Latest | Israeli drone strike kills prominent Syrian businessman with close ties to Assad

An Israeli drone strike on a car near the Lebanese-Syrian border on Monday killed a prominent Syrian businessman who was under U.S. sanctions and had close ties to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, pro-government media and a representative of an Iran-backed group reported.

Israel has for years launched regular attacks on targets in Syria linked to Iran, its powerful regional backer, but rarely acknowledges them. The attacks have increased in the past five months against the backdrop of the war in Gaza and ongoing clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces on the Lebanese-Israeli border.

A day earlier, the Israeli military carried out a massive airstrike on Mohammed Deif, killing at least 90 people, including children, according to local health authorities. Hamas said on Sunday that ceasefire talks in the Gaza Strip were ongoing and that its military commander was in good health.

Deif’s condition was still unclear after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday evening that there was “still no absolute certainty” that he had been killed. Hamas officials also provided no evidence to back up their claim about the health of one of the main perpetrators of the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war in which militants swept into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and abducting about 250.

Since then, more than 38,400 people have been killed by Israeli ground offensives and bombings in the Gaza Strip, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. The count does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are crowded into squalid tent camps in the center and south of the country. Israeli restrictions, fighting and the breakdown of law and order have severely limited humanitarian assistance, leading to widespread hunger and fueling fears of famine.

At the moment:

— Israel has attacked the military leader of Hamas in Gaza. Who is he and what does this mean for the war?

— Hamas says ceasefire talks in Gaza have not been interrupted and claims military chief survived Israeli attack

— A suspected attack by Yemeni Houthi rebels hits a ship in the Red Sea

— German authorities arrest a Lebanese man accused of procuring drone components for Hezbollah

— British Foreign Secretary visits Israel and the West Bank and calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza

Here is the latest information:

Media and authorities report that an Israeli drone strike kills a prominent Syrian businessman with ties to the Assad government

BEIRUT — An Israeli drone strike on a car near the Lebanese-Syrian border on Monday killed a prominent Syrian businessman who was under U.S. sanctions and close to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, pro-government media and other allied officials reported.

Mohammed Baraa Katerji was killed instantly in his SUV on the highway between Lebanon and Syria, according to a representative of an Iran-backed group. The representative spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The pro-Syrian government newspaper Al-Watan quoted anonymous sources as saying that Katerji was killed in a “Zionist drone attack on his car,” meaning Israel. No further details were given.

Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, told The Associated Press by phone that he had no independent confirmation that Katerji was killed. He said it appeared that Katerji was targeted because he funded the Syrian resistance against Israel in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, as well as because of his ties to Iran-backed groups in Syria.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on Katerji in 2018 for allegedly acting as Assad’s middleman for oil trade with the terrorist militia “Islamic State” and facilitating arms shipments from Iraq to Syria.

Katerji and his brother Hussam – commonly known in Syria as the “Katerji brothers” – entered the oil business several years after the conflict in the country broke out in March 2011.

Israel has for years launched regular attacks in Syria on targets linked to Iran, its powerful regional backer, but rarely acknowledges them. The attacks have increased in recent months against the backdrop of the war in Gaza and ongoing clashes between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces on the Lebanese-Israeli border.

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Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue contributed to this report.

Israeli airstrike kills three people in central Gaza, including a baby and his grandmother

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — A young boy and his grandmother were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Monday on a residential building in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, hospital officials said. A man in the street was also killed and at least six people were injured.

The Palestinian Red Crescent announced on X (formerly Twitter) that 11 injured people were hospitalized following the attack in the al-Salam neighborhood west of Deir al-Balah.

The Associated Press footage showed a Red Crescent ambulance, blaring its horn, carrying the injured to the crowded entrance of Al-Aqsa Hospital. One man sat upright on a stretcher, blood running down his dust-covered face. Another man lay on his side, his skin peeling and burned, but he managed to point his index finger toward the sky – a gesture Muslims use to show their faith in God. A wounded boy grimaced as he was carried inside.

At the hospital, the dead baby, dressed only in a diaper, was placed on top of his grandmother’s body and wrapped in a purple blanket. Next to him lay another dead man, his head and upper body covered by a blood-stained white sheet.

Later, in the hospital courtyard, several dozen men said a prayer of condolence before the grandmother and baby. As the mourners folded their arms across their chests, at least one man struggled to suppress his emotions as he wiped tears from his eyes.

In the last 24 hours, at least 80 people were killed and 216 injured and hospitalized throughout the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Since the war began in October, a total of 38,664 Palestinians have been killed and 89,097 injured, according to Gaza health authorities. The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

A suspected attack by Yemeni Houthi rebels hits a ship in the Red Sea

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted a ship in the Red Sea on Monday as a new American aircraft carrier approaches the region after the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower began its journey home.

The captain reported that an unmanned small boat struck the vessel twice and two other manned vessels fired at the ship, the British military’s UKMTO said. This was followed by two separate waves of rocket attacks, about 45 minutes apart, that exploded in close proximity to the ship off the coast of Al Hudaydah in Yemen. The ship, whose name and flag were not disclosed, and all crew are safe, the UKMTO said in an alert to sailors.

The Houthis did not comment immediately. However, it may take hours or even days for them to admit to an attack.

The rebels have attacked more than 70 ships with missiles and drones during their offensive, killing four sailors. Since November, they have captured one ship and sunk two.

The Houthis claim that their attacks target ships with links to Israel, the US or Britain as part of the rebels’ support of Hamas in the war against Israel. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the war – including some bound for Iran, which supports the Houthis.