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Israeli Army: Gunfire from Syria Hits Golan, no Injuries

Gunfire from Syria hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights overnight close to an Israeli military vehicle monitoring the ceasefire line but causing no injuries, the military said on Monday.

"There was gunfire near an Israeli military vehicle which was driving along the security fence," a military spokeswoman said, adding the incident had occurred late on Sunday.

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Hamas: Iran Losing Arab Sympathy for Backing Assad

Iran must reconsider its support for the Syrian regime if it does not want to alienate Arab public opinion, the deputy chief of the Iranian-backed Palestinian movement Hamas said on Monday.

"Iran's position in the Arab world, it's no longer a good position," Mussa Abu Marzuk, whose movement's politburo had been based in Damascus, said during a briefing to reporters at his new headquarters in the Egyptian capital.

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Paris Gives 1.2 Million Euros in Urgent Aid to Syria Opposition

France has allocated 1.2 million euros ($1.5 million) in emergency aid to the newly formed opposition Syrian National Coalition, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Monday.

"The humanitarian situation in Syria is deteriorating. It is imperative that the international community act," Fabius said in a statement.

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France Grants 1.2 Million Euros to Syrian Opposition

France has allocated 1.2 million euros ($1.5 million) in emergency aid to the newly formed opposition Syrian National Coalition, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Monday.

"The humanitarian situation in Syria is deteriorating. It is imperative that the international community act," Fabius said in a statement.

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UNRWA: $53 Million Needed for Palestinians in Syria

The United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said Monday it needs $53 million (41 million euros) in donations to provide aid to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in war-torn Syria.

"We have around 300,000 to 500,000 (Palestinian) people who have been impacted by the conflict, and they require humanitarian assistance," UNRWA director for Syria Michael Kingsley told a news conference in Jordan's Dead Sea region.

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Syria Rebel Officers Plan Post-Assad Army

Syrian rebel officers have formed a commission to lay the foundations for a future army and liaise with the political opposition on issues such as arming fighters on the ground, a spokesman said on Monday.

The announcement came in a video posted to YouTube on Sunday which shows some 50 Free Syrian Army officers wearing military fatigues assembled in a dimly lit basement room, one of whom reads a statement listing the objectives and basic principles agreed on during their gathering.

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Turkey Insists Patriots Would Be 'Purely Defensive'

The Turkish army insisted Monday that any deployment by NATO of Patriot missiles on the border with Syria would be used for defensive purposes only and not to launch any attack, after Damascus warned that the move would be a "provocation".

"The system is a purely defensive measure, against possible air and missile threats from Syria," the army command said in a statement.

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NGO: Syria Rebels Seize Dam, Limit Aleppo Access

Rebel fighters seized control of a key dam on the Euphrates river in northern Syria, limiting the army's overland access to the battleground city of Aleppo to a single route, a monitoring group said on Monday.

"The capture of the Tishrin dam is very important. It means that the army basically has only one road left to Aleppo," said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

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Israeli Army: Gunfire from Syria Hits Golan

Gunfire from Syria hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights overnight close to an Israeli military vehicle monitoring the ceasefire line but causing no injuries, the military said on Monday.

"There was gunfire near an Israeli military vehicle which was driving along the security fence," a military spokeswoman said, adding the incident had occurred late on Sunday.

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Suleiman Hinges on Foreign Support for Successful National Dialogue

President Michel Suleiman is hinging on foreign support to guarantee the success of the national dialogue set to be held on Thursday at the Baabda Palace, the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper reported.

Sources told the newspaper published on Monday that the March 14 opposition is expected to attend the all-party talks to express its support to Suleiman's recent stances.

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