GAZA: A former Palestinian Authority minister was killed on Sunday in an Israeli strike on his home in the Gaza Strip, the official Palestinian news agency and Hamas health ministry said.
Youssef Salama, the 68-year-old former minister of religious affairs in the Palestinian Authority, was killed in a strike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Wafa news agency and the ministry reported.
Considered close to Fatah, the party of Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas, Salama served as minister between February 2005 and March 2006.
He also served as a preacher at Al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem.
There was no immediate comment on his killing from the Israeli army.
Israel launched a relentless military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the Palestinian militants carried out an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7.
The militants’ attack left about 1,140 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
Israel’s ongoing Gaza offensive has killed more than 21,800 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Israeli strike kills former Palestinian minister in Gaza
https://arab.news/v22hp
Israeli strike kills former Palestinian minister in Gaza
- Israel’s ongoing Gaza offensive has killed more than 21,800 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza health ministry
- Youssef Salama, a former minister of religious affairs in the Palestinian Authority, was killed in a strike on Al-Maghazi refugee camp
Syrian authorities arrest member of elite army unit linked to Assad’s brother
- 4th Armoured Division has been accused of human rights violations and drug smuggling during Syria’s civil war
LONDON: Syrian authorities arrested Nidal Ali Suleiman, a former member of an elite military unit during the regime of Bashar Assad, the Interior Ministry announced on Sunday.
Internal security forces in the Al-Ghab area, in coordination with the Anti-Terror Branch in Hama, arrested Suleiman, who is suspected of involvement in fighting in the Hama region. He is also accused of smuggling weapons to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and taking part in drug trafficking activities.
The 4th Armoured Division was an elite formation of the Syrian Arab Army established in the 1980s. From 2018 until the collapse of the Assad regime, the unit was commanded by Maher Assad, brother of the former president. The division has been accused of committing human rights violations, and was involved in drug manufacturing and smuggling during the civil war from 2011 to 2024.
Maher Assad is believed to have fled to Russia following the collapse of the regime.
Since December 2024, the new government in Damascus has arrested several Assad-era army officers for alleged crimes committed against Syrians during the conflict.
Last week, authorities in Hama detained three people accused of involvement in an armed group linked to remnants of the Assad regime.
Authorities said they remain committed to protecting citizens, maintaining civil peace, and enforcing the law against anyone who jeopardizes the security and stability of the country, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.
