Long silenced by fear, Syrians now speak about rampant torture under Assad

Long silenced by fear, Syrians now speak about rampant torture under Assad
Abdullah Zahra demonstrates how he was tortured in a cell at Branch 215, a detention facility run by military intelligence during Bashar Assad's regime, in Damascus, Syria. (AP)
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Updated 07 January 2025
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Long silenced by fear, Syrians now speak about rampant torture under Assad

Long silenced by fear, Syrians now speak about rampant torture under Assad
  • Activists and rights groups say the brutality was systematic and well-organized, growing to more than 100 detention facilities where torture, sexual violence and mass executions were rampant

DAMASCUS: Handcuffed and squatting on the floor, Abdullah Zahra saw smoke rising from his cellmate’s flesh as his torturers gave him electric shocks.
Then it was Zahra’s turn. They hanged the 20-year-old university student from his wrists until his toes barely touched the floor and electrocuted and beat him for two hours. They made his father watch and taunted him about his son’s torment.
That was 2012, and the entire security apparatus of Syria’s then-President Bashar Assad was deployed to crush the protests that had arisen against his rule.
With Assad’s fall a month ago, the machinery of death that he ran is starting to come out into the open.
It was systematic and well-organized, growing to more than 100 detention facilities where torture, brutality, sexual violence and mass executions were rampant, according to activists, rights group and former prisoners. Security agents spared no one, not even Assad’s own soldiers. Young men and women were detained for simply living in districts where protests were held.
As tens of thousands disappeared over more than a decade, a blanket of fear kept the Syrian population silent. People rarely told anyone that a loved one had vanished for fear they too could be reported to security agencies.
Now, everyone is talking. The insurgents who swept Assad out of power opened detention facilities, releasing prisoners and allowing the public to bear witness. Crowds swarmed, searching for answers, bodies of their loved ones, and ways to heal.
The Associated Press visited seven of these facilities in Damascus and spoke to nine former detainees, some released on Dec. 8, the day Assad was ousted. Some details of the accounts by those who spoke to the AP could not be independently confirmed, but they matched past reports by former detainees to human rights groups.
Days after Assad’s fall, Zahra – now 33 — came to visit Branch 215, a detention facility run by military intelligence in Damascus where he was held for two months. In an underground dungeon, he stepped into the windowless, 4-by-4-meter (yard) cell where he says he was held with 100 other inmates.
Each man was allowed a floor tile to squat on, Zahra said. When ventilators weren’t running — either intentionally or because of a power failure — some suffocated. Men went mad; torture wounds festered. When a cellmate died, they stowed his body next to the cell’s toilet until jailers came to collect corpses, Zahra said.
“Death was the least bad thing,” he said. “We reached a place where death was easier than staying here for one minute.”
Assad’s system of repression grew as civil war raged
Zahra was arrested along with his father after security agents killed one of his brothers, a well-known anti-Assad graffiti artist. After they were released, Zahra fled to opposition-held areas. Within a few months, security agents returned and dragged off 13 of his male relatives, including a younger brother and, again, his father.
They were brought to Branch 215. All were tortured and killed. Zahra later recognized their bodies among photos leaked by a defector that showed the corpses of thousands killed while in detention. Their bodies were never recovered, and how and when they died is unknown.
Rights groups estimate at least 150,000 people went missing after anti-government protests began in 2011, most vanishing into Assad’s prison network. Many of them were killed, either in mass executions or from torture and prison conditions. The exact number remains unknown.
Even before the uprising, Assad had ruled with an iron fist. But as peaceful protests turned into a full-fledged civil war that would last 14 years, Assad rapidly expanded his system of repression.
New detention facilities sprung up in security compounds, military airports and under buildings — all run by military, security and intelligence agencies.
Touring the site of his torture and detention, Zahra hoped to find some sign of his lost relatives. But there was nothing. At home, his aunt, Rajaa Zahra, saw the pictures of her killed children for the first time. She had refused to look at the leaked photos before. She lost three of her six sons in Branch 215 and a fourth was killed at a protest. Her brother, she said, had three sons, now he has only one.
“They were hoping to finish off all the young men of the country.”
Syrians were tortured with ‘the tire’ and ‘magic carpet’
The Assad regime’s tortures had names.
One was called the “magic carpet,” where a detainee was strapped to a hinged wooden plank that bends in half, folding his head to his feet, which are then beaten.
Abdul-Karim Hajjeko said he endured this five times. His torturers stomped on his back during interrogations at the Criminal Security branch, and his vertebrae are still broken.
“My screams would go to heaven. Once a doctor came down from the fourth floor (to the ground floor) because of my screams,” he said.
He was also put in “the tire.” His legs were bent inside a car tire as interrogators beat his back and feet with a plastic baton. When they were done, he said, a guard ordered him to kiss the tire and thank it for teaching him “how to behave.” Hajjeko was later taken to the notorious Saydnaya Prison, where he was held for six years.
Many prisoners said the tire was inflicted for rule violations — like making noise, raising one’s head in front of guards, or praying – or for no reason at all.
Mahmoud Abdulbaki, a non-commissioned air force officer who defected from service, was put in the tire during detention at a military police facility. They forced him to count the lashes — up to 200 — and if he made a mistake, the torturer would start over.
“People’s hearts stopped following a beating,” the 37-year-old said.
He was later held at Saydnaya, where he said guards would terrorize inmates by rolling a tire down the corridor lined with cells and beat on the bars with their batons. Wherever it stopped, the entire cell would be subjected to the tire.
Altogether, Abdulbaki spent nearly six years in prison over different periods. He was among those freed on the day Assad fled Syria.
Saleh Turki Yahia said a cellmate died nearly every day during the seven months in 2012 he was held at the Palestine Branch, a detention facility run by the General Intelligence Agency.
He recounted how one man bled in the cell for days after returning from a torture session where interrogators rammed a pipe into him. When the inmates tried to move him, “all his fluids poured out from his backside. The wound opened from the back, and he died,” he said.
Yahya said he was given electric shocks, hanged from his wrists, beaten on his feet. He lost half his body weight and nearly tore his own skin scratching from scabies.
“They broke us,” he said, breaking into tears. “Look at Syria, it is all old men ... A whole generation is destroyed.”
But with Assad gone, he was back visiting the Palestine Branch.
“I came to express myself. I want to tell.”
The mounting evidence will be used in trials
Torture continued up to the end of Assad’s rule.
Rasha Barakat, 34, said she and her sister were detained in March from their homes in Saqba, a town outside Damascus.
Inside a security branch, she was led past her husband, who had been arrested hours earlier and was being interrogated. He was kneeling on the floor, his face green, she said. It was her last brief glimpse of him: He died in custody.
During her own hours-long interrogation, she said, security agents threatened to bring in her sons, 5- and 7-years-old, if she didn’t confess. She was beaten. Female security agents stripped her and poured cold water on her, leaving her shivering naked for two hours. She spent eight days in isolation, hearing beatings nearby.
Eventually she was taken to Adra, Damascus’ central prison, tried and sentenced to five years for supporting rebel groups, charges she said were made up.
There she stayed until insurgents broke into Adra in December and told her she was free. An estimated 30,000 prisoners were released as fighters opened up prisons during their march to Damascus.
Barakat said she is happy to see her kids again. But “I am destroyed psychologically … Something is missing. It is hard to keep going.”
Now comes the monumental task of accounting for the missing and compiling evidence that could one day be used to prosecute Assad’s officials, whether by Syrian or international courts.
Hundreds of thousands of documents remain scattered through the former detention facilities, many labeled classified, in storage rooms commonly underground. Some seen by the AP included transcripts of phone conversations, even between military officers; intelligence files on activists; and a list of hundreds of prisoners killed in detention.
Shadi Haroun, who spent 10 years imprisoned, has been charting Assad’s prison structure and documenting former detainees’ experiences from exile in Turkiye. After Assad’s fall, he rushed back to Syria and toured detention sites.
The documents, he said, show the bureaucracy behind the killings. “They know what they are doing, it is organized.”
Civil defense workers are tracking down mass graves where tens of thousands are believed to be buried. At least 10 have been identified around Damascus, mostly from residents’ reports, and five others elsewhere around the country. Authorities say they are not ready to open them.
A UN body known as the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism has offered to help Syria’s new interim administration in collecting, organizing and analyzing all the material. Since 2011, it has been compiling evidence and supporting investigations in over 200 criminal cases against figures in Assad’s government.
Robert Petit, director of the UN body, said the task is so enormous, no one entity can do it alone. The priority would be to identify the architects of the brutality.
Many want answers now.
Officials cannot just declare that the missing are presumed dead, said Wafaa Mustafa, a Syrian journalist, whose father was detained and killed 12 years ago.
“No one gets to tell the families what happened without evidence, without search, without work.”


Syria forces accuse Hezbollah of attacks, sponsoring smuggling at border

Syria forces accuse Hezbollah of attacks, sponsoring smuggling at border
Updated 6 sec ago
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Syria forces accuse Hezbollah of attacks, sponsoring smuggling at border

Syria forces accuse Hezbollah of attacks, sponsoring smuggling at border
  • Syrian forces clashed with smuggling gangs near the Lebanese border this week
  • Forces raided locations involved in the production and packaging of various drugs

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group has launched attacks on Syrian security forces and is sponsoring cross-border smuggling gangs, the new Syrian authorities said on Monday, according to state media.
Syrian forces clashed with smuggling gangs this week, most of whom were affiliated with Hezbollah, but did not target Lebanese territory, Lt. Col. Moayed Al-Salama said in a statement carried by official news agency SANA.
Hezbollah was allied to former Syrian strongman Bashar Assad, who was toppled by opposition rebels in December.
The new authorities in Damascus launched anti-smuggling operations last week at the Lebanese-Syria border, where the Iranian-backed group holds sway.
“Most smuggling gangs on the Lebanese border are affiliated with the Hezbollah militia, whose presence now poses a threat at the Syrian border because it sponsors drug and weapon smugglers,” Salama was reported as saying.
“We have developed a comprehensive plan to fully control the borders,” said the official, whom SANA described as the commander for the western region in the Border Security Administration.
“We confirm that we did not target the Lebanese interior, despite shelling from the Hezbollah militia reaching our units,” Salama said.
On Saturday, the Lebanese army said it responded to incoming fire from across the Syrian border, two days after the new authorities in Damascus said they had launched operations against smugglers there.
The army did not name those responsible for firing toward Lebanon.
He blamed “the defunct regime” for turning “the Syrian-Lebanese border into corridors for the drug trade in cooperation with the Hezbollah militia, promoting the presence of armed smuggling gangs.”
Operations “were limited to Syrian border villages, targeting the armed smuggling gangs and remnants (of the Assad government) and militias who fought with them,” he added.
Syrian forces seized “farms, warehouses and factories for the production and packaging of hashish and captagon pills,” he said, referring to the potent synthetic drug which Syria mass-produced under Assad.
They also found presses specialized in printing counterfeit currency, he said, as well as as shipments of weapons and drugs that were about to cross in.
Syria shares a 330-kilometer (205-mile) border with Syria, with no official demarcation at several points, making it porous and prone to smuggling.
Assad’s fall in December disrupted Hezbollah’s arms supply lines through the land border with Syria.


Lebanon turns the page with new president and new government

Lebanon turns the page with new president and new government
Updated 3 min 19 sec ago
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Lebanon turns the page with new president and new government

Lebanon turns the page with new president and new government
  • Many are cautiously optimistic, but remain skeptical due to years of corruption, economic hardship, and weak governance
  • For years, Hezbollah dominated Lebanese politics, but has suffered major blows in its war with Israel and since the fall of Assad

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s new government has been met with cautious optimism by its people, who have endured years of political paralysis, economic crisis, and, most recently, a devastating conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah.

As Beirut’s streets hum with debate, citizens have expressed a mix of hope and skepticism about the leadership of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and the chances he can drag Lebanon out of its myriad crises and achieve a modicum of stability.

“We are cautiously optimistic,” was the common refrain of Lebanese who spoke to Arab News. While many remain wary after decades of corruption and mismanagement, some see the appointment of Salam — a former International Court of Justice judge — and his new cabinet as a potential turning point.

The beginning of 2025 has ushered in a transformative moment for Lebanon, as the country emerges from months of Israeli bombardment. After nearly three years without a president, Lebanon now has a new head of state, along with a government tasked with steering the nation through one of its most challenging periods.

Yet, the shadow of past crises looms large. Lebanon remains deeply entangled in political and economic turmoil. The Lebanese pound has lost more than 90 percent of its value since 2019, plunging a significant portion of the population into poverty.

From Oct. 8, 2023, until the ceasefire on Nov. 26, 2024, Israeli strikes killed at least 3,960 people across Lebanon and injured more than 16,500. (AN photo by Tarek Ali Ahmad)

Hyperinflation, a banking sector collapse, and widespread unemployment have left millions struggling to afford basic necessities.

Decades of corruption and political deadlock have further exacerbated the crisis. The previous government’s failure to implement crucial economic reforms blocked access to international financial aid, leaving the country reliant on dwindling foreign reserves.

Compounding these issues, the recent war between Hezbollah and Israel inflicted additional devastation. From Oct. 8, 2023, until the ceasefire on Nov. 26, 2024, Israeli strikes killed at least 3,960 people across Lebanon and injured more than 16,500.

Much of the Shiite-majority south lies in ruins, adding to the hardship.

Hyperinflation, a banking sector collapse, and widespread unemployment have left millions in Lebanon struggling to afford basic necessities. (AFP)

Against this backdrop, Salam has outlined a vision of “rescue, reform, and rebuild.”

His priorities include stabilizing the economy, securing international aid, and tackling corruption. His proposed technocratic government aims to regain international trust and unlock much-needed funds from institutions like the International Monetary Fund.

Reconstruction is another urgent priority. Southern Lebanon, where infrastructure suffered extensive damage, requires swift rebuilding. Traditionally, Hezbollah has filled this role through its social programs, but its financial resources have been severely diminished by recent losses.

Infrastructure in southern Lebanon suffered extensive damage due to Israeli attacks. (AN photo by Tarek Ali Ahmad)

Salam has pledged to rebuild trust between citizens and the state, as well as between Lebanon and its Arab neighbors and the broader international community. However, his government’s ability to secure external support is uncertain.

The new US administration has signaled it will not back any Lebanese government that includes Hezbollah. Morgan Ortagus, the US deputy special envoy for Middle East peace, warned that allowing Hezbollah to hold significant power would isolate Lebanon and cut off crucial aid.

Similarly, Gulf states have made their assistance conditional on Lebanon forming a government committed to reform.

The US Embassy in Beirut has welcomed the new government, saying “the Lebanese people deserve a government that will rebuild Lebanese state institutions, fight corruption, and implement needed reforms.”

UN chief Antonio Guterres also welcomed the new government, affirming the international body’s commitment to that country’s “territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence,” a spokesman said Sunday.

“The UN looks forward to working in close partnership with the new government on its priorities, including the consolidation of the cessation of hostilities,” said a statement from spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Morgan Ortagus, the US deputy special envoy for Middle East peace, warned that allowing Hezbollah to hold significant power would isolate Lebanon and cut off crucial aid. (AFP)

Hezbollah and Amal both secured ministries in the new government. However, Hezbollah no longer has veto power or what is referred to as a “blocking third” in the government after its Christian allies, the Free Patriotic Movement, were excluded.

Nevertheless, its ally, the Amal Movement, retains influence. Yassine Jaber, a close associate of Amal leader and parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, has been appointed finance minister — one of the most powerful positions in the cabinet.

Despite Hezbollah’s weakened state, its presence remains visible. In Shiite-majority areas, yellow Hezbollah flags flutter alongside Amal banners, marking political territory.

“In Lebanon, territorial marking through flags is a well-established political reality,” Ralph Baydoun, director of InflueAnswers, a strategic communications firm in Beirut, told Arab News.

“The country is demographically divided along sectarian lines, and this division is visibly reinforced by political parties using flags and symbols to mark their areas of influence.”

While Hezbollah no longer has veto power, its ally, the Amal Movement, retains influence with Yassine Jaber, a close associate of Amal leader and parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, being appointed finance minister. (Supplied)

Rebuilding will be particularly challenging in southern Lebanon, which bore the brunt of Israeli strikes. In Nabatiyeh, one of the region’s largest cities, much of the center lies in ruins.

In one area visited by Arab News, a sign hanging over piles of rubble reads: “Because of the destruction, Wehbe Clothes has moved to the main street.” The state of the original store suggests it was obliterated beyond recognition.

Despite the devastation, some businesses have reopened.

“What can we do? We need to get back to work in order to live,” said Ali, a shopkeeper in Nabatiyeh who only gave his first name, fearing reprisals from Hezbollah.

“Those who could fix their stores and clean the damage have done so, but as you can see, there’s no one helping us. Not the government, not Hezbollah, no one.”

A sign hanging over piles of rubble in Nabatiyeh reads: “Because of the destruction, Wehbe Clothes has moved to the main street.” The state of the original store suggests it was obliterated beyond recognition. (AN photo by Tarek Ali Ahmad) 

Lebanon’s political stalemate had left the country without a president for over two years until the election of Joseph Aoun on Jan. 9.

That Salam was able to form a government in under a month is a notable achievement in a nation where such processes often drag on for months.

He named his 24 ministers on Feb. 8 after consulting with leaders in a country where power has long been shared according to sectarian quotas. The new government will now prepare for parliamentary elections scheduled for next year.

“I hope this will be a government of reform and salvation,” Salam said in a televised statement moments after his cabinet was announced.

His government will strive to “restore trust between citizens and the state, between Lebanon and its Arab surrounding, and between Lebanon and the international community,” he said.

Salam named his 24 ministers on Feb. 8 after consulting with leaders in a country where power has long been shared according to sectarian quotas. The new government will now prepare for parliamentary elections scheduled for next year. (AFP)

Salam’s cabinet includes five women, among them Tamara Elzein, secretary-general of Lebanon’s National Council for Scientific Research, and Haneen Sayed, a World Bank specialist. Other key appointments include Ghassan Salame, a former UN envoy to Libya.

Before the new government can exercise its powers, however, it needs to draft a ministerial statement that must be submitted to a confidence vote in parliament within 30 days.

For years, Hezbollah dominated Lebanese politics, but suffered major blows in the war with Israel, including the loss of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in a September airstrike on Beirut.

The conflict erupted on Oct. 8, 2023, when Hezbollah launched cross-border attacks in support of Hamas, which was battling Israel in Gaza. Israel responded with heavy air and artillery strikes, escalating into a full-scale conflict along the Lebanon-Israel border.  

The war also drew in regional actors, with Iran supplying Hezbollah and the US supporting Israel. Diplomatic efforts by the UN, France, and Arab states sought de-escalation, while Hezbollah’s military losses, including key commanders, weakened its strategic position.  

A ceasefire was finally brokered on Nov. 26, as Hezbollah, under pressure from Lebanon’s economic crisis and international mediators, agreed to halt attacks in exchange for Israeli de-escalation.

The conflict left Hezbollah militarily weakened, Israel more secure on its northern front, and Lebanon struggling with reconstruction. It also reshaped regional power dynamics, with Hezbollah’s influence reduced.

Another shock came with the Dec. 8 ousting of Bashar Assad in the Syrian Arab Republic, which had long served as Hezbollah’s weapons conduit from Iran.

The weakening of Hezbollah allowed former army chief Aoun, seen as Washington’s preferred candidate, to be elected president, paving the way for Salam’s appointment as prime minister.

For many Lebanese, the future remains uncertain. Their cautious optimism reflects a deep yearning for stability but also an awareness of the obstacles ahead. (AFP)

As Lebanon watches anxiously, its new government faces an uphill battle — implementing long-overdue reforms, overseeing the fragile ceasefire with Israel, and rebuilding a shattered nation.

For many Lebanese, the future remains uncertain. Their cautious optimism reflects a deep yearning for stability but also an awareness of the obstacles ahead.

Whether this government can deliver on its promises remains to be seen, but the stakes for Lebanon’s future could not be higher.

 


Arab states reject Trump plan for Gaza, Egypt FM tells Rubio

Arab states reject Trump plan for Gaza, Egypt FM tells Rubio
Updated 1 min 3 sec ago
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Arab states reject Trump plan for Gaza, Egypt FM tells Rubio

Arab states reject Trump plan for Gaza, Egypt FM tells Rubio
  • Egypt’s foreign ministry said on Monday that the international community should unify behind Palestinians to right “historic injustice”

WASHINGTON: Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday that Arab states support Palestinians in rejecting US President Donald Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians in Gaza and take control of the enclave.
In a statement, Egypt’s foreign ministry said Abdelatty, in a meeting in Washington, stressed the importance of expediting Gaza’s reconstruction while Palestinians remain there.
Abdelatty, who arrived in Washington on Sunday, said he was looking forward to working with the new US administration to achieve “comprehensive and just peace and stability” in the region, according to the statement.
Any suggestion that Palestinians leave Gaza, which they want as part of an independent state, has been anathema to the Palestinian leadership for generations and neighboring Arab states have rejected it since the Gaza war began in 2023.
Egypt’s foreign ministry said on Monday that the international community should unify behind Palestinians to right “historic injustice” and restore their “legitimate and inalienable rights.”
Trump’s plan has received global condemnation, with regional and global leaders saying such a move would threaten regional stability.
He said in excerpts from a Fox News interview on Monday that Palestinians would not have the right of return to Gaza under his proposal.


Syrians back to famed Palmyra ruins scarred by Daesh

Syrians back to famed Palmyra ruins scarred by Daesh
Updated 45 min 29 sec ago
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Syrians back to famed Palmyra ruins scarred by Daesh

Syrians back to famed Palmyra ruins scarred by Daesh
  • Palmyra attracted more than 150,000 tourists a year before civil war broke out in 2011
  • The ancient city was home to some of the best-preserved classical monuments in the Middle East before the destructive 13-year war

PALMYRA: Syrians are once again picnicking and smoking shisha amid the ruins of ancient Palmyra, once desecrated by Daesh militants but still awe-inspiring, and open to the public following the overthrow of president Bashar Assad.
The city’s renowned ruins, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, were twice overrun by the Daesh group, which proceeded to destroy many of the most famed structures.
Although they were driven out, the Syrian government and its allies, including Russia and Iran, then set up military bases nearby, effectively barring public access.
Open to the public once more, Yasser Al-Mahmoud, 54, was among dozens of formerly displaced Syrians rediscovering the beloved landmarks that still bear scars of war.
“We used to come here every Friday, before” the war, Mahmoud said, pouring hot tea into glass cups placed atop a massive column’s stone base.
“Now we’re back and we can reconnect with our memories,” he said, standing near his wife and children.
“People are so happy,” he said.
Spread out across the ruins, families were carrying bags of food and making tea, while young people smoked shisha.
“We really missed the ruins. We haven’t been here since 2015,” when Daesh group first invaded the area before being forced out for good in 2017.
Mahmoud said he wanted to reopen his stall selling trinkets and jewelry once visitors returned to Palmyra — which attracted more than 150,000 tourists a year before civil war broke out in 2011.
Nearby, two huge columns forming a squared arch stood amid a sea of rubble — all that remained of the Temple of Bel after Daesh militants detonated explosives inside it.
Pearl of the Desert
Known to Syrians as the “Pearl of the Desert,” Palmyra was home to some of the best-preserved classical monuments in the Middle East before Syria’s 13-year war.
But Daesh launched a campaign of destruction after capturing Palmyra, using its ancient theater as a venue for public executions and murdering its 82-year-old former antiquities chief.
The militants blew up the shrine of Baal Shamin, destroyed the Temple of Bel, dynamited the Arch of Triumph, looted the museum and defaced statues and sarcophagi.
While Daesh is gone, danger still looms over Palmyra.
The director general of antiquities and museums in Syria, Nazir Awad, told AFP he was concerned about illegal excavation.
There are guards, he said, “but I don’t think they can do their work to the fullest extent, because of random and barbaric excavations across very wide areas.”
People looking for ancient artefacts to loot are using heavy machinery and metal detectors that are “destructive,” adding that the digging was “destroying layers of archaeological sites, leaving nothing behind.”
A military zone
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Assad’s allies established “military sites and positions” in Palmyra and its archaeological sites, even taking up residence in its hotels.
In a sign of their presence, Israeli air strikes in November on the modern city killed 106 Tehran-backed fighters, according to the British-based monitor with a network of sources in Syria.
Former rebel fighter Khaldun Al-Rubaa, 32, said Palmyra had been turned “from an archaeological site into a military zone” that was off-limits to visitors.
He worked at Palmyra’s ancient sites from childhood, giving tourists camel rides and, like many Palmyra residents, tourism was his main source of income, he said.
Now that Assad-allied armed groups and foreign armies have left, Rubaa has returned home, hoping to trade his arms for a camel.
He held a picture on his phone of him as a young boy riding his camel, killed in the fighting, with the Arch of Triumph in the background.
“Palmyra and the ruins have been through horrors. The site has seen IS, Iran, the Russians, all of the militias you could think of,” he said.
Yet he is among the lucky ones able to settle back home.
After 12 years of displacement Khaled Al-Sheleel, 57, said he has yet to return to his house, destroyed in an Israeli strike.
He now works as a taxi driver, mostly carrying residents wishing to visit or return home.
“We have no homes, we cannot return,” he said.
But “despite the destruction, I was overjoyed, I knelt on the ground and cried tears of joy when I returned” for the first time.


Cautious calm on border with Syria after Lebanese army deploys

Cautious calm on border with Syria after Lebanese army deploys
Updated 10 February 2025
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Cautious calm on border with Syria after Lebanese army deploys

Cautious calm on border with Syria after Lebanese army deploys
  • Lebanese forces strengthen presence at illegal crossings and issue orders for action to maintain security
  • Lebanese Foreign Ministry condemns Netanyahu’s statements, rejects any resettlement of Palestinians

BEIRUT: The Lebanese army continued to deploy units in Rab Al-Thalathine, Tallouseh, and Bani Hayyan on Monday after the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

The deadline for their complete pullout, extended until Feb. 16, is approaching under the ceasefire agreement between Hezbollah and the Israeli army.

The Lebanese army carried out armored patrols on the road and cleared mounds of earth and rubble.  It also began searching for bombs and unexploded ordnance in houses and along roads.

Municipalities in the three areas urged citizens to follow the army’s instructions and avoid returning until their towns had been fully secured and cleared of explosives.

Despite the Israeli troop withdrawal, localities such as Maroun Al-Ras, Yaroun, Blida, Houla, Mhaibib, Mays Al-Jabal, Kfarkila, Markaba, Abbasieh, and the outskirts of other towns remain under Israeli occupation.

Also on Monday, the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for “establishing a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia.”

The ministry reiterated support for Saudi Arabia in confronting everything that threatens its security, stability, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

It affirmed Lebanon’s rejection of any displacement of Palestinian people from their land.

The ministry called for “a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause based on the two-state solution, international legitimacy resolutions, and the Arab Peace Initiative issued by Beirut’s Arab Summit in 2002, which enhances peace and stability in the region.”

The ministry statement came as Israeli forces continued to demolish and bulldoze houses and facilities in border villages, alleging connections to Hezbollah.

Israeli warplanes again flouted the ceasefire agreement, striking deep inside Lebanese territory on Sunday night.

The raids targeted the Rihan Heights between Sejoud and Rihan, north of the Litani River.

Israeli aircraft raided the area between Aazze and Bfaroueh in four phases.

A cautious calm has descended on the northeastern border since the deployment of the Lebanese army in the area. Last week, the region experienced violent clashes between members of the new Syrian military administration and armed members of Lebanese tribes.

The unrest occurred in an area where smuggling operations have increased due to the overlapping territories of the two countries.

According to the National News Agency, Lebanese tribal gunmen withdrew after the Lebanese army deployed, retreating behind the line established by the army.

President Joseph Aoun’s media office reported that he contacted Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa recently. They agreed to coordinate efforts to control the situation on the Lebanon-Syria border and prevent the targeting of civilians.

The media office of the Syrian government in Homs province announced last Thursday that the Border Security Administration had launched an extensive campaign in the village of Hawik — a Lebanese village that overlaps with Syrian territory — to close smuggling routes for weapons and contraband.

Lebanese from the Zaiter and Jaafar tribes inhabit the town.

These clashes resulted in fatalities, injuries, and mutual kidnappings.

The Lebanese Red Cross and Civil Defense took 21 injured people to hospitals in Hermel two days ago, including civilians, after shelling and clashes.

The Lebanese army has sent reinforcements to the Qaa and Qaa Projects areas along the Syrian border in eastern Lebanon.

The army’s move follows heavy shelling from armed people on the Syrian side, particularly targeting the Jusiyah area.

The situation escalated after armed forces from Syria in the countryside of Al-Qusayr, opened fire on farms on the Qaa plain and the outskirts of Hermel using medium and heavy machine guns.

Israeli warplanes also entered the conflict, on Sunday night striking an illegal crossing between Lebanon and Syria.

The Lebanese Army Command announced that military units have been ordered to respond to sources of fire coming from Syrian territory that target Lebanese land, following a series of shelling incidents in areas near the eastern border.

The command clarified that its units were implementing exceptional security measures along these borders, which included the establishment of monitoring points, the deployment of patrols, and the erection of temporary barriers.

The army also said that it was closely monitoring the situation and taking appropriate action in response to developments.

In the context of security measures implemented by military institutions in various regions, army units — with patrols from the Directorate of Intelligence — raided the homes of wanted individuals in Al-Qasr in Hermel and Al-Asfouriyeh in Akkar.

A significant quantity of rocket shells, hand grenades, military weapons and ammunition was seized during these operations.

A state of cautious calm has prevailed along the northern Lebanon-Syria border since Sunday evening, with no reports of gunfire or shelling.

The Lebanese army strengthened its presence at illegal crossings and has issued orders for an immediate response to any sources of gunfire directed toward Lebanese territory.

In a statement, the Lebanese Al-Jaafar clan emphasized “the fraternal relations between the Lebanese and Syrian peoples,” announcing “the withdrawal of its armed members.”

However, it pointed out that displacement had affected residents and urged “the Lebanese state and military to address the situation.”