Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman meets Syria’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 2, 2025. Photo: Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS

Syria‘s foreign minister has told Saudi Arabian officials that the new leadership in Damascus wants to set up a government involving all parts of Syrian society following the overthrow of Bashar Al-Assad last month.

Minister Asaad Hassan Al-Shibani was making the first foreign trip by a member of Syria‘s new administration as Western and regional powers seek signs on whether it will impose strict Islamic rule or show inclusivity in government.

Al-Shibani and Syria‘s defense minister met with Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman in Riyadh on Thursday.

“Through our visit, we conveyed our national vision of establishing a government based on partnership and efficiency that includes all Syrian components, and working to launch an economic development plan that opens the way for investment, establishes strategic partnerships, and improves living and service conditions,” Al-Shibani said in a post on X.

Since ousting Assad on Dec. 8, Islamist rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) have sought to reassure Arab countries and the international community that they will govern on behalf of all Syrians and not export Islamist revolution.

HTS was al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate until it broke off ties in 2016.

Saudi Arabia backed the rebels who fought Assad at the onset of the Syrian civil war.

More recently, Riyadh had embarked on a path of normalizing ties with the Assad government, paving the way for Syria to return to the Arab League in 2023, in an effort to reduce Iranian influence in the country and to stem the flow of drugs including the methamphetamine captagon.

A Saudi source close to the government told Reuters the kingdom was committed to safeguarding the peace in Syria and that fostering stability was a top priority.

“At this critical juncture, our focus is on delivering essential humanitarian aid to the people of Syria, and we are exploring opportunities for expanded assistance in collaboration with regional partners,” the source added.

The post Syria to Include All Sectors in New Government, Foreign Minister Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Houthi policemen ride on the back of a patrol pick-up truck during the funeral of Houthi terrorists killed by recent US-led strikes, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

JNS.org — The Israeli military overnight Thursday downed a missile fired by Houthi terrorists in Yemen that triggered air-raid sirens in central Israel, including in Jerusalem, the greater Tel Aviv area, and parts of Judea.

The missile was intercepted in Israeli airspace, according to the Israel Defense Forces, which was probing reports of debris falling in the city of Modi’in, located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

There were no immediate reports of direct injuries or damage.

However, Magen David Adom emergency medics treated numerous people who were hurt while rushing to shelter, as well as others suffering from acute anxiety.

Flights in and out of Ben-Gurion International Airport were halted for about 30 minutes due to the Houthi attack, with two planes diverting to Larnaca in Cyprus.

Hours later, the military said that the Air Force had intercepted a drone launched from Yemen.

The unmanned aerial vehicle was downed before crossing into Israeli territory; thus no alerts were activated in accordance with policy.

On Monday night, the Israeli Air Force intercepted a missile fired by Houthi terrorists in Yemen at central Israel, in what was the seventh such nighttime attack over the past two weeks.

The missile was downed before crossing into Israeli territory, according to the military. Air-raid sirens were nevertheless activated due to fears of falling fragments from the interception.

Last Friday night, the IDF intercepted a Houthi missile that triggered air-raid sirens across the Jerusalem, Judea and Dead Sea areas. It was the first time sirens sounded in the capital since the Iranian attack on Oct. 1.

The previous night, sirens blared in the greater Tel Aviv area as the IDF intercepted another Houthi missile fired from Yemen. A US THAAD anti-missile battery assisted in the interception, in the first such instance since the system was deployed to Israel in October.

Houthi terrorists have launched more than 200 missiles and 170 drones at Israel in support of Hamas since the terrorist invasion of the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023.

On Dec. 26, the Israeli Air Force conducted strikes on the western coast of and deep inside Yemen, including at Sanaa International Airport in the Houthi-controlled capital. The targets included the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations, in addition to terrorist infrastructure in the Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Kanatib ports.

“These military targets were used by the Houthi terrorist regime to smuggle Iranian weapons into the region and for the entry of senior Iranian officials. This is a further example of the Houthis’ exploitation of civilian infrastructure for military purposes,” the IDF said.

Speaking from IAF headquarters after the strike on the second night of Chanukah, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is engaged in a modern-day Maccabean struggle.

“We are determined to cut off this terrorist arm of Iran’s axis of evil,” the prime minister said. “We will persist in this until we complete the task.”

The post IDF Downs Houthi Missile Fired From Yemen first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Palestinian Youth Movement protesters speaking in Times Square, New York City, NY, USA on Jan. 1, 2025. Photo: Ethan Johnson/SIPA USA via Reuters Connect

Some experts and lawmakers are drawing a link between the Islamist ideology that seemingly motivated the New Year’s Day terrorist attack in New Orleans and the pro-Hamas demonstration in New York City that took place hours later.

On Wednesday, hours after a US Army veteran who pledged allegiance to Islamic State (ISIS) drove a truck into a crowd of New Year’s Day revelers in New Orleans and killed at least 14 people, protesters marched through New York City, chanting slogans condemning both America and Israel.

Hundreds of anti-Israel demonstrators descended upon the streets of Manhattan, sporting signs calling to “End Zionism,” “End all US aid to Israel,” and for “No War With Iran.” Many of these activists also carried Palestinian flags and bellowed slogans such as “intifada revolution!” — a slogan that many consider to be a call for violence against Israelis, Jews, and Westerners more broadly.

“We’re sending you back to Europe, you white b–ches,” a protester yelled at participants of a pro-Israel counter-demonstration. “Go back to Europe! Go back to Europe!”

The demonstration was organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), a group that plans anti-Israel demonstrations across the United States. PYM has repeatedly praised Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7.

US lawmakers were quick to slam the anti-Israel demonstrations, accusing them of fomenting unwarranted hatred toward the United States and the Jewish state.

“These protesters in New York City are marching not to condemn the ISIS terrorist attack against their own country but to falsely accuse their own country, as well as Israel, of terrorism,” wrote Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), one of the most strident allies of Israel in the US Congress.  

“The hatred for America and Israel far exceeds the hatred for actual terror, apartheid, and genocide in the world,” Torres continued. “For an ideologue, ideology has more reality than reality itself.”

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), another stalwart ally of Israel, also linked the New Orleans terror attack to the New York City demonstrations, saying that “hours after a jihadist sympathizer killed 10 Americans, pro-Hamas agitators are marching through New York City calling for a global intifada.”

“The governor and the mayor must put an end to this nonsense — now,” Lawler added. “Silence is not an option.”

Israeli diplomat Yaki Lopez similarly linked the two incidents, posting on social media that “pro-Hamas demonstrators chanted ‘intifada revolution’ in New York City while jihadist terrorists carried out a deadly attack in New Orleans, killing over a dozen Americans.”

“There’s little distinction between the actions of [the suspect in] New Orleans, who used a truck as a weapon and terrorist attacks in the West Bank where cars are used to run over Israelis,” added Joe Truzman, a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of its Long War Journal. “It’s terrorism, yet there are people in this country who support ‘resistance’ and ‘intifada.’”

US federal agencies have established a link between domestic anti-Israel protests and foreign actors. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said in July that the Iranian regime has organized “influence efforts” to undermine trust in American institutions, adding that “actors tied to Iran’s government” have encouraged and provided financial support to rampant anti-Israel demonstrations. Haines also said that Iran has weaponized social media against the Jewish state and America, spreading misleading propaganda regarding the ongoing war in Gaza. 

Meanwhile, experts have warned of a rising global terror threat in the year following Hamas’s Oct. 7 atrocities. Last May, experts explained to The Algemeiner that “lone wolf” terrorists  inspired by ISIS and al Qaeda could carry out attacks on US soil, incensed by the ongoing war in Gaza and inspired by terrorist violence abroad.

“As I look back over my career in law enforcement, I’m hard-pressed to come up with a time when I’ve seen so many different threats, all elevated, all at the same time,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in April.

The post Experts, Lawmakers Suggest Same Hateful Ideology That Motivated New Orleans Attack Also Behind Pro-Hamas NYC March first appeared on Algemeiner.com.