Syria civil war - Page 2

Moscow will early next year host the leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey to discuss the Syrian conflict, Russia’s deputy foreign minister said Friday, after the United States announced it was withdrawing troops from the country.

Turkey has begun massing tanks and troop carriers on its southern border with Syria as it prepares to move into the country once American soldiers have left.

Turkey has sent reinforcements to the border with Syria, Turkish media reported on Monday, after Washington ordered the withdrawal of its ground forces from the war-ravaged nation.

Outgoing IDF chief Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot on Sunday defended the military against recent criticism of insufficient action against Palestinian terrorism in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, saying the army’s primary goal in recent years has been thwarting Iran’s efforts to establish a permanent military presence in Syria.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Thursday that Israel would step up its fight against Iran’s military presence in Syria, amid concerns that the US military’s announced pullout from the war-torn country would limit the Jewish state’s ability to operate there.

TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have tried in vain to persuade President Donald Trump to walk back his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, a move that was met with significant “disappointment” in Jerusalem, Israeli media reported. 

President Donald Trump’s reported decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria could negatively impact the campaign to rid the country of Iranian influence while the pullout telegraphs a message of abandonment to our Kurdish allies and comes as Russia solidifies control in Syria.

DAMASCUS, Syria — At least 50 civilians were being treated Saturday following a suspected poison gas attack by Syrian rebel groups on the government-held Aleppo city in the country’s north, according to reports in Syrian state media.

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered a deal to Israel and the US that would see Iran remove its forces from Syria in exchange for an easing of Washington’s sanctions against Tehran, according to an Israeli report Tuesday.

BASRA, Iraq — Iraqi police say a Muslim cleric has been killed outside his home after he suggested that demonstrators should take up arms over poor public services in Basra.

TEL AVIV – Russia on Monday accused Israel of putting its military in danger by violating a tacit agreement to give advanced warning before conducting airstrikes in Syria, prompting Moscow to respond in a “firm but contained manner.”

Israel has carried out attacks in Syria since the accidental shooting down of a Russian surveillance plane last month, a senior Israeli official said on Monday.

France plans to repatriate more than 100 children of Islamic State fighters held by Kurdish forces in Syria.

Russia is demanding Israel give it more advanced notice before carrying out airstrikes on targets in Syria, Israeli television reported Wednesday, as newly published satellite photographs purported to show the deployment of four advanced Russian anti-aircraft batteries near a suspected Syrian chemical weapons site.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel continues to act against the establishment of Iranian military in Syria, and emphasized that he stays in constant contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

TEL AVIV – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Russia’s vice premier that Moscow’s delivery of advanced S-300 air defense systems to Syria would not deter Israel from operating against Iranian targets in Syria.

WASHINGTON — The United States will refuse any additional reconstruction assistance to war-torn Syria so long as Iranian troops are present in the country, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin will be held soon to cover coordination in Syria after the accidental downing of a Russian plane heightened tensions.

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.

The Russian deployment of advanced anti-aircraft missiles in Syria is a “needless escalation,” the general overseeing America’s military involvement in the Middle East said Thursday.

TEL AVIV – Russia’s delivery of the S-300 missile defense system in Syria is a “very serious escalation” of the conflict there, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday.

Syria’s bloody civil war is almost over, with Arab and Western delegations readying to resume diplomatic ties, a confident President Bashar al-Assad told a Kuwaiti newspaper Wednesday.

TEL AVIV – Russia has delivered an S-300 anti-missile system to Syria, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu confirmed to President Vladimir Putin during a meeting Tuesday.

Israel accused the UN nuclear watchdog of failing to inspect a suspected nuclear site in Iran Tuesday, pushing back against claims by the agency’s chief that it had checked all relevant nuclear sites in the Islamic Republic.

TEL AVIV – Over the past week, Russia has been transporting S-300 air defense systems to Syria using the Antonov An-124 Ruslan, the largest military plane in the world. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night castigated Iran for falsely seeking to tie Israel to an attack at a military parade in southern Iran last month in which at least 24 people were killed.

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launched six ballistic missiles as well as drone bombers early Monday toward eastern Syria, targeting militants it blamed for an attack on a military parade last month while also threatening regional adversaries as Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers unravels.

BEIRUT, Lebanon — More than 18,000 people, nearly half of them civilians, have been killed in Russian air strikes on Syria since Moscow began its game-changing intervention three years ago, a monitor said Sunday.

Tehran – Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Monday they launched a missile strike against a “terrorist” headquarters in Syria in retaliation for an attack that killed 24 people in the Iranian city of Ahvaz.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticized Russia’s decision to provide advanced anti-aircraft systems to Syria as “irresponsible,” but said Israel was committed to continued deconfliction with Moscow in its military operations in the region.

A senior Israeli official said that Russia’s decision to provide advanced anti-aircraft systems to Syria posed a serious challenge for the Jewish state, but added that Israel was working on ways to prevent the development from becoming a major threat to the country’s security.

UNITED NATIONS — Declaring that victory over “terrorism” is almost at hand after more than seven years of civil war, Syria’s foreign minister took to the world stage Saturday and demanded that “occupation” forces from the U.S., France and Turkey leave the country immediately.

JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister says the country’s border crossing with Syria is reopening for U.N. personnel and will resume operating as before the civil war erupted next door.

A senior Syrian official has warned that Israel will need to think twice before attacking Syrian targets, following a Russian announcement that it will be supplying an S-300 anti-missile system to its ally.

TEL AVIV – Israeli and Russian military officials will meet in a bid to fix fraying ties between the two countries in the wake of the downing of a Russian plane by Syrian air defenses during an Israeli airstrike last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday.

BEIRUT — Israel should think carefully before attacking Syria again once it obtains the sophisticated S-300 defense system from Russia, a Damascus official said.