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Young Israeli Girl Injured in Iranian Missile Attack Released From Rehab
Amina Al-Hassouni, 7, was critically wounded in Iran’s April 13 missile attack on the Jewish state. Photo: Courtesy.
Doctors have released from rehabilitation Amina Al-Hassouni, an 8-year-old Bedouin girl from the village of Al-Fura’a who was seriously injured in the April 13, 2024, Iranian missile and drone strike on Israel, the Islamist regime’s first direct attack on the Jewish state.
Israeli media reported on Tuesday on Al-Hassouni’s release, which followed about a year of recovery.
Shrapnel from an Israeli interceptor missile struck Al-Hassouni in her head during the attack, resulting in six weeks of a medically induced coma, multiple surgeries, and more than three months’ recovery at Beersheva’s Soroka Medical Center before starting her rehabilitation in July 2024.
Dr. Miki Gideon, head of the hospital’s pediatric neurosurgery department, operated on Al-Hassouni and described her injury as “severe, complex, and devastating.” He said at the time that “to see Amina today — fully conscious, communicating, smiling, and ready for the next step in her rehabilitation — fills our hearts with hope and strengthens our hands.”
The April attack by Iran included a barrage of more than 300 missiles and drones, almost all of which Israel intercepted, leaving Al-Hassouni as the only injury. US forces used warships in the eastern Mediterranean Sea to shoot down some of the projectiles, including more than 70 drones and at least three missiles. US fighter jets also shot down drones.
“When Amina was admitted to the unit that Saturday night, it was hard to believe that the small and fragile girl actually survived her severe injury,” Dr. Isaac Lazar, director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Soroka University Medical Center, said when she began her rehabilitation. “Much thanks go to the multi-professional team that treated her with great dedication and professionalism, but mostly thanks to Amina’s strength, her desire to live and recover, and her family members, who never left her bed side during the long and difficult days of hospitalization.”
Lazar added, “We were delighted to see Amina recover and get stronger until today, when she is moving to the rehabilitation ward. Amina, whose injury was so severe that we highly doubted whether she would survive, taught us what a war for life is. Her mother, father, and brother, who did not give up, stayed with her day and night and continued to talk, hug and demand from her that she get better, got Amina back.”
The girl’s father Mohammed blamed Israeli policy impeding the building of shelters in their officially unrecognized Bedouin community for his daughter’s injury. Mohammed said that Israel destroys “anything we build to protect ourselves from danger” and that he thought “if we were treated as citizens and had access to a shelter, my daughter would not be in the intensive care unit right now.”
Iran’s attack in April came in response to a suspected Israeli strike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria. The operation killed seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a military force and internationally designated terrorist organization, including two senior commanders. One of the commanders allegedly helped plan the Hamas terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel.
The operation to defend Israel from the Iranian attack involved close coordination with the US. “An American officer sits in the control room of the Arrow weapons system and essentially conducts the coordination with the US systems, shoulder-to-shoulder,” Moshe Patel, director of missile defense at Israel’s Defense Ministry, said at the time.
“The Iranian threat met the aerial and technological superiority of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces], along with a strong fighting coalition,” IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said following the attack, noting that “99 percent of the threats launched towards Israeli territory were intercepted — a very significant strategic achievement” — and that “of approximately 170 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that Iran launched, zero crossed into Israeli territory.”
Referencing the injuries sustained by Al-Hassouni, Hagari said at the time that “we wish her a speedy recovery.” He added that “Iran committed a very serious act tonight, pushing the Middle East towards escalation. We are doing and will do everything necessary to protect the security of the civilians of the State of Israel.”
More than one year after Iran’s unprecedented aerial attack, US President Donald Trump’s administration has begun negotiations with the theocratic regime in Tehran, aiming to derail the development of nuclear weapons by a state that has vowed to destroy Israel and spent billions supporting terrorist groups working toward that goal. Last month, Iran revealed the construction of a new underground missile launching facility.
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Iran Says It Has Replaced Air Defenses Damaged in Israel War
The S-300 missile system is seen during the National Army Day parade ceremony in Tehran, Iran, April 17, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iran has replaced air defenses damaged during last month’s conflict with Israel, Iran’s Defah Press news agency reported on Sunday quoting Mahmoud Mousavi, the regular army’s deputy for operations.
During the conflict in June, Israel’s air force dominated Iran’s airspace and dealt a heavy blow to the country’s air defenses while Iranian armed forces launched successive barrages of missiles and drones on Israeli territory.
“Some of our air defenses were damaged, this is not something we can hide, but our colleagues have used domestic resources and replaced them with pre-arranged systems that were stored in suitable locations in order to keep the airspace secure,” Mousavi said.
Prior to the war, Iran had its own domestically-made long-range air defense system Bavar-373 in addition to the Russian-made S-300 system. The report by Defah Press did not mention any import of foreign-made air defense systems to Iran in past weeks.
Following limited Israeli strikes against Iranian missile factories last October, Iran later displayed Russian-made air defenses in a military exercise to show it recovered from the attack.
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Calm Reported in Syria’s Sweida, Damascus Says Truce Holding
Members of Internal Security Forces stand guard at an Internal Security Forces’ checkpoint working to prevent Bedouin fighters from advancing towards Sweida, following renewed fighting between Bedouin fighters and Druze gunmen, despite an announced truce, in Walgha, Sweida province, Syria, July 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Karam al-Masri
Residents reported calm in Syria’s Sweida on Sunday after the Islamist-led government announced that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and a US envoy signaled that a deal to end days of fighting was being implemented.
With hundreds reported killed, the Sweida bloodshed is a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, prompting Israel to launch airstrikes against government forces last week as it declared support for the Druze. Fighting continued on Saturday despite a ceasefire call.
Interior Minister Anas Khattab said on Sunday that internal security forces had managed to calm the situation and enforce the ceasefire, “paving the way for a prisoner exchange and the gradual return of stability throughout the governorate.”
Reuters images showed interior ministry forces near the city, blocking the road in front of members of tribes congregated there. The Interior Ministry said late on Saturday that Bedouin fighters had left the city.
US envoy Tom Barrack said the sides had “navigated to a pause and cessation of hostilities”. “The next foundation stone on a path to inclusion, and lasting de-escalation, is a complete exchange of hostages and detainees, the logistics of which are in process,” he wrote on X.
Kenan Azzam, a dentist, said there was an uneasy calm but the city’s residents were struggling with a lack of water and electricity. “The hospitals are a disaster and out of service, and there are still so many dead and wounded,” he said by phone.
Another resident, Raed Khazaal, said aid was urgently needed. “Houses are destroyed … The smell of corpses is spread throughout the national hospital,” he said in a voice message to Reuters from Sweida.
The Syrian state news agency said an aid convoy sent to the city by the government was refused entry while aid organized by the Syrian Red Crescent was let in. A source familiar with the situation said local factions in Sweida had turned back the government convoy.
Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported on Sunday that Israel sent urgent medical aid to the Druze in Sweida and the step was coordinated with Washington and Syria. Spokespeople for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Foreign Ministry and the military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Druze are a small but influential minority in Syria, Israel and Lebanon who follow a religion that is an offshoot of a branch of Shi’ite Islam. Some hardline Sunnis deem their beliefs heretical.
The fighting began a week ago with clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters. Damascus sent troops to quell the fighting, but they were drawn into the violence and accused of widespread violations against the Druze.
Residents of the predominantly Druze city said friends and neighbours were shot at close range in their homes or in the streets by Syrian troops, identified by their fatigues and insignia.
Sharaa on Thursday promised to protect the rights of Druze and to hold to account those who committed violations against “our Druze people.”
He has blamed the violence on “outlaw groups.”
While Sharaa has won US backing since meeting President Donald Trump in May, the violence has underscored the challenge he faces stitching back together a country shattered by 14 years of conflict, and added to pressures on its mosaic of sectarian and ethnic groups.
COASTAL VIOLENCE
After Israel bombed Syrian government forces in Sweida and hit the defense ministry in Damascus last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had established a policy demanding the demilitarization of territory near the border, stretching from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to the Druze Mountain, east of Sweida.
He also said Israel would protect the Druze.
The United States however said it did not support the Israeli strikes. On Friday, an Israeli official said Israel agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to the Sweida area for two days.
A Syrian security source told Reuters that internal security forces had taken up positions near Sweida, establishing checkpoints in western and eastern parts of the province where retreating tribal fighters had gathered.
On Sunday, Sharaa received the report of an inquiry into violence in Syria’s coastal region in March, where Reuters reported in June that Syrian forces killed 1,500 members of the Alawite minority following attacks on security forces.
The presidency said it would review the inquiry’s conclusions and ensure steps to “bring about justice” and prevent the recurrence of “such violations.” It called on the inquiry to hold a news conference on its findings – if appropriate – as soon as possible.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights said on July 18 it had documented the deaths of at least 321 people in Sweida province since July 13. The preliminary toll included civilians, women, children, Bedouin fighters, members of local groups and members of the security forces, it said, and the dead included people killed in field executions by both sides.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, another monitoring group, has reported a death toll of at least 940 people.
Reuters could not independently verify the tolls.
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Pope Leo Calls for End to ‘Barbarity of War’ After Strike on Gaza Church
Pope Leo XIV leads the Angelus prayer in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, July 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Pope Leo called for an end to the “barbarity of war” on Sunday as he spoke of his profound pain over an Israeli strike on the sole Catholic church in Gaza.
Three people died and several were injured, including the parish priest, in the strike on the Holy Family Church compound in Gaza City on Thursday. Photos show its roof has been hit close to the main cross, scorching the stone facade, and shattering windows.
Speaking after his Angelus prayer, Leo read out the names of those killed in the incident.
“I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, of indiscriminate use of force and forced displacement of the population,” he said.
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