Israeli strikes in central Syria kill seven — war monitor

Israeli strikes in central Syria kill seven — war monitor
This frame grab from a video provided by the Syrian official news agency SANA shows missiles flying into the sky near Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2018. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 09 September 2024
Follow

Israeli strikes in central Syria kill seven — war monitor

Israeli strikes in central Syria kill seven — war monitor
  • Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since 2011, targeting pro-Iranian groups
  • Latest airstrikes targeted an area housing scientific research centers and weapons experts

DAMASCUS: Israeli strikes in central Syria killed at least seven people late Sunday, including three civilians, a war monitor reported.
Since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes there, targeting pro-Iranian groups in particular.
“The number of dead in the Israeli strikes on the Masyaf region stands at seven, namely three civilians, including a man and his son who were in a car, and four unidentified soldiers,” said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a vast network of sources inside the country.
The attack also wounded at least 15 others and destroyed military facilities in the area, the Observatory said.
“Thirteen violent explosions rang out in the zone housing scientific research centers in Masyaf where pro-Iranian groups and weapons development experts are present,” the group said in an earlier statement.
The Syrian state news agency Sana had previously reported five killed and 19 wounded near Masyaf, citing a medical source.
“Around 11:20 p.m. (2020 GMT) on Sunday, the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack from the northwest of Lebanon targeting a number of military sites in the central region,” Sana reported, citing a military source.
“Our air defense shot down some missiles.”
Israeli air raids in Syria have intensified since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
Israeli authorities rarely comment on individual strikes in Syria, but have repeatedly said they will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence there.
At the end of August, three pro-Iranian fighters were killed in the central region of Homs in strikes attributed to Israel, the Observatory said.
A few days later, the Israeli military said it had killed an unspecified number of fighters belonging to Hamas ally Islamic Jihad in a strike in Syria near the Lebanese border.


Palestinians say Israel struck a Gaza clinic during a polio campaign. The army denies it

Palestinians say Israel struck a Gaza clinic during a polio campaign. The army denies it
Updated 15 min 26 sec ago
Follow

Palestinians say Israel struck a Gaza clinic during a polio campaign. The army denies it

Palestinians say Israel struck a Gaza clinic during a polio campaign. The army denies it
  • The alleged strike occurred Saturday in northern Gaza, which has been encircled by Israeli forces and largely isolated for the past year
  • Israel has been carrying out another offensive there in recent weeks that has killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands

CAIRO: Palestinian officials say an Israeli drone strike on a clinic in northern Gaza where children were being vaccinated for polio wounded six people, including four children. The Israeli military denied responsibility.
The alleged strike occurred Saturday in northern Gaza, which has been encircled by Israeli forces and largely isolated for the past year. Israel has been carrying out another offensive there in recent weeks that has killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands.
It was not possible to resolve the conflicting accounts. Israeli forces have repeatedly raided hospitals in Gaza over the course of the war, saying Hamas uses them for militant purposes, allegations denied by Palestinian health officials.
Dr. Munir Al-Boursh, director general of the Gaza Health Ministry, told The Associated Press that a quadcopter struck the Sheikh Radwan clinic in Gaza City early Saturday afternoon, just a few minutes after a United Nations delegation left the facility.
The World Health Organization and the UN children’s agency, known as UNICEF, which are jointly carrying out the polio vaccination campaign, expressed concern over the reported strike.
“The reports of this attack are even more disturbing as the Sheikh Radwan Clinic is one of the health points where parents can get their children vaccinated,” said Rosalia Bollen, a spokesperson for UNICEF.
“Today’s attack occurred while the humanitarian pause was still in effect, despite assurances given that the pause would be respected from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.”
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, said that “contrary to the claims, an initial review determined that the (Israeli military) did not strike in the area at the specified time.”
A scaled-down campaign to administer a second dose of the polio vaccine began Saturday in parts of northern Gaza. It had been postponed from Oct. 23 due to lack of access, Israeli bombings and mass evacuation orders, and the lack of assurances for humanitarian pauses, a UN statement said.
The administration of the first dose was carried out in September across the Gaza Strip, including areas of northern Gaza that are now completely sealed off. Health officials said the campaign’s first round, and the administration of the second dose across central and southern Gaza, were successful.
At least 100,000 people have been forced to evacuate from areas of north Gaza toward Gaza City in the past few weeks, but around 15,000 children under the age of 10 remain in northern towns, including Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, which are inaccessible, according to the UN
The final phase of the polio vaccination campaign had aimed to reach an estimated 119,000 children in the north with a second dose of oral polio vaccine, the agencies said, but “achieving this target is now unlikely due to access constraints.”
They say 90 percent of children in every community must be vaccinated to prevent the spread of the disease.
The campaign was launched after the first polio case was reported in Gaza in 25 years — a 10-month-old boy, now paralyzed in the leg. The World Health Organization said the presence of a paralysis case indicates there could be hundreds more who have been infected but aren’t showing symptoms.
The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Israel’s offensive has killed over 43,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, who do not say how many were combatants but say more than half were women and children.


Bangladeshi killed in air strike in Lebanon: govt

Bangladeshi killed in air strike in Lebanon: govt
Updated 03 November 2024
Follow

Bangladeshi killed in air strike in Lebanon: govt

Bangladeshi killed in air strike in Lebanon: govt

DHAKA: A Bangladeshi worker died in a air strike in Lebanon, Dhaka’s foreign ministry said Sunday, as the Israeli bombardment hampered efforts to repatriate citizens.
The foreign ministry estimates that between 70,000 and 100,000 of its nationals are working in Lebanon, many as laborers or domestic workers.
The first flights, organized by Dhaka’s government with the UN’s International Organization for Migration, brought home scores of Bangladeshis from Beirut last month.
Mohammad Nizam, 31, was killed on Saturday afternoon in a reported strike as he stopped at a coffee shop on the way to work in Beirut, Bangladesh’s ambassador to Lebanon, Javed Tanveer Khan said in a statement.
Mohmmad Jalaluddin said his younger brother Nizam had lived in Beirut for more than a decade, and had not been among the estimated 1,800 Bangladeshis who had registered for an evacuation flight home.
“We want to bury him in our ancestral home, and are now waiting for the government’s response,” Jalaluddin told AFP.
But senior Bangladeshi foreign ministry official Shah Mohammad Tanvir Monsur said it was challenging to arrange a flight into Beirut.
“With the ongoing war, there are hardly any flights from Lebanon to Bangladesh,” Monsur said.
“It’s becoming increasingly difficult to repatriate our citizens who have registered to return home.”
Israel drastically escalated its air campaign against Lebanon’s Hezbollah group in September, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
It has since launched a ground offensive intended to push the group back from its northern border.
Hezbollah has been firing thousands of projectiles into Israel over the last year, displacing tens of thousands of Israelis.
The war has killed at least 1,930 people in Lebanon, since it began on September 23, according to an AFP tally of health ministry figures, though the real number is likely higher due to data gaps.
Israel’s military says 38 soldiers have been killed in the Lebanon campaign since it began ground operations on September 30.


UAE, Qatari leaders discuss ties, regional developments

UAE, Qatari leaders discuss ties, regional developments
Updated 16 min 26 sec ago
Follow

UAE, Qatari leaders discuss ties, regional developments

UAE, Qatari leaders discuss ties, regional developments

DUBAI: UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan on Saturday had a phone call with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani to review ties between the two nations and the latest regional developments.

They also discussed ways to strengthen cooperation to advance the shared ambitions of both countries and their peoples, WAM news agency reported.

The two leaders exchanged views on regional and international issues, and underscored the need for concerted efforts to prevent further escalation in the Middle East and avoid additional crises.


Giga-projects are here to stay, but AI likely to change future conception, say industry experts

Giga-projects are here to stay, but AI likely to change future conception, say industry experts
Updated 03 November 2024
Follow

Giga-projects are here to stay, but AI likely to change future conception, say industry experts

Giga-projects are here to stay, but AI likely to change future conception, say industry experts
  • AI might reject tall structures, advise ‘greater square footage,’ predicts one expert
  • Machine-learning still a long way to go before replacing human decision-making

SAN DIEGO, USA: Twenty years ago when a major project was being conceived, it would be built and then the real estate representatives would take over, working to fill the colossal buildings.

But today the physical completion of a development is just an initial part of the process. New technology is now being used to collect vast amounts of valuable data that can determine the success of both giga-projects and megaprojects.

In some cases this will mean the downscaling of an initiative such as The Line, while others will be accelerated to meet strict deadlines such as the Saudi Expo 2030 project.

In April 2024, Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said some of the Kingdom’s projects would be adapted to current economic and geopolitical challenges.

“I think that what we will see is a new rationalization of dates,” Naji Atallah, head of construction and manufacturing, EMEA Emerging Markets at Autodesk, told Arab News.

Speaking on the sidelines of the recent Autodesk University 2024: The Design and Make Conference in San Diego, US, he said decisions would be based on new priorities.

“Something like a new entertainment city won’t get the same prioritization as the Saudi Expo or projects for the World Cup, should Saudi Arabia win the bid, that have a definite deadline. But I think these projects will still be happening,” he added.

On the reduction of Saudi Arabia’s The Line, Atallah said: “Being able or just having the vision of building something that big is the limit of our means … The new scale is more manageable.”

But he said despite the change of size, it did not take away from the ambition. “The scale is smaller, but the ambition is still really large with what we are seeing now.”

He said that projects like the Red Sea islands might not have the same scale of one aspect, but as a giga-project it is broken down into many different parts.

“Part of the mandate of the Red Sea islands project is to create new tourism opportunities,” Atallah explained. “AI will help in the better decision-making to help set new targets that are not necessarily about immediate financial return.”

And in the case of the Red Sea project, a key example was the introduction of scuba diving in the area.

There is still a lot of work to be done on AI — it is only as good as the information it receives. But as the data banks continue to grow, the technology will learn and become more knowledgeable about future and existing projects.

Change is most likely with giga-projects, said Autodesk CEO and president Andrew Anagnost, in an interview with Arab News. “I don’t think giga-projects are going to go away … but I do think that more often than not AI is going to advise against these projects.”

Anagnost said he believed AI was more likely going to advise against massively tall structures and instead suggest “greater square footage.”

AI would also possibly suggest different kinds of capabilities inside, such as sustainable energy generation, or multiple-use buildings that could serve as a home and workspace.

“I think AI is definitely going to challenge some of these projects,” he added.

But the capabilities of AI are only as great as the data it receives, and we remain a long way away from computers taking over the world.

Also there remains a lot of mistrust in the collection of data, but the more information companies have, the more cost-effective and reliable their products become.

Design and construction are not new concepts; humans have been creating tools, shelter, and the means to build for millions of years.

However, there is surprisingly little information available on the physical structures that exist around the world.

The US cloud-based security and management company noted that its clients in the architecture, engineering and construction industry have quadrupled their data storage from 0.9 terabytes in 2017 to 3.5 TB in 2021.

But according to the investment banking firm FMI Corp., 95.5 percent of the data that is being gathered by AEC firms is not being used.

And this is information that could tell governments, designers and architects of today and the future how to more successfully develop existing and new products — whether a chair, or new city. 

AI is very much dependent on the information that he described as 3D data and which is still lacking. “It’s kind of a paradox. We live in a 3D world, but the 3D data is scarce,” Ousama Lakhdar-Ghazal, director of trusted AI at Autodesk, explained.

“When we look around and see all these 3D objects around us, we can easily picture them, but to have that represented in a digital world is actually very .”

The collection of the data continues, but there remains a lot to be learned and that can only happen as the amount of data is gathered.

This information can help with predicting the flow of a flood, or the fuel consumption of a new, existing or future building.

“Like humans function better the more information they have, AI operates the same way, it needs to learn,” Lakhdar-Ghazal said.

And the learnings of AI are entirely reliant on the information it is given, so it is still influenced by human input.

“We are hoping that AI might at some point be able to maybe help solve some of the societal problems we face — that’s the driver,” he added.

On concerns over the evolution of AI, Lakhdar-Ghazal acknowledged that society tends to fear what it does not know.

“Most of the people working on AI are at a level (of a) Ph.D. (graduate), but for laypeople there’s a lot of unknown, there’s a lot of not understanding how it actually works.”

While fear of technological advances is not new, he said it would take time to educate people to accept that the benefits outweigh potential drawbacks.

“The point of AI is to help solve tangible problems. But it would still be up to humans to make the decision. AI can help identify labor-intensive, high-cost, low-return tasks, and help cut overheads.”

But the practice of saving time has its own limitations and at some point optimization is reached — there is no more time that can be saved.

But Lakhdar-Ghazal said the focus can always be shifted to improve areas including fuel efficiency, or other working practices, to cut overheads.


‘Stop the war’, say Israelis demanding return of Gaza hostages

‘Stop the war’, say Israelis demanding return of Gaza hostages
Updated 03 November 2024
Follow

‘Stop the war’, say Israelis demanding return of Gaza hostages

‘Stop the war’, say Israelis demanding return of Gaza hostages
  • Critics wonder why truce has still not materialized over a year after Gaza war began
  • Protestors hope for international intervention, including from US, to stop Gaza war

TEL AVIV: Hundreds of Israeli protesters in Tel Aviv voiced their frustration with the government on Saturday for failing to secure a truce deal to bring the remaining hostages in Gaza home.
Flag-waving demonstrators in the country’s commercial hub held placards with slogans including “Deal now,” “Stop the war” and “We won’t abandon them,” and beat drums and chanted: “Why are they still in Gaza?“
“There have been countless opportunities to end this crisis and each one was torpedoed by the government,” said demonstrator Zahiro Shahar Mor, a 52-year-old bank employee from Tel Aviv.
“The cycle of violence is escalating week after week and we see no end,” added Mor, whose uncle Avraham Munder was killed in captivity in Gaza, and who is campaigning for the release of others’ loved ones.
Critics have questioned why a truce has still not materialized now that Israel has achieved many of its war aims, including last month’s killing of Hamas’s leader Yahya Sinwar.
Israeli and US officials as well as some analysts have said Sinwar was an obstacle to reaching a truce deal in the war between Israel and Hamas.
Ifat Kalderon, a prominent anti-government protester afraid for her cousin still held in Gaza, blamed Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister.
“Each hostage deal they start to talk about, he sabotages. He always blamed Sinwar, but now there is no Sinwar. But every time he finds another reason,” the 50-year-old stylist told AFP.
“It’s a bloody war, we need to stop it. Enough. So many soldiers are dying. And ordinary citizens,” she said, referring to civilians from both sides of the conflict paying with their lives.
The war erupted on October 7, 2023 after Palestinian militants attacked Israel, resulting in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,314 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry the United Nations considers reliable.
During the October 7 attack, Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages, of whom 97 are still in Gaza. The Israeli military says 34 of them are dead.
Some at the rally — organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group — brought up the plight of Israel’s soldiers, who are exhausted more than a year into the Gaza war.
Others hoped for international intervention, including from the United States, which holds a presidential election on Tuesday.
“I hope whoever wins will be adult enough to take the kids in the Middle East by the ear and force them to the negotiating table,” said protester Mor.
He said he was “disappointed, frustrated and angry” at the lack of a hostage deal but was “keeping the hope for the people who are still alive” in Gaza.
Sinwar’s killing had spurred hope that fresh life could be breathed into months of fruitless negotiations for a truce with hostage and prisoner releases.
The talks have been mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.
A Hamas official said Friday the group received a proposal from Egypt and Qatar for a short-term truce in Gaza but had rejected it.
He said the group had responded by restating its position that “what the Palestinian people want is a complete, comprehensive and lasting ceasefire.”
Protester Simone Spak Safran said she believed the Israeli government “couldn’t care less” about the hostages.
A few “times an agreement was not reached, and not only because of Hamas. I don’t expect anything from this government,” the 77-year-old from Herzliya told AFP.