IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi lit Hanukkah candles on Monday with injured soldiers from the war in Gaza at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, the IDF announced Monday. IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi lights Hanukkah candles with injured soldiers at Sheba Medical Center. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT) “I … Read more
As rebels advanced toward the Syrian capital of Damascus on Dec. 7, the staff in the hilltop Presidential Palace prepared for a speech they hoped would lead to a peaceful end to the 13-year civil war. Aides to President Bashar al-Assad were brainstorming messaging ideas. A film crew had set up cameras and lights nearby. … Read more
As Syria’s new leadership takes shape, competing media narratives in Iran and Turkiye illuminate the region’s shifting geopolitical dynamics. Contributors:Dina Esfandiary – Senior MENA adviser, Crisis GroupÖzge Genç – Visiting fellow, The Middle East Council on Global AffairsRahaf Aldoughli – MENA Studies Lecturer, Lancaster UniversityRasha Al Aqeedi – Researcher, The Arab Gulf States Institute On … Read more
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday met with military officers in territory Israel recently took control of in Syria, and vowed that Israeli troops would remain in the country for the foreseeable future. In a statement issued from Mount Hermon, about six miles from the border of the Israeli-held Golan Heights, Mr. Netanyahu said Israeli … Read more
Syrian civilians battle for accountability in court, using smuggled photographs to expose government atrocities. About 27,000 photos of dead and tortured civilian detainees were smuggled out of secret Syrian government archives by a military defector codenamed “Caesar” and made public in 2014. They were presented to the United Nations as evidence of the Bashar al-Assad … Read more
“Turkey is a major force, by the way,” he said. “Erdoğan is somebody I got along with great, but he has a major military force. And his has not been worn out with war. He’s built a very strong, powerful army.” Returning to the question, he said: “We [had] 5,000 soldiers in between a five-million … Read more
Israel struck Syrian weapons depots and air defenses overnight, a group monitoring the conflict said Sunday, in what appeared to be part of an effort Israel says is aimed at depriving “extremists” of military assets after rebels seized power in Syria. In all, Israel struck its neighbor 75 times in attacks that began Saturday night … Read more
Every fall, when farmers across the rolling, red dirt hills of Idlib Province in northern Syria harvest their olive crops, they routinely find at least one representative of the local tax authority stationed at any oil press. The tax collector takes at least 5 percent of the oil, and farmers grouse that there are no … Read more
NewsFeed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has confirmed the Biden administration is in direct contact with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the armed Syrian opposition group – designated a ‘foreign terrorist organisation’ by the US – that overthrew Bashar al-Assad. Blinken made this statement at a news conference in Jordan where regional and Western diplomats met … Read more
Inside Assad’s intelligence-gathering networkpublished at 09:34 Greenwich Mean Time 09:34 GMT Feras KilaniBBC Arabic special correspondent, in Damascus Beneath the streets of Damascus I’ve gained access to one of the key sites of the former Syrian regime’s sprawling network of intelligence agencies which for decades attempted to brutally crush opposition movements. In the basement of … Read more