CAIRO/JERUSALEM -- The Arab League and Egypt on Monday condemned an Israeli strike on Gaza's Nasser hospital that killed at least 20 people, an incident Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a "tragic mishap."
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit called the attack "just one episode in a relentless series of massacres deliberately targeting civilians." The Egyptian Foreign Ministry labelled it a "new episode in a long series of blatant Israeli violations of international humanitarian law." In a statement, Netanyahu said Israeli military authorities were conducting a thorough investigation. "Israel values the work of journalists, medical staff, and all civilians," he said. (Israel-Gaza-Hospital-Strikes)
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BEIRUT -- Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem on Monday rejected calls to disarm the Lebanese armed group, insisting its weapons remain essential to Lebanon's sovereignty and defense.
"The weapons that protect us, honor us, and preserve our land and dignity -- we will not abandon them," Qassem said in a speech broadcast by al-Manar TV. "Those who want to strip us of these weapons want to strip us of our very soul. That will never happen." (Hezbollah-Disarmament-Rejection)
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DAMASCUS -- Syria's foreign affairs authorities on Monday condemned what they described as Israeli military incursions in the southern region, including the countryside of the capital Damascus, calling them a "dangerous escalation" and a blatant violation of the country's sovereignty.
In a statement carried by state news agency SANA, the foreign affairs authorities said Israeli forces made a ground incursion into Beit Jinn in the countryside of Damascus and took control over the Tal Bat al-Wardeh area in the countryside of Quneitra province. (Syria-Israel-Condemnation)
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TEHRAN -- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday reaffirmed Iran's opposition to nuclear weapons during a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a statement by the Iranian Presidency.
Pezeshkian pledged to personally oversee the accelerated construction of the Rasht-Astara railway, a key link in the International North-South Transport Corridor connecting the Persian Gulf with Russia and Central Asia, along with other bilateral projects. (Iran-Putin-Calls) ■
