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Top UN official in Yemen rejects Israeli claim Sanaa airport was military target

A top UN official in Yemen has rejected allegations that Sanaa airport, which was targeted in an Israeli airstrike on Thursday, has any military purpose. Julien Harneis and his team were at the airport when the strikes hit some 300 metres from them, dest

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Israeli troops burn northern Gaza hospital after forcibly removing staff and patients

Israeli troops stormed one of the last hospitals operating in northern Gaza on Friday, igniting fires and forcing many staff and patients outside to strip in winter weather, the territory’s health ministry said. More information with FRANCE 24 correspond

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'Butcher of Hama': Assad's uncle Rifaat fled to Dubai, Lebanese officials say

An uncle of the recently ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has fled, via Lebanon, to the United Arab Emirates, according to Lebanese officials. Rifaat al-Assad, known as the “Butcher of Hama” for overseeing the violent suppression of a rebellion in

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Israeli forces raid north Gaza hospital, forcibly removing staff and patients

Israeli troops raided and torched the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza on Friday forcing staff and patients, some of whom had to be unhooked from oxygen, to move to other locations, the Gaza health ministry said.

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Israeli strikes hit Yemen as Netanyahu fires warning

Israeli air strikes pummelled Sanaa's international airport and other targets in Yemen on Thursday, with Huthi rebel media reporting six deaths. Details with FRANCE 24 correspondent in Jerusalem, Noga Tarnopolsky.

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WHO chief says he was at Yemen airport as Israeli bombs fell nearby

A new round of Israeli airstrikes in Yemen on Thursday targeted the Houthi rebel-held capital and multiple ports, while the World Health Organization's director-general said the bombardment occurred nearby as he prepared to board a flight in Sanaa, with

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An uneasy calm settles over Syrian city of Homs after outbreak of sectarian violence

Syria's new security forces checked IDs and searched cars in the central city of Homs on Thursday, a day after protests by members of the Alawite minority erupted in gunfire and stirred fears that the country's fragile peace could break down. Story by Li

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Syria authorities launch operation in Assad stronghold but warn against incitement as tensions brew

Syria's new authorities on Thursday launched a security crackdown in a coastal region where 14 policemen were killed a day before, vowing to pursue "remnants" of the ousted Bashar al-Assad government accused of the attack. Story by Camille Knight.

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Elderly woman killed in coastal city stabbing attack, Israeli hospital says

A woman in her eighties has been killed in a stabbing in the coastal city of Herzliya, Israel, an Israeli hospital said Friday. A 28-year-old suspected of being the attacker was arrested by Israeli police in the occupied West Bank.

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Israel intercepts missile fired from Yemen after fresh strikes hit Sanaa, IDF says

Israel has intercepted a missile launched from Yemen early on Saturday, the military said. Israel had previously hit the Houthi-held capital of Sanaa's international airport with air strikes on Thursday, the same day that the head of the WHO was boarding

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Thursday, december 26, 2024

Israeli strikes kill dozens in Gaza, including hospital staff and journalists

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza on Thursday killed at least 45 people, according to Palestinian sources, including hospital workers and five journalists. The strikes come as medics say plummeting winter temperatures claimed the lives of several newborns in di

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Syria's new rulers arrest official behind Saydnaya death penalties

Syria's new government has detained military justice official Mohammed Kanjo Hassan, who issued death sentences at Saydnaya prison under ousted president Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed Thursday. His arrest follows dead

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Israel strikes Yemen's Sanaa airport during visit of WHO chief

Israeli air strikes hit Sanaa International Airport and other sites in Yemen on Thursday, killing three. The strikes, in response to Houthi attacks on Israel, also injured a plane's crew member, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who was at the a

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Syria's new rulers launch crackdown in Assad stronghold after deadly clashes

Syria's new authorities on Thursday launched a crackdown in a Bashar al-Assad stronghold where 14 security personnel were killed a day before, vowing to pursue "remnants" of the ousted regime. Security forces clashed with locals in Tartus province on Wed

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‘Nobody was spared’: Damascus suburbs still haunted by Assad regime’s chemical attacks

The Ghouta area east of Damascus witnessed some of the most vicious and sustained fighting of the Syrian civil war, including deadly chemical weapons attacks launched by ousted strongman Bashar al-Assad's regime. FRANCE 24 reporters visited Ghouta’s bomb

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UN calls on Israeli forces to leave south Lebanon, cites 'continuing destruction' despite truce

The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) voiced alarm on Thursday at the "continuing destruction" of infrastructure in southern Lebanon despite Israel's late November ceasefire with Hezbollah, calling for a "timely withdrawal" of Israeli

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Wednesday, december 25, 2024

Syrian forces clash with Assad remnants over arrest of Saydnaya prison officer

At least 14 people were killed Wednesday in Syria's Tartus province when security forces under the country's new leadership clashed with remnants of Bashar al-Assad's regime during the attempted arrest of an officer linked to notorious Saydnaya prison.

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Israel, Hamas trade blame over ceasefire impasse

The Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel traded blame on Christmas Day over their failure to agree on a ceasefire deal despite continuing efforts by US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

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Cities worldwide mark subdued Christmas Eve in shadow of Gaza, Ukraine wars

Christians gathered at the Church of the Nativity in the holy city of Bethlehem on Tuesday to mark a second Christmas Eve overshadowed by war as Pope Francis launched observation of the global holiday with a sombre mass in the Vatican.

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Tuesday, december 24, 2024

Five men convicted over Amsterdam football violence against Israelis

A Dutch court on Tuesday convicted five men for their part in last month's violence against Israeli football fans in Amsterdam that shocked the world and sparked accusations of anti-Semitism.

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Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under the shadow of war in Gaza

Palestinian security forces deployed around the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank holy city of Bethlehem on Tuesday with the war in Gaza casting a long shadow over the city's usual celebrations. Missing were the decorations, tourists and pilgrims t

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Israeli military says intercepted projectile that was launched from Yemen

The Israel military said in a statement that sirens sounded in several areas in central Israel following the launch of a projectile from Yemen. Details by FRANCE 24 correspondent in Jerusalem, Noga Tarnopolsky.

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Hundreds of Christians protest in Syrian capital after Christmas tree burned

Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in Christian areas of Damascus early Tuesday to protest the burning of a Christmas tree near Hama in central Syria.

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Syrian Druze brigade reluctant to give up their arms in uncertain times

Syria's new rulers have called for the disbanding of all armed groups. But in the southwestern town of Suwayda, a small group of Druze fighters are reluctant to give up their arms. These fighters from the Druze religious minority say they prefer to rely

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Hundreds of Syrian Christians protest burning of Christmas tree

Video clips posted on social media of a public Christmas tree being burned in a Christian majority town near Hama in central Syria sparked a protest in Damascus early Tuesday. Syria’s victorious Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group said the tree was burned by fore

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Syrian Druze brigade reluctant to give up arms in uncertain times

Syria's new rulers have called for the disbanding of all armed groups. But in the southwestern town of Suwayda, a small group of Druze fighters are reluctant to give up their arms. Fighters from religious minority say they prefer to rely on their own men

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Syrian authorities say armed groups agree to disband, merge under defence ministry

Syria's new authorities announced Tuesday that they had reached an agreement with the country's rebel groups on their dissolution and integration into the regular defence forces.

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Monday, december 23, 2024

Israel admits to killing former Hamas leader Haniyeh in Tehran

Defence Minister Israel Katz on Monday confirmed Israel's involvement in the July killing of former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, marking Israel's first public admission of responsibility for the operation.

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Jordanian, Qatari envoys meet Syria's new leader for reconstruction talks

Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, hosted high-level talks on Monday with Arab diplomats, including Jordan and Qatar, focusing on reconstruction and future cooperation. The meetings marked a significant shift in regional ties after Bashar al-Assad's ov

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Just 12 trucks delivered aid in northern Gaza since October, Oxfam says

Only 12 trucks have distributed food and water in northern Gaza since October, Oxfam reported Sunday, accusing Israel of systematic delays and obstruction amid the worsening humanitarian crisis. The aid group highlighted incidents where aid-receiving she

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Sunday, december 22, 2024

Syrian rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa says state to control all weapons

Syria’s armed factions will be dissolved and enter the national army with all weapons coming under state control, the country’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said Sunday. At a press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Sharaa said the

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Syria’s new rulers name defence, foreign ministers as interim cabinet takes shape

The key defence and foreign affairs portfolios in Syria's transitional government go to prominent figures in the insurgency that overthrew Bashar al-Assad nearly two weeks ago, tasked with restructing the country's army and establishing "international re

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Israeli strikes across Gaza kill at least 28 people, Palestinian rescuers say

Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Sunday killed at least 28 people, according to Palestinian medical officials. Rescuers said four children were killed in a strike on a school that the Israeli military said was used by Hamas milita

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Two US Navy pilots shot down over Red Sea in 'friendly fire' incident

Two US Navy pilots were recovered alive after their aircraft was shot down over the Red Sea early on Sunday in what the US military described as "an apparent case of friendly fire". The military earlier said it struck Houthi targets in Yemen, hours after

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Saturday, december 21, 2024

‘Tolerance’ or ‘vengeance’: Future of Syria hangs in the balance

The future of Syria is hanging in the balance following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime nearly two weeks ago. Back in Paris after reporting from northern Syria, FRANCE 24's Andrew Hilliar recounts his encounters with Syrians who are calling for

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Yemen's Houthis claim Israel attack after 'projectile' lands in Tel Aviv area

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for a missile attack in central Israel on Saturday after the Israeli military acknowledged it failed to intercept a projectile that hit Tel Aviv, lightly injuring 16 people.

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Friday, december 20, 2024

'We cannot characterise what happened in Syria as Turkey's doing': Turkish FM Fidan

In an interview with FRANCE 24 in Ankara, Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed his country's position in the wake of the ouster of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. Fidan claimed that Turkey played no role in the Syrian rebel group HTS's ouster o

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Sweden ends UNWRA funding, boosts Gaza aid through alternative channels

Sweden announced it would cease funding the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) after Israel decided to ban its operations from January, citing alleged links to the October 7, 2023 attacks. Instead, Sweden said it will increase humanitarian aid to Gaza

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US scraps terrorist bounty for Syria’s HTS leader after first official talks

The US on Friday dropped its $10 million reward for the capture of Ahmed al-Sharaa, leader of Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebel group, following the first in-person official meeting in Damascus between the two sides.

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Fallout of Assad’s ouster in Syria ripples down the Mediterranean to Libya

The loss of its military power in Syria has led Russia to turn its sights on Libya. Could the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria see the strengthening of his Libyan counterpart, Khalifa Haftar?

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Thursday, december 19, 2024

Leader of Syrian Kurdish forces speaks to FRANCE 24

Mazloum Abdi, the military leader of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), told FRANCE 24 that Turkey is "attacking" Syria's Kobani region under the guise of self-defence against the SDF. Abdi discussed his proposition to achieve a ceasefire wi

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Thousands take to the streets in northeast Syria in support of Kurdish-led force

Residents in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli took to the streets on Thursday in a demonstration supporting the resistance of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the recent attacks by pro-Turkey fighters in the region.

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HRW accuses Israel of 'acts of genocide' in Gaza

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday accused Israel of causing the deaths of thousands of Palestinians by systematically restricting and targeting Gaza's water supply in a campaign that amounts to "acts of genocide".

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Israel launches deadly strikes on Yemen after intercepting Houthi missile

Israel launched air strikes targeting Houthi military targets, including ports, power plants, and oil factories in Yemen's capital Sanaa and the strategic port city of Hodeidah on Thursday, killing at least nine people after the military said it had inte

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UN sifting through evidence of Assad's human rights transgressions

As Syrians continue to search for traces of loved ones who were disappeared under Bashar al-Assad's regime, UN workers in the country have taken advantage of Assad's ouster to gather unprecedented amounts of "game changing" evidence of the former Preside

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Wednesday, december 18, 2024

Syrian regime's atrocities 'have been documented all along', war crimes investigator says

UN investigators, who have been collecting evidence of the Syrian regime's crimes for years, say the fall of Assad offers a seminal opportunity to gather first-hand evidence. FRANCE 24's Charlotte Hughes reports. Sharon Gaffney speaks to Janine Di Giovan

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What we know about the latest Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks

Renewed negotiations have raised hopes for a three-phase truce between Israel and Hamas, with diplomatic sources citing “final details” in ongoing Qatar-led negotiations. The proposed multi-phase deal could include hostage exchanges and steps towards Gaz

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Is rebel-stronghold Idlib a model for Syria’s future?

Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has governed in Idlib, northwest Syria, since 2017. Now that the Assad regime has fallen at the hands of the Islamist group, could Idlib be a model for Syria's future governance?

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Is rebel-stronghold Idlib a model for Syria’s future?

Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has governed in Idlib, northwest Syria, since 2017. Now that the Assad regime has fallen at the hands of the Islamist group, could Idlib be a model for Syria's future governance? FRANCE 24's Andrew Hilliar, Karim Y

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UN calls for 'free and fair elections' in Syria following Assad's fall

The United Nations on Wednesday called for "free and fair elections" in Syria, urging swift action to support the country’s transition after Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied rebels ousted president Bashar al-Assad from power. Read our

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Gaza mental healthcare worker Zahra Legris on helping people traumatised by war

A mental health worker who is working to give psychological first aid in the south of Gaza has spoken to FRANCE 24 from there about the horrors of what is happening in the region, and how she and her colleagues go about trying to help. Zahra Legris is Me

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Tuesday, december 17, 2024

Syrian mass graves expose "machinery of death" under Assad, top prosecutor says

An international war crimes prosecutor said on Tuesday that evidence emerging from mass grave sites in Syria has exposed a state-run "machinery of death" under toppled leader Bashar al-Assad in which he estimated more than 100,000 people were tortured a

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'This is the best moment for a comprehensive peace effort' in the Middle East: expert

The United States said Tuesday it felt "cautious optimism" on the prospects of reaching a ceasefire in the 14-month war in Gaza, although it acknowledged that similar hopes had been dashed before. Henri Barkey, Professor of International Relations at Leh

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UN envoy warns Syria conflict not over yet

A UN envoy warned on Tuesday that Syria's protracted conflict "has not ended yet", even as the country's victorious Islamist-led rebels stepped up contacts with governments that deemed ousted president Bashar al-Assad a pariah. The UN's migration chief,

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Syria ex-rebel military chief says to dissolve armed wing

The military chief of Syria's victorious Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham said on Tuesday the group would be "the first" to dissolve its armed wing and integrate into the armed forces. Earlier, Syrian rebel leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, better known by his

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Moderate enough? West eyes normalisation with HTS-led Syria

Just as the leader of the Islamist-led alliance that toppled Syria's Assad announced he was shedding his wartime alias Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, can Ahmed al-Sharaa's HTS shed its past as the al-Nusra Front, a hardline offshoot of al Qaeda? FRANCE 24's Was

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Hamas says Gaza ceasefire deal 'closer than ever before’

An agreement to halt the 14-month-old war in Gaza and free Hamas-held hostages in the Palestinian enclave could be signed in coming days with talks in Doha making progress, according to US and Hamas officials. This comes just a day after an Israeli deleg

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The captagon trafficking ring: How Assad turned Syria into a narco state

Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, rebel HTS fighters in Syria have found huge stockpiles of an illegal drug called captagon in several warehouses in and around the capital Damascus. The Assad family was at the head of a vast narcotics trafficki

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A celebration of Palestinian cuisine: Fadi Kattan on his cookbook 'Bethlehem'

A Franco-Palestinian chef from Bethlehem has spoken to FRANCE 24 about how his love for cooking has helped him get through the region's current problems. Fadi Kattan's book "Bethlehem" is a love letter to his hometown and is said to conjure the colours a

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Exclusive: Syria’s de facto new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa calls for lifting of sanctions

Syrian rebel leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, better known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, called for the lifting of international sanctions in an exclusive interview Monday with a group of foreign journalists that included FRANCE 24’s Wassim Nasr.

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