Syria is studying the possibility of joining the Mecca defense agreement

Syria is considering the possibility of joining the Mecca Defense Agreement signed by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey, according to what its Foreign Minister, Asaad Al-Shaibani, announced today, Saturday, in Bahrain, according to Agence France-Presse.

Al-Shaibani said during the annual “Manama Dialogue” forum in the Bahraini capital, “There are currently discussions underway to evaluate Syria’s entry into the Mecca Pact.”

In August, the Kingdom, Pakistan, and Turkey signed a defense agreement in Mecca, which stipulates that any attack on one of the three countries is considered an attack on all of them.

The Jordanian Armed Forces announced today (Saturday) that one of the border guard units of the Northern Military District thwarted, yesterday evening (Friday), an infiltration attempt by an armed group coming from Syria whose members are estimated at about 14 people, according to Reuters.

The armed forces added that “the group tried to infiltrate under heavy cover of fire and engage directly with our forces; The border guards acted immediately and decisively in accordance with the established rules of engagement, which led to the infliction of numerous human losses on the armed group, while the rest of its members fled towards the Syrian interior.

This comes after the Jordanian Air Force launched raids in southern Syria on Tuesday, which Amman said killed more than 20 ISIS members, in response to shooting in a church in Karak in southern Jordan that killed 9 people and injured 25 others, according to the Jordanian authorities.

The Jordanian authorities confirmed that the three church attackers, who were Jordanians, were linked to organizations based in southern Syria, where they launched their raids.

In turn, the Syrian Foreign Ministry announced, on Wednesday evening, that the Jordanian ambassador had been summoned and handed over to him “a memorandum of protest against the backdrop of the Jordanian bombing that targeted civilian sites in Daraa Governorate.”

A Palestinian was injured today (Saturday) as a result of being beaten by settlers in the village of Duma, south of Nablus in the northern West Bank.

The Palestinian News and Information Agency (Wafa) quoted the head of the Duma Village Council, Suleiman Dawabsha, as saying, “Colonists attacked a number of citizens in the Al-Shajara area, east of the village, and severely beat them, which led to one of them sustaining head injuries.”

He added, "The occupation forces stormed the village, closed its main entrance, and detained an ambulance that came to transport the injured citizen."