From Gaza to Syria to Lebanon: A Tumultuous Week in the Middle East
New battle lines were drawn, surprise resignations made and caliphates continue to crumble. Everything you need to know
It was an eventful week in the Middle East. New battle lines were drawn and surprise resignations made as ISIS' caliphate continued to crumble.
- Lebanese PM Hariri Resigns Over Tensions With Hezbollah, Vows Iran's Arms 'Will Be Cut Off'
- Mounting Tensions in Syria and Gaza Throw Israel Into a New State of Emergency
- In Rare Move, Israel Says Ready to Protect Syrian Druze Town Under Attack by Islamic Militants
Here's everything you need to know:
Saudi Arabia: A ballistic missile fired at the Saudi capital of Riyadh from Yemen was intercepted by Saudi missile defence systems, according to reports by state media.
State-owned Al Ekhbariya TV said the missile was brought down north of King Khaled International Airport and that no casualties had been reported.
Syria: On Wednesday, according to reports from Syria, the Israeli air force bombed a Hezbollah weapons factory in central Syria and Syrian anti-aircraft missiles were fired at the planes as they flew over Lebanon.
On Friday, with the help of Russian and Iranian forces, Syrian regime troops took control of a final stronghold of ISIS territory in Syria, Deir el-Zour. U.S. backed Kurdish forces also took part in the offensive, and both groups now race to take the rest of the oil-rich eastern province.
Later that day, Druze Syrian village Khadar came under attack from Al-Qaida affiliate group, Nusra Front. The Salafist terror group detonated a car-bomb in the town which killed 9, among them Syrian regime soldiers and Druze residents. The Syrian army detachment fled the village at which point the Nusra Front closed in on the town and began to fire upon it.
Druze citizens in Israel's Golan region, only three kilometers away, amassed at the border fence out of concern for the residents of Khadar, many of whom are family. Some residents went as far as to break through the border fence into Syria, only to be returned by the Israeli military.
A phone call by spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, Sheikh Muwafak Tarif, to IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot, prompted an IDF statement that extended to the offering of military protection to the Syrian town, an extraordinary statement, if only for its public nature, as Amos Harel explains.
Lebanon: On Saturday, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri plunged the region into even greater uncertainty after offering his surprise resignation during a state visit to Sunni patrons in Saudi Arabia.
Hariri's resignation came a number of days after a reported failed assassination attempt on his life, something he said proved the extent of sectarian tensions in the country, an atmosphere he said was akin to that which led to the assassination of his father, Rafik Hariri, in 2005.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hariri's resignation proves Iran not only endangers Israel, but the entire Middle East, and said it was "a wake-up call" for the international community to act against Iranian aggression.
Gaza: On Monday, the Israeli army blew up an Islamic Jihad a cross-border attack tunnel under the border with the Gaza Strip. Earlier in the week, Hamas handed over control over Gaza's border crossings to the Palestinian Authority as part of a unity deal between Palestinian factions.