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LONDON: A Saudi energy delegation visited the oil refineries in Baniyas and Homs, two cities in the northwest of the Syrian Arab Republic, as part of cooperation between the two countries in the oil sector.

Syrian officials briefed their Saudi counterparts from the Ministry of Energy about the technical and technological capabilities at the Baniyas refinery on the Mediterranean coast and in Homs. They discussed cooperation in the oil industry, the Syrian News Agency reported.

The delegation held a video conference with the Syrian Oil Transport Company in Baniyas to review the company’s operations and plans for improving the transport system and production, the SANA added.

In June, Syria resumed exports from the Baniyas refinery, sending an initial shipment of 30,000 tonnes of non-crude petroleum products to international markets.

Baniyas, 35 km north of Tartus, is Syria’s largest refinery with a specialized oil port. Since the fall of the Assad regime in December, the new administration in Damascus has been in talks with neighboring countries to support its energy sector.

The cooperation between Syria and �������� has progressed rapidly since then, especially in the energy and investment sectors, the SANA added.

JERUSALEM: A drone launched from Yemen injured a man when it fell on Ramon airport in southern Israel on Sunday, Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said.
“Paramedics are providing medical treatment... to a 63-year-old male in mild condition, fully conscious, with shrapnel injuries to his limbs,” the service said in a statement.
A spokesperson for Israel’s airports authority said the drone “hit the arrivals hall” and that operations at Ramon airport had been halted.
The Israeli military said the drone was the fourth launched from Yemen within minutes of each other on Sunday.
In an earlier statement, it reported intercepting three unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) en route from Yemen, two of them before they crossed into Israeli airspace. It did not specify what happened to the third.
It later confirmed that an additional UAV “fell in the Ramon airport area,” adding that no sirens were sounded and the incident was under review.
The attack came after the Iran-backed Houthis vowed to avenge the killing of their prime minister in an Israeli air strike last month.
Following the launches, Hizam Assad, a member of the Houthi political bureau, posted on X, “The real revenge hasn’t even started yet... What awaits you will be much worse.”
Israel assassinated the head of the Iran-backed Houthi government together with 11 other senior officials in air strikes two weeks ago.
Sunday’s attack was the first strike by Houthis on an Israeli strategic target since a ballistic missile from Yemen hit Tel Aviv Ben Gurion airport in May.
Since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023, the Houthis have declared their support for the Palestinians and have launched regular drone and missile attacks against Israel in solidarity.
In response, Israel has carried out several rounds of retaliatory strikes in Yemen, targeting ports, power stations and the international airport in Sanaa, the Houthi-held capital.
Last week, amid the ongoing escalation, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to inflict the biblical 10 plagues of Egypt on the Houthis