JERUSALEM -- Two Israeli soldiers were killed and four others wounded in two separate attacks in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, according to a statement from the Israeli military released Friday.
In the first attack, Sergeant Yishai Urbach, 20, a combat engineer, was killed when Hamas militants fired a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) at a building in Rafah, where Israeli forces were stationed. Two other soldiers were injured in the assault, with one sustaining serious wounds. The injured soldiers were evacuated by helicopter to a hospital in central Israel.
In the second attack, Sergeant Yam Frid, 21, of the Golani infantry brigade, died when an improvised explosive device (IED) struck the tank he was in, also in Rafah. Two other soldiers in the tank were severely wounded. (Israel-Gaza-Casualties)
- - - -
ISTANBUL -- Police in Istanbul detained 982 people during a large-scale security operation aimed at maintaining public order and identifying criminal suspects, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.
Officers conducted checks at 215 locations across the city on Thursday, inspecting more than 320,000 individuals. Among those detained were 539 people wanted by the police for various crimes. (Türkiye-Police-Arrests)
- - - -
SANAA -- Yemen's Houthi group said on Friday it had launched a "hypersonic ballistic missile" targeting Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, hours after the Israeli military reported intercepting a projectile fired from Yemen.
The Houthis also claimed to have carried out a simultaneous drone strike on a military facility in Tel Aviv. The coordinated attack, announced via the group's al-Masirah television channel, came amid escalating cross-border hostilities. (Yemen-Houthi Attacks-Israeli Airport)
- - - -
TEHRAN -- Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi confirmed on Friday that the next round of indirect talks with the United States will be held in Oman on Sunday, adding the Omani side is expected to announce the time to start the negotiations.
He made the remarks in an interview with Shahrara newspaper on the sidelines of his visit to the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad while commenting on the Omani-mediated talks with the United States on Tehran's nuclear program and the removal of Washington's sanctions. (Iran-US-Talks) ■



