Iran’s military suggests ceasefires in Gaza, Lebanon trump retaliation against Israel

Update Residents of Tehran awoke and went about their business as planned on Oct. 26 after their sleep was troubled by Israeli strikes that triggered blasts that echoed across the city. (AFP)
Residents of Tehran awoke and went about their business as planned on Oct. 26 after their sleep was troubled by Israeli strikes that triggered blasts that echoed across the city. (AFP)
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Updated 26 October 2024
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Iran’s military suggests ceasefires in Gaza, Lebanon trump retaliation against Israel

Iran’s military suggests ceasefires in Gaza, Lebanon trump retaliation against Israel
  • Israel warned Iran would “pay a heavy price” if it responded to the strikes
  • Islamic republic insisted it had the “right and the duty” to defend itself

TEL AVIV: Iran’s military issued a carefully worded statement Saturday night suggesting a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon trumps any retaliation against Israel.
While saying it had the right to retaliate, the statement suggested Tehran may be trying to find a way to avoid further escalation after Israel’s attack early Saturday.
Iran’s military added that Israel used so-called “stand-off” missiles over Iraqi airspace to launch its attacks and that the warheads were much lighter in order to travel the distance to the targets they struck in three provinces in Iran.
The statement said Iranian military radar sites had been damaged, but some already were under repair.
Israel attacked military targets in Iran with pre-dawn airstrikes Saturday in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired on Israel earlier this month. The strikes marked the first time Israel’s military has openly attacked Iran.
Following the airstrikes, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it had a right to self-defense, and “considers itself entitled and obligated to defend against foreign acts of aggression.” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran has “no limits” in defending its interests.
Israel’s military said it targeted facilities that Iran used to make the missiles fired at Israel as well as surface-to-air missile sites. There was no immediate indication that oil or nuclear sites were hit, which would have marked a much more serious escalation.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said four people were killed, all with the country’s military air defense. It did not say where they were stationed. Iran’s military said the strikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces, without elaborating. The Islamic Republic said the attacks caused “limited damage.”
The strikes risk pushing the archenemies closer to all-out war at a time of spiraling violence across the Middle East, where militant groups backed by Iran — including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon — are already at war with Israel.
US President Joe Biden told reporters Israel gave him a heads-up before the strikes and said it looked like “they didn’t hit anything but military targets.” He said he had just finished a call with intelligence officials.
“I hope this is the end,” he said.
Israel’s first open attack on Iran
Iran hadn’t faced a sustained barrage of fire from a foreign enemy since its 1980s war with Iraq. Explosions could be heard in Tehran until sunrise.
On Oct. 1, Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel in retaliation for devastating blows Israel landed against Hezbollah. They caused minimal damage and a few injuries. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran “made a big mistake.”
Israel is also widely thought to be behind a limited airstrike in April near a major air base in Iran that hit the radar system for a Russian-made air defense battery. Iran had fired a wave of missiles and drones at Israel in April, causing minimal damage, after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike on an Iranian diplomatic post in Syria.
“Iran attacked Israel twice, including in locations that endangered civilians, and has paid the price for it,” Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said. He added: “If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond.”
Images released by Israel’s military showed members preparing to depart for the strikes in American-made F-15 and F-16 warplanes.
Israel’s attack did not take out highly visible or symbolic facilities that could prompt a significant response from Iran, said Yoel Guzansky, a researcher at Tel Aviv’s Institute for National Security Studies who formerly worked for Israel’s National Security Council.
It also gives Israel room for escalation if needed, and targeting air defense systems weakens Iran’s capabilities to defend against future attacks, he said, adding that if there is Iranian retaliation, it should be limited.
Israel has again shown its military precision and capabilities are superior to Iran’s, said Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the London-based think tank Chatham House.
“By targeting military sites and missile facilities over nuclear and energy infrastructure, Israel is also messaging that it seeks no further escalation for now,” Vakil said. “This is a sign that the diplomacy and back-channel efforts to moderate the strike were successful.”
Biden’s administration won assurances from Israel in mid-October that it would not hit nuclear facilities and oil installations.
After the strikes, the streets in Iran’s capital were calm and children went to school and shops opened. There were long lines at the gas stations — a regular occurrence in Tehran when military violence flares as people stock up on fuel. But some Tehran residents seemed anxious and avoided conversations with an Associated Press reporter.
Mixed reactions at home and abroad
Israel’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid, criticized the decision to avoid “strategic and economic targets,” saying on X that “we could and should have exacted a much heavier price from Iran.”
The United States warned against further retaliation, and Britain and Germany said Iran should not respond. “All acts of escalation are condemnable and must stop,” the spokesman for the UN secretary-general said.
Saudi Arabia was one of multiple countries in the region condemning the strike, calling it a violation of Iran’s “sovereignty and a violation of international laws and norms.”
Both Hezbollah and Hamas condemned Israel’s attack, with Hezbollah saying it would not affect Tehran’s support for Lebanese and Palestinians fighting Israel.
Regional tensions have been soaring in recent weeks.
In Lebanon, dozens were killed and thousands wounded in September when pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded in attacks attributed to Israel. A massive Israel airstrike the following week outside Beirut killed Hezbollah’s longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel launched a ground invasion into southern Lebanon. More than a million Lebanese people have been displaced, and the death toll has risen sharply as airstrikes hit in and around Beirut.
Enemies for decades
Israel and Iran have been bitter foes since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Israel considers Iran its greatest threat, citing its leaders’ calls for Israel’s destruction, their support for anti-Israel militant groups and the country’s nuclear program.
During their yearslong shadow war, a suspected Israeli assassination campaign has killed top Iranian nuclear scientists, and Iranian nuclear installations have been hacked or sabotaged.
Meanwhile, Iran has been blamed for attacks on shipping in the Middle East, which later grew into the attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on shipping through the Red Sea corridor.
The shadow war has increasingly moved into the light since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas and other militants attacked Israel. They killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took some 250 hostages into Gaza. In response, Israel launched a devastating air and ground offensive against Hamas, and Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting until all hostages are freed. Some 100 remain, about a third believed to be dead.
More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in largely devastated Gaza, according to local health officials, who don’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but say more than half have been women and children.


Syria’s new rulers call for victory celebrations in streets

Syria’s new rulers call for victory celebrations in streets
Updated 44 min 27 sec ago
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Syria’s new rulers call for victory celebrations in streets

Syria’s new rulers call for victory celebrations in streets
  • Militant leader Abu Mohammed Al-Golani is now using his real name Ahmed Al-Sharaa
  • His call comes ahead of the first Friday prayers since Syria’s new leadership took control

DAMASCUS: Syria’s militant chief called on people across the country to celebrate “the victory of the revolution” on Friday, as G7 leaders looked to forge a common approach to the new government.

More than half a century of brutal rule by the Assad clan came to a sudden end on Sunday, after a lightning militant offensive led by Abu Mohammed Al-Golani’s Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) swept across the country and took the capital.

Ousted president Bashar Assad fled Syria, closing an era in which suspected dissidents were jailed or killed, and capping nearly 14 years of war that killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.

“I would like to congratulate the great Syrian people on the victory of the blessed revolution and I call on them to go to the streets to express their joy,” Golani said on Telegram.

Golani, who is now using his real name Ahmed Al-Sharaa, is set to attend Friday prayers at Damascus’s landmark Umayyad Mosque.

During the early days of Syria’s uprising in 2011, protesters would often gather after noon prayers on Fridays, the Muslim day of prayer and rest.

Assad’s overthrow has allowed Syrians to flood to prisons, hospitals and morgues in search of long-disappeared loved ones, hoping for a miracle, or at least closure.

“I turned the world upside down looking,” Abu Mohammed said as he searched for news of three missing relatives at the Mazzeh air base in Damascus.

“But I didn’t find anything at all. We just want a hint of where they were, one percent.”

Sunni Muslim HTS is rooted in Syria’s branch of Al-Qaeda and designated a terrorist organization by many Western governments, who now face the challenge of how to approach the country’s new transitional leadership.

The group has sought to moderate its rhetoric, and the interim government insists the rights of all Syrians will be protected.

The spokesman for the newly installed government, Obaida Arnaout, said that the country’s constitution and parliament would be suspended during a three-month transition.

“A judicial and human rights committee will be established to examine the constitution and then introduce amendments,” he said, pledging that the “rule of law” would be instituted.

Leaders of the Group of Seven countries, who will meet virtually at 1430 GMT on Friday, said they were ready to support the transition to an “inclusive and non-sectarian” government in Syria.

They called for the protection of human rights, including those of women and minorities, while emphasizing “the importance of holding the Assad regime accountable for its crimes.”

Inside much of Syria, the focus for now is on unraveling the secrets of Assad’s rule, and particularly the network of detention centers and suspected torture sites scattered across areas previously under government control.

Syria’s leadership said it is willing to cooperate with Washington in the search for US citizens who disappeared under Assad’s rule, including US journalist Austin Tice, who was abducted in 2012.

Another American, Travis Timmerman, has already been located alive and Blinken said Washington was working to bring him home.

The search for other missing detainees has ended more painfully, with hundreds of Syrians gathering Thursday to bury outspoken activist Mazen Al-Hamada.

In exile in the Netherlands, he publicly testified on the torture he was subjected to in Syrian prison.

He later returned to Syria and was detained. His body was among more than 30 found in a Damascus hospital morgue this week.

Assad was propped up by Russia — where a senior Russian official told US media he has fled — as well as Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group.

The militants launched their offensive on November 27, the same day a ceasefire took effect in the Israel-Hezbollah war, which saw Israel inflict staggering losses on Assad’s Lebanese ally.

Both Israel and Turkiye, which backs some of the militants who ousted Assad, have since carried out strikes inside Syria.

The fall of Assad has prompted some of the millions of Syrians who fled abroad to return home.

On Friday morning, around 60 people were waiting at Turkiye’s Oncupinar border crossing, anxious to reach Syria.

In the southern city of Sweida, the heartland of Syria’s Druze minority where anti-government demonstrations have been held for more than a year, hundreds took to the streets on Friday, singing and clapping in jubiliation.

“Our joy is indescribable,” said Haitham Hudeifa, 54. “Every province is celebrating this great victory.”


Freed Syrian prisoners return to their ‘death dormitory’

Freed Syrian prisoners return to their ‘death dormitory’
Updated 13 December 2024
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Freed Syrian prisoners return to their ‘death dormitory’

Freed Syrian prisoners return to their ‘death dormitory’
  • “Every day in this room, which used to be called ‘Steel 1 — the death dormitory,’ one to three people would die inside every day,” Hanania, 35, told Reuters

DAMASCUS:Basim Faiz Mawat stood in the Damascus cell that his fellow prisoners used to call the “death dormitory,” struggling to believe that the system that abused him for so long had been overthrown and his suffering had ended.
“I came here today only to see that truly nothing lasts forever,” the 48-year-old said as he and another freed prisoner, Mohammed Hanania, visited the detention center where their guards never showed mercy.
They were among thousands who spilled out of Syria’s prison system on Sunday after a lightning militia advance overthrew President Bashar Assad and ended five decades of his family’s rule. Many detainees were met by tearful relatives who thought they had been executed years earlier.
“Every day in this room, which used to be called ‘Steel 1 — the death dormitory,’ one to three people would die inside every day,” Hanania, 35, told Reuters.
“The sergeant was — when he didn’t lose someone, when someone didn’t die from weakness, he would kill him. He took them to the toilets and hit them with the heel of his shoe on their heads.”
Hanania walked on past long rows of empty cells. Names of prisoners — Mohammed Al-Masry, Ahmed and others — were scratched on walls with dates.
The floors were littered with rubble and discarded clothes. A row of blankets was still set out in one cell where prisoners had slept.
Both men looked up at an image on a wall of Assad, who is accused of torturing and killing thousands, abuses that were also rampant during his father Hafez’s reign of terror.
“No one could have believed this would happen,” said Mawat.

MASS EXECUTIONS
In another room, he stood beside a rusty blue ladder and described how he was blindfolded and forced to climb up the steps. Then his torturer would kick away the ladder and he would be suspended by his arms from the ceiling in agony.
“My shoulders were torn, and I couldn’t say a single word. No one could bear more than five or 10 minutes,” he said.
Rights groups have reported mass executions in Syria’s prisons. In 2017, the United States said it had identified a new crematorium at the Sednaya military prison on the outskirts of Damascus to dispose of hanged prisoners.
Syrians have flocked to the prisons looking for their loved ones. Some have been released alive, others have been identified among the dead and thousands more have not yet been found.
Syrian militia leader Ahmad Al-Sharaa — better known as Abu Mohammed Al-Golani — the main commander of the militants who toppled Assad, has said he will close the prisons and hunt down anyone involved in the torture or killing of detainees.
Assad fled to his ally Russia where he was granted asylum.
“At this stage, if everyone thinks about taking revenge, we have no solution other than to forgive,” Hanania said.
“But the criminal who has blood (on their hands) should be held accountable. I will leave my rights to be granted by God.”


Syria Kurds warm up to new leaders but fear for hard-won gains

Syria Kurds warm up to new leaders but fear for hard-won gains
Updated 13 December 2024
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Syria Kurds warm up to new leaders but fear for hard-won gains

Syria Kurds warm up to new leaders but fear for hard-won gains
  • Kurdish authorities have made overtures to Islamist-led militants who seized power in Syria last week

QAMISHLI: Kurdish authorities have made overtures to Islamist-led militants who seized power in Syria last week, but the long-oppressed community fears it could lose hard-won gains it made during the war, including limited self-rule.
The Kurds faced discrimination during more than 50 years of Assad family rule. They were barred, for example, from offering education in their own language.
As militants led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) seized power, ousting president Bashar Assad, the Kurdish authorities in northeastern Syria have multiplied overtures to the new leaders, like adopting the three-starred flag used by the opposition.
Mutlu Civiroglu, a Washington-based analyst and expert on the Kurds, said that the fate of Syria’s Kurdish authorities “remains uncertain,” noting “the rapidly shifting dynamics on the ground.”
Syria’s Kurds face “mounting pressure from the Turkish government and factions under its control,” he said, as Ankara-backed fighters seized two Kurdish-held areas in the north during the militant offensive.
Last week, Mazloum Abdi who heads the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) welcomed “an opportunity to build a new Syria based on democracy and justice that guarantees the rights of all Syrians.”
But many in the northeast are concerned about the future of their autonomous region.
“The factions in Damascus... don’t recognize the Kurds, and now they want to whitewash their image in front of the international community,” Ali Darwish, a Kurdish resident of the northeastern city of Qamishli told AFP.
“But we hope that we, as Kurds, will be able to preserve our areas and improve the economic situation,” the 58-year-old said.
“We hope for positive solutions in the future.”


Minority groups suffered during the civil war that broke out in 2011, particularly after the Islamic State (IS) group overran large parts of the country three years later.
HTS, the Islamist group that led the offensive that toppled Assad, is rooted in Syria’s branch of Al-Qaeda and is proscribed as a terrorist organization by many Western governments, though it has sought to moderate its rhetoric.
The SDF spearheaded the fight that defeated IS jihadists in Syria in 2019 with US backing — putting Washington at odds with NATO ally Ankara, which has operated militarily against the Kurds.
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the SDF was “critical” to preventing a resurgence of IS jihadists in Syria following Assad’s ouster.
On the same day, Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin visited Damascus and Ankara named a new chief of mission for its long-closed embassy in Damascus, which it has pledged to reopen.
Civiroglu said that “Syrian Kurds face several significant challenges, the most pressing of which is Turkiye’s ongoing hostility toward them.”
Since 2016, Turkiye has staged multiple operations against the SDF.
Ankara views the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a key part of the SDF, as an extension of the banned Kurdish militants who have fought a decades-long insurgency inside Turkiye.
“All Turkish attacks and threats against the Kurds are seen as directly or indirectly aimed at undermining Kurdish autonomy and expanding Turkish control in northern Syria,” Civiroglu said.
On the ground, fighters of Syria’s new government have taken over the eastern city of Deir Ezzor from Kurdish-led forces, who had briefly moved in as government troops and their Iran-backed allies withdrew.
Syria’s new leaders have said repeatedly that religious minorities will not be harmed under their rule, but they have not mentioned ethnic minorities like the Kurds.
In Qamishli, residents told AFP they were glad Assad was ousted, but had mounting concerns.
Kurds, who represent the largest ethnic minority in Syria, want a “democratic state that respects everyone’s rights and religion,” said Khorshed Abo Rasho, 68.
“We want a federal state, not a dictatorship,” he added.
Fahd Dawoud, a 40-year-old lawyer, was hopeful that an inclusive government can be formed.
“We hope that the new government will represent all Syrians and won’t exclude any party,” he said.


Reassured ‘for now’, Aleppo’s Christians prepare for Christmas

Reassured ‘for now’, Aleppo’s Christians prepare for Christmas
Updated 13 December 2024
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Reassured ‘for now’, Aleppo’s Christians prepare for Christmas

Reassured ‘for now’, Aleppo’s Christians prepare for Christmas
  • The country’s new rulers have sought to reassure Syria’s religious minorities
  • In multi-confessional Syria, Catholic and Orthodox Christmas and Easter holidays have always been marked

ALEPPO, Syria: For the Catholic Marist Brothers of Aleppo, one of nearly a dozen Christian communities in Syria’s second city, today’s most pressing question is how to decorate the Christmas tree.
In the days since a lightning offensive spearheaded by Islamist militants overthrew former president Bashar Assad, the country’s new rulers have sought to reassure Syria’s religious minorities.
The efforts have been successful, at least “for now,” said Brother Georges Sabe, who took part earlier this week in a meeting between militants and local Christian representatives.
It was the second since the December 8 capture of the capital Damascus.
“They were very reassuring,” he said.
“’Continue to live normally, you’re coming up to your Christmas holiday, nothing will change for you,’” he said he was told.
“So far, nothing has changed,” he added.
Assad, a member of Syria’s Alawite minority, sought to present his government as a protector of secularism and the country’s many confessions though government intolerance for dissent extended to all groups.
During the civil war, militants routinely repressed minority groups.
Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, the Islamist group that led Assad’s overthrow, has its roots in Syria’s branch of Al-Qaeda, though it has sought to moderate its rhetoric.
Sabe noted that the representatives of the new government he met — “three fighters and two politicians” — were all from Aleppo.
“One of them was finishing his doctorate in mechanical engineering before the war. He told us that he’d had a Christian neighbor.”
So, the community has resumed “normal life, with morning and evening masses,” and Christmas decorations are going up, he added.
“During 13 years of war, I learned to live day by day. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.”
In multi-confessional Syria, Catholic and Orthodox Christmas and Easter holidays have always been marked, along with the new year.
The community has been hard hit by emigration during the civil war. Of the approximately 200,000 Christians who lived in Aleppo before 2011, just 30,000 remain in the city, according to community leaders.
But it remains fully integrated and considers itself Syrian before anything else.
“We don’t want to go, we want to stay on good terms with the Muslims. We speak the same language,” insisted Sabe.
So far, a promise to allow churches to continue ringing their bells has been kept, and they sound at dusk to mark mass at the Church of Saint Francis, also known as the Latin Cathedral.
“People here have a deep spiritual sense,” explained Father Bahjat as several dozen parishioners arrived for the service.
“During all the years of war, they never stopped coming to church.”
He said he could understand why some have expressed concern, especially abroad.
“On the ground, we didn’t see any acts of discrimination, so we are full of hope that our people will coexist in peace,” he said.
Marina Ayoub was arriving for mass as usual. She said she never misses a service, as they give her “hope.”
“The bishop has told us that he is not worried and that we can continue to come as usual, and celebrate our masses and holidays.”
Opposite the church sits a property that had been occupied by the ruling Baath party and has now been reclaimed by the community.
The Vatican flag hangs outside, and the new government has told Christians that church property will not be touched.
The decision by the head of the transitional government to appear before an Islamist flag earlier this week sparked some fears.
“But the next day, during an interview with Al Jazeera, it had disappeared,” Sabe noted.
“That shows that they are ready for dialogue.”
Still, among some in the community there are concerns.
“They say that they will respect all faiths... but I’m waiting to see,” said one worshipper, who spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the subject.
“I’ll judge them by their actions.”
He said he was watching for “little signs.” noting that restaurants in Aleppo were no longer openly serving alcohol.
“They hide it,” he said.
For now, the Marist Brothers charitable association is focusing on preparations for a concert it will put on for 120 Muslim children it helps.
“They are poor and displaced by the war,” said Mariam Arab as she debated how best to decorate the Christmas tree.
“The most important thing is to find a way to cheer them up.”


Blinken sees ‘encouraging signs’ on reaching Gaza ceasefire

Blinken sees ‘encouraging signs’ on reaching Gaza ceasefire
Updated 13 December 2024
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Blinken sees ‘encouraging signs’ on reaching Gaza ceasefire

Blinken sees ‘encouraging signs’ on reaching Gaza ceasefire
  • Blinken called on Turkiye to influence Hamas to achieve the exchange deal and ceasefire in Gaza

ANKARA: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that he saw “encouraging signs” of progress toward a ceasefire in the war-torn Gaza Strip on a visit to Ankara.

“We discussed Gaza, and we discussed I think the opportunity... to get a ceasefire in place. And what we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks are more encouraging signs that that is possible,” Blinken said after meeting Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Blinken called on Turkiye to influence Hamas to achieve the exchange deal and ceasefire in Gaza and said US wants to see Syria in a completely different direction than it was.

“In my discussions with President Erdogan and with Minister Fidan we talked about the imperative of Hamas saying yes to the (Gaza) agreement that's possible to finally help bring this to an end,” Blinken said.

“We appreciate very much the role that Turkiye can play in using its voice with Hamas, to try to bring this to conclusion.”

Blinken also discussed efforts toward a Gaza ceasefire when he arrived in Jordan on Thursday on what was his 12th visit to the Middle East since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.