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Israeli army chief of staff Herzl Halevi said the troops "do not interfere in what is happening in Syria" and that Israel has no intention of ruling the country.
In a speech to Israeli army forces in the Golan Heights on Friday, he noted that there was a threat of "terrorist elements" reaching the area, noting that Israeli army soldiers had been deployed to prevent them from settling there.
Israel and Jordan held secret talks Friday to discuss the situation in Syria, three Israeli officials told Axios reporter Barak Ravid.
Naïm Qassem also hoped that the new power in Syria would not normalize its relations with Israel.
"We supported Syria because it helped strengthen the capabilities of the Resistance. Now the regime has fallen. We can only judge the new forces when they take clear positions and everything is normalized in Syria," the Hezbollah secretary-general said in his speech.
"We hope that the new regime and the Syrian people will choose to cooperate with Lebanon ... and that all parties in Syria will participate in the establishment of the new power," Naim Qassem added.
"Hezbollah has lost the [military] supply route through Syria, but this is a small detail that can change over time. This route can be restored with the new regime, just as we can find new ways," the leader added. "We do not think that what is happening in Syria will impact Lebanon."
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, in his speech, accused Israel of taking advantage of the regime change in Syria to dismantle all the country's defenses, under the pretext of the need to strike preemptively to defend its territory.
"We are facing a dangerous expansionist enemy," Qassem warned.
The Jordan meeting, which brought together U.S., European, Arab and Turkish ministers and officials to discuss Syria after the fall of the Assad government, stressed the need for an "inclusive and representative" Syrian government, according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The United States has established "direct" contact with the Islamist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Cham, he added, according to comments reported by AFP.
Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib stressed the need to "preserve the unity, sovereignty, territorial integrity and institutions of Syria, as well as the right of its people to self-determination."
"The time is ripe to support Syria through an Arab economic emergency plan," he said at a meeting in Aqaba, Jordan, hosting American, European, Arab and Turkish ministers and officials to discuss Syria after the fall of the Assad government.
Turkey today reopened its embassy in Syria, which had been closed since 2012, according to an AFP journalist on the ground.
The Turkish flag was raised over the embassy, located in the Rawdah district, which is home to many diplomatic missions, in the presence of the new head of mission Burhan Koroglu, according to the journalist. Representatives of the transitional government appointed by the new authorities attended the ceremony. The Turkish embassy in Damascus closed its doors on March 26, 2012, a year after the start of the civil war in Syria, due to the deterioration of the security situation and against the backdrop of calls by the Turkish government for Bashar al-Assad to resign. A supporter of Syrian rebel groups, Turkey welcomed the fall of Assad from power on Dec. 8.
According to images released by Turkish media, Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin visited the Syrian capital on Thursday.
⚡ Haaretz reported today that Syrian rebel leader Abou Mohammad al-Jolani declared his forces are not in conflict with Israel and "not in a position to conduct a campaign against it."
He added that Israel previously operated in Syria under the pretext of Iran's presence in the country but stated that "there are no longer excuses for foreign intervention in Syria after the departure of the Iranians."
⚡Russia is pulling its military forces from frontlines in northern Syria and positions in the Alawite mountains but is maintaining its two main bases in the country following President Bashar al-Assad's ouster, four Syrian officials told Reuters.
A senior Syrian army officer in contact with Russian forces stated that some high-ranking officers and equipment are being sent back to Moscow. However, the current objective is to regroup and redeploy based on developments on the ground.
A senior rebel official close to the new interim administration told Reuters that the issue of Russian military presence in Syria and previous agreements between the Assad government and Moscow is not currently on the agenda.
"This will be discussed in future negotiations, and the Syrian people will have the final say," the official stated, adding that Moscow had already established communication channels with the new authorities.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called on Iraqi authorities to take action against pro-Iranian armed groups, citing an opportunity to weaken Iran's influence following the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a senior U.S. official said today.
During his visit to Baghdad yesterday as part of a regional tour, Blinken met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. According to an anonymous source quoted by AFP, Blinken urged the Iraqi leader to rein in Iranian-backed armed groups that have periodically attacked U.S. forces in Iraq for years. He also asked Iraq to prevent the transfer of Iranian weapons through its territory to allied groups in Syria.
The source did not comment on the Iraqi prime minister's response to Blinken's requests but noted that Sudani had expressed hope that Iraq could avoid involvement in any conflicts.
On the sidelines of ongoing discussions in Aqaba, Jordan, regarding the Syrian crisis, Arab diplomats participating in the talks told Reuters they are seeking assurances from Turkey to support an inclusive political process that would prevent the partition of Syria along sectarian lines.
Turkey and the United States, both NATO members, have conflicting interests regarding some rebel factions. Turkish-backed rebels in northern Syria, known as the Syrian National Army, have launched an offensive against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), dominated by the YPG.
During his visit to Ankara, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed to Turkish officials that the Islamic State (ISIS) must not be allowed to regroup and that the SDF must not be diverted from their role in securing camps housing ISIS fighters.
Blinken also described the current situation in Syria as a time of "both opportunities and significant challenges."
A senior United Arab Emirates official expressed "concern" on Saturday about the Islamist affiliations of the rebel groups that overthrew President Bashar al-Assad and now hold power in Syria, according to AFP.
"We hear reasonable messages about the desire not to impose a system on Syrians, but on the other hand, the nature of the new forces in power, their affiliations with the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda, are quite worrying indicators," said Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, during a speech at the World Policy Conference in Abu Dhabi.
Six Syrian shepherds were killed on Saturday by fighters from the jihadist group Islamic State (ISIS), who also stole their livestock in the desert of central Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.
After seizing vast territories in Syria and neighboring Iraq in 2014, ISIS suffered successive defeats, culminating in its defeat in Syria in 2019. However, jihadists who retreated to the Syrian desert have continued to carry out attacks against civilians, forces of the now-defunct regime, and Kurdish forces.
⚡ While reports suggested that Russian forces were leaving an airbase in the Latakia region, the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank, stated on X that at least four Russian landing and cargo ships are reportedly departing Russian ports for the port of Tartus, likely to repatriate troops and equipment.
The think tank added that these ships are unlikely to reach Syria for several weeks.
According to our correspondent in the Bekaa, Sarah Abdallah, Palestinian militiamen evacuated the position they had been occupying at the Lebanese-Syrian border outside the town of Hilweh, in the Rashaya district, this morning.
In Jordan, ministers and officials from the U.S., Europe, Arab states, and Turkey are meeting this Saturday in Aqaba, on the Red Sea, to discuss the Syrian issue following the fall of the Assad regime.
Geir Pedersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, urged efforts to prevent "the collapse of Syrian institutions" during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken ahead of the international gathering. He also called for a "credible and inclusive political process to form the next government."
Owners of around 70 trucks carrying goods, currently stranded in the Syrian city of Daraa, have called on Lebanese authorities to assist them in crossing the Masnaa border checkpoint to return to Lebanon. The situation could be resolved by Sunday, according to information from the Bekaa Farmers' Union.
The Syrian currency has strengthened and is now trading between 11,500 and 12,500 pounds per U.S. dollar, according to exchange offices in Damascus, Reuters reports.
Israeli warplanes carried out around 40 airstrikes overnight, targeting former Syrian military positions in the countryside of Damascus, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), as cited by news agencies.
The SOHR reported that the Israeli military destroyed several targets, including a research center located north of Damascus.
Among the objectives, 28 strikes hit the eastern Qalamoun region, approximately 90 kilometers north of the capital. The Israeli aircraft targeted and destroyed a weapons depot, a military airport, and underground tunnels, the war monitor added.
On the diplomatic front, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Friday that it is "imperative" to continue efforts against ISIS in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad, during a visit to Ankara, Turkey's capital.
Syria is also a central topic in discussions between U.S. and Israeli officials in Tel Aviv.
Although it toppled Bashar al-Assad's regime in just a few days, the Syrian rebels' lightning offensive had been in the works for over a year, one of their military commanders told The Guardian this week.
The number of Syrians returning from Turkey is expected to rise progressively as stability returns to Syria, a Turkish official quoted by Reuters said. Early waves of returnees have already been observed in northern Syria in recent days.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan emphasized that the elimination of the Kurdish YPG remains a "strategic objective" for Turkey. The YPG (People's Protection Units) has been a key ally in the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS fighters. However, Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organization closely tied to the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party), which has waged a 40-year conflict against the Turkish state.
Another significant story today involves diplomatic relations between Turkey and the Islamist rebel government that toppled Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Turkey’s embassy in Damascus will resume operations this Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced yesterday, noting that a diplomatic delegation was on its way to Syria.
"We want a Syria free of terrorism, where minorities are not mistreated. We want an inclusive government in Syria," Fidan said in a live interview on NTV Friday.
As a reminder, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant instructed the military yesterday to "prepare to stay" throughout the winter in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria at the summit of the Golan Heights, where a UN force is stationed.
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⚡ New Israeli airstrikes targeted military sites in Damascus and its suburbs early Saturday, nearly a week after a coalition of rebels took the Syrian capital, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
Since the ousted president Bashar al-Assad fled on Sunday, Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on military targets in Syria, according to the UK-based SOHR, which has an extensive network of sources inside Syria.
"The Israeli strikes destroyed a scientific institute" and other military positions in Barzeh, northeast of Damascus, and targeted a "military airport" on the outskirts of the city, the SOHR added.
The strikes also hit "ballistic missile warehouses," rocket launchers in the Qalamoun region near Damascus, and "tunnels" under the mountains, according to the organization.
This morning’s key news concerns reports that the Russian military is withdrawing from the airbase it occupies near the coastal city of Latakia.
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of events in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Throughout the day, we will provide updates on developments in the country, major statements, and the situation in Damascus through our on-the-ground reporters.
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