Israel says it attacked Syria, and kidnapped a Syrian citizen linked to Iran

The Israeli military said on Sunday it had raided Syria, and captured a Syrian citizen involved in Iran’s communications. It was the first time in the current war that Israel has announced its military operations in Syrian territory.

Israel has carried out airstrikes in Syria many times over the past yeartargeting members of Hezbollah in Lebanon and officials in Iran, which is a close ally of Hezbollah and Syria. But it has never publicly disclosed any reasons for entering Syria.

The Israeli military said the abduction was part of a special operation “that took place in recent months,” although it did not say exactly when. Syria did not immediately confirm the announcement, but pro-government Syrian radio station Sham FM reported on Sunday that Israeli forces had carried out a “kidnapping operation” over the summer targeting a man in the south of the country.

Israel has carried out an escalating bombing campaign in Lebanon over the past six weeks, as well as ground attacks along the countries’ shared border, vowing to cripple Hezbollah. On Saturday, an Israeli military official said marines raided a town in northern Lebanon, seizing a man they described as a senior Hezbollah official.

The soldiers identified the man as Ali Soleiman al-Assi, who they said lives in the southern Syrian region of Saida. It said the man had been under military surveillance for months and was involved in Iran’s plans to target the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights near the Syrian border.

A body camera video of the raid released by the military showed soldiers arresting a man wearing a white tank top inside the building. The man was brought to Israel for questioning, the military said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Lebanese border on Sunday, saying he was focused on trying to prevent Hezbollah from rearming by using the “oxygen lifeline” of Iranian weapons being transferred to Lebanon via Syria. Israel says its campaign in Lebanon aims to push Hezbollah over the border and end more than a year of fire by the group in northern Israel.

Israeli strikes in Lebanon killed more than 2,500 people last year. In Israel, 69 people have been killed by Hezbollah projectiles.

On the campaign trail for the US presidency this weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged progress along with members of Arab American states who are angry with the Biden administration for continuing US alliances with Israel as the Netanyahu government presses ahead with its war with Hamas. in Gaza.

“I was clear that the rate of death of innocent Palestinians is unconscionable,” Harris told reporters.

In East Lansing, Michigan, he he spoke about this matter immediately after starting his speech. “As president I will do everything in my power to end the war in Gaza, bring the hostages home, end the suffering in Gaza, make sure Israel is safe and make sure the Palestinian people get their right to freedom, dignity and independence. ,” he said.

Some students in East Lansing voiced their opposition Sunday with loud calls for an end to the Israel-Hamas war. At least one attendee was evacuated after calls for a ceasefire.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army continued its offensive in the northern Gaza Strip, where the army said it had been fighting Hamas fighters and regrouped.

Shell fire attacked the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, injuring patients, including children, said hospital director Hossam Abu Safiya in a statement to the media. He said the shells hit the hospital’s nursery, dormitory and water tanks after the World Health Organization delegation finished their visit.

Kamal Adwan and two other nearby hospitals were hit by Israel several times during the fighting. Earlier this month, Israeli soldiers raided Kamal Adwan, detaining a large number of people, including most of the workers, said Abu Safiya during the raid. The military said that those arrested included members of Hamas, without providing evidence, and said that weapons were found in the facility.

But the Israel Defense Forces in a statement denied hitting Kamal Adwan on Sunday, blaming “an explosive device planted by terrorist organizations in Gaza” for the attack.

“Attacks on civilians, including humanitarian workers, and the remnants of Gaza’s public institutions and infrastructure must end,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement on Saturday. “All Palestinians in Northern Gaza, especially children, are at high risk of death from disease, starvation and ongoing bombardment.”

In southern Gaza, an Israeli strike hit a group of people who had gathered outside in the eastern district of Khan Younis, killing at least 8 Palestinians, including four children and one woman, said the emergency department of the Ministry of Health in the area. Nasser city hospital, which received most of the bodies, confirmed these figures.

Palestinian officials said an Israeli airstrike on Saturday hit a clinic in northern Gaza where children were being vaccinated against polio, injuring six people, including four children. The Israeli military has denied responsibility.

Dr. Munir al-Boursh, the director general of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, told the Associated Press that a quadcopter hit the Sheikh Radwan clinic in Gaza City the following Saturday afternoon, a few minutes after the United Nations team left the facility.

UNICEF and WHO, which jointly run the polio vaccination campaign, expressed concern over the reported strike. Rosalia Bollen, a spokeswoman for UNICEF, said the strike occurred during a “temporary moratorium” agreed by Israel to allow vaccinations.

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, a spokesman for the Israeli army, said that “contrary to what was said, the initial review determined that (the Israeli army) did not strike the area at the specified time.”

Could not resolve conflicting accounts. The Israeli army has repeatedly attacked hospitals in Gaza during the war, saying that Hamas is using them for military purposes, allegations denied by Palestinian health officials. Hamas fighters are also active in the north, fighting Israeli forces.

Northern Gaza has been encircled by Israeli forces and largely isolated for the past year. Israel has been carrying out other attacks there in recent weeks that have killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands.

A scaled-down campaign to administer a second dose of polio vaccine began on Saturday in the northern parts of Gaza. It has been postponed since October 23 due to inaccessibility, Israeli bombardment and mass evacuation orders, as well as the lack of assurances of a temporary suspension, the UN said in a statement.

The first doses were administered in September across the Gaza Strip, including the north.

At least 100,000 people have been forced to leave northern Gaza for Gaza City in the past few weeks, but about 15,000 children under the age of ten live in northern towns, including Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, which are inaccessible, according to the UN.

The last phase of the polio vaccination campaign aimed to reach an estimated 119,000 children in the north with a second dose of oral polio vaccine, the organizations said, but “achieving this target is now unlikely due to access issues.”

They say 90% of children in all communities must be vaccinated to prevent the spread of the disease.

The campaign was launched after the first case of polio was reported in Gaza in 25 years – a 10-month-old boy, now paralyzed in his leg. The World Health Organization said that the presence of a case of disability shows that there may be hundreds of others who have been infected with the virus but are not showing symptoms.

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led forces invaded southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducting 250 others. Israel’s offensive has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, noting how many were soldiers but saying more than half were women and children.