Middle East & North Africa

DAMASCUS, Aug 28 (NNN-SANA) – Syria’s national railway operator, accused U.S. forces of dismantling infrastructure, including railways, and looting national resources within Syrian territories under their control.

U.S. forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continued to seize infrastructure and machinery, including locomotives and trucks, in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour and the north-eastern province of Hasakah, the General Establishment of Syrian Railways was quoted as saying in a statement.

TEHRAN, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Monday officially started gas production at Phase 11 of the South Pars field located in its southern waters, the official news agency IRNA reported.

The announcement was made in an inauguration ceremony held in the southern port city of Asaluyeh in the presence of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, said the report.

At the ceremony, Raisi said the development project of Phase 11 is being fully implemented by domestic experts, according to a statement published on the website of his office.

DAMASCUS, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Aleppo International Airport in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo went out of service as a result of an Israeli attack targeting the airport early Monday, the Syrian army said in a statement.

The air attack was carried out at about 4:30 a.m. (0130 GMT), from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the northwestern Syrian province of Latakia, according to the statement.

The attack caused material damage to the airport runway and put it out of service, the statement said without providing further details.

DAMASCUS, Aug 27 (NNN-SANA) – Eleven Syrian military personnel were killed, and 20 others were injured yesterday, in a rebel attack in the country’s north-western province of Idlib, a war monitor reported.

The attackers carried out an assault and detonated explosive devices, concealed in tunnels beneath the Syrian army positions, in the southern countryside of Idlib, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

RIYADH, Aug 27 (NNN-SPA) – The Saudi Heritage Commission, yesterday made significant archaeological discoveries at the Al-Abla site, in the south-western Asir region.

The discoveries included evidence of residential and industrial units with gypsum-coated walls and floors, and reservoirs constructed underneath for residential and production use, according to the Saudi Heritage Commission.

Rainwater was channelled down the specially-designed roof, and through the gypsum-lined or pottery channels to be stored until needed, said the commission.

BEIRUT, Aug 27 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanon’s Ministry of Health, yesterday warned that, the number of Hepatitis A cases has sharply increased, since the beginning of this year.

The ministry said, some 1,785 cases have been detected in Lebanon so far, of which 204 are in the Baalbek district in eastern Lebanon.

There were less than 600 Hepatitis A cases in 2022.

The districts of Tripoli, Akkar, Minyeh-Danniyeh and Baalbek registered the biggest surge in cases, and water samples have been collected from epicentres for epidemiological analysis.

RAMALLAH/GAZA, Aug 26 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestine, yesterday, strongly condemned Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir’s “racist statements.”

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a press statement that, it condemned in the strongest terms “the racist statements and stances of Ben-Gvir.”

In an interview with Israel’s N12 News on Wednesday, Ben-Gvir said, the right to life and movement for him and his family, trumped the right to movement for Palestinian Arabs in the occupied West Bank.

DAMASCUS, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Syria on Saturday denied U.S. and French allegations that the country used chemical weapons near Damascus in 2013.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry vehemently condemned recent statements from the French Foreign Ministry and the spokesperson of the U.S. National Security Council about Syrian government forces' involvement in chemical attacks on Syrian soil, calling them "false accusations and fabricated incidents."

25 August 2023; MEMO: Accusing Israel of apartheid is not anti-Semitic, Amos Goldberg, a leading Professor of the Holocaust at Hebrew University in Jerusalem is reported saying in German newspaper, FAZ. The expert on anti-Jewish racism made his remarks in response to controversial comments made earlier this month by Germany’s anti-Semitism commissioner, Dr Felix Klein.

25 August 2023; MEMO: Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz has called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to dismiss National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

Ben-Gvir must be dismissed and replaced, and a new minister, who wants to and can deal with the crisis, must be appointed, Gantz said.

Every minute that passes is a ticking time bomb, Gantz warned.