Israel kills dozens in Gaza, bombs Yemen ports, power station

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Clashes have occurred between Palestinian fighters and PA security forces in Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

The Palestinian Authority is in the fifth week of an aggressive crackdown on resistance militia operating in the camp known as the Jenin Brigades. 

An Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in Gaza killed three Palestinians and injured 10 others on Friday night, Palestinian news agency Wafa reports.

The airstrike targeted a building in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood west of Gaza City in the north of the enclave.

The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed legal complaints in Norway, Sweden and Denmark to arrest an Israeli soldier accused of committing war crimes in Gaza.

The foundation said that Boaz Ben David, an Israeli sniper, may be attempting to flee Sweden via a neighbouring country, and has called on the countries to help bring him to justice.

🚨🚨 We believe Israeli sniper Boaz Ben David is attempting to flee Sweden through another Scandinavian country. In response, the #HindRajabFoundation has filed legal complaints in Finland, Denmark, and Norway.
We call on the authorities in these countries to take their… pic.twitter.com/RnpqHlNKoG

— The Hind Rajab Foundation (@HindRFoundation) January 10, 2025

Israeli sniper fire killed Palestinian journalist Saed Nabhan while he was filming near the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Friday, according to online reports.

Footage on social media appeared to show Nabhan being shot by a sniper while running for cover. 

Nabhan's death brings the number of journalists killed in Israel's 15-month war on Gaza to 203.

لحظة مقتل الصحفي سائد نبهان برصاص قناص إسرائيلي في مخيم النصيرات وسط قطاع #غزة#الحدث pic.twitter.com/Z2SIs2GhNt

— ا لـحـدث (@AlHadath) January 10, 2025

Lebanon's new president Joseph Aoun will start consultations with political parties towards naming a prime minister from next week, the presidency said on Friday.

The president "will on Monday hold parliamentary consultations" in which he will receive representatives of all blocs in the chamber, as well as independent lawmakers, "towards naming a head of government", his office said.

Lebanese lawmakers elected army chief Aoun as head of state on Thursday, ending more than two years of political deadlock.

Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Qatar today to join the ongoing ceasefire negotiations in a bid to break the deadlock before the president-elect enters office on 20 January.

Witkoff met Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and has been in talks with Biden administration officials and members of the Israeli government, according to reports in the US and Israeli media.

At a press conference earlier this week, Trump warned that "all hell will break loose in the Middle East" if Hamas doesn't release the Israeli prisoners by the time of his inauguration.

Outgoing US CIA director William Burns has voiced optimism that Hamas and Israel could agree a deal to end the war "in the next couple of weeks". 

In an interview with NPR, the intelligence chief said the gaps between the two sides have narrowed in recent weeks, describing the ongoing negotiations in Doha as "serious".

An Israeli airstrike that hit Ras Isa port earlier today killed one person and injured six others, according to the Houthi-run Al Masirah TV.

Israel hit several Houthi targets in Yemen earlier today, including several ports on the Red Sea and a power station.

US, French and German envoys have warned Syria's new Islamist rulers that their appointment of foreign jihadists to senior military posts is a security concern and bad for their image as they try to forge ties with foreign states, two sources familiar with the matter said.

The warning from the US, part of Western efforts to get Syria's new leaders to reconsider the move, was delivered in a meeting between US envoy Daniel Rubinstein and Syria's de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa on Wednesday at the presidential palace overlooking Damascus, a US official said.

The foreign ministers of France and Germany, Jean-Noel Barrot and Annalena Baerbock, also broached the issue of foreign fighters drafted into the army during their meeting with Sharaa on January 3, an official aware of the talks said.

Reuters reported the appointments on December 30. The envoys' comments on the appointments have not previously been reported.

(Reuters Exclusive)

White House: We think a ceasefire deal and the release of captives in Gaza is possible but not without a lot of hard work ahead.

The death toll from an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon on Friday rose to six, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Israel struck a vehicle in the village of Tayr Debba in the Tyre district, claiming that it targeted vehicles loaded with weapons used by Hezbollah.

The Israeli army said it "continues to be committed to the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon, is deployed in the southern Lebanon area, and will work to eliminate any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens".

Washington on Friday said it was "working hard to see if the Lebanon-Israel ceasefire can continue," according to the White House.

عاجل | مسيّرة إسرائيلية استهدفت "فان" في بلدة طيردبا قضاء #صور جنوبي #لبنان pic.twitter.com/YJahoozGUp

— Al Modon - المدن (@almodononline) January 10, 2025

Italy's foreign minister arrived in Beirut Friday to meet with Lebanon's newly elected president, as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offered her strong support.

"Italy's strong support for Lebanon's stabilisation and pacification process" would be at the heart of discussions between Antonio Tajani and President Joseph Aoun, Foreign Minister Bou Habib, and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Tajani's office said in a statement.

It "represents a historic moment for Lebanon and an important signal for the entire Middle Eastern region", said Tajani.

"We are working to ensure that the ceasefire with Israel represents the first step towards sustainable peace," he added.

Felice di essere a #Beirut per incontrare il nuovo Presidente del #Libano, Joseph Aoun. La nostra amicizia sarà preziosa per rafforzare il percorso di pace in tutto il Medio Oriente, in cui il Governo italiano è fortemente impegnato. Buon lavoro, Presidente! pic.twitter.com/ZWJtVDwtcu

— Antonio Tajani (@Antonio_Tajani) January 10, 2025

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Friday that he had called for a moratorium on European Union sanctions on Syria for six months or one year.

However, Tajani added during a press briefing in Lebanon that "lifting sanctions is not a national decision, they are a European bloc decision".

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa told visiting Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Friday that he was ready to stem "illegal immigration" to Europe, the European diplomat said.

"Sharaa says he is ready to block illegal immigration, (and) fight against drug traffickers," Tajani said in the Lebanese capital, the second leg of his trip, adding these were "two crucial commitments for Italy".

Four people died and 16 others were wounded in a stampede in the Syrian capital on Friday, health authorities said.

It was a final toll after earlier reports said three women had died. The stampede at Damascus' iconic Umayyad Mosque happened during an event organised by a popular Syrian chef.

Israel released six Palestinian prisoners on Friday who were arrested during the war in Gaza, including a doctor, an NGO called the Asra (Prisoners') Media Office said.

The six detainees arrived at the Gaza European Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis to undergo some medical examinations.

An informed source told Anadolu Agency that Dr. Mahmoud Abu Shehadeh, an orthopedist who spent 11 months in Israeli detention, was among those released.

Around 4,500 people have had their upper and lower limbs amputated in Gaza since the start of Israel’s offensive, an official at Gaza’s health ministry said Friday.

"We recorded 4,500 amputation cases until the end of 2024, as a result of the continuing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip," said Zaher al-Wahidi, head of the ministry’s media department.

He said among them were 800 children, accounting to 18 percent of total cases, and 540 were women, representing 12 percent.

"These numbers reflect the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe to which Palestinian civilians are exposed, especially the most vulnerable groups – women and children."

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz asked the military leadership on Friday to present a plan on "defeating Hamas" if efforts to reach a deal with the Palestinian group, by the time Trump takes office later this month, fails.

"I asked the Israeli army to present to me a plan to completely defeat Hamas in Gaza if it does not release the captives by the time President Trump takes office" on January 20, Katz said in a statement.

Newly elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will hold consultations with members of parliament from Monday, 13 January, to nominate a prime minister, the presidency said on Friday.

Once named, the new prime minister must form a government, a process that often takes many months. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati is widely seen as a frontrunner, but opposition parliamentarian Fouad Makhzoumi may have the backing of a number of lawmakers, political sources said.

At least two people were killed on Friday in an Israeli drone strike on a car in Tayr Debba, a village in southern Lebanon, said the Lebanese civil defence.

It wasn't immediately clear what the target was, but Israel continues to violate the terms of a ceasefire deal reached in November to end the war with Hezbollah, with airstrikes, shelling and demolitions across southern Lebanon, and reconnaissance flights over Beirut.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Friday that the strikes on several targets in Yemen were a "sharp message" to the leaders of the Houthi rebel group, whom he said Israel "will hunt down".

"The Israeli strike today in Yemen sends a clear and sharp message to the leader of the Houthi terror organisation, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, and the leaders of the Houthi terror organisation in Yemen: there will be no immunity for anyone," he said in a video statement, adding that Israel "will hunt them down".

Israeli forces detained eight Palestinians, including a woman, during a raid on a house in the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin, this morning, according to Wafa news agency.

Local sources reported that after surrounding and raiding the home, Israeli troops withdrew from the immediate area, but intensified their operations by storming several neighbourhoods and raiding additional houses in the town.

During the raids, Israeli forces seized surveillance camera footage from one of the homes.

The operation was marked by heavy gunfire and violent confrontations between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians, further escalating tensions in the region.

The Israeli military said Friday that its air force had struck Houthi targets in Yemen, including a power station and ports on the western coast.

"A short while ago... fighter jets struck military targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime on the western coast and inland Yemen," the military said in a statement, adding the strikes were in retaliation for Houthi rocket launches into Israel.

A Syria monitor said fighters linked to the Islamist-led transitional administration publicly executed a local official on Friday, accusing him of having been an informant under ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

The Damascus authorities did not immediately respond to the latest development.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighters affiliated with the country's new rulers executed Mazen Kneneh on Friday morning, describing him as "one of the best-known loyalists of the former regime".

Fighters shot Kneneh in the head on the street in Dummar, a suburb of the capital Damascus, said the Britain-based monitor.

It said he was "accused of writing malicious security reports that led to the persecution and jailing of many young men" who were tortured in prison under Assad, whose rule came to an end on December 8.

A video circulating online, which yet to be independently verified, purportedly showed the man's slumped body tied to a tree trunk, his clothes bloodied from what looked like a bullet wound to the head.

Members of the public including children gathered around the body, according to the video, some filming with their mobile phones and others beating the body with sticks or high-kicking it in the head.

In recent days, Syrian authorities launched security sweeps targeting "remnants of the regime" of the deposed leader in several areas.

Anas Khattab, the new General Intelligence chief, has pledged to overhaul the security apparatus, denouncing "the injustice and tyranny of the former regime, whose agencies sowed corruption and inflicted suffering on the people".

Israel, the US and the UK all carried out air strikes on Yemen Friday as protesters carried out their weekly pro-Palestine march in the capital.

Dozens of strikes were reported on Sanaa, targeting the Hezyaz power station and other cites in the capital. Al-Hudaydah and the Ras Isa port were also targeted.

The Houthis, who control Sanaa and swathes of Yemen, have continued to launch missiles and drones at Israel in support of Gaza.

⚡️BREAKING:#Israeli and #American airstrikes in #Yemen targeting the area around Al-Sabeen Square in Sana’a, where millions of Yemenis hold their weekly protests for Palestine and are currently present.#Iraq #Syria #Hezbollah #Beirut #Lebanon #Israel #TelAviv #Gaza #Iran pic.twitter.com/BlTsZujjGw

— War Analysis (@iiamguri9) January 10, 2025

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offered her support on Friday for new Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, saying he would be a "trustworthy" leader for the country.

"I am convinced that President Aoun will be a trustworthy and authoritative leader for Lebanon, a friendly nation to Italy to which we are linked by historic and deep ties," Meloni said in a statement.

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides will travel to Beirut on Friday afternoon to congratulate Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on his election as head of state, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency.

Christodoulides will be the first foreign official to visit Aoun since his election a day earlier after a more than two-year presidential vacuum.

Cyprus and Lebanon witnessed some tension last year when slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah made threatening remarks against the neighbouring island nation, accusing it of letting Israel use its territory to wage war on Lebanon.

At least tree women have died following a stampede at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on Friday, a statement by Syria’s civil defence said.

Several children were reported injured.

The incident took place during a event in the city's iconic landmark organised by a popular Syrian chef.

وفاة 3 نساء وتعرض 5 أطفال لكسور ورضوض شديدة وإغماء، إثر حدوث تدافع في المسجد الأموي بدمشق اليوم بسبب وليمة نظمها الشيف "أبو عمر الشامي"

لم يفتتح الوليمة بمنطقة مفتوحة لانها لا تجلب مشاهدات pic.twitter.com/YZujMntlnJ

— عمر مدنيه (@Omar_Madaniah) January 10, 2025

Thousands of fighters linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps paraded with heavy weapons and vehicles through the streets of Tehran on Friday showing their readiness to face "threats".

Vehicles mounted with rocket launchers, artillery and naval commandos moved through the streets. Fighters in combat gear marched on foot with rocket launchers, and black-clad women carried rifles.

Some dragged coffins decorated with Israeli flags, as flags of Hezbollah flew along with Iranian and Palestinian banners.

A Guards commander, General Mohammadreza Naghdi, singled out Iran's enemies the United States and Israel during the gathering.

The US, he said, was "behind all the misfortune in the Muslim world." As for Israel, "if we are able to destroy the Zionist regime and withdraw the American bases in the region, one of our big problems will be resolved," he said.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani met Syria's new ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus Friday, state media said, in the latest such visit from a European diplomat since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

State news agency SANA did not give further details about Tajani and Sharaa's discussions, just over a month after Islamist-led rebels seized Damascus and Assad fled to Moscow.

Tajani earlier met his new counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani, after which the Syrian official said he would soon make his first official tour of Europe.

The US House of Representatives voted on Thursday to sanction the International Criminal Court in protest at its arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over Israel's war in Gaza.

The vote was 243 to 140 in favor of the "Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act," which would sanction any foreigner who investigates, arrests, detains or prosecutes US citizens or those of an allied country, including Israel, who are not members of the court.

Forty-five Democrats joined 198 Republicans in backing the bill. No Republican voted against it.

"America is passing this law because a kangaroo court is seeking to arrest the prime minister of our great ally, Israel," Representative Brian Mast, Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a House speech before the vote.

The House vote, one of the first since the new Congress was seated last week, underscored strong support among President-elect Donald Trump's fellow Republicans for Israel's government, now that they control both chambers in Congress.

Lebanese government bonds extended their three-month-long rally on Thursday as the crisis-ravaged country's parliament voted in a new head of state for the first time since 2022.

Its battered international bonds have almost trebled in value since September, when the regional conflict with Israel weakened Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, long viewed as an obstacle to overcoming its political paralysis.

Those bonds, which have been in default since 2020, rallied shortly after Aoun's victory was announced and stood around 1.3 cents higher on the day at just over 16 cents on the dollar as local trading wound down.

One bondholder described Aoun's election as "a very positive development" in the broader context of the ceasefire with Israel, the downfall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and strong support for Lebanon both regionally and internationally.

"We expect the government formation to be relatively quick so they can start to work on reforms towards a deal with the IMF and banking sector restructuring," said Ted Pincus at Switzerland-based fund Mangart.

With economic support from Saudi Arabia, UAE, France, the United States and others also on the table, "Lebanon's future now looks a lot brighter," he added.

(Reuters)

Turkey on Friday accused France of ignoring Ankara's security concerns in Syria by not repatriating French jihadists but leaving them to be guarded by a group Ankara views as a terror threat.

"They have a policy, they do not bring ISIS prisoners back to their own countries. But they do not care about our security," Turkey's top diplomat Hakan Fidan told reporters in Istanbul.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday that the new Syrian administration should be given an opportunity to address the presence of Kurdish militants in the country, but reiterated that Ankara would act against them otherwise.

Speaking at a press conference in Istanbul, Fidan said it was wrong to classify Turkey's battle against Kurdish militants as a battle against Kurds, adding Ankara was now evaluating its presence in Syria in light of the new situation there.

He said Russia had taken a very rational decision when it cut support for ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and that it could have militarily supported him in stopping the rebels' advance.

He added that he did not expect any problems with the United States in counter-terrorism in Syria despite its support for groups that Ankara views as terrorists.

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati will meet Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Saturday, a Lebanese source told Reuters on Friday.

Mikati had received an invitation from Sharaa over the phone last week to visit Syria.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday welcomed the election of his Lebanese counterpart Joseph Aoun after the country went more than two years without a head of state, saying unity will "defeat" Israel.

"There is no doubt that reinforcement of stability and unity will defeat the greed of the Zionist enemy against Lebanese territory," Pezeshkian said in a message to Aoun published by the official IRNA news agency after his election on Thursday.

Pezeshkian expressed hope that "this election will bring political stability, economic growth and greater progress as well as peace and comfort to the dear people of Lebanon."

He added that Iran was ready to further develop cooperation with Lebanon "in all areas".

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani began his first official visit to post-Assad Syria on Friday with a tour of the landmark Umayyad mosque in Damascus.

"It's a great pleasure... to be here this morning to visit and pay homage to all Syrian believers," he told AFP from the mosque, which is about 1,300 years old and he described as "one of the most beautiful" in the world.

He met his counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani at the presidential palace later in the morning, and is expected to meet Syria's de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asad ash-Shaibani met his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani. pic.twitter.com/syVuN9QL1z

— Çağatay Cebe (@Mucagcebe) January 10, 2025

Tajani arrived after hosting talks with European counterparts and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Rome, where Tajani said they are seeking a "stable and united Syria". The Italian minister has said he plans to announce an initial development aid package for impoverished, sanctions-hit and war-battered Syria.

The European Union could begin lifting sanctions on Syria if the war-torn country's new rulers take steps to form an inclusive government that protects minorities, the bloc's top diplomat said Friday.

"The EU could gradually ease sanctions provided there is tangible progress," foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X, a day after a meeting of Western powers in Rome.

Turkey has no intention of taking over any part of Syria following the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Friday.

"Turkey has no eye on any part of Syrian territory," he said at a news conference in Istanbul as fears grow over Ankara's threats against Kurdish forces in the war-torn country.

He added that "ridding Syria of terrorists" is among Turkey's key priorities for this year, as he called on France to take back jihadists that left to join the war in Syria and put them on trial.

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Friday that the state will begin disarming southern Lebanon, particularly the south Litani region, to establish its presence across the country.

"We are in a new phase - in this new phase, we will start with south Lebanon and south Litani specifically in order to pull weapons so that the state can be present across Lebanese territory," Mikati said.

US President Joe Biden welcomed the election of Joseph Aoun as Lebanon's president on Thursday, saying in a statement that the army chief was the "right leader" for the crisis-ridden country.

"President Aoun has my confidence. I believe strongly he is the right leader for this time," said Biden, adding that Aoun would provide "critical leadership" in overseeing an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire.

"We finally have a president," Biden said later, at the end of a meeting on the response to major wildfires in the US city of Los Angeles.

He said he had spoken to Aoun by phone on Thursday for "20 minutes to half an hour," describing the Lebanese leader as a "first-rate guy."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Aoun's election "a moment of historic opportunity," which offered Lebanon a chance to "establish durable peace and stability."

Israel’s army confirmed Friday that one of the bodies recovered from Gaza earlier this week was that of 23-year-old hostage Hamzah Al-Zayadni.

His body was retrieved with that of his father, Yosef Al-Zayadni , who were taken together when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel 15 months ago. His father was quickly identified, while his son’s remains were sent for verification.