Ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad says he had no plans to depart the rustic after the autumn of Damascus per week in the past however the Russian army evacuated him from their base in western Syria after it got here beneath assault.“I didn’t depart the rustic as a part of a plan because it was once reported previous,” Assad mentioned. The feedback posted to his Fb on Monday are the primary by way of Assad since he was once overthrown on Dec. 8 by way of jihadi-led Syrian rebels, who are actually operating to determine safety and get started a political transition.Israel has been pounding what it says are army websites in Syria after the dramatic cave in of Assad’s rule, wiping out air defenses and lots of the arsenal of the Syrian military. Israeli troops have additionally seized a border buffer zone, sparking condemnation, with critics accusing Israel of violating the 1974 ceasefire and in all probability exploiting the chaos in Syria for a land take hold of.Here’s the most recent:
Israeli protection minister is constructive about Gaza ceasefire progressJERUSALEM — Israeli Protection Minister Israel Katz mentioned Monday he believed negotiators have been nearer to a ceasefire deal in Gaza than at any time since a weeklong truce in November 2023.“All of us estimate that a chance is being created following Hamas’s wish to turn out to be extra versatile, and I in point of fact hope we will be able to advance to a sensible level on this procedure,” he mentioned forward of a closed-door consultation of the Overseas Affairs and Protection Committee.Israel and the Lebanese militant workforce Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire overdue ultimate month, casting off a key best friend of Hamas from the battlefield.There was just one ceasefire in Gaza for the reason that Hamas assault that prompted the conflict. In November 2023, 105 hostages — basically ladies, kids, and Thai overseas nationals — have been launched in trade for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
UK will ship a delegation to fulfill with Syria’s new insurgent leadersLONDON — The British executive says it’s sending a delegation to Syria to fulfill with the rebels who toppled President Bashar Assad, in addition to to fulfill civil society teams.Overseas Secretary David Lammy instructed journalists that the U.Okay. would enhance an “inclusive transitional political procedure this is Syrian-led and Syrian-owned.”Britain, together with the U.S. and different international locations, classifies Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — the principle insurgent workforce and a former al-Qaida associate — as a 15 May Organization. U.Okay. officers have urged they are going to rethink that designation, however have now not given a timeline. They are saying British officers can nonetheless communicate to HST within the intervening time.The U.Okay. mentioned Sunday pledged 50 million kilos ($63 million) in investment to supply meals, safe haven, hospital treatment and different emergency services and products for susceptible Syrians as a part of efforts to stabilize the rustic.US says it struck the Islamic State workforce in Syria, killing 12 peopleWASHINGTON — U.S. forces carried out every other spherical of airstrikes in opposition to Islamic State workforce objectives in Syria on Monday, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder instructed journalists. The moves focused IS camps and operatives in Syria, killing 12 folks, U.S. Central Command mentioned in a observation posted to X. The moves are aimed toward “combating the terrorist workforce from engaging in exterior operations and to be sure that ISIS does now not search alternatives to reconstitute in central Syria,” Central Command mentioned.The U.S. has stored troops in Syria for the decade, and Syrian executive’s sudden cave in after a insurgent offensive has raised fears of an IS resurgence.
Trump says he had ‘an excellent communicate’ with Israel’s NetanyahuWASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump mentioned Monday that he “had an excellent communicate” with Israeli High Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I gave caution that if those hostages aren’t house by way of that date all hell’s going to damage out,” Trump mentioned, repeating his risk on social media about freeing the Israeli captives in Gaza by the point he is taking workplace subsequent month.Showing sooner than the inside track media at his Florida property on Monday, Trump deflected a query about conversations he could have had with Russia Vladimir Putin since profitable the election in November. As a substitute, he mentioned he would discuss Netanyahu.“It was once a recap name greater than the rest,” Trump added. He didn’t say when he spoke with Netanyahu.
UN envoy to Syria meets with insurgent leaders and visits infamous prisonDAMASCUS — The U.N. envoy to Syria was once in Damascus on Monday, preserving conferences with the rustic’s new insurgent leaders and assembly with households whose family members disappeared into an infamous jail right through the rule of thumb of ousted President Bashar Assad.Geir Pedersen reaffirmed the U.N.’s dedication to supporting the Syrian folks within the wake of Assad’s unexpected overthrow by way of jihadi-led rebels.Pedersen met with Ahmed al-Sharaa, the chief of the principle rebel workforce, and Mohammed Bashir, Syria’s intervening time top minister who in the past led the federal government in rebel-held territory. The post-Assad transition has been strangely easy. Reviews of reprisals, revenge killings and sectarian violence were minimum. Nonetheless, Syria is house to a couple of ethnic and spiritual communities, and lots of of them concern the chance that Sunni Islamist extremists will take over.
Pedersen additionally toured the chilly concrete halls of Saydnaya Jail, lengthy known as “the slaughterhouse” beneath Assad’s rule.“Confidently, what we see here’s now a closed bankruptcy in Syria’s historical past,” Pedersen mentioned in a observation, after talking with folks whose relations have been detained or went lacking.Tens of hundreds of folks got here to the jail ultimate week on the lookout for their members of the family, however just a few dozen detainees have been discovered within. One relative requested Pedersen on Monday if the U.N. may just carry particular apparatus to assist seek for chambers hidden underneath the jail.Netanyahu’s testimony in his corruption trial will resume WednesdayJERUSALEM — Israeli High Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won’t testify Tuesday in his ongoing corruption trial, after his attorneys asked his testimony be cancelled. He testified in court docket Sunday and he’s anticipated to go back on Wednesday. Netanyahu took the stand for the primary time in his long-running corruption trial ultimate week, turning into the one sitting Israeli chief to take the stand as a felony defendant.Netanyahu will resolution to fees of fraud, breach of consider and accepting bribes in 3 separate circumstances. Netanyahu, 75, denies wrongdoing, announcing the fees are a witch hunt orchestrated by way of a antagonistic media and a biased felony machine out to topple his long rule.The testimony is ready to happen six hours an afternoon, 3 days per week for a number of weeks, and can soak up a vital chew of Netanyahu’s operating hours as he faces Israel’s ongoing conflict in Gaza in addition to trends in Syria and Lebanon.Israeli army says it intercepted a projectile from YemenJERUSALEM — The Israeli army mentioned it intercepted a missile introduced from Yemen that had prompted sirens around the Tel Aviv metropolitan space on Monday afternoon. The missile was once intercepted out of doors Israel’s borders, the army mentioned. Alternatively, shrapnel fell at the roof of a house within the east Jerusalem, which the army mentioned was once most probably from one of the most Israeli interceptor missiles. There have been no experiences of casualties or main harm, in keeping with Israel’s emergency services and products.The Iranian-backed Yemeni rebels, referred to as the Houthis, claimed accountability for firing a hypersonic ballistic missile towards Tel Aviv. The Houthis have again and again fired drones and missiles towards Israel for the reason that get started of the conflict in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant workforce Hamas, however the vast majority of the ones guns were intercepted.In July, an Iranian-made drone introduced by way of the Houthis struck Tel Aviv, killing one individual and wounding 10 others. Israel spoke back with a wave of airstrikes on Houthi-held spaces of Yemen, together with the port town of Hodeidah.The Houthis have additionally been attacking delivery within the Pink Sea and Gulf of Aden — assaults they are saying gained’t forestall till there’s a ceasefire in Gaza.Assad says he sought after to stay combating in Syria however his Russian allies evacuated himDAMASCUS, Syria — Ousted Syrian chief Bashar Assad says he had no plans to depart the rustic after the autumn of Damascus per week in the past however the Russian army evacuated him after their base in western Syria got here beneath assault.The feedback are the primary by way of Assad since he was once overthrown by way of rebel teams.Assad mentioned in a observation on his Fb web page that he left Damascus at the morning of Dec. 8, hours after insurgents stormed the capital. He mentioned he left in coordination with Russian allies to the Russian base within the coastal province of Latakia, the place he deliberate to stay combating.Assad mentioned that once the Russian base got here beneath assault by way of drones, the Russians determined to transport him at the night time of Dec. 8 to Russia. “I didn’t depart the rustic as a part of a plan because it was once reported previous,” Assad mentioned.“At no level right through those occasions did I imagine stepping down or in the hunt for shelter nor was once such proposal made by way of any person or celebration,” Assad mentioned within the English textual content of his observation. “The one plan of action was once to proceed combating in opposition to the terrorist onslaught.”Loss of life toll from Israel-Hamas conflict tops 45,000Health officers within the Gaza Strip say the demise toll from the 14-month conflict between Israel and Hamas militants has reached 45,028 folks.The Gaza Well being Ministry does now not distinguish between civilians and warring parties. It mentioned greater than part of the fatalities have been ladies and kids. The Israeli army says it has killed greater than 17,000 militants, with out offering proof.The Well being Ministry additionally mentioned 106,962 were wounded for the reason that get started of the conflict.Turkey condemns Israeli plan to make bigger settlements within the occupied Golan HeightsANKARA, Turkey — A Turkish Overseas Ministry observation mentioned Monday the verdict marked a “new level in Israel’s objective of increasing its borders thru profession,” including that Ankara was once involved that the transfer would hurt efforts to determine peace and steadiness in Syria.“The world neighborhood will have to display the vital response to Israel and be sure that the unlawful actions of (High Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s executive come to an finish,” the observation learn.Qatar additionally condemned the verdict, calling it “a brand new episode in a sequence of Israeli aggressions on Syrian territories and a blatant violation of world regulation.”The Israeli executive licensed Netanyahu’s plan on Sunday with the purpose to inspire inhabitants expansion within the space.Israel captured the Golan Heights within the 1967 Mideast conflict and annexed it, despite the fact that the world neighborhood apart from for the U.S. regards it as occupied. Israeli figures display the far flung territory is house to about 50,000 folks, about part of them Jewish Israelis and the opposite part Arab Druze, a lot of whom nonetheless imagine themselves Syrians.Mourners in Gaza accumulate for funeral of Al Jazeera journalist DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — In central Gaza’s Nuseirat city refugee camp, mourners carried Monday the frame of Ahmad Baker Al-Louh, 39, a Palestinian journalist operating for Al Jazeera, from the health center during the streets. His blue bulletproof vest rested atop him.Al-Louh was once killed the day sooner than in a strike on some degree for Gaza’s civil protection company and Al Jazeera mentioned have been protecting rescue operations of a circle of relatives wounded in an previous bombing when he was once killed.Sunday’s strike additionally killed 3 civil protection staff, together with the native head of the company, in keeping with al-Aqsa Martyrs Sanatorium. The civil protection is Gaza’s primary rescue company and operates beneath the Hamas-run executive.Israeli strike kills 10 in Gaza CityDEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The ten integrated a circle of relatives of 4, Palestinian medics mentioned Monday, because the Israel-Hamas conflict raged on for the 14th month within the Gaza Strip.The strike overdue Sunday hit a space in Gaza Town’s jap Shijaiyah group, in keeping with the Well being Ministry’s ambulance and emergency carrier. Rescuers recovered the our bodies of 10 folks from beneath the rubble, together with the ones of 2 oldsters and their two kids, it mentioned.US Embassy advises American citizens to depart SyriaDAMASCUS, Syria — The U.S. Embassy in Damascus urged American citizens to depart Syria, announcing the protection state of affairs there remains to be risky and unpredictable with armed war and “terrorism all over the rustic.”The embassy, which has been closed since 2012, posted a observation on X, caution U.S. electorate who have been not able to depart the rustic to arrange “contingency plans for emergency eventualities.” It didn’t give additional main points. The observation additionally mentioned that the U.S. executive is not able to supply any regimen or emergency consular services and products to U.S. electorate and those that want “emergency help to leave must touch the U.S. Embassy within the nation they plan to go into.”Sleeper cells of the Islamic State workforce have claimed accountability for fatal assaults over the last months in several portions of Syria. In spite of their defeat in March 2019, the extremists nonetheless pose a risk within the war-torn nation.Struggle observe says Israel objectives missile warehousesDAMASCUS, Syria — The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based conflict observe, reported early Monday that Israeli airstrikes pounded missile warehouses and different former Syrian military websites alongside Syria’s coast within the “maximum violent moves within the Syrian coast area for the reason that starting of the (Israeli) moves in 2012.”The Israeli army declined to remark at the moves.The observatory mentioned that “violent explosions” have been heard within the coastal town of Tartous “because of the successive moves and the flying of ground-to-ground missiles from the warehouses.”