More than 1,300 dead in Syrian clashes, including 830 Alawite civilians; Israel cuts power to Gaza | Live

Thank you for following our live coverage of the region. We will be back tomorrow with more updates.

Syria's interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, promised on Sunday that his government would hold to account anyone involved in harming civilians, after several days of deadly violence on the country's Mediterranean coast.

“We will call to account, firmly and without indulgence, anyone involved in the bloodshed of civilians ... or who has overstepped the powers of the state,” he declared in a video published by the official Syrian news agency SANA, adding that a committee would be formed to "protect civil peace."

Lebanon-Syria

4,330 people from 1,146 different families left Syria for Akkar between Thursday and Saturday, reported our correspondent in the North, Michel Hallak, citing mayors, mukhtars and activists in the region, based on the first available estimates.

Of these 1,146 families, 1,106 are Syrian and the rest Lebanese. Our correspondent adds that these figures are subject to revision, depending on developments in the security situation and the flow of displaced persons.

South Lebanon

The Lebanese Army soldier who died as Israeli forces fired on mourners at a funeral in Kfar Kila (Marjayoun) earlier today, died of a heart attack and not an Israeli bullet, reports our correspondent in the South.

Syria

Following in the footsteps of Israel, Germany, the U.S. and the U.N., British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Sunday condemned the “horrific” killings of civilians in western Syria.

“The authorities in Damascus must ensure the protection of all Syrians and chart a clear course towards transitional justice,” he wrote on X, reports AFP.

South Lebanon

Israeli drones fly over the town of Nabatieh, neighboring villages and the Zahrani region, reports our correspondent in the South.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Sunday that 830 Alawite civilians had been killed since Thursday by Syrian security forces and allied groups in the Syrian coast and Latakia mountain regions.

This brings the death toll to 1,311, including 481 members of the security forces and fighters loyal to the Assad clan, according to the NGO. 85 civilians and 208 fighters were killed on Sunday.

Iran-U.S.

Iran would consider negotiations with the U.S. “if the objective of the talks were to address concerns about a possible militarization of its nuclear program,” said the account of Iran's mission to the United Nations on Sunday in a publication on X, quoted by Reuters.

However, the publication said that “if the objective was the dismantling of Iran's peaceful nuclear program, such negotiations would never take place.”

Syria

Syrian security forces broke up a sit-in in Damascus organized by civil society activists on Monday to protest the killings of Alawite civilians in the west of the country after a counter-demonstration broke out. Activists had called on social networks for a sit-in in central Damascus “for civilian victims and martyrs of the security forces.”

One of the placards held up by the demonstrators read “Hold the criminals accountable,” according to AFP journalists. Opposite, a group of demonstrators chanted slogans hostile to the Alawite community and called for the establishment of a “Sunni state.”

(Credit: Rabih Daher/AFP)

Mourners attend the funeral of Hezbollah fighters and civilians who were killed in the recent war with Israel, in the southern Lebanese border village of Kfar Kila on March 9, 2025.

Syria

Jordan's foreign minister announces that Syria's neighbors have agreed at a security meeting in Amman to step up the campaign against the Islamist organization Da'esh, Reuters reports. Iraq's foreign minister says Da'esh is growing stronger along the border with Syria, and in turn, announces an agreement to step up security cooperation, the agency continues.

Gaza

A Hamas official says the group is willing to release American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander as part of negotiations to end the war in Gaza, reports Hamas channel Al-Aqsa TV, quoted by Reuters.

Gaza

Israel's Energy Minister orders a halt to electricity supplies to Gaza, reports Israel's Public Radio Kan, quoted by Reuters.

(Credit: Jordanian Foreign Ministry/AFP)

This handout picture released by the Jordanian Foreign Ministry shows the kingdom's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi (3rd R) and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan (3rd L) during a meeting in the presence of the two countries' defense ministers, chiefs of staff and directors of intelligence services to discuss the situation in neighboring Syria and developments in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip on March 9, 2025 in Amman.

Syria

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has issued a decree establishing an “independent” commission to investigate the deadly events in western Syria since “March 6.”

The commission is made up of five judges, an army officer and a lawyer. Most are former members of the Geneva-based Syrian Constitutional Committee. Its mission is to investigate the factors that led to the outbreak of violence, the abuses committed against civilians and the attacks on state institutions and officials.

All state administrations and institutions are required to cooperate with the commission, which will have the power to call on anyone who can help it in its mission. According to the decree, the commission will submit a report to the President within 30 days.

Syria

A “new military escalation” is currently taking place in the Tartous region, reports the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), in a statement published on its X account.

SOHR reports artillery bombardments targeting civilian homes.

Syria-Lebanon

Former Lebanese minister Michel Pharaon has described the murders of “unarmed Christians, religious and secular, because of their religious affiliation,” during the clashes in western Syria, as “unspeakable crimes,” in a message on X.

U.S.-Israel

In remarks this time to CNN, picked up by Haaretz, U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler said on Sunday that while he was not upset by Israeli concerns about direct U.S.-Hamas ceasefire talks, he insisted on U.S. independence of action on the issue.

“We are the United States. We are not an agent of Israel,” he said.

He also praised Israel's “wonderful and masterful work in eliminating enemies, which has made things possible that were not possible before,” but assured that he believed a long-term truce with Hamas was possible and would exclude the latter from the political process in the future.

Finally, he felt that there were “sufficient elements” to conclude an agreement in the coming weeks.

Syria

Israel's head of diplomacy, Gideon Saar, has urged Europe to “stop granting legitimacy” to Syria's transitional government, in light of current events. “[Europe] must wake up. It must stop granting legitimacy to a regime whose first actions — unsurprising given its well-known terrorist past — are these atrocities,” he declared in an interview published on Sunday, quoted by AFP.

Saar criticized “the international community in general, and Europe in particular” for having “flocked to Damascus in recent months to shake hands” with Syrian leader Ahmad al-Sharaa. “[Sharaa] and his men were jihadists and remain so, even if they now wear suits,” he asserted. “This weekend, the masks came off, as Sharaa's men mercilessly slaughtered their own people,” he added.

South Lebanon

The Lebanese soldier wounded by Israeli fire in Kfar Kila has succumbed to his injuries, according to our correspondent in the region. A woman was also wounded. The civilian wounded earlier in the day is still in intensive care.

Syria

Reacting to the events, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. condemns “radical Islamist terrorists,” and supports religious and ethnic minorities in Syria, in remarks reported by Reuters.

Gaza

Adam Boehler, the U.S. special envoy for hostage affairs, told Fox News on Sunday that talks with Hamas had been “very productive” after Washington held unprecedented direct negotiations with the organization, Haaretz reported.

The U.S. official said that during the talks, “Hamas moved towards a long-term truce” that would see it disarmed and excluded from politics.

Boehler said that Israel had been kept informed of the talks between the U.S. and Hamas and that Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer had expressed concern about them. “Quite frankly, it's perfectly normal for Israel to be concerned about direct contact,” he said.

An Israeli delegation is due to visit Qatar on Monday to continue these negotiations.

South Lebanon

A civilian was injured in the village of Blida (Marjayoun) by the explosion of a small object not clearly identified while collecting scrap metal, according to our correspondent in the South.

Syria

The killing of civilians in Syria “must stop immediately” said Volker Türk, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“We are receiving extremely worrying reports of entire families, including women, children and combatants being killed,” reported Türk, in remarks relayed by Reuters.

“There are also reports of summary executions on a sectarian basis, carried out by unidentified perpetrators, by members of the security forces of the interim authorities, as well as by elements associated with the former government,” continued the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Referring to the words of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday morning, calling for a return to calm and “national unity,” Türk declared that “statements by the interim authorities affirming their intention to respect the law must be followed by swift action to protect Syrians,” asserting that it was “imperative to conduct swift, transparent and impartial investigations into all these killings and other violations, and to hold those responsible to account.”

South Lebanon

A Lebanese soldier was wounded by Israeli fire in Kfar Kila, at the Fatima Gate, according to our correspondent.

Israeli soldiers had already wounded a civilian earlier in the day. The seriousness of the soldier's injury is not known. It is also unclear whether or not he was on duty at the time of the incident.

Syria

Germany on Sunday described as “shocking” reports of more than 1,000 people killed in Syria, the majority of them civilians.

“The transitional government has the responsibility to prevent further attacks, to investigate and to hold those responsible to account,” the Foreign Office said in a statement quoted by AFP. “We urge all parties to put an end to the violence,” the statement concluded.

Syria-Lebanon

The Vice-President of the Shiite Supreme Council, Sheikh Ali al-Khatib, has reacted to the deadly events that have claimed the lives of over 1,000 people, including more than 750 Alawites in western Syria in recent days, fearing that this wave of violence could reach Lebanon.

“We warn our community in Lebanon of the repercussions of these events, calling on the state and security agencies to take all necessary measures to control the situation and prevent it from spreading to Lebanese territory,” the sheikh was quoted as saying by the official National News Agency.

Southern Lebanon

Residents saw the Israeli army building fortifications on the al-Assi site, opposite Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun).

(CrediT: Our correspondent Mountasser )

Southern Lebanon

The funerals of 25 people from the village of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun) took place today. These include seven civilians, killed during the war between Hezbollah and Israel and temporarily buried outside the locality, according to our correspondent in the south.

He added that, throughout the funeral, an Israeli drone flew over the assembly formed for the occasion.

(Credit: Yasin Akgul/AFP)

A man holds a sign reading “The [Alawite] people in Syria are not alone” during a demonstration organized by Turkish [Alawite] civil society organizations against the new Syrian government and Ahmad al-Sharaa near the Syrian consulate, March 9, 2025.

Gaza

Israel's far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said the Israeli government was planning to set up a “migration directorate” to implement U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to displace Gazans.

“We are setting up a migration directorate; we are preparing for this under the leadership of Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] and Defense Minister [Israel Katz]. The budget will not be an obstacle,” said the minister.

“Preparations are underway for the creation of a large migration directorate within the Defense Ministry. If we send 5,000 [Gazans] a day, it will take a year. The logistics are complicated because we need to know who is going to which country,” he added.

Southern Lebanon

Israeli fire was directed at a group of cattle breeders on the Bastra farm (Hasbaya). A mortar shell fell near them, forcing them to flee and abandon their herds, according to our correspondent in the south.

Lebanon-Israel

The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, began a visit to Israel today, where she is due to meet senior Israeli officials, according to a U.N. press release. The visit is part of efforts to “strengthen security and stability along the Blue Line” between Israel and Lebanon, as tensions persist in the region, the U.N. statement said.

Discussions will focus on the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, which came into force on Nov. 27, 2024, and on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006 to put an end to a previous war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hennis-Plasschaert reiterated the importance of “not allowing a new status quo” to set in, which could jeopardize peace efforts.

South Lebanon

A resident of the locality of Kfar Kila was hit by two bullets in the shoulder and neck as a result of Israeli fire, according to our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah. He was taken to Marjayoun Hospital and is currently in critical condition. The hospital has appealed for donations of four units of group B+ blood for the wounded man, named Mohammad Qassem.

Syria

In a sermon on Sunday, the Orthodox Patriarch of Antakya, John X, called on interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa to “put an end to these massacres ... and give a sense of security to all the Syrian people, in all their diversity,” in remarks reported by AFP.

“The targeted areas were mainly inhabited by Alawites and Christians,” he said. “Many innocent Christians were also killed. Those who were killed were not all men loyal to [the former] regime, the majority of them being innocent, unarmed civilians, with women and children among them,” he added.

Syria

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights deleted the publication on X reporting the continuation this Sunday morning of drone attacks and artillery bombardments on the rural areas of Banias and Latakia. It then republished it 20 minutes later, replacing the locality of Banias with Tartous, and mentioning “sweeping operations” in the two major Alawite strongholds of Tartous and Latakia, in north-western Syria.

Gaza

According to local Israeli media, quoted by AFP, the Israeli security cabinet is due to meet on Sunday to establish the framework for the mandate of the Israeli delegation due to travel to Doha on Monday “with the aim of moving negotiations forward.”

Israel is seeking an extension of the first phase of the cease-fire until mid-April. It is demanding the “total demilitarization” of the territory, the departure of Hamas from Gaza and the return of the last hostages before moving on to the second phase.

Hamas, which insists on remaining in Gaza where it took power in 2007, is calling for immediate negotiations to implement the second phase, reports AFP.

Syria

Fighting is continuing and intensifying this Sunday in the rural areas of Banias and Latakia, reports the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which reports drone attacks and artillery shelling.

Syria

The Syrian Defense Ministry has confirmed that violent clashes are taking place in the vicinity of the village of Ta'anita, near Latakia, where many members of the Assad regime and armed rebel groups protecting them have taken refuge, according to the official National News Agency.

Gaza

The Israeli army carried out an air strike on Sunday against fighters it said were burying an explosive device in the northern Gaza Strip, where a truce between Israel and Hamas has been in force since Jan. 19, according to AFP.

“Several terrorists were spotted near army troops as they attempted to hide an explosive device in the ground in northern Gaza,” the army said in a statement, adding that its air force had carried out a strike against the suspects.

According to Haaretz, the attack took place in the Shuja'iyya camp, killing at least one person and wounding several others.

Lebanon

A few incidents were reported overnight in southern Lebanon, while the situation was calm in the Bekaa.

In southern Lebanon, a small Israeli drone dropped two grenades on the village of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun) last night, and an Israeli shell fell in the same village, according to our correspondent in the South.

At around the same time, the Israeli army fired machine guns in the vicinity of Tallet al-Hamames, south of Khiam (Marjayoun).

Gaza

According to Haaretz, a Hamas spokesperson in the Gaza Strip, Hazem Qassem, declared that the organization “has no problem” meeting representatives of the U.S. administration. He said this is “because we understand that it has the power to put pressure on Israel.”

Qassem added that “discussions are underway with mediators to begin the second phase of negotiations. We have set three conditions: an exchange [of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners], a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and a commitment not to resume aggression.”

He noted that “Israel must show seriousness towards the mediators in order to pursue the steps of the agreement. We have made it clear to the mediators that we reject the extension of the first phase of the cease-fire agreement.”

According to Reuters, several meetings have taken place between Hamas leaders and the U.S. envoy for hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, Taher Al-Nono, political advisor to the Hamas leader, confirmed to Reuters.

Gaza

The future of the Palestinian enclave, besieged and largely destroyed by Israel, remains at the center of diplomatic discussions currently involving Hamas, the U.S. and Egypt.

According to a statement, a Hamas delegation, which met with Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad in Cairo, “approved the creation of a committee to run the Gaza Strip until elections are held.” “The delegation stressed the need to respect all the conditions of the agreement, that negotiations on the second phase [of the cease-fire agreement] must begin, that the crossings [into Gaza] must be opened and that aid must be allowed in without restrictions or conditions,” the statement said.

Syria

The atrocities perpetrated in recent days in the Latakia region have rekindled the existential fears of the Alawites, the country's largest minority.

Syria

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Sunday called for “national unity” in the country after three days of communal violence unprecedented since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, which left more than 1,000 people dead, the majority of them Alawite civilians.

“What is happening in the country ... are foreseeable challenges. We must preserve national unity, and civil peace as much as possible, and, God willing, we will be able to live together in this country as much as possible,” said Sharaa, who led the Islamist coalition that toppled Assad, in a speech on Sunday in the mosque of the Damascus district where he spent part of his childhood.

The Syrian authorities said on Saturday that they were working to “restore order” in the west of the country, a former stronghold of the Assad regime.

➡️ More details here

On the same day, Hezbollah, a former ally of Bashar al-Assad, denied any involvement in the violence.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East, particularly in Syria, where violence has left more than 500 people dead along the Syrian coastline, almost three months after the fall of the Assad regime on Dec. 8, 2024.

We will also be following developments in Gaza, where the second phase of the truce, due to come into effect on Sunday after talks in Cairo, has been postponed, as well as in Lebanon, where the period of application of the terms of the cease-fire agreed on Nov. 27 between Israel and Hezbollah officially expired on Feb. 18. However, the Israeli army is still occupying at least five positions along the border, and on Friday evening carried out its largest-ever wave of bombing raids on southern Lebanon.