BERLIN: The German government has called on all parties to the Middle East conflict, in particular Iran, to prevent an escalation after a rocket attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights killed 12 children and teenagers last week, a spokesperson said on Monday.
Berlin “assumes with certainty” that the deadly attack on a football field in the Golan Heights was conducted by Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said during a regular press conference.
Recent actions by the Yemen-based Houthi militia, also backed by Iran, had also contributed significantly to instability in the region in recent weeks, he added.
The strike over the weekend has raised fears of a wider conflict in the region, where tensions have intensified due to Israel’s war in Gaza, which began more than nine months ago.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has talked to several people including her Lebanese counterpart in an effort to “mitigate the situation and prevent it from escalating,” the spokesperson said.
German citizens in Lebanon, of which there are estimated to be about 1,300, are “urgently advised” to leave the country while still possible, the spokesperson said.
“We are very concerned about the situation of the Germans on the ground and are preparing what needs to be prepared,” he added.
Berlin calls on Iran and others to prevent Middle East escalation
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Berlin calls on Iran and others to prevent Middle East escalation
- The strike over the weekend has raised fears of a wider conflict in the region, where tensions have intensified due to Israel’s war in Gaza
One killed as Iraqi Kurds protest power cuts
Residents in the Rawandz region, northeast of Kurdistan’s capital Irbil, said protesters had taken to the streets and blocked a main highway leading to a border crossing with Iran.
Security forces intervened to open the road, leading to clashes, they said, with the demonstrations ending shortly after.
A source at the area’s Ashti hospital said “the body of a man who was killed by gunshot arrived at the hospital,” with locals saying he was involved in the protests.
The circumstances around the shooting were not immediately known, but a protester told AFP that “security forces shot” his relative, a 45-year-old father of 10.
The region’s interior ministry also said on Monday that “clashes during the protest” had resulted in one civilian death, adding it would launch a probe into the incident.
The northern region of Kurdistan has long promoted itself as a haven of relative stability in an otherwise volatile Iraq.
Last week, regional authorities announced that more than 30 percent of the Kurdistan region now had 24-hour, state-provided electricity.
However, vast areas still suffer from long power cuts, forcing many households to rely on private generators.
Despite Iraq’s abundant oil and gas reserves, years of conflict have devastated its infrastructure.
The national grid struggles to meet demand, leaving most areas reliant on imported energy — mostly from neighboring Iran — and subject to frequent power cuts, especially during the blistering summer.
Syria government forces take over Druze village in south
- Forces under the Syrian defense ministry deployed in Al-Mazraa village, where Bedouin fighters were also located
AL-MAZRA’AH: Syrian government forces were advancing toward the southern city of Sweida on Monday after taking control of a Druze village nearby, an AFP correspondent said, on the second day of sectarian clashes there.
Security forces were deployed in Sweida province following clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes that killed at least 89 people since Sunday.
The AFP correspondent saw forces under the Syrian defense ministry deployed in Al-Mazraa village, where Bedouin fighters were also located. The forces continued to advance in the direction of Sweida city.
A commander, Ezzeddine Al-Shamayer, told AFP the forces “are heading toward Sweida.”
The Israeli army said on Monday that it struck several tanks between the villages of Al-Mazraa and Sami that were heading to Sweida.
It added that it would not allow “the establishment of a military threat in southern Syria and will operate against it.”
Druze spiritual leaders called for calm and urged Damascus to intervene.
But Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, one of the three Druze spiritual leaders in Sweida, expressed his “rejection of the entry” of general security forces into the province, demanding “international protection.”
The fighting underscores the challenges facing interim Syrian leader Ahmad Al-Sharaa, whose Islamist forces ousted president Bashar Assad in December.
Leaders of Holy Land churches condemn Israeli settler violence during a West Bank visit
- The patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem called for the settlers to be held accountable by the Israeli authorities
- The Christian community in Israel and the Palestinian territories has dwindled as a percentage of the overall population over the decades
TAYBEH, West Bank: Top church leaders in the Holy Land asserted Monday that Israeli authorities “facilitate and enable” the presence of Israeli settlers who have intensified attacks in recent weeks on the only entirely Christian Palestinian village remaining in the occupied West Bank.
Speaking in the village, Taybeh, on a rare solidarity visit, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III and Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa denounced an incident last week when settlers set fires near the community’s church. They said that Israeli authorities failed to respond to emergency calls for help from the Palestinian community.
In a separate statement, the patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem demanded an investigation into the incident and called for the settlers to be held accountable by the Israeli authorities, “who facilitate and enable their presence around Taybeh.”
The church leaders also said that settlers had brought their cattle to graze on Palestinian lands in the area, set fire to several homes last month and put up a sign reading “there is no future for you here.”
Israel’s military did not immediately respond to the allegations.
Pizzaballa, the top Catholic cleric in Jerusalem, said he believed the West Bank was becoming a lawless area.
“The only law (in the West Bank) is that of power, of those who have the force, not the law. We must work for the law to return to this part of the country, so anyone can appeal to the law to enforce their rights,” Pizzaballa told reporters.
He and Theophilos prayed together in the church of St. George, whose religious site dates back centuries, adjacent to the area where settlers ignited the fires.
The statement from the heads of churches comes as Palestinians report a surge of settler violence. On Sunday, hundreds descended on the village of Al-Mazraa a-Sharqiya, south of Taybeh, for the funeral of two young men killed during a settler attack on Friday.
The Christian community in Israel and the Palestinian territories has dwindled as a percentage of the overall population over the decades, with experts citing lower birthrates and emigration by people fleeing conflict or seeking better opportunities abroad. Christians now make up a tiny percentage of the population.
Jordanian Armed Forces’ Piercing Star exercise improves skills in eastern region
- Tactical drill involved acquisition, neutralization of targets, medical evacuation, using unmanned aerial systems
- Princess Basma Battalion is subordinate unit of the Eastern Military Region, includes units from Ar-Ramtha, Mafraq near Iraqi, Syrian borders
LONDON: Maj. Gen. Yousef Ahmed Al-Huneiti, the chairman of the Jordanian Joint Chiefs of Staff, oversaw a tactical exercise on Sunday as part of military drills by the Princess Basma 3rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion.
The Piercing Star drill was designed to improve personnel’s skills and capabilities in various field conditions, the Jordan News Agency reported.
It involved the acquisition and neutralization of targets, medical evacuation procedures, and the use of unmanned aerial systems for reconnaissance and the destruction of high-value targets, Petra added.
Princess Basma Battalion is a subordinate unit of the Eastern Military Region, comprising units from the cities of Ar-Ramtha and Mafraq near the Iraqi and Syrian borders. It employed small arms, crew-served weapons, sniper fire, mortar, anti-armor ordnance, and close air support from the Royal Jordanian Air Force during the drill.
Al-Huneiti received a briefing from the regional commander and the battalion commander regarding the military exercise, which was also attended by the assistant for operations and training in the armed forces.
Palestinian president says Hamas must hand over weapons in Gaza
- Mahmoud Abbas said Hamas must recognize that there should be ‘one system, one law, and one legitimate weapon’
- Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 after armed clashes with PA forces, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 700 Palestinians
LONDON: The Palestinian Authority’s President Mahmoud Abbas reaffirmed that Hamas will not take part in governing the coastal enclave of the post-war Gaza Strip during a meeting with former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair in Amman.
Abbas said Hamas must surrender its weapons to the PA and participate in political actions aligned with the principles of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Neither Hamas nor Islamic Jihad is part of the PLO, and both groups have long rejected calls to join what Palestinians consider their sole political representative since the 1960s.
Abbas said that Hamas must recognize that in the Palestinian territories, there should be “one system, one law, and one legitimate weapon,” during his meeting on Sunday evening with Blair, who served as the special envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East from 2007 to 2015.
Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 after armed clashes with PA forces, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 700 Palestinians, according to an official tally. Since then, it has engaged in several conflicts with Israel, the most recent being the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, which resulted in the deaths and abduction of several hundred people and prompted an ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed over 58,000 Palestinians.
Abbas called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, and the flow of humanitarian aid.
He stressed the need for a two-state solution and the importance of the French-Saudi-sponsored conference, scheduled for the end of July in New York, to gain support for establishing a Palestinian state.
