JERUSALEM -- The Israeli army's planned takeover of Gaza City is expected to take at least six months, Israel's state-owned Kan TV News reported on Saturday evening.
Citing senior security sources, the channel detailed the army's timetable following the Security Cabinet's approval of the operation on Friday. (Israel-Gaza City-Takeover)
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ADEN, Yemen -- Yemeni government forces repelled a large-scale offensive by the Houthi group in southern Yemen's Dhalea province on Saturday and killed three Houthi militants during the confrontation, a military official told Xinhua.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that the Houthis used heavy artillery in an attempt to break through government defensive lines in the Bab Ghalaq area in northern Dhalea, triggering intense fighting between the group and government forces. (Yemen-Clashes-Casualties)
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DAMASCUS -- Syria's interim authority said Saturday it will not attend planned talks in Paris with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), accusing the group of holding a "separatist" conference on Friday that undermined ongoing integration efforts.
The state-run SANA news agency quoted an unnamed government source as saying that Friday's Hasakah gathering, which was organized by the SDF and attended by Druze and Alawite religious figures, was "a blow" to the negotiation efforts and a "clear violation" of the March 10 agreement. (Syria-SDF-Paris Meeting)
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BEIRUT -- Six Lebanese Army soldiers were killed and an unspecified number of others injured on Saturday when a weapons depot exploded during an inspection and dismantling operation carried out by an army unit in the city of Tyre, southern Lebanon.
The army said in a statement that, "An explosion occurred inside the depot, resulting in an initial toll of six soldiers martyred." (Lebanon-Blast-Deaths) ■
