Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikahil Bogdanov told state media on Thursday that Moscow had made “direct contact” with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the al-Qaeda offshoot that toppled Syrian dictator Bashar Assad last weekend.
Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani insists his forces have abandoned terrorism and wish to build a more free and inclusive Syria.
Christians in parts of Lebanon celebrated the downfall of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad over the weekend, gathering in town squares to launch celebratory fireworks and gleefully tearing down pictures of Assad from border crossings.
The regime in Iran is scrambling to explain why it was unable to protect its client Bashar Assad in Syria from being overthrown by a lightning-fast jihadi offensive that accomplished in less than two weeks what a decade of civil war could not.
A senior Iranian official said on Friday that his country will send missiles, drones, and more “military advisers” to Syria.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) praised Iran on Sunday for attacking Israel, describing the massive but largely ineffectual wave of drones and missiles as “brave,” “legal,” and “natural.”
Iran’s mission to the United Nations released a statement about the attack on Israel on Saturday evening, saying that Iran’s retaliation “can be deemed concluded,” unless Israel or the United States escalates further.
A senior adviser to Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Israel’s embassies around the world are “no longer safe.”
Syria’s two main airports were taken out of service Thursday by simultaneous Israeli missile strikes, Syrian state media said, in the first such attack since Hamas terrorists launched their assault on Israel.
Senior Israel defense officials said the military has destroyed around 90 percent of Iran’s military infrastructure in Syria, ahead of reports of an Israeli raid on Damascus.
Tel Aviv is the world’s most expensive city to live in as soaring inflation has dramatically increased costs, a survey published on Wednesday showed.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Saturday for bombing a major natural gas pipeline in Syria. The attack caused significant disruptions to the power supply for the Syrian capital of Damascus and other cities in the region.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said that Syrian refugees from the area around Damascus should return home because Denmark has assessed the region to be safe.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group on Tuesday accused Israel of killing one of its members raising concerns of a retaliatory strike, the Kan public broadcaster reported.
Denmark will examine the refugee status of Syrians from Damascus and potentially withdraw their residency as the area has become safer.
TEL AVIV – Syria accused Israel of an airstrike near Damascus in the early hours of Monday, killing four members of a pro-Iran militia and three civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Syrian regime on Sunday confirmed its first officially-recognized case of coronavirus infection. According to Health Minister Nizar Yazigi, the patient is “a person coming from abroad.”
TEL AVIV – Several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) sites in Syria have sustained massive damage or else have been destroyed entirely by airstrikes last week attributed to Israel, new images released Monday by satellite imagery firm ImageSat International (ISI) show.
The European Union (E.U.) foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Thursday said “bombings and other attacks on civilians in northwest Syria must stop,” issuing a special “stern warning” backed by European crisis commissioner Janez Lenarčič and other diplomats.
Syrian state media said early Thursday that Israel launched strikes against several targets near Damascus and claimed the country’s air defenses downed a number of missiles.
Israeli warplanes fired missiles targeting Syrian military positions in Homs and the Damascus outskirts in an attack that killed at least four civilians and wounded another 21, Syrian state media said.
TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday warned Iran that Israel would continue to hit back hard just as it had done earlier in the day with strikes on Iranian targets in Syria.
Damascus — Syria’s government has agreed to allow planes from regional aviation giant Qatar Airways to fly over the country after eight years of conflict kept its planes at bay.
Denmark will no longer automatically grant all Syrian asylum seekers temporary asylum, and is considering whether returns are now possible.
NEAR BAGHOUZ, Syria — US-backed forces said several jihadists and dozens of civilians quit the Islamic State group’s last patch of territory in Syria Tuesday, and warned remaining fighters should surrender or face death.
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria and Iran signed 11 agreements and memoranda of understanding late Monday, including a “long-term strategic economic cooperation” deal aimed at strengthening cooperation between Damascus and one of its key allies in the civil war that has torn the country apart.
TEL AVIV – The IDF conducted a series of strikes overnight Sunday against Iranian weapons warehouses, intelligence sites and a training camp in Syria in response to what it said was a “premeditated” missile attack on Israel earlier in the day that was meant as a warning from Tehran against further strikes.
Damascus — A “huge explosion” near a military intelligence office in Damascus Sunday left a number of dead and wounded, a war monitor said, after state TV reported early indications suggested a “terrorist act”.
TEL AVIV – News that Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is in critical condition after suffering a heart attack is a lie fabricated by the Zionists, a senior Iranian official said Sunday.
TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday confirmed that Israel conducted an airstrike against Iranian warehouses storing weapons at the international airport in Damascus over the weekend.
BEIRUT — He has survived eight years of war and billions of dollars in money and weapons aimed at toppling him. Now Syrian President Bashar Assad is poised to be readmitted to the fold of Arab nations, a feat once deemed unthinkable as he forcefully crushed the uprising against his family’s rule.
Syria on Saturday said it filed complaints with the UN Security Council and with UN Secretary-General Antonia Guterres over alleged Israeli airstrikes on Friday near Damascus.
Syria says the United Arab Emirates will reopen its embassy in Damascus for the first time in seven years.
TEL AVIV – Several senior Hezbollah terror leaders were hit by an alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria Tuesday night as they boarded a plane bound for Iran, Newsweek reported Wednesday.
TEL AVIV – Iranian cargo planes linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were reportedly sighted at an airport in Damascus around the time of an alleged Israeli airstrike that may have targeted several senior Hezbollah terror leaders.
Israel said Tuesday night it had deployed its air defenses against a missile shot from Syria as Damascus attempted to repel an alleged Israeli airstrike against Hezbollah or Iranian targets near the capital.
DAMASCUS – Syria reopened a wing of the capital’s famed antiquities museum on Sunday after six years of closure to protect its exhibits and visitors from rebel rocket fire in the civil war.
AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan said Wednesday a group of 279 Syrian rescue workers has left the kingdom for resettlement in Western countries three months after they were evacuated by Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he told Russia’s vice premier in talks on Tuesday that Israel must continue to hit hostile targets in neighboring Syria, despite Moscow’s decision to equip Damascus with advanced air defense missiles.
The Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday released footage showing delivery of the S-300 advanced anti-aircraft system to Syria, weeks after it blamed Israel for the downing of one of its spy planes by a less-sophisticated Syrian air defense missile.
