(December 11, 2024)
Erdogan, Netanyahu aren‘t letting the crisis on their borders go to waste
(December 11, 2024)
Erdogan, Netanyahu aren‘t letting the crisis on their borders go to waste
(December 5, 2024)
How the incoming Trump administration intends to deal with the situation in Syria is anyone’s guess. Given that the president-elect has chosen staunch Israeli supporters to occupy senior posts in his cabinet, there appears to be strong reason to believe that Trump 2.0 policy towards Damascus will be determined to a large degree by Israeli preferences. If so, Washington’s approach may be to weaken and possibly oust Assad from power given the latter’s longstanding alliance with Iran, which remains Public Enemy Number One for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Israel has carried out approximately 310 airstrikes in Syria, targeting a variety of military sites, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
„I would ask myself the same question: do we even have intelligence services, do they work? And if they do, who’s ‘processing’ the results of their work? If this is some ‘masterstroke,’ a planned maneuver, then what’s happening with our troops in fallen Damascus, and what about the embassy?”
(December 9, 2024)
Syrian opposition leaders had agreed to guarantee the safety of Russian military bases and diplomatic institutions in Syria, the source told news agencies.
Russia maintains its military bases and embassy in Syria after the overthrow of the government of Bashar al-Assad. The agreements with Turkey are obvious.
Earlier, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced the opening of a front in Syria. Israeli forces occupied Mount Hermon from the Syrian side in the Golan Heights, from where the Syrian army withdrew, Israeli and Arab media reported. N12 TV channel noted that „in fact, this is the first IDF presence in the area after the Yom Kippur War.“
„In light of the current developments in Syria, the impact of which on this country and the entire region is yet to be realized, Russia has requested urgent closed-door consultations of the UN Security Council. In particular, it is important to know what is going on in this environment around the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights. We expect that these consultations will ne held in the second half of the day on Monday, December 9,“ he wrote on his Telegram channel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria was a „historic day in the… Middle East“ and the fall of a „central link in Iran‘s axis of evil“.
Netanyahu said the events are „a direct result of the blows we have inflicted on Iran and Hezbollah, Assad‘s main supporters. It has triggered a chain reaction across the Middle East, empowering those seeking to break free from this oppressive regime.“
He spoke on a visit to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The regional security sources said at least six strikes hit the main air base in the north of the city of Suweida that has a large stockpile of rockets and missiles left by Syrian troops.
The attack appeared aimed at prevent these weapons from falling into the hands of radical groups, one source told Reuters.
Iranian state television reported on the embassy incident, saying they did not believe the gunmen were affiliated with the wider rebel group that took the city. (…)
Russia‘s Foreign Ministry said in a Telegram post Sunday that Assad left Syria following negotiations with rebel groups, and that the long-time Syrian leader had left „instructions“ to „transfer power peacefully.“ The Russian ministry said the Kremlin was not directly involved in those discussions.
The unnamed officer made the remarks to Reuters on Sunday after reports said President Assad had flown out of Damascus for an unknown destination.
Meanwhile, the militants declared that they had captured the capital, announcing the fall of the Assad government.
President Bashar al-Assad’s immediate location was not initially clear after rebels took control of Syria’s capital. Russia’s Foreign Ministry did not provide details on where he had gone, saying only that he had resigned and left the country.
Turkey‘s foreign minister will meet with his Russian and Iranian counterparts in Doha on Saturday to try to find a solution to the renewed fighting in Syria and avoid chaos on its doorstep.
The three countries have been partners since 2017 in the Astana process seeking to end the civil war in Syria. This is despite the fact they have supported opposite sides on the battlefield.
(15. April 2018)
Der nun erfolgte erneute Luftangriff gegen Syrien repräsentiert die Wiederholung einer Seifenoper aus dem letzten Jahr (11.04.2017, Wag the Russki). Drehbuch wie folgt:
– U.S. Präsident Donald Trump äußert in etwa “es hat nach Hunderttausenden von Toten keinen Sinn mehr die Invasion in Syrien mit terroristischen Proxy-Truppen und regulären eigenen Einheiten weiter fortzusetzen”,
– im Gebiet der terroristischen Proxies und Invasoren bei Ghouta ereignet sich ein fiktiver oder tatsächlicher Einsatz von Chemiewaffen,
– Trump dreht sich um 180 Grad und kündigt einen Militärschlag auf Syrien an,
– dieser erfolgt, mit Ankündigung und laut der französischen Verteidigungsministerin und einem anonymen Politiker über “Reuters” abermals mit Vorwarnung durch die Westmächte,
– die russische Flugabwehr tut nichts, gibt auch noch damit an und die syrische, die genau wie die russischen Militärs noch jedem Massaker gegen die eigenen und verbündeten Truppen aus Irak, Iran und Libanon zugesehen hat wie die Karnickel auf der Fahrbahn, behauptet dies und das.
Einer der wenigen Unterschiede zum letzten Jahr ist, dass sich neben Donald Trump mit Emmanuel Macron und Theresa May nun zwei weitere in ihrem Land hoch umstrittene Staatsleiter vor die Presse stellen und sagen können, sehet her, das haben sie nun davon, diese Russkis. Und Putin, der arme Putin, zitiert das Völkerrecht.
Dass die russische Staatsführung nie beabsichtigt hat Syrien gegen Luftangriffe zu verteidigen, sagte sie schon im letzten Jahr. Dass der russische Präsident jetzt von einer Verletzung der Souveränität Syriens redet, spricht Bände über dessen auch im Humor zum Ausdruck kommenden Grausamkeit. Der ganze Luftraum Syriens quillt über von irgendwelchen Kampfjets von Vancouver bis Wladivostok, seit Jahren. Noch einmal – hätte die Russische Föderation vor Beginn der Syrien-Invasion oder vor Beginn der Libyen-Invasion den dortigen Regimen eine Garantieerklärung gegeben, wie sie China letzten Sommer unter viel Gewimmer und Gebrumm endlich gegenüber Nordkorea abgab, wären Hunderttausende Menschen heute noch am Leben.
(December 6, 2024)
Bashar al-Assad’s family fled to Russia in the days after rebel forces launched a shock offensive that captured swathes of territory across northern Syria, it has been revealed.
It comes after a source close to the Kremlin told Bloomberg News that Moscow had no plans to rescue the Syrian president, with Vladimir Putin said to be disgusted by reports of regime troops fleeing their positions. (…)
Egyptian and Jordanian officials are understood to have urged the Syrian president to leave the country and form a government-in-exile.
(December 2, 2024)
“They accuse us of cooperating with you because we were quite happy when you attacked Hezbollah, really happy, and we’re glad that you won,” the source said.
Both said the rebels had no issue with Israel. “We love Israel and we were never its enemies,” the man from the Idlib area said. “[Israel] isn’t hostile to those who are not hostile toward it. We don’t hate you, we love you very much.”
(November 30, 2024)
Russia appears to be „letting the Syrian rebels overthrow“ President Bashar al-Assad according to Richard Grenell, who served as acting director of National Intelligence for a time during Donald Trump‘s first administration.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Grenell, who had been tipped as a possible member of Trump‘s incoming administration, commented: „Russia seems to be letting the Syrian rebels overthrow Assad. Big. Time to play chess.“
Baqaei emphasized that the regions around Aleppo and Idlib, designated as de-escalation zones under the Astana Process agreements between Iran, Russia, and Turkey, are at the center of the renewed violence.
He condemned the recent attacks by terrorist groups in these areas, calling them a flagrant violation of the agreements.
5. Examined in details the situation in the Idlib de-escalation area and reaffirmed their determination to fully implement the Memorandum on Stabilization of the Situation in the Idlib De-escalation Area of 17 September 2018. In this regard they expressed their concern with the ongoing violations of the ceasefire regime, and declared that, as guarantors of the ceasefire regime, they would step up their efforts to ensure observance with it, including by enhacing work of the Joint Iranian-Russian-Turkish Coordination Center. They stressed the importance of a lasting ceasefire while underlining the necessity to continue effective fight against terrorism. They also emphasized that under no circumstances the creation of the above-mentioned de-escalation area should undermine the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic;
The offensive is led by Hayʼat Tahrir ash-Sham (HTS), a Sunni Islamist opposition group backed by Turkey and designated a terrorist organization by the U.S.
On Friday, the rebels entered the old city of Aleppo and took over several key sites, including the historic citadel and the Umayyad Mosque, according to videos posted on social media.
Araghchi held a telephone conversation with Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam al-Sabbagh on Friday, where both officials examined the evolving situation in Syria and broader regional developments.
„The reactivation of terrorist groups in Syria is a U.S.-Zionist scheme after failure in Lebanon,“ Araghchi stated while reaffirming Tehran‘s unwavering support for Damascus in its ongoing struggle against terrorism.
(November 8, 2024)
Kennedy described Trump’s particular focus on the border between Syria and Türkiye.
„He said we have 500 men on the border of Syria and Türkiye, and a little encampment that was bombed. He said there‘s 750,000 troops in Türkiye. There‘s 250,000 militants in Syria. If they go up against each other, we‘re in the middle.“
According to Kennedy, Trump later asked his generals what would happen if a conflict broke out, to which they reportedly replied, „They‘re going to be cannon fodder.“
Trump’s response was decisive: „Get them out.“
Syrian armed rebels have entered Aleppo just three days into their surprise offensive, marking the first time they have set foot in the country’s second largest city since government forces recaptured the city in 2016.
Rebel forces launched a surprise attack this week, sweeping through several villages outside the city and reigniting conflict that had been largely static for years.
“Israeli aggression targets Mazzeh area in Damascus,” the official Sana news agency‘s newsflash read.
The attack follows a deadly wave of strikes in and around the Syrian capital on Thursday which killed 23 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.
Damascus, SANA-15 civilians were martyred and 16 others got injured in Israeli aggression on Mazzeh and Qudsaya areas in Damascus.
“At about 15:20 p.m. on Thursday, Israeli enemy launched an air aggression from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting a number of residential buildings in Mazzeh neighborhood in Damascus and Qudsaya area in Damascus countryside, resulting in the martyrdom of 15 people and the injury of 16 others, including women and children, ” a military source said.
Russia has asked Israel to avoid launching aerial strikes near one of Moscow‘s bases in Syria, a top official said on Wednesday.
(November 11, 2024)
The U.S. military said on Monday it had carried out strikes against nine targets associated with Iranian groups in Syria.
(…)
The U.S. has 900 troops in Syria, and 2,500 more in neighboring Iraq, on a mission to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swathes of both countries but was later defeated.
“Nearly at 17:00 today, the Israeli enemy launched an aerial act of aggression from the direction of occupied Syrian Golan, targeting a residential building in Sayyidah Zaynab area of Damascus Countryside, which led to the martyrdom of seven civilians, including children and women, and the injury of twenty others, in addition to causing material damage to private properties” a military source said.
(November 2, 2024)
The daily continued to criticise the stances of these two countries, comparing them to some European nations that have tense relations with Iran.
As western sanctions against Iran have increased in recent years, Tehran has strengthened economic ties with Moscow and Beijing, with one key outcome being the sale of cheap oil to China.
“Nearly at 2:00 a.m. on Saturday, the Israeli enemy launched an air missile aggression from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan and Lebanese territories, targeting some military sites in the southern and central regions.” a Military source told SANA.
The source added that the army air defenses intercepted the missiles and downed most of them, indicating that work is still underway to verify the effects of the aggression.
The war monitor said Syria was hit by two airstrikes early Thursday — one in Kafr Sousa and the other in al-Qusayr in the countryside of the central province of Homs.
It’s like yes asshole, it’s very nice to be living in the imperial core that’s receiving the benefits of mass murder and imperialist extraction, and it’s less nice to live in the countries where the murder and extraction is happening. That’s the entire fucking point here.
It can be nice to live in the western world, but the western world is not nice. Ours is the most savage and thuggish civilization on this planet, and it’s not even close.
The Democratic Party really does look ready to lose yet another easily winnable election by running yet another awful, murderous candidate with awful, murderous policies, and then once again blame their loss on everyone in America who is a better person than they are.
(archive entries)
The old world is dying once again, but the US-Israel axis is wrong to suggest it is slaying monsters. It is the monster
(August 7, 2024)
The report did not specify the exact type of equipment Russia is delivering. Iran is interested in acquiring the long-range, strategic S-400 Triumf air defense missile system. Tehran acquired advanced S-300PMU-2 systems from Moscow in 2016 and also operates short and medium-range Russian Buk and Tor systems. (…)
Israel trained for striking S-300s for over a decade before the Isfahan strike. Its air force trained against Greece’s S-300PMU-1 based on the island of Crete in 2013, gaining valuable insights about its capabilities and potential vulnerabilities it could one day exploit against a Syrian or Iranian system.
An Israeli strike targeting a car in the central Syrian city of Hama has killed one person and wounded three others, local radio station Sham FM is reporting.
The Israeli military has yet to comment on the attack.