Houthis attack Ashkelon, ships off Yemeni coast

Special Houthis attack Ashkelon, ships off Yemeni coast
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A Houthi-made mock drone on display in front of a billboard featuring a portrait of the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Sana'a, Yemen, Oct. 22, 2024. (EPA)
Special Houthis attack Ashkelon, ships off Yemeni coast
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A digital billboard features Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, as Palestinian and Yemeni flags flutter amid high tensions in the Middle East, in Sana'a, Yemen, Oct. 27, 2024. (EPA)
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Updated 30 October 2024
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Houthis attack Ashkelon, ships off Yemeni coast

Houthis attack Ashkelon, ships off Yemeni coast
  • Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said drones were launched at an industrial zone in Ashkelon
  • Three vessels targeted by the militia in Red and Arabian seas, Bab Al-Mandab Strait

AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s Houthi militia said on Tuesday it launched drones at the Israeli city of Ashkelon a day after claiming to have attacked several ships in international waters off Yemen.

In a statement, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said drones were launched at an industrial zone in Ashkelon, claiming they “successfully” struck their target, and vowing to carry out more attacks until Israel ends its military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

Israeli media reported explosions in Ashkelon and in Nahariya caused by another drone fired from Lebanon. The Israeli military said the drone launched from Yemen landed in a “open area” in Ashkelon.

“Following an initial examination regarding the UAV that fell in an open area in Ashkelon in southern Israel earlier today, it was determined that the UAV was launched from Yemen,” it said in a statement.

Previous Houthi missile and drone attacks on Israel triggered two waves of retaliatory airstrikes by Israeli warplanes, which struck power stations, ports, and fuel storage facilities in the western city of Hodeidah, which the Houthis control, in July and September.

Sarea said in a broadcast on Monday night the Houthis also attacked three ships in the Arabian Sea, Red Sea and Bab Al-Mandab Strait, the latest in a series of attacks on maritime trade in a campaign the group claims is in support of the people of Palestine and Lebanon. 

He identified the ships as the SC Montreal, which was attacked with two drones while sailing in the southern Arabian Sea, the Maersk Kowloon, which was attacked with a cruise missile while sailing in the Red Sea, and the Motaro, which was attacked in the Red Sea and Bab Al-Mandab Strait with multiple ballistic missiles.

The three ships were targeted because their parent companies violated a ban on sailing to Israeli ports, Sarea said.

All three ships are Liberian-flagged vessels. The SC Montreal is sailing from the Seychelles to Oman. The Maersk Kowloon is sailing from Oman to an unknown destination, and the Motaro from Russia to China.

The Houthi statement came hours after the UK Maritime Trade Operations, an agency that documents ship attacks, reported on Monday that the master of the Motaro, sailing 25 nautical miles south of Yemen’s Mocha town on the Red Sea, reported three explosions at various intervals near the ship, but that the vessel and its crew were safe.

The Joint Maritime Information Center identified the attacked ship as the M/V Motaro, “on transit” from Ust Luga in Russia to Shanghai, adding that the ship had no connection to Israel, the US, or the UK, and it could have been attacked because another ship owned by the same company visited Israel.

“Indirectly (through multiple layers), within the ownership structure, JMIC has discovered a subsidiary linkage to a vessel visiting an Israeli port in the recent past,” the JMIC said.

Since November, the Houthis have seized a commercial ship — the Galaxy Leader — and its crew, sunk two others, and set fire to several more, firing hundreds of ballistic missiles, drones, and drone boats at civilian and naval ships in the group’s campaign.

Critics dispute the Houthi claims of support for the Palestinians or Lebanon, arguing that the beleaguered militia used the conflict to recruit new fighters, increase public support, deploy forces in contested areas, and silence voices calling on the Houthis to repair crumbling services and pay public employees.


A palace in shock: Bashar Assad’s final moments in Syria

A palace in shock: Bashar Assad’s final moments in Syria
Updated 14 December 2024
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A palace in shock: Bashar Assad’s final moments in Syria

A palace in shock: Bashar Assad’s final moments in Syria
  • “His brother Maher,” who commanded the Syrian army’s feared Fourth Brigade, “heard about it by chance while he was with his soldiers defending Damascus
  • He decided to take a helicopter and leave, apparently to Baghdad,” added the former aide

DAMASCUS: Hours before militant forces seized Damascus and toppled his government on Sunday, Syrian president Bashar Assad was already out of the country, telling hardly anyone, five former officials told AFP.
The night before, Assad had even asked his close adviser Buthaina Shaaban to prepare a speech — which the ousted leader never gave — before flying from Damascus airport to Russia’s Hmeimim air base in Syria, and from there out of the country.
Assad left even “without telling... his close confidants in advance,” a former aide told AFP, requesting anonymity for security reasons.
“From the Russian base, a plane took him to Moscow.”
“His brother Maher,” who commanded the Syrian army’s feared Fourth Brigade, “heard about it by chance while he was with his soldiers defending Damascus. He decided to take a helicopter and leave, apparently to Baghdad,” added the former aide.
Other top officials in Assad’s government and sources told AFP what happened in the final hours of the iron-fisted leader’s 24-year rule.
All spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.
When Islamist-led militant forces launched their offensive in Syria’s north on November 27, Assad was in Moscow, where his wife Asma has been treated for cancer.
Two days later, when their son Hafez was defending his doctoral thesis at a Moscow university, the whole family were there, but not Bashar, according to a presidential palace official.
On November 30, when Assad returned from Moscow, Syria’s second city of Aleppo was no longer under his government’s control.
The following week, the militants took Hama and Homs in quick succession, before eventually reaching the capital.
Another palace official said he did not see Assad the day before Damascus fell last Sunday.
“On Saturday Assad didn’t meet with us. We knew he was there, but did not have a meeting with him,” said the top official.
“We were at the palace, there was no explanation, and it caused great confusion at the senior levels and on the ground,” he said.
“Actually, we had not seen him since the fall of Aleppo, which was very strange.”
During that fateful week, Assad called a meeting of the heads of Syria’s intelligence services to reassure them.
But the longtime leader did not show up, and “Aleppo’s fall shocked us,” said the same top palace official.
Hama was next to fall into militant hands.
“On Thursday, I spoke at 11:30 am with troops in Hama who assured me the city was under lockdown and not even a mouse could make it in,” an army colonel told AFP.
“Two hours later they received the order not to fight, and to redeploy in Homs to the south,” added the officer of the next strategic city sought by the militants on their way to Damascus.
“The soldiers were helpless, changing clothes, throwing away their weapons and trying to head home. Who gave the order? We don’t know.”
The governor of Homs told a journalist that he had asked the army to resist. But no government forces defended the city.
On Saturday morning, someone in the halls of power in Damascus brought up the idea of Assad making a speech.
“We started to set up the equipment. Everything was ready,” said the first palace official.
“Later on we were surprised to learn that the speech had been postponed, maybe to Sunday morning.”
According to him, top officials and aides were unaware that while this was happening, the Syrian army had already begun destroying its archives by setting them on fire.
Still on Saturday, at around 9:00 p.m. (1800 GMT), “the president calls his political adviser Buthaina Shaaban to ask her to prepare a speech for him, and to present it to the political committee which is meant to meet on Sunday morning,” said a senior official close to Assad.
“At 10:00 p.m. she calls him back, but he no longer picks up the phone.”
That evening, Assad’s media director Kamel Sakr told journalists: “The president is going to deliver a statement very soon.”
But then Sakr, too, stopped answering his phone, as did interior minister Mohammed Al-Rahmoun.
The palace official said he stayed in his office until 2:30 am on Sunday. Within less than four hours, the militants were to announce that Assad was gone.
“We were ready to receive a statement or a message from Assad at any moment,” said the top palace official.
“We could have never imagined such a scenario. We didn’t even know whether the president was still at the palace.”
At around midnight, the palace official had been told that Assad needed a cameraman for Sunday morning.
“That reassured us that he was in fact still there,” he said.
But just before 2:00 am, an intelligence officer called to say all government officials and forces had left their offices and positions.
“I was shocked. It was just the two of us in the office. The palace was almost empty, and we were totally confused,” said the official.
At 2:30 am he left the palace.
In the city center, “arriving at Umayyad Square, there were plenty of soldiers fleeing, looking for transportation,” he said.
“There were thousands of them, coming from the security compound, the defense ministry and other security branches. We found out that their superiors had ordered them to flee.”
The official said it was a “frightening” scene.
“Tens of thousands of cars leaving Damascus, and even more people marching on the road on foot. It was that moment I realized everything was lost and that Damascus had fallen.”


Lebanon says one dead in Israeli strike in south

Lebanon says one dead in Israeli strike in south
Updated 14 December 2024
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Lebanon says one dead in Israeli strike in south

Lebanon says one dead in Israeli strike in south
  • “An Israeli enemy drone strike... killed one person” in Marjayoun, the ministry said

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli drone strike in the south killed one person on Saturday, the latest deadly raid despite a more than two-week ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
“An Israeli enemy drone strike... killed one person” in Marjayoun district, the health ministry said in a statement. The official National News Agency reported a car was targeted.


Top Arab, US diplomats meet to discuss Syria’s future

Top Arab, US diplomats meet to discuss Syria’s future
Updated 14 December 2024
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Top Arab, US diplomats meet to discuss Syria’s future

Top Arab, US diplomats meet to discuss Syria’s future
  • Syria’s northern neighbor Turkiye has for years supported Syrian opposition forces looking to oust Assad and is poised to play an influential role in Damascus
  • Arab diplomats attending the talks said they were seeking assurances from Turkiye that it supports an inclusive political process that prevents partition of Syria

AQABA, Jordan: Top diplomats from the United States, Turkiye, the European Union and Arab nations met in Jordan on Saturday for talks on Syria as regional and global powers scramble for influence over whatever government replaces ousted President Bashar Assad.

Outgoing US President Joe Biden’s administration has begun engaging with the victorious opposition groups including Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which led a lightning assault that ended in the capture of Damascus on Sunday.

Biden sent Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region this week to seek support for principles that Washington hopes will guide Syria’s political transition, such as respect for minorities.

Meanwhile, Syria’s northern neighbor Turkiye has for years supported Syrian opposition forces looking to oust Assad and is poised to play an influential role in Damascus.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday that his country’s embassy in the Syrian capital would resume work on Saturday, after Turkiye’s intelligence chief visited this week.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, left, speaks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, on Dec. 14, 2024. (AP)

Syria’s neighbor Jordan was hosting Saturday’s gathering in Aqaba. Russia and Iran, who were Assad’s key supporters, were not invited.

Blinken, UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pederson and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Fidan and foreign ministers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar met around a circular table at a Jordanian government guesthouse. There was no Syrian representative at the table.

The Arab diplomats earlier met separately.

Blinken, meeting Pederson at his hotel earlier on Saturday, said it was a time of “both opportunity but also real challenge” for Syria.

Arab diplomats attending the talks said they were seeking assurances from Turkiye that it supports an inclusive political process that prevents partition of Syria on sectarian lines.

Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attend a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba on December 14, 2024. (REUTERS)

Turkiye and the United States, both NATO members, have conflicting interests when it comes to some of the groups. Turkiye-backed groups in northern Syria have clashed with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The SDF, which controls some of Syria’s largest oil fields, is the main ally in a US coalition against Daesh militants. It is spearheaded by YPG militia, a group that Ankara sees as an extension of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought the Turkish state for 40 years and who it outlaws.

Blinken told Turkish officials during a visit to Ankara on Thursday and Friday that Daesh must not be able to regroup, and the SDF must not be distracted from its role of securing camps holding Daesh fighters, according to a US official with the US delegation. Turkish leaders agreed, the official said.

Fidan told Turkish TV later on Friday that the elimination of the YPG was Turkiye’s “strategic target” and urged the group’s commanders to leave Syria.


At least 18 killed in Israeli Gaza strikes, Palestinian medics say

At least 18 killed in Israeli Gaza strikes, Palestinian medics say
Updated 14 December 2024
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At least 18 killed in Israeli Gaza strikes, Palestinian medics say

At least 18 killed in Israeli Gaza strikes, Palestinian medics say
  • Casualties were being carried by foot, on rickshaws and private cars from the site of the attack to the hospital
  • The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said at least 44,930 people have been killed in more than 14 months of war

CAIRO: At least 18 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza on Saturday, medics said, while the Israeli military said it targeted gunmen operating from shelters and aid storages.
At least 10 people were killed in an airstrike near the municipality building in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip where people gathered to receive aid, medics said.
Casualties were being carried by foot, on rickshaws and private cars from the site of the attack to the hospital, medics said. The strike killed the head of the Hamas-run administrative committee in central Gaza, a Hamas source said.
The Israeli military was looking into the report, a spokesperson said. Earlier, Israeli aircraft struck militants and weapon caches near an aid warehouse, the military said, after gunmen had fired rockets into Israel from there.
Meanwhile, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said at least 44,930 people have been killed in more than 14 months of war. The toll includes 55 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 106,624 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began.
A separate strike in Gaza City on a former shelter housing displaced people targeted Hamas fighters, the military said. At least seven people were killed in that attack, Palestinian medics said, including a woman and her baby.
It was unclear whether any of the other people killed were fighters. The military said it had taken precautions to reduce risk of harm to civilians.
A separate strike in Gaza City killed a local journalist, medics said. The military was looking into the report, a spokesperson said.
The war in Gaza began when the Palestinian militant group Hamas stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200, mostly civilians, people and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel then launched an air, sea and land offensive that has killed at least 44,000 people, mostly civilians, according to authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, displaced nearly the entire population and left much of the enclave in ruins.
A fresh bid by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to reach a truce has gained momentum in recent weeks.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Saturday discussed with visiting US officials efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostages-for prisoners deal in the Palestinian enclave, El-Sisi’s office said.


Saudi FM joins Arab, US diplomats to discuss Syria’s future

Saudi FM joins Arab, US diplomats to discuss Syria’s future
Updated 49 min 6 sec ago
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Saudi FM joins Arab, US diplomats to discuss Syria’s future

Saudi FM joins Arab, US diplomats to discuss Syria’s future
  • Arab diplomats seek assurances from Turkiye that it supports an inclusive political process

AQABA, Jordan: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan joined top diplomats from the US, Turkiye, the European Union and Arab nations in Jordan on Saturday for talks on Syria following the ousting of President Bashar Assad earlier this week.

Prince Faisal led the Kingdom’s delegation at the meeting, held under the auspices of the Arab League, which focused on supporting a Syrian-led transitional political process to address the challenges faced by the Syrian people.

Discussions emphasized restoring Syria's national institutions, ensuring the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and supporting the aspirations of its citizens for a secure and dignified life.

The meeting also included prominent officials, such as Prince Musab bin Mohammed Al-Farhan and Saudi Ambassador to Jordan Nayef Al-Sudairy.

Outgoing US President Joe Biden’s administration has begun engaging with the victorious militant groups including Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which led a lightning assault that ended in the capture of Damascus on Sunday.

Biden sent Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region this week to seek support for principles that Washington hopes will guide Syria’s political transition, such as respect for minorities.

Meanwhile Syria’s northern neighbor Turkiye has for years supported Syrian opposition forces looking to oust Assad and is poised to play an influential role in Damascus.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday that his country’s embassy in the Syrian capital would resume work on Saturday, after Turkiye’s intelligence chief visited this week.

Syria’s neighbor Jordan was hosting Saturday’s gathering in Aqaba. Russia and Iran, who were Assad’s key supporters, were not invited.

Blinken, UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pederson and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Fidan and foreign ministers from Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar met around a circular table at a Jordanian government guesthouse. There was no Syrian representative at the table.

Blinken, meeting Pederson at his hotel earlier on Saturday, said it was a time of “both opportunity but also real challenge” for Syria.

Arab diplomats attending the talks said they were seeking assurances from Turkiye that it supports an inclusive political process that prevents partition of Syria on sectarian lines.

Turkiye and the United States, both NATO members, have conflicting interests when it comes to some of the militants. Turkiye-backed militants in northern Syria have clashed with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The SDF, which controls some of Syria’s largest oil fields, is the main ally in a US coalition against Daesh militants. It is spearheaded by YPG militia, a group that Ankara sees as an extension of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought the Turkish state for 40 years and who it outlaws.

Blinken told Turkish officials during a visit to Ankara on Thursday and Friday that Daesh must not be able to regroup, and the SDF must not be distracted from its role of securing camps holding Daesh fighters, according to a US official with the US delegation. Turkish leaders agreed, the official said.

Fidan told Turkish TV later on Friday that the elimination of the YPG was Turkiye’s “strategic target” and urged the group’s commanders to leave Syria.

* With Reuters