Lebanon Raises Israel-Hezbollah War Death Toll to 2,454
Lebanon on Tuesday raised the toll from six weeks of war between Israel and Hezbollah to 2,454 dead as a fragile 10-day ceasefire holds.
The government's disaster risk management unit in a statement also said 7,658 people had been wounded in the conflict, which began on March 2, days after the broader Middle East war erupted.
Authorities and rescuers in Lebanon have been continuing to recover and identify bodies in areas that were subjected to heavy Israeli strikes.
Arab Interior Ministers Council Condemns Houthi UAV Launch Toward Makkah
The General Secretariat of the Arab Interior Ministers Council strongly condemned reports that the terrorist Houthi militia launched a UAV toward Makkah on Wednesday.
The Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces successfully intercepted and destroyed the UAV before it entered Makkah's prohibited airspace, SPA reported.
In a statement, the General Secretariat said: “While expressing its firm condemnation and absolute denunciation of this cowardly terrorist attack, which constitutes a blatant violation of the rules of international law, a flagrant breach of the sanctity of the Grand Mosque and the holy sites, and a provocation to the feelings of all Muslims, the General Secretariat affirms its full solidarity and complete support for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the measures it takes to protect its territory and holy sites, preserve its security and stability, and safeguard the safety of its citizens and residents.”
Raid on ISIS Site in Daraa Countryside Leaves 3 Syrian Security Personnel Dead
Internal Security Forces raided a site in the town of Al-Sanamayn in the Daraa countryside on Thursday where an armed group affiliated with ISIS was holed up, after tightening the siege around the group and giving its members a deadline to surrender, which they did not heed.
The Internal Security Forces said through their official channels that the security operation in Al-Sanamayn was ongoing, confirming that the outlawed armed group was affiliated with ISIS.
The forces said they had tightened the siege around the group and given its members a deadline to surrender, but they did not respond, prompting the raid on the site where they were holed up.
Earlier on Thursday, three members of the Internal Security Forces were killed and others were wounded in a clash with an armed group in the town of Al-Sanamayn in Daraa Governorate, southern Syria, while carrying out a security raid targeting a wanted individual, according to a statement issued by the Internal Security Forces.
Member of an ISIS cell being arrested in Daraya, Damascus countryside (File Photo - SANA)
A government source said that an "outlawed armed group led by the wanted individual" had "targeted the patrol and engaged its members in a firefight while they were carrying out the mission."
It added that security forces had deployed throughout the town to pursue members of the group and announced a "temporary curfew" there.
A local government source told Agence France-Presse that the wanted individual who clashed with the security forces belonged to the group.
The group carries out attacks from time to time, particularly against Syrian security forces, after urging its members to fight the new authorities following the ouster of former President Bashar Al-Assad in December 2024.
The Syrian government officially joined the international coalition against the extremist group late last year. The group's presence in Syria was concentrated in the north and northeast and in the Badia region, but it also maintains cells in the south.
The group announced in 2022 that its leader, Abu Al-Hassan Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi, had been killed in fighting whose date it did not specify. It later emerged that the fighting had taken place in Daraa Governorate.
Al-Alimi Orders Field Investigation to Document Houthi Violations
Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad Al-Alimi directed the National Commission to Investigate Alleged Human Rights Violations to intensify field monitoring and investigations in Taiz, Hodeidah, Marib, and areas affected by Houthi attacks, as a Yemeni rights network documented the deaths and injuries of dozens of civilians and hundreds of violations in Taiz Governorate in less than two weeks.
During a meeting with the chairman and members of the National Commission to Investigate Alleged Human Rights Violations, Al-Alimi said that the developments witnessed in the country in recent days, particularly in Taiz, Hodeidah, and the western coast, had been accompanied by widespread displacement and attacks on civilian facilities and objects protected under international law.
He noted that the affected sites included warehouses belonging to the United Nations and international organizations, as well as the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre.
Al-Alimi called on the commission, within the framework of its mandate and independence, to intensify monitoring and investigations into incidents related to the recent events, including the killing and starvation of civilians, displacement, forced displacement, attacks on homes and civilian, medical, and educational facilities, damage to displacement camps, the planting of landmines, and any other violations of international humanitarian law or human rights law.
In a separate report, the Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms said it had documented 661 crimes and violations that it said were committed by the Houthi group against civilians in Taiz Governorate between September 3 and 15.
According to the report, the incidents included killings, injuries, field executions, shelling of civilian objects, abductions, arrests, raids on homes, destruction of property, and attacks on vital facilities and infrastructure.
