In a readout on the two leaders‘ meeting in Saudi Arabia, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Mr. Trump had told the Syrian leader that „he has a tremendous opportunity to do something historic in his country,“ and urged him to join Saudi Arabia in signing onto the U.S.-backed Abraham Accords, to normalize ties with Israel.
Archiv: Syrien / Syria
LIVE: Israeli forces attack Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Gaza in one day
Israel has attacked Yemen, Lebanon and Syria, as well as Gaza, where air raids killed at least 54 people on Monday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Gaza’s more than 2 million people “will be moved” in a new ground offensive as Israel’s total blockade on the enclave reaches 65 days.
Israel and EU seek to boost trade amid war of extermination
A document obtained via a freedom of information request gives some insight into such efforts. It concerns a discussion held between Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s trade commissioner, and Nir Barkat, Israel’s economy minister, in March.
Two main topics were addressed, according to a readout of the meeting – see below.
Israel beruft Zehntausende Reservisten ein
Seit gut zwei Monaten lässt Israel keine Hilfslieferungen mehr in das abgeriegelte Gebiet, in dem rund zwei Millionen Palästinenser leben.
Israel hatte Mitte März nach einer knapp zweimonatigen Waffenruhe seine Luftangriffe im Gazastreifen wieder aufgenommen. Die israelische Armee startete zudem eine neue Bodenoffensive.
Israel calls up thousands of reservists, plans to expand Gaza offensive amid stalled hostage talks
(May 3, 2025)
Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan 11, reported that Zamir’s plan included evacuating Palestinian civilians from northern and central Gaza ahead of expanded operations in those areas, mirroring tactics used earlier this year in southern Gaza’s Rafah.
Citing unnamed officials, Kan 11 said Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet was expected to approve the plan Sunday.
The Israeli army is facing its biggest refusal crisis in decades
(April 11, 2025)
Over 100,000 Israelis have reportedly stopped showing up for reserve duty. While their reasons differ, the scale demonstrates the war’s waning legitimacy.
Israel launches new strikes on Syria amid Druze tensions
The strikes came after Druze clerics and armed factions reaffirmed their loyalty to Damascus. They urged the new authorities to appoint local officials to government posts in Sweida province, heartland of the Druze religious group.
Their statement followed fighting between Druze fighters and Syrian forces, including government-affiliated groups that killed more than 100 people in Jaramana and Sahnaya near Damascus and in Sweida, the Observatory said.
Second attack in two days: Israel hits target near Syrian presidential palace in Damascus
The conflict ignited around midnight Monday following the circulation of an audio recording on social media containing criticism of Islam‘s Prophet Muhammad, attributed to a Druze cleric. However, cleric Marwan Kiwan denied responsibility for the controversial audio in a social media video.
Over 100 Killed as Sectarian Fighting Surrounding Syrian Druze Community Rages
(May 1, 2025)
The anti-Druze sentiment started overnight Monday into Tuesday. An audio recording was released online insulting the Prophet Muhammad and quickly went viral. It was attributed to an unnamed Druze leader in Suwayda, though that has not been confirmed, and it has been speculated it was specifically released to inflame sectarian violence.
If that was the purpose, mission accomplished, because attacks on the Druze in Jaramana were happening the very next day.
Smotrich: Fighting won’t end until hundreds of thousands of Gazans leave, Syria partitioned
(April 29, 2025)
“With God’s help and the valor of your comrades-in-arms who continue to fight even now, we will end this campaign when Syria is dismantled, Hezbollah is severely beaten, Iran is stripped of its nuclear threat, Gaza is cleansed of Hamas and hundreds of thousands of Gazans are on their way out of it to other countries, our hostages are returned, some to their homes and some to the graves of Israel, and the State of Israel is stronger and more prosperous,” the far-right minister tells a gathering at the Eli Yeshiva.
Libya, Syria, Somalia and Yemen: Calculating the Millions-High Death Toll of America’s Post-9/11 Wars
(26.4.2018)
As Barbara Lee presciently warned her colleagues before she cast her lone dissenting vote in 2001, we have “become the evil we deplore.” But these wars have not been accompanied by fearsome military parades (not yet) or speeches about conquering the world. Instead they have been politically justified by “information warfare” to demonize enemies and fabricate crises, and then waged in a “disguised, quiet, media free” way, to hide their cost in human blood from the American public and the world.
After 16 years of war, about 6 million violent deaths, 6 countries utterly destroyed and many more destabilized, it is urgent that the American public come to terms with the true human cost of our country’s wars and how we have been manipulated and misled into turning a blind eye to them – before they go on even longer, destroy more countries, further undermine the rule of international law and kill millions more of our fellow human beings.
Israeli defense minister says troops will remain in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria indefinitely
Israel’s defense minister said on Wednesday that troops will remain in so-called security zones in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria indefinitely, remarks that could further complicate talks with Hamas over a ceasefire and hostage release.
Israeli Forces Advance Deeper as South Syrians Struggle Under Occupation
(April 10, 2025)
In many places around southwest Syria, there are protests against the Israelis ongoing incursion and recent killings in Nawa. There is a growing viewpoint that they’re increasingly living under an active occupation, and they aren’t happy about it.
Fatal clashes on Lebanon-Syria border: Lebanese army responds to rising violence – what are the details?
The experiences of residents in the border villages highlight a delicate and dangerous reality, particularly after the discovery of the bodies of Ahmed and Mohammad Medlej in Fadeliyeh, inside Syrian territory.
The Medlej brothers, who were married to Syrian women, were part of the minority groups that remained in the area after receiving assurances. Their deaths remain a mystery.
Clashes renewed on Lebanese-Syrian border in northern Hermel
National News Agency correspondent in Hermel reported that clashes have renewed on the Lebanese-Syrian border north of Hermel, after the town of Hawsh al-Sayyid Ali was subjected to shelling from the Syrian side.
Lebanon says it was hit by cross-border attack from Syria as tensions escalate
In response, Lebanon’s presidency said Monday that tensions on the country’s frontier with Syria “cannot go on.”
“What is happening on the eastern and northeastern borders cannot go on, and we will not accept its continuation,” the presidency said on X, adding that President Joseph Aoun has instructed the military to respond “to the source of fire.”
Is this the dawn of a new era in the Middle East?
The Gaza war and its aftermath in Lebanon and Syria seem to have strengthened the hands of Israel and Turkey, while weakening those of Iran and its allies. At the same time, the return of Trump appears to have brought the US even closer to Israel, and upped its opposition to Iran.
But how much this is truly a departure from the past should not be overstated. Most powers, such as in the Gulf and Egypt, have had to adapt to the new circumstances, but their policy positions have not drastically altered.
‘The streets are empty, no one dares go outside’: Syria’s Alawites terrorised by revenge killings
Hayan was lucky – they chose merely to scare not kill him – but by the time the rampage finally ended, 25 residents of the Alawite town of Salhab, northwest Syria, were dead. They included a 90-year-old local religious figure whom militants killed after forcing him to watch them murder his son.
Such massacres had become a feature of Syria’s 14-year civil war, but Salhab’s violence last week took place during some of the country’s deadliest days since the beginning of the war itself. Besides the high death toll, what marked these killings as different — and a dark omen for the country’s future — is that many were carried out by militants nominally a part of the new Syrian army created by the country’s new president.
Syria’s government signs a breakthrough deal with Kurdish-led authorities in the northeast
The deal is a major breakthrough that would bring most of Syria under the control of the government, which is led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that led the ouster of President Bashar Assad in December.
The deal was signed by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
Kurdish Rights Group Demands Probe into Syria Mass Killings
(March 11, 2025)
The Kurdish Human Rights Network and its allied organizations have issued an urgent appeal for immediate action to prevent further atrocities. The coalition has demanded the following:
1- Immediate cessation of military operations in Syria’s coastal region, Kobani, and the Tishreen Dam area.
2- An end to all forms of ethnic cleansing and racial persecution against Syria’s diverse communities.
3- Withdrawal of military forces and armed factions from towns, villages, and residential areas, returning them to their bases.
4- The establishment of independent civilian bodies to maintain security, free from military coercion.
5- Revelation of the fate of missing persons and an end to the alarming increase in enforced disappearances.
6- Formation of an independent international investigation committee, with the participation of Syrian human rights organizations and direct oversight from the United Nations, to uncover the truth behind the violence.
7- Accountability for all parties involved in war crimes and sectarian-based violence.
8- Prosecution of individuals and entities spreading hate speech, while advocating for a comprehensive national dialogue that includes all Syrian factions, aiming to build a future based on justice and peace.
Syria’s HTS Say Security Operation Against Alawites Over, More Than 1,300 Killed
The fighting against militias is only a fraction of the story though, as Defense Ministry and Interior Ministry forces carried out mass executions of Alawite civilians in the area. There are also reports they killed some members of the Christian minority, and Greek MEP Nikolas Faratouris, who was visiting Damascus this weekend claimed to have seen “reliable data” that over 7,000 Christians and Alawites were killed, though this is far higher than any other reports yet available.
The executions are broadly confirmed to have happened, though the exact toll is yet to be determined. More than 10,000 Syrian Alawites have fled into northern Lebanon in the past two days trying to escape the violence.
Over 1,000 Reported Killed, Mostly Civilians, as HTS Syrian Forces Attack Alawites
Some of the militias may indeed hold loyalty to former Assad-era Maj. Gen. Suhayl al-Hassan, but the claim of the hundreds of civilians being loyalists stretches credibility. Indications are that the executions aren’t being done on the basis of any loyalty test, but rather that any Alawites in the Alawite-heavy region are the target.
(…)
International reaction has been mixed. The UN has urged calm and the Red Cross have emphasized the need to ensure access to health facilities in the effected areas, while Kuwait and Bahrain have both offered statements of support for the HTS, condemning the Alawite militias as “outlaws” and accusing them of threatening the stability of the Syrian state.
Beobachtungsstelle meldet mehr als 1.000 Tote in Syrien
Die neuen Machthaber erklärten, sie hätten auf Angriffe von Überresten der Assad-Truppen reagiert und machten „individuelle Aktionen“ für die ausufernde Gewalt verantwortlich.
Laut anderen Berichten sind bewaffnete Unterstützer der Übergangsregierung dafür verantwortlich. Sie sollen sich Befehlen aus Damaskus widersetzt haben. Das syrische Staatsfernsehen berichtete dagegen, Unbekannte hätten sich mit Uniformen der Regierungstruppen verkleidet und die Taten begangen, um einen Bürgerkrieg anzustiften.
2 days of clashes and revenge killings in Syria leave more than 1,000 people dead
“It was very very bad. Bodies were on the streets,” as he was fleeing, Sheha said, speaking by phone from nearly 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from the city. He said the gunmen were gathering less than 100 meters from his apartment building, firing randomly at homes and residents and in at least one incident he knows of, asked residents for their IDs to check their religion and their sect before killing them. He said the gunmen also burned some homes and stole cars and robbed homes.
Hundreds of Alawite civilians killed in ‘executions’ by Syria’s security forces, war monitor says
At least 745 civilians belonging to Syria’s Alawite minority have been killed execution-style by the country’s security forces and their allies in the past two days, a war monitor said Saturday. Witnesses recount horrifying scenes, saying bodies lay strewn on the streets in some areas.
Albanese: Israel’s actions in Palestine constitute genocide, calls for Israel’s suspension from the UN
Albanese went on to clarify that UNRWA cannot disappear because it is a UN body protected by international law. „Member states cannot eliminate it by changing laws or cutting funding, as Israel and other countries have attempted. The rights of Palestinian refugees will remain intact because those rights are codified in international law.“
She also raised the issue of Israel’s violations against the UN, citing the destruction of 70% of UN premises in Gaza and the targeting of UNRWA schools, which had been sheltering refugees. „Israel has violated the UN Charter, and it must be held accountable for its actions. I have called for the suspension of Israel‘s credentials in the UN because of its disregard for international rules and laws. Israel has destroyed or damaged UN premises, targeted shelters, and accused the UN of terrorism.“
Europe Races to Repair a Split Between the U.S. and Ukraine
Gathering in London at the invitation of Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, the leaders vowed to bolster support for President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine after his bitter clash with Mr. Trump last week. But several also expressed hope that the two could repair their breach, underscoring Europe’s reluctance to cast off a trans-Atlantic alliance that has kept the peace for 80 years.
Israel is a rogue nation. It should be removed from the United Nations
(October 15, 2024)
One rogue nation cannot declare war on the UN itself and continue to get away with it
Netanyahu demands ‘complete demilitarization’ of southern Syria
The same day al-Assad was ousted, Israel announced that its troops were entering a UN-patrolled buffer zone that has separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the strategic Golan Heights since 1974.
Israel seized much of the Golan Heights from Syria in a war in 1967, later annexing the area in a move largely unrecognized by the international community.
Netanyahu said that Israeli forces will remain in the buffer zone “for an indefinite period to protect our communities and thwart any threat.”
Israel won‘t allow HTS forces in southern Syria, Netanyahu says
„We will not allow forces of the HTS or the new Syrian army to enter the territory south of Damascus. We demand full demilitarization of southern Syria, in the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa and Sweida,“ Netanyahu said at a military graduation ceremony.
New Israel invasion into Quneitra, Syria
Al-Muhammad urged documenting the violations in international reports to submit them to the International Criminal Court, especially given the escalation of attacks on medical staff. The activist warned against the consequences of “attractive wages”, noting that this is a trap for young people living below the poverty line, as labour is used as a tool of espionage to infiltrate society and weaken any potential resistance.
Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC revealed that the Israeli occupation army had built seven military sites in the area extending between Mount Hermon in the north and Tel Kodna in the south, near the Syrian-Jordanian border triangle.
Panic in Southwest Syria After Israeli Troops Raid Villages, Warn Locals Not to Construct Homes
(February 19, 2025)
There has been quite a bit of disquiet in southwestern Syria after the December regime change, which was followed by a ground invasion from Israel.
Libya, Syria, Somalia and Yemen: Calculating the Millions-High Death Toll of America’s Post-9/11 Wars
(26.4.2018)
As Barbara Lee presciently warned her colleagues before she cast her lone dissenting vote in 2001, we have “become the evil we deplore.” But these wars have not been accompanied by fearsome military parades (not yet) or speeches about conquering the world. Instead they have been politically justified by “information warfare” to demonize enemies and fabricate crises, and then waged in a “disguised, quiet, media free” way, to hide their cost in human blood from the American public and the world.
After 16 years of war, about 6 million violent deaths, 6 countries utterly destroyed and many more destabilized, it is urgent that the American public come to terms with the true human cost of our country’s wars and how we have been manipulated and misled into turning a blind eye to them – before they go on even longer, destroy more countries, further undermine the rule of international law and kill millions more of our fellow human beings.
Gunmen kill 10 in Syria village ‚massacre‘ – monitor
The Britain-based monitor, which has a large network of sources on the ground in Syria, said gunmen „rapped on the doors of houses in the village and shot at people using handguns equipped with silencers“ before fleeing.
(…)
Syrian newspaper Al-Watan, quoting a security source in Hama, said security forces „are surrounding the Arzah area to hunt the criminals“ behind the killings.
U.S.-Imperium will „globale Koalition“ für Terrorkrieg 2.0 und bastelt an „Nachrüstung“ der Kriegsvollmacht aus 2001
(September 2, 2014)
Auf dem Gipfel des Nordatlantikpakts in Wales wird es weniger um Russland als um die Frage gehen, mit welcher schwachsinnigen Ausrede nun die N.A.T.O. den am 4. Oktober 2001 ausgerufenen „kollektiven Verteidigungsfall“ aufrechterhalten will.
Eine Option: Noch mehr Eroberungen islamischer Staaten, wegen dem „Islamischen Staat“.
President Barzani, anti-ISIS coalition commander discuss ISIS ‘dangers’
When ISIS seized swathes of Iraqi land in 2014, Peshmerga played a key role in driving the extremist group out of the areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad, especially Kirkuk. The US-led global coalition provided Peshmerga and Iraqi forces with military assistance to defeat ISIS territorially, which was completed in 2017.
Barzani and Leahy also discussed the latest developments in Syria and their impact on neighboring countries.
Regime change in Syria has Iraqi factions backtracking on push for US withdrawal
(January 31, 2025)
The U.S. and Iraq announced an agreement last year to wind down the military mission in Iraq of an American-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group by September 2025, with U.S. forces departing some bases where they have stationed troops during a two-decade-long military presence in the country. (…)
But the fall of Assad in a lightning offensive led by Sunni Islamist rebels in December led some to reassess that stance, including members of the Coordination Framework, a coalition of mainly Shiite, Iran-allied political parties that brought current Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani to power in late 2022.
Satellite images show Israel building military bases in Syria buffer zone
(February 3, 2025)
Israel is building military bases in the demilitarised buffer zone with Syria, according to satellite images seen by Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification unit.
The images were taken between December 19, 2024, just 11 days after Syria’s deposed President Bashar Al-Assad fled to Moscow, and February 1, 2025. They show six sites constructed in that time inside the buffer zone. Another is being constructed outside the buffer zone and inside Syrian territory.