Middle East & North Africa

HATAY, Turkey; 21 Jan 2019; AA: Turkey’s counter-terrorist operation in Manbij, Syria will start at the right time, Turkey’s defense minister said on Sunday.

“The current Syrian problem areas are Manbij and east of the Euphrates; our plans, preparations and logistics are completed.

"The operations in Manbij and east of the Euphrates will start when the right time comes,” said Hulusi Akar in Hatay, southern Turkey, marking the first anniversary of the start of Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch.

JERUSALEM (AP) — In an extraordinary statement, the Israeli military confirmed early Monday that it attacked Iranian military targets in Syria, hours after carrying out a rare daylight air raid near the Damascus International Airport.

The statement was issued hours after Israeli missile defenses intercepted an incoming missile over the Golan Heights in the wake of the airport raid.

“We have started striking Iranian Quds targets in Syrian territory,” the military statement said. “We warn the Syrian Armed Forces against attempting to harm Israeli forces or territory.”

20 Jan 2019; DW: Tehran has rejected claims that a Bundeswehr employee, arrested last week, was passing information to the Islamic Republic. Media reports have suggested the suspect worked for Iranian intelligence for many years.

Iran's government has denied any connections to a German-Afghan national arrested this week in Germany accused of carrying out espionage on behalf of Tehran.

DAMASCUS, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian air defenses intercepted a fresh Israeli missile strike targeting the areas in southern Syria on Sunday, state news agency SANA reported.

The Israeli strike targeted areas in the surroundings of the capital Damascus in southern Syria, said the report.

It added that all Israeli missiles were destroyed before reaching their targets.

It is the latest in a string of Israeli missile strikes targeting military bases in Syria.

Last week, Israel carried out missile strikes on military bases around the capital Damascus.

GENEVA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The UN refugee agency UNHCR on Saturday evening issued a press statement saying that according to emerging reports, an estimated 170 people had either died or gone missing in two latest shipwrecks on the Mediterranean Sea.

UNHCR cited "recent information from NGO sources" as saying that some 53 people have died on the Alboran Sea, western Mediterranean, but it did not mention the exact time of the accident.

CAIRO, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Cairo Court for Urgent Matters on Sunday delayed to Feb. 24 the examination of a lawsuit demanding the amendment of a constitution article regulating the number of president's terms.

The lawsuit, filed by several people, calls on the House of Representatives' speaker to request the parliament to convene with the aim of voting on a proposal to amend article 140 of the Constitution, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.

GAZA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least 30 Palestinians were injured in clashes on Friday between hundreds of protesters and Israeli soldiers stationed at the borderline of eastern Gaza Strip, according to Gaza medics.

At least 30 Palestinian demonstrators were shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers' gunfire during clashes in eastern Gaza Strip, said Ashraf al-Qedra, a spokesman of the Health Ministry in Gaza.

JERUSALEM, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Israel demolished the home of a 17-year-old Palestinian who stabbed to death an Israeli civilian last September, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Friday.

The apartment of the Palestinian killer, identified as Khalil Jabarin, was located in the village of Yatta in the southern West Bank, according to an IDF statement.

During the demolition, dozens of Palestinians hurled rocks at IDF soldiers who responded with riot dispersal means.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The UN-marked armored vehicle which the head of a UN mission in Yemen was riding in was struck by gunfire on Thursday but all of the occupants are safe, said a UN spokesman.

"Gen. (Patrick) Cammaert, who chairs the RCC (Redeployment Coordination Committee), and his team had left a meeting of the government of Yemen RCC representatives (and) as they were leaving, one UN-marked armored vehicle sustained one round of small arms fire," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

ANKARA, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The bomb attack in Syria's northern city of Manbij killed 20 people, including five U.S. soldiers, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.

The Islamic State (IS) militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the incident is trying to influence U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pull out from Syria, Erdogan said in a joint press conference with the visiting Croatian president.