Middle East updates: Israel targets Syria air defenses

A senior Hamasofficial said a fresh round of Gazaceasefire talks had begun in Qatar.

"Our movement is dealing with these negotiations positively and responsibly," Abdul Rahman Shadid said in a statement.

This comes after the first six-week phase of the ceasefire deal between Israel and militant group Hamas came to an end on March 1, with both sides unable to agree on how to proceed.

Hamas is seeking immediate negotiations for the next phase to begin, while Israel wants to extend the first phase.

"We hope that the current round of negotiations leads to tangible progress toward beginning the second phase," Shadid said.

There have been several deadly incidents since the ceasefire began on January 19. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the agreement between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syria's new government would benefit all Syrians.

The SDF, which controls much of Syria's northeast, signed an agreement to join Syria's new state institutions on Monday. 

According to Erdogan, the agreement's implementation "will contribute to the country's security and stability."

"We attach great importance to the territorial integrity of our neighbor Syria, the preservation of its unitary structure, and the strengthening of its unity and stability," Erdogan added.

The deal allows for SDF-controlled civilian and military institutions in Syria's northeast to be integrated with the state, and for border crossings, an airport, and oil and gas fields there to come under the Damascus administration's control.

Israel has agreed to release five Lebanese nationals who were detained during the war with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah last year.

A statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the detainees would be released as "a gesture to Lebanon's new president," Joseph Aoun, who has been in office since January.

The release was secured "in coordination with the United States," the statement added.

Citing an unnamed US official, media reported on Tuesday that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to open talks to resolve border disputes between the neighbors.

Israel invaded southern Lebanon in October 2024, after nearly a year of simmering cross-border conflict between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.

Israel says 56 of its soldiers and more than 2,700 Hezbollah fighters were killed in the invasion. 

The Lebanese government says Israel killed 2,720 people, the majority civilians.

A ceasefire was agreed to on November 27.

The United Nations has reported that whole families were killed during the recent wave of sectarian violence in western Syria.

"In a number of extremely disturbing instances, entire families — including women, children and individuals 'hors de combat' (non-combatants) — were killed, with predominantly Alawite cities and villages targeted in particular," UN human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told a press conference in Geneva.

"There is a huge number of people who have been suffering in Syria, in the coastal areas for five days — and this needs to stop," Kheetan said.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the clashes between government forces and supporters of ousted leader Bashar Assad have killed more than 1,000 civilians.

The vast majority of those killed are members of the Alawite minority community, to which the deposed former leader Assad belongs.

The Observatory has said many of the civilians were executed by government troops or their allies.

"According to many testimonies collected by our office, perpetrators raided houses, asking residents whether they were Alawite or Sunni before proceeding to either kill or spare them accordingly. Some survivors told us that many men were shot dead in front of their families," the UN spokesman added.

An independent human rights commission backed by the United Nations has heard reports of physical abuse by Israeli forces and settlers against Palestinian detainees.

During the hearings for the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Palestinians described being detained for days while naked, being punched in the genitals and being starved.

Their claims could not be independently verified.

The commission is led by former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay and was set up by the UN-backed Human Rights Council.

The commission's findings could potentially be used as evidence to prosecute Israel for war crimes or other human rights violations.

Israel has refused to cooperate with the commission or the UN council. It has also repeatedly denied mistreating Palestinians in custody.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said soldiers shot and killed three Palestinian militants during a military operation in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli soldiers "encountered several armed terrorists" during the raid in the city of Jenin.

"During the exchange of fire, they eliminated two of the terrorists and struck an additional operative," the IDF said in a statement.

It added that a third militant was "eliminated" after he "opened fire toward IDF soldiers" in Jenin.

The IDF said it arrested 10 other militants during the operation.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said four people, including a 58-year-old woman, were killed in the Jenin raid.

At least four people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip, Palestinian authorities said.

Officials from Gaza's civil defense agency told the AFP news agency that four people had been killed "as a result of an Israeli strike on a group of citizens in the Netzarim area, south of Gaza City."

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said an aircraft had struck "several terrorists engaged in suspicious activity posing a threat to IDF troops." 

The strike comes as mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States discuss a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The deal outlined three six-week phases aimed at securing the release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for a number of Palestinians held by Israel, returning to a "sustainable calm," and the end of Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip.

The first phase of the deal ended on March 1 without an agreement in place on how to proceed to the next phases.

Hamas has accused Israel of reneging on the deal and refusing to begin the ceasefire agreement's second phase. Israeli negotiators want the first stage of the deal to be extended.

Last week, Israel cut off humanitarian and electricity supplies to the Palestinian enclave in a bid to apply pressure on the militant group to extend the first phase of the agreement.

Out of the 251 hostages who were kidnapped during the October 7 Hamas attack that preceded the war with Israel, 58 are still being held in Gaza, including 34 who have died, according to the Israeli military.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have agreed to integrate their de facto autonomous institutions into the new government in return for constitutional and language rights.

The agreement is to merge SDF institutions with the new government and see the Kurdish-led alliance hand over border checkpoints and control of oil and gas fields in the north and northeast of the country to the government.

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The Kremlin has said Russia wants to see a "united, prosperous, developing, predictable and friendly" Syria.

Moscow also warned that instability in the country since the overthrow of Bashar Assad in December could have "disastrous consequences" for the whole Middle East region.

Russia was among Assad's staunchest international supporters. The ousted leader fled to Moscow after he was overthrown in December.

Syria was rocked by a major surge in violence last week, amid clashes between Assad loyalists and the new interim government's forces.

More than 1,000 people — most of whom were civilians — were killed during the sectarian violence in Latakia on Syria's coast, where the majority of the population were members of Assad's minority Alawite sect.

The United Nations says entire families including women and children were among the dead.

A UN spokesperson said human rights chief Volker Türk had called for an investigation by the interim Syrian government into the killing of civilians.

Israel says its fighter jets struck air defense targets in southern Syria overnight.

Command positions and sites storing weapons and other Syrian military equipment were also hit, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

"These targets were struck in order to eliminate future threats," the IDF said, adding that they "posed a threat to the State of Israel and IDF activities."

Syrian state media reported at least 17 strikes on sites used by the former Syrian army, including an observation post and multiple tanks.

Israel's military has significantly increased its activities in Syria since former leader Bashar Assad was ousted in December.

Since then, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes and moved troops into the UN-patrolled demilitarized buffer zone dividing the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and southern Syria, including on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon.

Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for southern Syria to be completely demilitarized. He also warned that his right-wing coalition government would not tolerate forces from Syria's new Islamist-led government near Israeli territory.

Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and his government have demanded that Israel immediately withdraw from Syrian territory. 

Israel's advance into Syria has also drawn criticism from the international community.

Here you can follow the main developments currently taking place in the Middle East region.

We will bring you updates from Israel's latest strikes on military targets in Syria and the situation in the West Bank after an Israeli raid.