The night was eventful in the Middle East. After dozens of airstrikes carried out yesterday by the Israeli army in Lebanon, killing 16 people and causing significant destruction, Syria says it was in turn targeted by Israel, on the night of Wednesday October 16 to Thursday October 17.
According to the official SANA agency, a nighttime air attack attributed to the Israeli army hit the Syrian coastal town of Latakia, stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad, causing fires there. Israel frequently accuses Hezbollah, against whom it has been at open war since September 23 in Lebanon, of transporting weapons from Syria, a country supported by Iran in the same way as the Lebanese Islamist movement.
Information to remember
⇒ Syria denounces Israeli “aggression” on coastal town of Latakia
⇒ Around fifteen British NGOs call for donations to the Middle East
⇒ The United States and the UN warn Israel against a “starvation policy”
07:20
Gaza, Lebanon, West Bank: around fifteen British NGOs launch an “urgent” appeal for donations
A coalition of British NGOs, including Oxfam and Action Against Hunger, is launching an “urgent” national appeal for donations this Thursday to provide the necessary humanitarian aid to Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank. “Over the past year, conflict in the Middle East has destroyed lives across the region and millions of people have fled their homes in search of safety” and “are in urgent need of food, shelter and care medical”, write in a press release these fifteen NGOs united within the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC).
Founded in 1963, the DEC aims to pool calls for donations “in crisis situations abroad where significant humanitarian needs remain unsatisfied”. The British government announced that it would itself match the amount raised up to 10 million pounds, or nearly 12 million euros.
07:00
US military bombs Houthi facilities in Yemen
The United States struck five underground munitions depots of Houthi rebels in Yemen using B-2 stealth strategic bombers, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Thursday morning. “US forces targeted several underground Houthi facilities housing several types of weapons that the Houthis have used to target civilian and military vessels throughout the region,” the minister said in a statement. This is the first known employment to date of B-2 bombers by American forces since the start of their strikes against the Houthi rebels, a grouping supported by Iran.
06:45
Syria reports rare Israeli ‘aggression’ on city of Latakia
The official Syrian agency Sana reported on the night of Wednesday to Thursday an “Israeli” air attack which caused fires in the coastal town of Latakia, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) citing a strike on an “arms warehouse”. It is rare for this port city to be targeted by strikes.
“The anti-aircraft defense intercepted hostile targets above Latakia,” reported the Sana agency, referring to “fires started by Israeli aggression” at the entrance to this city, stronghold of President Bashar el-Assad, ally of Lebanese Hezbollah in war against Israel. On the night of October 2 to 3, the OSDH reported drone strikes targeting another ammunition depot, around twenty kilometers to the south.
06:40
The United States and the UN warn Israel against a “policy of starvation”
The United States and UN officials warned Israel on Wednesday against a “starvation policy” which would be orchestrated in Gaza to “turn it into a weapon of war”, which the Jewish state completely rejected. At a new UN Security Council in New York devoted to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, American Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Wednesday that such a policy “would be atrocious and unacceptable and would have legal implications international and in American law.
This is the first time that Washington has so clearly warned its unwavering ally, after having threatened in writing this week to suspend part of its military assistance, without improving humanitarian aid in the devastated and besieged Palestinian territory.
06:30
After a new incident, Israel assures that the Blue Helmets “are not a target”
Israel assured last night that peacekeepers were “not a target” after the UN said an Israeli tank opened fire on a peacekeeper watchtower in southern Lebanon and denounced “direct and visibly deliberate shots”. Israeli forces are “carrying out operations against the Hezbollah terrorist organization” in southern Lebanon, the Israeli army said in a statement sent to AFP. “The infrastructure and forces of UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, Editor’s note) are not a target and each accident contrary to the rules will be examined in detail, adds the text, adding that “the incident in question is in examination course”.