Syria's air defences opened fire late on Wednesday on missiles launched by Israeli warplanes at a military air base in the central province of Homs, shooting down some of them, state media said.
State news agency Sana said the Israeli warplanes fired the missiles from southern Syria soon after 10pm. The missiles were aimed at the T-4 airbase in Homs, but Syrian air defences intercepted most of them, Sana said. It said that there was only material damage but did not specify if it was inside the base.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, also reported the strikes.
There were also Israeli strikes on Monday night, reportedly hitting military posts south of the capital of Damascus. Two Syrian soldiers were killed and seven others wounded in the attacks.
Israel rarely comments on such reports, but is believed to have carried out dozens of raids targeting Iran’s military presence in Syria.
Since June, Syria has accused Israel of conducting at least nine air raids on its territory.
Iran, a key ally of the Syrian government, is considered by Israel a regional and security threat. Israel has vowed to prevent any permanent Iranian military build-up in Syria, particularly near the border.
In recent months, Israeli officials have also expressed concern that Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group that operates in Syria, is trying to establish facilities to produce precision-guided missiles. Tensions have also risen along the Israel-Lebanon border.
A Hezbollah member was killed during strikes on Syria last month, and the Lebanese militant group vowed to retaliate. On Sunday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah vowed to kill Israeli soldiers whenever Israel kills Hezbollah fighters in Syria.
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
AT%20A%20GLANCE
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
Defined benefit and defined contribution schemes explained
Defined Benefit Plan (DB)
A defined benefit plan is where the benefit is defined by a formula, typically length of service to and salary at date of leaving.
Defined Contribution Plan (DC)
A defined contribution plan is where the benefit depends on the amount of money put into the plan for an employee, and how much investment return is earned on those contributions.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
