Israeli strikes continue in Gaza; neighbours close their borders with Syria

Palestinian officials say at least 29 people were killed, including four medical staff, when Israeli strikes pummeled the area around one of the last remaining hospitals in northern Gaza.

Elsewhere in the region, Lebanon said it is closing all its land border crossings with Syria except for a main one that links Beirut with the Syrian capital, Damascus. Jordan also closed a border crossing with Syria because of the security situation on the Syrian side. 

 

Syrian insurgents have entered the central towns of Rastan and Talbiseh, just north of the central city of Homs, bringing them closer to Syria's third largest city. A day earlier, jihadi-led opposition fighters captured the central city of Hama, Syria's fourth largest.

 

Israel's war against Hamas has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced 90 per cent of the population of 2.3 million, often multiple times. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel in October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage.

Israel's blistering retaliatory offensive has killed at least 44,600 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Here's the Latest:  Russian foreign minister refuses to make predictions about Syria  DOHA, Qatar Russia's foreign minister says he has met his Turkish and Iranian counterparts in Doha and that all three countries were calling for an immediate end to hostile activities in Syria.

Russia and Iran are the chief supporters of Syria's government, while Turkey backs opposition fighters trying to remove President Bashar Assad from power.

Speaking at the annual Doha Forum, Sergey Lavrov said Russia continues to help the Syrian army confront insurgents, military via airstrikes. Asked whether Assad's rule is threatened by the fast-moving rebel offensive, he said, We are not in the business of guessing what's gong to happen.

He blamed the United States and the West for the events in Syria and said, We are very sorry for the Syrian people who became a subject of another geopolitical experiment.

We are doing everything we can not to make terrorists prevail, even if they say they are not terrorists, Lavrov said, referring to the de facto leader of the Syrian insurgents, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who says he has cut links with al-Qaida. His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is listed as a terrorist organisation by the US and United Nations.

US envoy says Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire offers opportunity for Lebanon  DOHA, Qatar The US envoy who brokered the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah says the deal has created a new opportunity for Lebanon to reshape itself.

Amos Hochstein told the Doha Forum that the weakness of Hezbollah after nearly 14 months of fighting along, along with blows to its Syrian and Iranian allies, give the Lebanese military and government a chance to reassert itself.

Now is the moment with this ceasefire to rebuild Lebanon again for a much more prosperous future and stronger state institutions, Hochstein told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the conference.

He said Lebanon needs to do its part by rebuilding its economy, choosing a president after years of delays and strengthening its central government to attract investors.

And the international community has a requirement and a responsibility to support Lebanon after this devastating conflict and after years of Hezbollah control, he said.

Syrian opposition fighters advance on Damascus  BEIRUT Insurgents and a war monitor say opposition fighters are taking over military posts evacuated by Syrian government forces in the country's south, bringing them closer to the capital, Damascus.

An insurgent official known as Maj Hassan Abdul-Ghani posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition fighters are now in the town of Sanamein, about 20 kilometres from the southern outskirts of Damascus, President Bashar Assad's seat of power.

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said insurgents have entered the town of Artouz, which is about 10 kilometres southwest of Damascus.

Opposition fighters have captured wide parts of Syria, including several provincial capitals, since they began their offensive on November 27.

Lebanese government approves a plan to deploy more troops along the Israeli border  BEIRUT Lebanon's government has approved a plan to deploy more troops along the border with Israel, part of the ceasefire deal that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war.

In a rare Cabinet meeting outside of Beirut, held Saturday at a military base in the southern port city of Tyre, the government also approved a draft law to reconstruct buildings destroyed during the Israel-Hezbollah war that broke out in October 2023 and ended with a US-brokered ceasefire last week.

Information Minister Ziad Makary told reporters after the meeting that the committee whose job is to monitor the ceasefire that went into effect on November 27 will hold its first meeting on Monday. The committee is made up of military officials from the US, France, Israel and Lebanon as well as the UN peacekeeping force deployed along the border.

Syrian army withdraws from much of southern Syria  BEIRUT The Syrian army withdrew from much of southern Syria on Saturday, leaving more areas of the country, including two provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters, the military and an opposition war monitor said.

The redeployment away from the provinces of Daraa and Sweida came as Syria's military sent large numbers of reinforcements to defend the key central city of Homs, Syria's third largest, as insurgents approached its outskirts.

The rapid advances by insurgents are a stunning reversal of fortunes for Syria's President Bashar Assad, who appears to be largely on his own, with erstwhile allies preoccupied with other conflicts.

Israel kills Palestinian man who attacked security forces at border crossing  JERUSALEM Israeli security forces killed a Palestinian man after he attacked them at a border crossing in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Saturday morning, police said.

The man shot firecrackers at security forces at the checkpoint and threatened them with a knife, the police statement said. The man wore a t-shirt emblazoned with a symbol of the Islamic State militant group, according to an Associated Press reporter  Israeli fire has killed at least 700 Palestinians in the West Bank since the Israel-Hamas war began last year, Palestinian health officials said. In that time, Palestinian militants have launched a number of attacks on soldiers at checkpoints and within Israel.

Qatari prime minister sees movement in Gaza ceasefire negotiations  DOHA, Qatar The prime minister of Qatar says he has seen new momentum in Gaza ceasefire efforts since the US presidential election, with the incoming Trump administration seeking an end to the conflict before it takes office.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, a key mediator in the ceasefire efforts, declined to give specifics of the negotiations but told an international conference in Doha that the gaps between the sides are not large.

Qatar, which has served as a mediator throughout the 14-month war, suspended its efforts last month in frustration over the lack of progress. But Sheikh Mohammed said his government has re-engaged in recent days after determining a new willingness by both parties to reach a deal.

'We have sensed after the election that the momentum is coming back, he told the Doha Forum on Saturday.

He said he has been in touch with both the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration and found that while there are some differences in approach, both are committed to the same goal of ending the war.

Israeli strikes kill at least 29 at hard-hit Gaza hospital  CAIRO At least 29 people were killed, including four medical staff, when Israeli strikes pummeled the area around one of the last remaining hospitals in northern Gaza, Palestinian officials said.

The situation in and around the Kamal Adwan hospital is catastrophic, according to Dr Hussam Abu Safia, the director of the hospital. The dead included five children and five women, according to the hospital casualty list, which was obtained by The Associated Press.

Friday's strikes also wounded 55 people including six children and the five women, according to the hospital.

Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya is one of the few hospitals still partially operating in the Gaza's northernmost province, where Israeli forces are pressing an offensive that has almost completely sealed off the area from humanitarian aid for two months.

Israel's military denied that its forces had struck the hospital or operated inside it. The army said that in the past few weeks, coordinated efforts with international organisations have been underway in order to transfer patients, companions, and medical staff to other hospitals.

An Indonesian medical team which had been assisting in Kamal Adwan for the past week was forced to evacuate on foot after the area was surrounded by Israeli soldiers, according to a statement from the team. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the medical team's expulsion.

Dr Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organisation representative in the Palestinian territories, said an Israeli tank approached the hospital at around 4 am Friday. Although no official Israeli evacuation order was issued, people started to climb the wall to escape, and this panic attracted IDF (Israeli) fire, he said. He spoke by video from Gaza to journalists in Geneva.

Saudi Arabia calls for an end to Gaza war and attacks Israel's actions  MANAMA, Bahrain Saudi Arabia's foreign minister has reiterated the kingdom's call for an end to the war in the Gaza Strip.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan described Israel as acting with impunity and is getting away without punishment in its war on Hamas there. The prince said that any permanent solution requires a two-state solution, with the Palestinians having east Jerusalem as their capital.

After the speech, Prince Turki al-Faisal, a prominent royal in the kingdom who led Saudi intelligence for more than two decades and served as ambassador to the US and Britain, took the stage. He harshly criticized Israel's conduct in the wars.

Israel has become an apartheid, colonial and genocidal state, Prince Turki said. It is about time for the world to address that issue and take the necessary steps to bring those who are thus charged by the International Criminal Court to justice.

Israeli officials could not be immediately reached for comment on Prince Turki's remarks. The Saudis spoke at the International Institute for Security Studies' Manama Dialogue in Bahrain.