JERUSALEM/GAZA -- The Israeli military said on Saturday its forces had killed at least two senior members of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement in strikes in Gaza City, including a commander accused of involvement in the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet security agency said in a joint statement that As'ad Abu Sharaiya, head of the Mujahideen Brigades -- the armed wing of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement -- was killed in a joint operation. They accused Abu Sharaiya of playing "a key role" in the Hamas-led assault in 2023 and being "directly involved in the abduction, detention, and killing of Israeli hostages." (Israel-Palestinian Militant-Killing)
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TEHRAN -- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday his country is ready for inspection of its nuclear facilities, but does not accept coercion.
Pezeshkian made the remarks in a meeting with Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu in the Iranian capital Tehran while commenting on the ongoing indirect nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington, according to a statement published on the website of his office. (Iran-Nuclear Facilities-Inspection)
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DAMASCUS -- Syria's information affairs chief Hamza al-Mustafa announced on Saturday the closure of the al-Rukban camp, a remote desert settlement near the Syrian-Jordanian border that once housed nearly 10,000 displaced persons.
"With the dismantling of al-Rukban and the return of the displaced, a tragic and painful chapter of Syria's displacement story comes to an end," al-Mustafa said in a statement posted on social media platform X. (Syria-Closure-Refugee Camp)
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JERUSALEM -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) said in a joint statement on Saturday that they had recovered the body of a Thai national who was abducted alive during the Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The body of 36-year-old farm worker Nattapong Pinta was recovered in a joint operation by the IDF and the ISA in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Friday. (Israel-Thai Hostage-Recovery) ■
