Israel says it struck Hezbollah weapons smuggling sites in Syria, testing a fragile ceasefire
Israel says it struck Hezbollah weapons smuggling sites in Syria, testing a fragile ceasefire /node/2581277/middle-east
Israel says it struck Hezbollah weapons smuggling sites in Syria, testing a fragile ceasefire
People who had fled the hostilities in Lebanon to Syria drive back with their belongings to Lebanon through the Masnaa border crossing between the two countries on Nov. 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Israel says it struck Hezbollah weapons smuggling sites in Syria, testing a fragile ceasefire
‘Military infrastructure’ at the Syria-Lebanon border being used by Hezbollah for weapons smuggling
Updated 30 November 2024
AP
TEL AVIV: Israeli aircraft struck Hezbollah weapons smuggling sites along Syria’s border with Lebanon, the Israeli military said Saturday, testing a fragile, days-old ceasefire that halted months of fighting between the sides but has seen continued sporadic fire.
The military said it struck sites that had been used to smuggle weapons from Syria to Lebanon after the ceasefire took effect, which the military said was a violation of its terms. There was no immediate comment from Syrian authorities or activists monitoring the conflict in that country. Hezbollah also did not immediately comment.
The Israeli strike, the latest of several since the ceasefire began on Wednesday, came as unrest spread to other areas of the Middle East, with Syrian insurgents breaching the country’s largest city, Aleppo, in a shock offensive that added fresh uncertainty to a region reeling from multiple wars.
The truce between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, brokered by the United States and France, calls for an initial two-month ceasefire in which the militants are to withdraw north of Lebanon’s Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border.
The repeated bursts of violence — with no reports of serious casualties — reflected the uneasy nature of the ceasefire that otherwise appeared to hold. While Israel has accused Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire, Lebanon has also accused Israel of the same in the days since it took effect.
Many Lebanese, some of the 1.2 million displaced in the conflict, were streaming south to their homes, despite warnings by the Israeli and Lebanese militaries to stay away from certain areas.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that an Israeli drone attacked a car in the southern village of Majdal Zoun. The agency said there had been casualties but gave no further details. Majdal Zoun, near the Mediterranean Sea, is close to where Israeli troops still have a presence.
The military said earlier Saturday that its forces, who remain in southern Lebanon until they withdraw gradually over the 60-day period, had been operating to distance “suspects” in the region, without elaborating, and said troops had located and seized weapons found hidden in a mosque.
Israel says it reserves the right under the ceasefire to strike against any perceived violations. Israel has made returning the tens of thousands of displaced Israelis home the goal of the war with Hezbollah but Israelis, concerned Hezbollah was not deterred and could still attack northern communities, have been apprehensive about returning home.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with the Palestinian militant group Hamas and its assault on southern Israel the day before. Israel and Hezbollah kept up a low-level conflict of cross-border fire for nearly a year, until Israel escalated its fight with a sophisticated attack that detonated hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah fighters. It followed that up with an intense aerial bombardment campaign against Hezbollah assets, killing many of its top leaders including longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah, and it launched a ground invasion in early October.
More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
How Israeli raids transformed a Gaza hospital into a symbol of conflict’s cruel toll
Shambolic state of Kamal Adwan Hospital underscores the deepening humanitarian crisis in northern Gaza
Facility pays a high price as Israeli forces conduct repeated operations against Hamas fighters in surrounding areas
Updated 12 sec ago
ANAN TELLO
LONDON: Kamal Adwan Hospital, the last partially functioning medical facility in northern Gaza, has been rendered non-operational following nearly seven weeks of heavy Israeli shelling, a renewed blockade and a deadly raid.
The hospital, located in Beit Lahia, north of Jabalia, has become an emblem of the destruction wrought by the conflict in the Gaza Strip, leaving the region’s already fragile health care system in tatters.
Israeli bombardment, gun battles between Israeli troops and Hamas fighters, and a severe shortage of medical supplies, food, water and fuel have crippled an already overstretched health system in Gaza.
Wounded Palestinians receive treatment at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia the northern Gaza Strip on October 26, 2024 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Compounding the misery of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, most of whom have been repeatedly displaced, heavy winter rains have flooded tents across the enclave, spoiling food and damaging plastic and cloth sheeting that had protected the displaced Palestinians against the elements.
Israel says that its forces seek to minimize civilian fatalities but that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques, as shields for its military operations. As of Nov. 5, only 17 of the enclave’s 36 hospitals remained partially functional, according to UN figures.
Once a critical lifeline for the residents of northern Gaza, Kamal Adwan is now a shadow of its former self. Israeli forces claim their operations target Hamas militants, but the toll on civilians has been catastrophic. Witness accounts, humanitarian reports and harrowing images from the hospital reveal terrible suffering, compounded by the destruction of medical infrastructure that thousands relied on for urgent care.
INNUMBERS
44,211+
Palestinians, most of them civilians, killed in Gaza war.
18,000
Combatants killed according to Israel.
2.3m
People in Gaza displaced at least once since Oct. 7, 2023.
On Friday, according to a CNN website report quoting witnesses, four doctors were killed and dozens of people wounded after Israeli forces stormed the compound. In a statement, Hussam Abu Safiya, the hospital’s director, accused the troops of forcing health workers and patients to leave the facility, and destroying critical medical supplies.
A Palestinian man carries away an injured child from a home that was hit in an Israeli strike on the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, on November 7, 2024. (AFP)
The Israel military denied striking or operating within the hospital, instead saying that its forces fought “against terror infrastructure and terrorists” in the nearby Jabalia area. It said it was in “continuous contact” with Kamal Adwan Hospital to deliver supplies and equipment.
The attack on Friday was the second such raid by the Israeli military since it commenced operations in three cities in northern Gaza on Oct. 5, asserting that Hamas fighters were regrouping in the area. It warned of “systematic strikes and the radical destruction of terrorist structures.”
On Oct. 8, amid fierce fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas militants in Jabalia and its refugee camp, Israeli tanks surrounded Kamal Adwan Hospital, issuing evacuation orders to its staff, patients and hundreds of people seeking refuge within its walls.
The attacks on Kamal Adwan Hospital must stop immediately, and safe passage for a humanitarian mission must be ensured, says Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO
According to Gaza’s health authority, the situation quickly deteriorated as Israeli bombardment escalated, cutting off vital access to food, water and medical supplies.
Prior to the hospital siege, the Israeli military had ordered Palestinians in Jabalia to relocate southward to a designated “humanitarian zone” in Al-Mawasi. However, international organizations and rights groups have consistently challenged Israeli claims about the existence of safe zones in Gaza. In July, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated emphatically: “Nowhere (in Gaza) is safe. Everywhere is a potential killing zone.”
On Oct. 24, during the third week of Israel’s offensive in Jabalia, the World Health Organization and its partners undertook a perilous mission to Kamal Adwan. Despite hostilities in the vicinity, the team managed to transfer 23 patients and 26 caregivers to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. They also delivered 180 units of blood, trauma and surgical supplies, and medicines for more than 5,000 patients, according to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO.
Rubbish and debris are scattered near damaged buildings in the vicinity of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahya in the northern Gaza Strip on October 31, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
“Kamal Adwan Hospital has been overflowing with close to 200 patients — a constant stream of horrific trauma cases. It is also full of hundreds of people seeking shelter,” he said on X.
Noting that the WHO mission returned at 3:30am, Ghebreyesus said “accessing hospitals across Gaza is getting unbelievably harder and exposes our staff to unnecessary danger.”
Hours later, the WHO said that it had lost touch with Kamal Adwan’s staff. In the afternoon, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said it had also lost contact with its staff member and orthopedic surgeon Mohammed Obeid, who was sheltering and working in the hospital.
Kamal Adwan Hospital has been overflowing with close to 200 patients — a constant stream of horrific trauma cases.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO
The following day, Oct. 26, and after a days-long raid, Israeli troops withdrew from the facility, leaving it in complete disarray and taking with them dozens of staffers — including MSF’s Obeid.
The US-based NGO MedGlobal also said that six of its affiliates, including Mahmoud Lubbad, the nursing director at Kamal Adwan, were among those “illegally detained by Israeli forces.”
For the people of northern Gaza, it was more than just a medical facility; it was a lifeline in a region under siege. (Photo: X @DrTedros)
The Gaza health ministry accused Israeli soldiers of setting large sections of the hospital ablaze, assaulting staff and patients, arresting 30 medical personnel, and taking six MedGlobal affiliates, including the hospital’s nursing director, Mahmoud Lubbad, into custody.
Khalil Daqran, spokesperson for Gaza’s health ministry, described the raid as an act of deliberate destruction. “The army stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital, causing widespread destruction; setting large parts on fire, destroying the hospital’s entrances, and demolishing surrounding walls,” he said in a video statement. “Patients and medical staff were assaulted, with many patients and companions arrested, along with most of the medical staff. The fate of 30 medical personnel remains unknown.
“The (Israeli) army has removed the hospital from service entirely, destroying all its contents. There are now no medicines, medical supplies or food within the hospital.”
People comfort each other inside the Kamal Adwan hospital, as victims receive medical care following an Israeli strike that hit an area near the medical establishment in Beit Layia in the northern Gaza Strip early on November 21, 2024, reportedly leaving dozens of people killed or unaccounted for. (AFP)
Gaza’s health authority said that more than 600 people were trapped in Kamal Adwan during the Israeli military incursion.
Witnesses recounted chilling scenes. According to the Australian broadcaster ABC, Israeli soldiers beat patients until they bled, used dogs to intimidate children, and forced more than 100 men — many of them ill or injured — to strip down to their underwear in the cold before taking them away.
Hanan Balkhy, WHO’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said that after the Israeli soldiers withdrew, the hospital still had “195 patients, many of whom, along with displaced people, fear leaving due to safety concerns.”
“What they have endured is beyond words,” she wrote in a post on X.
She also said that “of the 70 hospital staff, reportedly 44 male staff members were detained. Only female staff, the hospital director, and another male doctor remain at the hospital. Some patients and displaced people were also reportedly detained.”
The Israeli military said that its operation targeted a “Hamas terrorist stronghold” and claimed to have detained about 100 militants. It also alleged that some Hamas fighters disguised themselves as medical staff, releasing a video in which an ambulance driver said that Hamas fighters were stationed at the hospital.
People gather as smoke rises from a UN school-turned-shelter after it was hit in an Israeli strike, in the Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip on November 14, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas militant group. (AFP)
Both hospital staff and Hamas have denied any militant presence at the facility.
Despite the withdrawal of Israeli forces, Kamal Adwan continued to face bombardment. On Nov. 24, Abu Safiya, the hospital’s director, was injured in a quadcopter strike targeting his office. He described relentless attacks on the hospital’s emergency entrance, courtyard and oxygen station, which disrupted vital supplies and care.
In a statement sent to Arab News two days before the attack, Abu Safiya said: “While we were in the emergency department checking on the injured, a plane suddenly dropped bombs on the emergency reception entrance without prior warning.
People gather as smoke rises from a UN school-turned-shelter after it was hit in an Israeli strike, in the Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip on November 14, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas militant group. (AFP)
“Four medical staff members were injured. When we transferred them to the radiology department to perform imaging for their injuries, those transporting the injured were targeted as well. Two other nursing staff members were critically injured and admitted to the intensive care unit.”
Abu Safiya added that the hospital courtyard was also bombed, severely damaging the power generators and the adjacent oxygen station, which disrupted the oxygen supply to multiple departments.
“This is not the first time Kamal Adwan Hospital has been bombed,” Abu Safiya said, referring to similar incidents in December 2022 and May 2023. During one earlier raid, Israeli forces reportedly barred doctors from providing care to critical patients, resulting in multiple deaths, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
A Palestinian man stares at the rubble of the Alloush family's house, levelled in an Israeli strike in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 10, 2024. (AFP)
He wrote that the relentless strikes “resulted in 12 injuries among doctors, nurses and administrative staff within the emergency and reception areas.
“Additionally, there was significant damage that disrupted the electrical generator, oxygen supply network, and water supply, instilling terror and fear among the injured and patients, including children and women.”
At the hospital there were 86 injured individuals, eight cases in intensive care on ventilators, and 13 child patients, he said.
Palestinians carry down an injured child from a home that was hit in an Israeli strike on the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, on November 7, 2024. (AFP)
Malnutrition cases have also emerged in the pediatric department. Abu Safiya called on the international community “to intervene by sending surgical teams, medical supplies, and ambulances.”
The destruction of Kamal Adwan Hospital has drawn widespread condemnation from humanitarian organizations and rights groups. Medical Aid for Palestinians, a UK charity, described the attack as “another atrocity” by Israeli forces, while WHO chief Ghebreyesus demanded that the attacks on Kamal Adwan “must stop immediately.”
In a post on X on Nov. 25, he wrote that “continued attacks” on the hospital “have caused an additional 14 injuries in the past 48 hours, including the hospital director and the very few remaining doctors and nurses — this is deplorable.”
The Gaza health ministry said that the hospital’s destruction has left northern Gaza completely without medical services, further endangering the lives of thousands of civilians.
The hospital’s fate underscores the broader collapse of Gaza’s health care infrastructure amid the conflict. As of Nov. 5, only 17 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remained partially operational, according to UN figures.
The Israeli military said in a joint statement with COGAT, which coordinates operations with the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, that it had facilitated the transfer of more than 300 patients, caregivers and medical staff from northern Gaza hospitals to safer areas.
On Nov. 24, the Israeli military said that it had transferred 17 patients and their caregivers from Kamal Adwan to other facilities as part of a campaign to ensure “operational medical centers” in Gaza.
The conflict has taken a devastating toll on Gaza’s civilian population. Since Hamas-led Palestinian militants launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 last year, killing 1,200 people and abducting 240 others, Israel has responded with widespread airstrikes and ground operations.
According to a Reuters count, the Israeli offensive has resulted in more than 44,200 deaths and displaced hundreds of thousands. On Wednesday, Israeli military strikes across Gaza killed 15 people, some of them in a school housing displaced people, medics in Gaza said.
The destruction of Kamal Adwan Hospital has left many northern Gaza residents without access to medical care, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis. For the people of northern Gaza, it was more than just a medical facility; it was a lifeline in a region under siege.
Its destruction has further deepened the suffering of a population caught in the throes of a war that has defied ceasefire efforts. The international community has called for urgent action to address the deteriorating situation, but for now, the hospital remains a stark symbol of the human cost of the Gaza conflict.
‘Stability and reconstruction of southern Lebanon key to regional stability’: PM
Cabinet approves army deployment plan south of Litani
Govt must take action on Lebanese political prisoners detained in Syria, says committee chief
Updated 19 min 42 sec ago
NAJIA HOUSSARI
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Cabinet on Saturday approved the deployment of the army south of the Litani River during an exceptional meeting at a military base in Tyre.
The plan is “part of a broader strategy that aims to ensure security in southern areas adjacent to the border with Israel,” Information Minister Ziad Makary said.
He added that the army had begun sending its forces to the south.
“However, the military institution needs additional support in terms of personnel and supplies, as well as modern equipment, to carry out its duties effectively,” Makary said.
The decision came 10 days after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect following a destructive two-month war.
The ministers met in the Benoit Barakat barracks in the coastal city of Tyre, south of the Litani.
They were briefed by Lebanese Army chief Joseph Aoun, who delivered a presentation on strengthening the army’s deployment.
Ministers discussed a draft law to rebuild destroyed homes, put in place an agriculture damage survey mechanism and remove rubble created by Israeli raids in the south, Bekaa, as well as Beirut and its southern suburbs.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati reiterated Lebanon’s commitment to UN Resolution 1701 in a statement delivered before the ministers.
He said that the Lebanese Army would uphold the resolution south of the Litani River, in cooperation and coordination with the UNIFIL, as it is the basis for the ceasefire and Israel’s withdrawal from “our occupied land.”
He said: “We are kilometers from the ongoing operations of Israel’s army and its repetitive ceasefire violations.
“We are also near the location of the committee tasked with monitoring the implementation of the arrangements agreed upon under US and French guarantees.”
Mikati called on the international community, primarily the entities overseeing the security arrangements, to put an end to Israeli violations of the ceasefire.
He paid tribute to slain Lebanese Army soldiers and those who sacrificed themselves for the country.
“All the threats and attacks aiming to confuse or push us to change our national beliefs and choices will not scare us,” he said.
“We fully trust the wise army command, which assumes considerable responsibilities with professionalism, discipline and ethics, preserving every inch of our territory and safeguarding our national sovereignty.”
Mikati said that stability in the south and its reconstruction are key to stability in the Middle East, which will only return to security and safety through the implementation of international resolutions.
Makary said after the meeting that the Lebanese Army commander informed the ministers that the debris and ruins of destroyed buildings will be removed, along with the cleaning of areas in the south from cluster bombs.
The army will also deploy along the northern and eastern borders of Syria and take appropriate measures in response to events in the country, he added.
The cabinet allocated 4 trillion Lebanese pounds ($44 million) for the removal of debris, rubble and cluster munitions.
It is part of a comprehensive plan to restore the regions impacted by the war.
Mikati and the ministers, accompanied by Aoun, toured several military centers in Shawakir and Qleileh, as well as the headquarters of the Fifth Brigade in Bayada.
They met military personnel at the Qleileh center who were injured during an Israeli airstrike on the facility.
Also on Saturday, Israeli forces that penetrated the Lebanese border area continued their violations of the ceasefire agreement.
A military drone targeted a motorcycle in the town of Deir Siriane, killing its rider.
The Lebanese Army is observing the activities of Israeli forces in Kfar Kila and Khiam, where soldiers are demolishing buildings and residences.
In other developments, Wadad Halawani, the head of the Committee of Families of Kidnapped and Disappeared in Lebanon, addressed a press conference on Friday.
It followed developments in neighboring Syria and the long-running issue of missing and abducted Lebanese citizens.
Halawani called on the Lebanese state to assume its responsibilities on the issue.
She called for the establishment of a joint emergency committee that includes the relevant ministerial, security and judicial bodies, and the National Commission for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared.
Its goal should be to negotiate with Syrian parties to identify released people and ensure their safe return to their families in Lebanon, along with providing health care and psychological support.
“What was circulated on social media concerning the release of a Lebanese among the prisoners who were freed from the Hama central prison stirred the emotions of the families of the missing,” Halawani said.
She added that Ali Hassan Al-Ali from Akkar — arrested by Syrian forces in 1986 and not seen until this week — appeared in a social media clip asking an activist who filmed him how to reach his family in Lebanon.
Halawani added that several Syrian organizations are following up on the issue of detainees and missing people.
The Syrian state had repeatedly denied that Lebanese political prisoners were jailed in the country, she added.
The most recent denial came from President Bashar Assad and former foreign minister Walid Muallem.
Militant leader vows to overthrow Assad and establish new governance for Syria
Speaking in an exclusive interview with CNN at an undisclosed location inside Syria, Abu Mohammad Al-Jolani outlined his vision for a post-Assad Syria
Updated 07 December 2024
Arab News
LONDON: The leader of Syria’s militants currently sweeping across the country has reiterated his group’s determination to overthrow President Bashar Assad, as the opposition groups continue to gain ground in the country’s protracted civil war.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with CNN at an undisclosed location inside Syria, Abu Mohammad Al-Jolani outlined his vision for a post-Assad Syria, emphasizing the creation of a government based on institutions and a “council chosen by the people.”
Al-Jolani is the leader of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, a group that emerged from a former Al-Qaeda affiliate.
Speaking to CNN’s Jomana Karadsheh, he said: “When we talk about objectives, the goal of the revolution remains the overthrow of this regime. It is our right to use all available means to achieve that goal.”
Al-Jolani claimed that the Assad regime’s fall would be inevitable, despite years of support from allies like Iran and Russia.
“The seeds of the regime’s defeat have always been within it. The Iranians attempted to revive the regime, buying it time, and later the Russians also tried to prop it up. But the truth remains: This regime is dead,” he said.
As HTS continues to expand its territorial control in Syria, Al-Jolani sought to reassure minorities who have faced persecution during Syria’s decade-long conflict.
“People who fear Islamic governance either have seen incorrect implementations of it or do not understand it properly,” he said.
He promised that minorities such as Christians could live safely under a new coalition’s rule, adding: “No one has the right to erase another group. These sects have coexisted in this region for hundreds of years, and no one has the right to eliminate them.”
Human rights groups have criticized HTS for its treatment of political dissidents in areas such as Idlib, citing allegations of torture and harsh crackdowns on protests, but Al-Jolani denied any systemic abuse and said that if such incidents happened, it was “not done under our orders or directions” and that HTS had held those responsible accountable.
Al-Jolani also addressed HTS’ enduring terror designation by countries and organizations in the West, including the US, the EU and the UN, describing it as “primarily political and, at the same time, inaccurate.”
He claimed his group had severed ties with extremist Islamist factions, rejecting their brutal tactics. “I was never personally involved in attacks on civilians,” he told CNN.
The Assad government, bolstered by Iranian-backed militias, Hezbollah, and Russian air support, has maintained a tight grip on Syria since the uprising began in 2011.
Al-Jolani, however, said he sees the withdrawal of foreign forces as key to Syria’s future stability.
“I think that once this regime falls, the issue will be resolved, and there will no longer be a need for any foreign forces to remain in Syria,” he said.
Reflecting on the Assad family’s over five decades in power, Al-Jolani called for a complete overhaul of governance in Syria.
“Syria deserves a governing system that is institutional, not one where a single ruler makes arbitrary decisions,” he said.
Al-Jolani envisions a broader national project that goes beyond HTS itself.
“We are talking about a larger project — we are talking about building Syria. Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham is merely one part of this dialogue, and it may dissolve at any time. It is not an end in itself but a means to perform a task: confronting this regime.”
Hamas releases hostage video claiming to show living hostage
In the video a man who introduces himself as Matan Zangauker, 24, can be seen pleading with the Israeli leaders to make a deal
Hamas has released several videos of hostages begging to be released
Updated 07 December 2024
Reuters
JERUSALEM: Hamas released a video claiming to show Israeli hostage Matan Zangauker in captivity on Saturday.
In the video a man who introduces himself as Matan Zangauker, 24, can be seen pleading with the Israeli leaders to make a deal that would bring captives being held by Hamas in Gaza back to Israel.
Mediating countries, including Qatar, see increased momentum for a possible deal that could allow the 100 hostages being held in Gaza to be released in exchange for scores of Palestinian prisoners, after Israel signed a landmark ceasefire deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon last month.
Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy has traveled to Qatar and Israel to try to kickstart the US president-elect’s diplomatic push for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal before he takes office on Jan. 20, a source briefed on the talks told Reuters.
Hamas has released several videos of hostages begging to be released over the course of the war as it enters its fifteenth month, but Israeli officials have dismissed the short, edited clips as psychological propaganda meant to put pressure on the government.
The Hostage Families Forum, which represents hostage family members, called the video “proof of life” and said that it “provides further evidence that after more than 420 days in captivity, there are hostages still alive and enduring severe suffering.”
Syrian insurgents reach Damascus suburbs as residents flee or stock up on supplies
The pace of events has raised fears of a fresh wave of regional instability, with Qatar saying it threatens Syria’s territorial integrity
Syria’s civil war, which erupted in 2011, dragged in big outside powers, created space for militants to plot attacks around the world
Updated 07 December 2024
Reuters
BEIRUT: Insurgents’ stunning march across Syria gained speed on Saturday with news that they had reached the suburbs of the capital and with the government forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country.
The militants’ moves around Damascus, reported by an opposition war monitor and an insurgent commander, came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including two provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters.
The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by a group that has its origins in Al-Qaeda and is considered a terrorist organization by the US and the United Nations. As they have advanced, the insurgents, led by the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham group, or HTS, have met little resistance from the Syrian army.
The UN’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, on Saturday called for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.” Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria was changing by the minute.
In Damascus, people rushed to stock up on supplies. Thousands rushed the Syria border with Lebanon, trying to leave the country.
Many shops in the capital were shuttered, a resident told The Associated Press, and those that remained open ran out of staples such as sugar. Some shops were selling items at three times the normal price.
“The situation is very strange. We are not used to that,” the resident said, insisting on anonymity, fearing retributions.
“People are worried whether there will be a battle (in Damascus) or not.”
It was the first time that opposition forces reach the outskirts of Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured the area following a yearslong siege. Assad’s status
Amid the developments, Syria’s state media denied rumors flooding social media that Assad has left the country, saying he is performing his duties in Damascus.
Assad’s chief international backer, Russia, is busy with its war in Ukraine. Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah, which at one point sent thousands of fighters to shore up Assad’s forces, has been weakened by a yearlong conflict with Israel. Iran, meanwhile, has seen its proxies across the region degraded by regular Israeli airstrikes.
Pedersen said a date for the talks in Geneva on the implementation of UN Resolution 2254 would be announced later. The resolution, adopted in 2015, called for a Syrian-led political process, starting with the establishment of a transitional governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and ending with UN-supervised elections. The insurgents’ march
Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents were in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya. Opposition fighters were also marching from eastern Syria toward the Damascus suburb of Harasta, he added.
A commander with the insurgents, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces had begun the “final stage” of their offensive by encircling Damascus.
Syria’s military, meanwhile, sent large numbers of reinforcements to defend the key central city of Homs, Syria’s third largest, as insurgents approached its outskirts.
The shock offensive began Nov. 27, during which gunmen captured the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, and the central city of Hama, the country’s fourth largest city.
HTS leader Abu Mohammed Al-Golani told CNN in an interview Thursday from Syria that the aim is to overthrow Assad’s government.
The Britain-based Observatory said Syrian troops have withdrawn from much of the two southern provinces and are sending reinforcements to Homs, where a battle is looming. If the insurgents capture Homs, they would cut the link between Damascus, Assad’s seat of power, and the coastal region where the president enjoys wide support.
The Syrian army said in a statement Saturday that it has carried out redeployment and repositioning in Sweida and Daraa after its checkpoints came under attack by “terrorists.” The army said it is setting up a “strong and coherent defensive and security belt in the area,” apparently to defend Damascus from the south.
The Syrian government has referred to opposition gunmen as terrorists since conflict broke out in March 2011.
After the fall of the cities of Daraa and Sweida early Saturday, Syrian government forces remained in control of five provincial capitals — Damascus, Homs and Quneitra, as well as Latakia and Tartus on the Mediterranean coast.
Tartus is home to the only Russian naval base outside the former Soviet Union while Latakia is home to a major Russian air base. Diplomacy in Doha
In Qatar, the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkiye met to discuss the situation in Syria. Turkiye is a main backer of the militants.
Qatar’s top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, criticized Assad for failing to take advantage of the lull in fighting in recent years to address the country’s underlying problems. “Assad didn’t seize this opportunity to start engaging and restoring his relationship with his people,” he said.
Sheikh Mohammed said he was surprised by how quickly the militants have advanced and said there is a real threat to Syria’s “territorial integrity.” He said the war could “damage and destroy what is left if there is no sense of urgency” to start a political process.
After the fall of the cities of Daraa and Sweida early Saturday, Syrian government forces remained in control of five provincial capitals — Damascus, Homs and Quneitra, as well as Latakia and Tartus on the Mediterranean coast.
On Friday, US-backed fighters of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces captured wide parts of the eastern province of Deir Ezzor that borders Iraq as well as the provincial capital that carries the same name. The capture of areas in Deir Ezzor is a blow to Iran’s influence in the region as the area is the gateway to the corridor linking the Mediterranean to Iran, a supply line for Iran-backed fighters, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
With the capture of a main border crossing with Iraq by the SDF and after opposition fighters took control of the Naseeb border crossing to Jordan in southern Syria, the Syrian government’s only gateway to the outside world is the Masnaa border crossing with Lebanon.
