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Israeli forces arrest Palestinian journalist in occupied West Bank

Israel's military said it arrested Ali Samoudi, a well-known journalist, in an overnight raid in Jenin, a Palestinian city in the north of the territory.

Samoudi previously worked for international outlets including CNN and Al Jazeera. In 2022, he was injured in the same spray of gunfire that killed prominent Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. U.S. officials say Akleh was shot dead by an Israeli sniper.

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At least 12 killed overnight by Israeli strikes in Gaza

At least 12 people including children were killed overnight in Gaza by Israeli strikes, hospital workers said Wednesday.

The pre-dawn strikes hit three houses in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp, according to staff at the Al-Aqsa hospital, which received the bodies. Among the dead were three children, including two brothers whose bodies arrived in pieces, according to the hospital's morgue.

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UK, US carry out joint air strikes in Yemen

Britain said Wednesday it had carried out air strikes on buildings in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to produce drones in a joint military operation with the United States.

"UK forces participated in a joint operation with US forces against a Houthi military target in Yemen," the Ministry of Defense said in a statement, adding that the strike took place at night about 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of the capital Sanaa.

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13 killed in new sectarian clashes near Damascus

Syria state media said Wednesday that 13 people had been killed in clashes that erupted overnight between security forces and "outlaw groups" near Damascus, as sectarian violence a day earlier spread.

"The number of dead after outlaw groups targeted civilians and security forces" in the Sahnaya area "has risen to 13 dead and a number of wounded", state news agency SANA said, citing a health ministry statement, without elaborating on the identity of those killed.

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Amnesty accuses Israel of 'live-streamed genocide' against Gaza Palestinians

Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Israel of committing a "live-streamed genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza by forcibly displacing most of the population and deliberately creating a humanitarian catastrophe.

"Since 7 October 2023, when Hamas perpetrated horrific crimes against Israeli citizens and others and captured more than 250 hostages, the world has been made audience to a live-streamed genocide," Amnesty's secretary general Agnes Callamard said in its annual report.

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Israel's domestic security chief to step down in June, defusing battle with Netanyahu

The head of Israel's internal security service says he will resign in June over the failure of his agency to warn of Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attacks — defusing an escalating battle with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar announced his resignation Monday, saying he will formally step down June 15.

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In reverse of stance, US says UNRWA isn't immune from lawsuits

The Trump administration has decided that the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees is not immune from being sued, reversing the U.S. government's position that the organization was protected from civil liability.

The Justice Department revealed its new stance in a letter it filed in federal court in New York on Thursday as part of a lawsuit that aims to hold the agency, known as UNRWA, accountable for the Oct. 7, 2023, deadly attack on Israel by Hamas. The change in position underscores the hardened perspective toward the agency under the Trump administration following allegations by Israel that some of the agency staff was involved in the Hamas rampage.

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Lawyers file legal complaint in UK over Qaradawi's detention in UAE

Lawyers for an Egyptian poet and activist who has been allegedly detained and held in solitary confinement without charge in the United Arab Emirates for over 100 days have filed a legal challenge in the U.K. against UAE authorities.

The filing was made Friday on behalf of Abdulrahman al-Qaradawi, an outspoken critic of Egypt's government who had been residing in Turkey. It urges London's Metropolitan Police to launch a criminal investigation into the activist's alleged abduction, torture and extradition to the UAE.

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9 Druze fighters killed in clashes with security forces near Damascus

Clashes broke out in a suburb of the Syrian capital early Tuesday between local gunmen belonging to the minority Druze sect and pro-government fighters, leaving at least nine people dead, a war monitor and an activist group said.

The fighting in the southern Damascus suburb of Jaramana broke out after an audio clip circulated on social media of a man attacking Islam's Prophet Muhammad. The audio was attributed to a Druze cleric, who later denied being involved.

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Netanyahu says Israeli planes intercepted Iranian ones sent to rescue embattled Assad

Israeli warplanes last year intercepted Iranian aircraft headed toward Syria, preventing them from delivering troops meant to assist the country's embattled president at the time, Bashar Assad, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.

The remarks in a speech gave a new glimpse into Israel's thinking in the final days in power for Assad, a longtime enemy who was overthrown by insurgents last December.

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