports in an attempt to evade security pursuit. He was tracked until he eventually entered Turkish territories, where he was arrested by Turkish authorities in coordination with Syrian counterparts and was handed over to (us).”

He said that Al-Sheikh was among the most “dangerous individuals” involved in drug smuggling networks in Syria and beyond, maintaining close ties with international smuggling rings and influential figures in the underground narcotics world.

Eid said that the suspect maintained close ties with Maher Assad, the brother of the ousted Syrian president, who is accused of spearheading the highly organized expansion of captagon facilities during the era of the former regime.


At least 27 migrants dead in shipwreck off Yemen: security sources

At least 27 migrants dead in shipwreck off Yemen: security sources
Updated 03 August 2025

At least 27 migrants dead in shipwreck off Yemen: security sources

At least 27 migrants dead in shipwreck off Yemen: security sources
  • “Many bodies have been found across various beaches, suggesting that a number of victims are still missing at sea,” Abyan province’s security directorate said

DUBAI: A shipwreck off Yemen killed at least 27 migrants, with more than 100 still missing, two security sources in the southern province of Abyan told AFP on Sunday.
“At this stage, the deaths of 27 people are confirmed, their bodies have been recovered,” one security source said, adding that “searches are ongoing.”
A second source said “150 people were on board the vessel that sank,” also reporting 27 dead.
A police source told AFP that “the boat was heading for the coast of (Abyan) province,” adding that “smuggler boats regularly arrive in our region.”
Abyan province’s security directorate said in a statement that security forces “are currently conducting a large operation to recover the bodies of a significant number of Ethiopian migrants (Oromos) who drowned off the coast of Abyan while attempting to illegally enter Yemeni territory.”
“Many bodies have been found across various beaches, suggesting that a number of victims are still missing at sea,” it added.
Despite the war that has ravaged Yemen since 2014, irregular migration via the impoverished country has continued, in particular from Ethiopia, which itself has been roiled by ethnic conflict.
Migrants cross the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, which separates Djibouti from Yemen and is a major route for international trade headed to and from the Suez Canal, as well as for migration and human trafficking.
According to the UN’s International Organization for Migration, tens of thousands of migrants have become stranded in Yemen and suffer abuse and exploitation during their journeys.


Palestinian administrative prisoner dies in Israeli jail in ‘unknown’ circumstances

Palestinian administrative prisoner dies in Israeli jail in ‘unknown’ circumstances
Updated 03 August 2025

Palestinian administrative prisoner dies in Israeli jail in ‘unknown’ circumstances

Palestinian administrative prisoner dies in Israeli jail in ‘unknown’ circumstances
  • Ahmad Said Saleh Tazazaa, from the town of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank, was detained on May 6
  • The last 2 years have been among the deadliest for Palestinian prisoners, according to prisoners’ rights groups

LONDON: A 20-year-old Palestinian prisoner died on Sunday in an Israeli jail after nearly three months since his arrest, reported the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society.

Ahmad Said Saleh Tazazaa, from the town of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank, was detained on May 6. He had been sentenced to administrative detention, a practice that allows Israeli authorities to hold individuals in prison without trial for several months, with the possibility of indefinite extensions.

The groups said that the circumstances surrounding Tazazaa’s death in the Megiddo prison “remain unknown.” His death brings the total number of identified Palestinian prisoners and detainees who have died in Israeli detention since October 2023 to 76 individuals, including 46 from the occupied Gaza Strip.

The last two years have been among the deadliest for Palestinian prisoners, according to the commission and the PPS. Since Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories began in 1967, 313 political prisoners have died while in detention.

Israeli authorities have arrested 18,500 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.


Israeli army reveals rise in soldiers’ suicides linked to Gaza war

Israeli army reveals rise in soldiers’ suicides linked to Gaza war
Updated 03 August 2025

Israeli army reveals rise in soldiers’ suicides linked to Gaza war

Israeli army reveals rise in soldiers’ suicides linked to Gaza war
  • Army investigation examined letters left by soldiers and gathered details from their conversations with their immediate social circle
  • Israeli army fears phenomenon will spread as 7 reservists took their own lives in July

LONDON: An Israeli army investigation has revealed that 16 soldiers committed suicide in 2025 due to harsh combat conditions related to the war in the Gaza Strip.

Soldiers faced harsh realities in Gaza, including witnessing “difficult scenes,” experiencing the loss of friends, and struggling to cope with the prolonged combat. Investigators believe these factors played a significant role in leading the soldiers to take their own lives.

The investigation examined letters left by soldiers and gathered details from their conversations with their immediate social circle. A senior military official told the Israeli Broadcasting Authority that the Israeli army fears the phenomenon will spread, as seven reservists took their own lives in July.

The official added: “Most cases of suicide among soldiers resulted from the complexities (of life) following the war. War has consequences. These (present) difficult challenges; there are quite a few cases.”

The Israeli army is concerned about the increasing number of soldier suicides this year compared to previous years. In 2024, 21 Israeli soldiers committed suicide, including 12 reservists, whereas in 2023, the year that saw the launch of the Gaza war in its fourth quarter, 17 Israeli soldiers took their own lives.

As of July, at least 887 Israeli soldiers have been killed during military operations or in combat with Palestinian armed fighters in the Gaza Strip.


Israel arrests over 18K Palestinians in West Bank, Gaza since Oct. 2023

Israel arrests over 18K Palestinians in West Bank, Gaza since Oct. 2023
Updated 03 August 2025

Israel arrests over 18K Palestinians in West Bank, Gaza since Oct. 2023

Israel arrests over 18K Palestinians in West Bank, Gaza since Oct. 2023
  • At least 75 prisoners have died in Israeli prisons since Oct. 7, 2023, including 46 from the Gaza Strip
  • Rights groups accused Israeli authorities of perpetrating a ‘policy of enforced disappearance’ against Gaza’s prisoners

LONDON: Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, Israeli authorities have arrested 18,500 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, according to the latest prisoners’ report released on Sunday.

The Prisoners and Liberators Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said that the figure includes 570 women and 1,500 children, in addition to 194 journalists, 49 of whom are still in detention.

The rights groups reported that at least 75 prisoners have died in Israeli prisons since Oct. 7, 2023, including 46 from the Gaza Strip. Israeli authorities continue to hold the bodies of 72 prisoners among the 83 who died in total before and after October 2023.

The report includes Palestinians taken from their homes during Israeli military raids or at military checkpoints. However, it does not include the complete and exact number of prisoners captured in Gaza during the Israeli military campaign in the coastal enclave.

The groups accused Israeli authorities of perpetrating a “policy of enforced disappearance” against Gaza’s prisoners by not releasing their numbers and names. It warned of ongoing violations against Palestinians amid the Israeli regime’s continuing war in Gaza, where it is accused of committing genocide, and the wider Palestinian territories.