Syrian officials, including the governor, left government buildings and centers in the southern Syrian city of Sweida today, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).
"The governor of Sweida, police and prison chiefs, as well as the local head of the [ruling] Baath party left their offices in Sweida, while local fighters took control of some crossing points in the province," the NGO said. The Suwayda24 media outlet published images of staff leaving the police headquarters and others showing fighters destroying a photo of President Bashar al-Assad.
⚡🇸🇾 At least 20 civilians have been killed in Russian and Syrian-regime airstrikes near Homs, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
🇱🇧 Updates from southern Lebanon, where Israel continues to fire on villages, despite the cease-fire.
An Israeli drone fired a missile next to a van that was driving along a road in the town of Mari, in Hasbaya district, our correspondent reports. Several Syrian migrant workers were injured, one of whom has been transferred to hospital.
A citizen survived after an Israeli drone targeted his car on the road between Bint Jbeil and Yaroun, in Bint Jbeil district.
Israel targeted Khiam, in Marjayoun district, with two strikes and Rashaya Foukhar, in Hasbaya, with four strikes.
Caretaker Minister of the Interior and Municipalities Bassam Maoulaoui is scheduled to visit the regional headquarters of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) in Sour at 11 a.m. tomorrow (Saturday), followed by a press conference immediately afterward.
The Council of Ministers is due to meet the same day in this southern Lebanese city, which was heavily bombed by Israel before the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect on Nov. 27.
At least 370,000 people, "most of them women and children," have been displaced by fighting in Syria since the Nov. 27 surprise offensive of anti-government forces in Syria, according to an announcement from the U.N. Secretary-General spokesperson.
"Since the escalation of hostilities, at least 370,000 men, women and children, boys and girls, have been displaced, including 100,000 who have left their homes more than once," Stéphane Dujarric reported. The previous U.N. figure was 280,000 displaced persons.
⚡ Hezbollah sent a small number of "supervising forces" from Lebanon to Syria overnight to help prevent anti-government fighters from seizing the strategic city of Homs, two senior Lebanese security sources told Reuters.
"Homs must not fall," one of the sources told Reuters, adding that senior officers were deployed overnight to oversee some Hezbollah fighters who had been in Syria near the border with Lebanon for years.
A Syrian military officer and two regional officials close to Tehran also told Reuters that elite Hezbollah forces had crossed over from Lebanon and taken up positions in Homs.
The rebel offensive in Syria against Bashar al-Assad's regime, described by Iran as "terrorist," represents a "threat" to the Middle East, according to the head of Iranian diplomacy in Baghdad.
"The terrorist threat will not be limited to Syria, and it is a threat to all neighboring countries and the entire region," said Abbas Araghchi, whose country is a long-time backer of of the Syrian government, adding that "terrorism knows no borders."
(Credit: Jaimee Lee Haddad/L'Orient Today)
🇸🇾 At least three people have been killed in clashes between Druze militias and Syrian security forces in the town of Sweida, a few dozen kilometers from the border with Jordan in southern Syria, Reuters reports. The militias seized the main police station and prison, according to residents and activists, the agency added.
🇵🇸 Israeli forces have detained three Palestinian journalists near the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.
Local sources and witnesses told Wafa news agency that Israeli forces detained Motassim Saqf al-Hayt, Mo’men Samreen and Hatem Hamdan after assaulting them at the town’s entrance.
Four other journalists were briefly held. They were also subjected to abuse before being released, the report said.
🇵🇸 Israeli strikes around Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern city of Beit Lahiya have killed 29 people, Gaza’s civil defence agency said.
“There was a series of air strikes on the northern and western sides of the hospital, accompanied by intense and direct fire,” hospital director Hossam Abu Safieh told AFP, adding that four staff members were killed.
Mahmud Bassal, the civil defence agency’s spokesperson, added that “at least 29 people were killed and dozens were wounded … since dawn on Friday as a result of the continuing Israeli shelling around Kamal Adwan Hospital.”
Bassal said the Israeli army entered the hospital, evacuated patients and arrested several Palestinians. Abu Safieh added that no surgeons were left at the hospital following the raid.
A truck pulls the head of the toppled statue of late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad through the streets of the captured central-west city of Hama on Dec. 6, 2024. In little over a week, the offensive by rebel forces has seen Syria's second city Alep
Armed groups in southern Syria have taken control of a border crossing with Jordan once held by Syrian government forces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), shortly after Jordan announced that it had closed the crossing.
"Local armed factions have taken control of the Nassib border crossing with Jordan, as well as checkpoints and neighboring towns," Rami Abdel Rahmane, director of the SOHR, told AFP.
Syrian Kurdish forces, which already controlled a large part of north-eastern Syria, said they had deployed to parts of the east previously held by government forces, which have now withdrawn, AFP reports.
"To protect our people, our fighters from the Deirez-Zor military council have been deployed in the city of Deir ez-Zorr and west of the Euphrates," the Arab-majority council affiliated to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said in a statement.
An Israeli drone targeted the outskirts of Majdal Zoun (Sour district) following the funeral of several victims from the town. No injuries have been reported so far, according to our correspondent in the south.
Loud explosions were heard in the villages of the Bekaa and the eastern mountain range, which were later confirmed to be the result of the Lebanese Army Engineering Corps detonating rockets left behind by Israeli army in the Taybeh shooting ranges, our correspondent in the Bekaa reported.
Israeli vehicles retreat from central and eastern Khiam towards the Wata area south of Khiam, local residents reported.
Australian police say they are suspected of deliberately starting a fire at a Melbourne synagogue that injured one and caused widespread damage.
The fire at the Adass Israel synagogue began early on Friday and police said the suspects were wearing masks.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the attack and said there was no place for anti-Semitism in Australia.
“This violence and intimidation and destruction at a place of worship is an outrage. This attack has risked lives and is clearly aimed at creating fear in the community,” he said in a statement.
Counterterrorism police will liaise with Victoria state police on the investigation, Albanese said.
The Syrian Ministry of Defense denied reports that government troops had withdrawn from the key city of Homs, a claim initially made by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
"Syrian soldiers have withdrawn from the city of Homs to its outskirts," said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the NGO. The Ministry of Defense promptly refuted the claim, stating that reports of the army's withdrawal from Homs were "false."
The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have taken control of Deir al-Zor in eastern Syria, according to two security sources cited by Reuters.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog contacted Elon Musk, the billionaire appointed by Donald Trump to head a commission on "government efficiency," to revive negotiations concerning hostages in Gaza, Reuters reported.
The Israeli army's Northern Command established a new war operations room this week as part of its reorganization tied to the cease-fire.
Jordan has closed its borders with Syria, the Jordanian Interior Ministry announced, against a backdrop of rapid rebel advances.
According to a Syrian army source contacted by Reuters, armed groups are firing at the Nassib border crossing, the entry point between Syria and Jordan.
An indictment for espionage has been filed against 21-year-old resident of Masada in the Golan Heights Tahrir Safadi, who is accused of collecting information on the locations of missile strikes and the movement of Israeli army forces, including photographs of tanks, armed soldiers, equipment and weapons, Haaretz reported.
Safadi, an engineering student, was indicted following suspicions that he and his father were recruited by Iran, had been in contact with a foreign agent during wartime and had committed espionage crimes, according to Haaretz.
The police and Shin Bet accused Tahrir and his father, Bassem, of having been in contact with Hussam as-Salam Tawfiq Zidan a journalist for the Iranian Al-Alam news network, who lives in Damascus. The investigation revealed that Tahrir had been involved in recent years in gathering intelligence for the Iranian axis, under Iran's direction, and that he had acted on behalf of his father, who is still being held in administrative detention, Haaretz concluded.
Two residents of northern Israel were recruited by Iran to spy on IDF activity in area, Israel Police and Shin Bet say.
🔴 In view of the rapid developments in Syria, we will also be following, on our live coverage of the Gaza war and the cease-fire in South Lebanon, any news of the Syrian rebel advance
Dr. Hussam Abu Safeia, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, said that the only surgeons they have left at the hospital are two inexperienced ones, Haaretz reported.
Safeia said the two have been forced to perform operations due to the large number of wounded people who require urgent treatment. He said that there are hundreds of wounded people at the hospital and that the hospital's supply of medications has almost run out, according to Haaretz.
The Israeli army is deploying more forces to the Golan Heights following the advance of anti-government rebel fighters in Syria southward, Haaretz reported.
"Forces there will be adapted to address the situation, and a new battalion in training is being transferred there," according to Haaretz.
Friday morning, Haaretz reported that Israel is preparing for the possibility of a surprise raid from the Syrian border, in light of developments in the country. The Northern Command has designated a new reserve unit in the Golan Heights to provide a quick response if needed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he is "deeply shocked" by the attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Australia, adding that "this is a despicable, classic antisemitic event, and I expect the authorities in the country to use all their weight to prevent such antisemitic attacks in the future," Haaretz reported.
Netanyahu added that "this criminal act cannot be separated from the anti-Israeli spirit coming from the Australian Labor government, including the outrageous decision to vote in favor of the UN proposal calling for the 'immediate end to Israel's illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territory.'"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he is "deeply shocked" by the attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Australia, adding that "this is a despicable, classic antisemitic event, and I expect the authorities in the country to use all their weight to prevent such antisemitic attacks in the future," Haaretz reported.
Netanyahu added that "this criminal act cannot be separated from the anti-Israeli spirit coming from the Australian Labor government, including the outrageous decision to vote in favor of the UN proposal calling for the 'immediate end to Israel's illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territory.'"
"Suspicious aerial target destroyed over northern Israel," the Israeli military said in a statement.
The Israeli military said the target was "shot down after hostile aircraft warning sirens were activated in Yuval and Maayan Baruch settlements."
"Details are under review," the statement concluded.
The Arida coastal border crossing with Syria is now permanently closed due to the extensive destruction caused by the Israeli raid and targeting it with several missiles at dawn Friday, our correspondent in the north reported.
Residents of the border town of Arida on the Lebanese bank of the Nahr al-Kabir river indicated that the successive explosions caused damage to a number of homes whose windows were shattered, and fishing boats that were anchored at the river were also damaged and are now under the rubble, our correspondent reported.
The Israeli bombing destroyed all the restoration work that the Arz Company had completed after the first raid that targeted the bridge.
The Israeli army said in a statement that "in the coming hours, a military exercise will begin at two locations in the northern Jordan Valley" and southern occupied Golan Height.
It added that the exercise is aimed at “improving readiness and preparedness.”
It added: “As part of the exercise, there will be a high level of vehicle and security force movement. There is no fear of a security incident.”
Israeli army chief of staff Herzi Halevi met with his German counterpart, Carsten Breuer.
“The two discussed the latest operational events with an emphasis on the northern theatre, the increasingly strong cooperation between the armies, and preparedness for near and distant threats,” an Israeli army statement said, adding that the meeting took place yesterday.
It added: “The Chief of Staff expressed his appreciation to the German Chief of Staff for their shared commitment to strengthening regional stability and security in the Middle East.”
In South Lebanon, since 8 a.m., Israeli army vehicles and tanks have been deployed inside Aitaroun, in the Bint Jbeil district, following machine gunfire directed at the village during the night.
The night was also marked by an Israeli airstrike along the Litani River, targeting areas around Yohmor al-Shaqif and Zawtar Sharqieh in the Nabatieh district. Drones also flew over the South and Beirut for several hours.
The Israeli army announced that strikes along the Lebanese-Syrian border targeted “weapon transfer routes and terrorist infrastructure near the Lebanon-Syria border.” These routes were used to transport “combat equipment to Hezbollah,” and the strikes are “an additional measure to weaken the capabilities of Unit 4400, responsible for weapons transfers,” according to a message posted on X by the army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee.
In the Bekaa, border posts from Qaa-Joussieh to al-Qasr in Hermel, including official crossings and illegal routes, were bombed and rendered inoperable. The Qaa border post, which had been reopened Sunday by Lebanon’s caretaker minister of public works, was also targeted.
At around 3 a.m., Israeli warplanes carried out a series of strikes on border posts linking Lebanon and Syria, both official and illegal, in the North and the Bekaa, according to our local correspondents.
In the North, loud explosions were heard around 3 a.m., and the strikes destroyed, for the second time in 10 days, the bridge over the al-Kabir River in Arida. The bridge, which was undergoing repairs after being bombed hours before the cease-fire on Nov. 27 at 4 a.m., was hit on the Syrian side, according to the correspondent. Crossings via this border post are once again suspended.
Good morning. Thank you for joining us for today's live coverage of the war in Gaza and its regional impacts.
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