US Forces, Allies Raid A Town In Syria Pursuing Gun Dealers, ISIS - Reports

Bennett departed Israel on Sunday for Abu Dhabi and is scheduled to meet the de facto ruler, Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan on Monday, in the highest-level visit since the countries formalized relations last year.

Israel and the UAE are said to have had security and intelligence cooperation even before they established full relations last year. Both countries are concerned over multiple threats posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Now they can have an open cooperation, possibly in the defense field.

Israel has offered the UAE military cooperation but so far has withheld the sale of its tired-and-tested Iron Dome air defense systems. Israel Hayom reported on Sunday that officials are concerned over close ties between some circles in the UAE and Iran, but at the same time Israel is also concerned about a rapprochement between Tehran and Abu Dhabi.

In a surprising move the UAE sent its top security advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Tehran on December 6, who met with top officials, including President Ebrahim Raisi. The visit took place as Iran’s nuclear talks with world power in Vienna were making no progress and Tehran presented it as a diplomatic victory that regional Sunni Muslim countries were willing to have meetings at top level.

Raisi in his remarks hinted at UAE’s ties with Israel. "The Zionists in the region pursue their evil plans and wherever they can find a foothold, they try to use it as a tool for expansion and sedition, therefore, regional countries should be careful," he said.

UAE’s motives could be both hedging its bets if Iran decides to pursue a nuclear bomb and as a means of pressure on Israel to acquire the air defense systems it wants.

The UAE and its ally Saudi Arabia have been fighting Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen since 2015. They also backed opposing sides in the Syrian civil war. The Sunni Gulf states see Iran’s aggressive regional policies, including arming and financing militant networks as a serious threat to their security. But a nuclear Iran would pose a much higher threat and regional countries might be planning for this contingency.

Current nuclear talks are in deadlock as Iran continues to enrich uranium and gets closer to a nuclear breakout threshold.

A Lebanese security official said authorities have no exact numbers of the casualties yet but that there could be as many as 12 dead in the Burj Shamali camp in the port city of Tyre.

Camp residents had earlier said explosions shook the camp, adding that the nature of the blasts was not immediately clear.

Ambulances rushed to the scene, residents told The Associated Press by phone.

Several videos showing continuing explosions in the night sky were posted on social media.

Initial reports said a fire had started in a diesel tanker and spread to a nearby mosque controlled by the Palestinian militant group.

The fire triggered explosions of some weapons that appeared to have been stored inside the mosque, according to the residents.

NNA Said that the state prosecutor in southern Lebanon has asked security agencies and arms experts to inspect the arms storage site that belongs to Hamas.

Lebanon is home to tens of thousands of Palestinians refugees and their descendants.

Reporting by AP

Bennett was speaking during a meeting with the leaders of Cyprus and Greece.

His comments came as Syrian state media reported that Israeli warplanes fired missiles at the port of Latakia earlier in the day.

Israel has attacked hundreds of Iran-related military bases and positions in Syria since 2017, but the port of Latakia is not a usual target.

Syria's state media quoted an unnamed military official as saying that several missiles struck the containers area in the port, setting some of them on fire.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitoring group, said the airstrike hit arms shipments for fighters loyal to Iran.

There was no comment from the Israeli military.

Israel has previously acknowledged, however, that it targets the bases of Iran-allied militias, such as Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group that has fighters deployed in Syria.

It says it attacks arms shipments believed to be bound for the militias.

Report by AP

Syria's state media quoted an unnamed military official as saying that several missiles struck the containers area in the port setting some of them on fire.

The official gave no further details.

It was a rare attack on the port of Latakia, a vital facility where much of Syria's imports are brought into the war-torn country.

Syrian state TV reported that five explosions were heard in the port and a huge fire erupted in the containers area and fire engines have rushed to the port.

There was no comment from the Israeli military.

Israel has staged hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled Syria over the years but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.

Some of the strikes in the past had targeted the main airport in the capital Damascus.

Israel has acknowledged, however, that it targets the bases of Iran-allied militias, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah group that has fighters deployed in Syria.

Israel says Iranian presence on its northern frontier is a red line, justifying its strikes on facilities and weapons inside Syria.

Fighting shows no sign of abating despite intense international diplomacy to end the seven-year-old conflict.

The funerals took place as fighting has raged in the gas-rich Marib region, while warplanes from the coalition have intensified their bombing of Sanaa, Marib and other areas.

The Houthis have also stepped up cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia using armed drones and missiles.

An honor guard carried the coffins - draped with flags, flowers and photographs of the dead - with military music through the capital Sanaa. Relatives gathered to mourn their loved ones.

"We are in these days inspired by these martyrs' pride and dignity and say to them: 'congratulations! You have preceded us to a paradise as wide as the heavens and earth'," said Ali Muhyaddin, a relative of one of the dead.

The war in Yemen has killed tens of thousands and caused what the United Nations describes as the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

UN-led efforts to agree a ceasefire have stalled in the conflict, which is seen largely as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Report by Reuters