Reuters People are now fleeing on foot into Syria after an Israeli strike created a huge crater in the road An Israeli air strike has hit near the main border crossing point for people fleeing the escalating bombing and ground campaign in Lebanon for neighbouring Syria. Israel's military said it had hit Hezbollah targets near the Masnaa crossing, and earlier claimed the group was using it to smuggle weapons into Lebanon. The strike on Friday destroyed a section of the road and effectively cut off vehicle access. People are still able to make the journey on foot, with pictures showing families clambering over rubble and scrambling through the four-metre crater in the road to get out of the country. More than 300,000 people have left Lebanon for Syria in the past 10 days to flee the bombing, according to Lebanese government figures. The strike on Friday hit the road 700m from the checkpoint on the Lebanese side, and around 5km (3.1 miles) from the border itself. Aid workers said the destruction of the road near Masnaa crossing hinders both the movement of people and also food and humanitarian supplies. * [BBC Verify: A closer look at the crater damage near Syria’s border crossing](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c39l7lv9pevt?post=asset%3A2c290de3-3f42-4599-9a71-baec5bfd467a#post) "It will mean that goods which would normally come overland through that crossing - the cheapest, most effective way to bring commodities into that country - will also not be able to be received here," Matthew Hollingworth, the director of the UN's World Food programme, told the BBC. Reuters Despite the strike people were still on the move on Friday to flee Lebanon Video shows huge crater left by strike on key route out of Lebanon Reuters The strike created a four-metre crater in the middle of the road, cutting off vehicle access Mr Hollingworth stressed that it was essential for other routes leading out of Lebanon - particularly those in the north - to remain unhindered. "We really would press that they remain open because they will be critical for people to leave, and also for humanitarian commodities to come in," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. The Masnaa crossing in Lebanon's east had been the main path for people to move into Syria, and then onto Jordan and the Gulf States, while in Lebanon the road had also connected west to the capital Beirut on the coast, which has been heavily bombed in recent days. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday said it had targeted a site at the border crossing where "weapons were transferred to Hezbollah", and also a 3.5km underground tunnel between Lebanon and Syria, the location of which was not specified. In a statement issued before the strike, the IDF said the crossing had become the "primary border crossing for Hezbollah's weapons transfers" and accused the group of concealing "smuggling activity among civilian trucks and vehicles". It called on Lebanon to thoroughly inspect trucks. Many people moving east are Syrian nationals living in Lebanon, who have headed back to their own country to escape Israel's bombardments. [The BBC spoke to one woman in Beirut](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c39l7lv9pevt?post=asset%3Afa695828-f196-454e-a5ec-a1d358e9bcbb#post), who had sent her son back to Syria this week because the capital was too dangerous. "I found a lot of people from our neighbourhood heading for Syria, so I sent him with them," she said. Syria's government said on Sunday that for the next week people crossing the border would no longer have to pay $100 to enter the country.  On Friday, [strikes also hit near Lebanon's only commercial airport](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17lpydd842o), the Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport. The airport borders the suburb of Dahieh, Hezbollah's stronghold in the city, and a continued target of Israeli air strikes. Major strikes there one week ago killed the long-time leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah. Reports indicated that the new strikes on Friday morning were aimed at the group's new leadership, including a potential new overall leader, Hashem Safieddine. Lebanon's public health ministry said 37 people had been killed in ground and air attacks on Thursday while 151 others had been wounded. More than 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli air strikes since fighting began in October 2023, the Lebanese health ministry says. Israeli forces on Friday also told residents of another two dozen towns and villages in the South, including the regional capital city of Nabatieh, to leave immediately for their safety. The new order applies to communities further inland, north of the Litani river, about 30km from the border with Israel. The river is a crucial marker as Israel has previously demanded that Hezbollah withdraw to the Litani, as per the UN Security Council resolution that ended their last war in 2006. But there are concerns in Lebanon that Israel will seek to occupy part of the country's south again.

When Joe Biden last week said that his administration has been “[discussing](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/03/biden-says-us-discussing-possible-israeli-plans-to-attack-irans-oil-industry)” possible Israeli plans to attack Iran’s oil industry in retaliation for Iran’s ballistic missile attack, it left the world stunned. Notably because Mr Biden didn’t reject these plans outright, in the way that he had the day before regarding a possible strike on [Iran’s nuclear sites](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/biden-says-he-does-not-support-attack-irans-nuclear-sites-2024-10-02/). Oil prices jumped 10%, even though the US president walked back the remark the next day. The historian AJP Taylor [wrote](https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1965/05/06/the-history-of-a-j-p-taylor/) that “wars are much like road accidents” in that they had profound consequences but did not necessarily have equally profound causes. Targeted Israeli strikes on refinery complexes may not do much more than win domestic applause. Bombing Kharg Island, the heart of Iran’s oil-export operations, would cripple its economy. However, such a move might also drive up global oil prices and have an impact on American consumers just weeks before a crucial election. Washington’s sanctions have failed to stymie Iran’s oil exports, largely because [China](https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-oil-sanctions-china/32930848.html) has been willing to defy Washington. With Beijing purchasing about 90% of Iran’s crude oil, an Israeli attack on Iranian facilities would have uncertain consequences. The real risk lies in escalation, potentially drawing China into the conflict and reshaping Middle Eastern dynamics for years. The outcome of such a conflict is hard to foresee. However, the aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq serves as a reminder that destabilising actions often invite outside powers to intervene in the Middle East. Last week, Russia [conducted](https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-823460#google_vignette) airstrikes in Syria against what it said were militant groups in an area under US control. The possibility of Russian military forces and American troops colliding in Syria has been a persistent worry as the [adversaries](https://thewarhorse.org/special-forces-soldiers-reveal-first-details-of-battle-with-russian-mercenaries-in-syria/) took opposing sides in the country’s civil war. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has only sharpened the mutual antagonism. Ultimately, the impact of an Israeli attack will hinge on Iran’s response and how major global oil producers react to the likely oil shock. China could offset the loss of its [1.5m barrels](https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IN/IN12267) per day of Iranian oil by turning to Saudi Arabia, which has ample spare production capacity. However, Riyadh, having recently restored ties with Tehran, is cautious about being drawn into a conflict between Israel and Iran. The desert kingdom sought to improve relations with Tehran after its costly war with the Houthis triggered a [devastating](https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-sending-troops-saudi-arabia-shows-short-range-air-defenses-ncna1057461) Iranian drone attack on its oil facilities. The attack, which bypassed US Patriot missile defences, temporarily cut Riyadh’s oil production in half. An all-out war between Iran and Israel could lead to the closure of the [strait of Hormuz](https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=61002), the world’s most critical oil transit chokepoint, through which a quarter of all tanker-shipped crude is moved. This would be a hammer blow to the global economy. But if Iran were backed into a corner with its export capacity reduced to a smoking ruin, it might close the strait in an act of [desperation](https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/10/03/oil-markets-israel-iran-middle-east-war-conflict/). Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates reportedly refused to open their airspace to Israeli and US aircraft involved in bombing Iran last April. Both would no doubt think it prudent to do so again. War is not an acceptable and tolerable way of solving international disputes. It would be better to silence the guns in the region’s battle zones and resort to diplomacy. If leaders collectively embraced this view, the Middle East – and the world – would undoubtedly be a safer and more stable place. * _**Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our [letters](https://www.theguardian.com/tone/letters) section, please [click here](mailto:[email protected]?body=Please%20include%20your%20name,%20full%20postal%20address%20and%20phone%20number%20with%20your%20letter%20below.%20Letters%20are%20usually%20published%20with%20the%20author%27s%20name%20and%20city/town/village.%20The%20rest%20of%20the%20information%20is%20for%20verification%20only%20and%20to%20contact%20you%20where%20necessary.).**_

When the civil war in Syria threatened his village more than a decade ago, a farmer and his family fled to neighboring Lebanon. The farmer, Ali Kheir Khallu, 37, found work there growing oranges and bananas. Life was hard, he said, but at least he felt safe. That feeling vanished last month as [Israel ramped up its war with Hezbollah](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/04/world/middleeast/israel-hezbollah-lebanon.html), the powerful Lebanese militia, heavily bombing sites that it said belonged to the group. When the bombs fell near Mr. Kheir Khallu’s house, he packed up his family, left behind the new lives they had built in Lebanon and fled back to Syria, where they are now struggling to start over, yet again. “You want to make up for all that you have lost,” he said. “But you are still in shock.” As the war in Lebanon expands, more than 1.2 million people — one-fifth of the population — have [been displaced from their homes](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/16/world/middleeast/israel-lebanon-displaced-hezbollah.html), the government says. While most have sought safety in other parts of Lebanon, more than 470,000 people, mostly Syrians, have crossed into Syria in the last six weeks, aid groups say. Since Syrian rebels tried to topple the government in 2011, President Bashar al-Assad has fought to stay in power, with his forces bombing and besieging opposition communities and repeatedly using chemical weapons. The war drew in Russia, the United States, the jihadists of Islamic State and other forces, displacing about 12 million residents, or more than half the country’s population. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F11%2F11%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Flebanon-war-syrians-returning-home.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F11%2F11%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Flebanon-war-syrians-returning-home.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F11%2F11%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Flebanon-war-syrians-returning-home.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F11%2F11%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Flebanon-war-syrians-returning-home.html).

Rebel forces advanced in Syria on Sunday amid fierce fighting, capturing the airport of the major city of Aleppo and attacking the outskirts of the western city of Hama, according to local officials and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Government troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad were trying to repel them, they said. [The rebels had captured much of Aleppo](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/30/world/middleeast/syria-aleppo-rebels-control.html) a day earlier in a surprise offensive. They now [control a broad swath of land](https://www.nytimes.com/article/syria-civil-war.html) across the provinces of Hama, Idlib and Aleppo, in the west and northwest of Syria, according to information from local officials and the Observatory, a Britain-based war monitor. The New York Times also observed rebels in control of parts of Hama Province as well as neighborhoods in the east of the city of Aleppo and some of the countryside beyond it that were only days earlier held by government forces. Government troops were battling to defend the city of Hama from being overrun, the Observatory said. Syrian government warplanes were also bombing territory that was now rebel-held, causing civilian casualties, the monitor said. It said that government forces were receiving support from Russian fighter jets, which were striking targets across the countryside near Hama and Idlib province. Russia, which is allied with Mr. Assad, has repeatedly come to his aid since early in the civil war that broke out in 2011, after protests over Mr. Assad’s autocratic rule drew a swift and bloody military crackdown. A government statement said Mr. Assad had spoken to the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Iraq on Saturday, vowing that Syria would “defeat the terrorists, regardless of the intensity of their attacks.” Syrian officials routinely refer to rebels as terrorists. The Syrian military also said in a statement on Saturday that its operation to push back the rebels was “successfully” progressing and that it would soon initiate a counterattack. It tried to discredit reports about rebel advances, saying that the armed groups were spreading “false news” to “undermine the morale of our people and our brave army.” Across the territory that had flipped back to the rebels, people could be seen tearing up Syrian government flags and pictures of Mr. Assad, including fighters and former Aleppo residents who were returning to their homes for the first time in years. Photos taken in Aleppo also showed the toppling of a statue that had apparently depicted Bassel al-Assad, the president’s elder brother. Hwaida Saad contributed reporting from Beirut, Lebanon, and Rania Khaled from Cairo.

Last week [I argued](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/opinion/trump-israel-iran.html) that the blows Israel inflicted on Iran and its most important proxy, Hezbollah, would have vast consequences for the military balance in the region. It has only taken a few days for those consequences to start showing up. Donald Trump reportedly wants the region’s conflicts quieted down by the time he comes to office. Hey — good luck with that. For starters, with Iran and Hezbollah weakened by Israel, the leader they were protecting most, the beleaguered Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, took a body blow in the last few days when anti-government rebels in Syria swept in from their countryside redoubts and swept out Assad’s army from virtually all of Aleppo, the second largest city in Syria. Alas, though, many of these Syrian rebels are not boy scouts — the group leading the charge, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is a former Al Qaeda affiliate — and if Assad were toppled from power in Damascus, Syria, it could draw Israel in and destabilize the whole Levant. Interestingly, Turkey, which backs some of these rebel groups and had been restraining them, may have given the green light for the attack. Turkey has long been Iran’s archrival for regional domination. At the same time, a Western intelligence source tells me, a rancorous debate is afoot within Iran’s leadership over who is responsible for letting Hezbollah drag both Iran and Hezbollah into a devastating war with Israel — on behalf of Hamas — when Israel had not even attacked Hezbollah. As a result, Hezbollah’s rocket forces, meant to deter Israel from ever bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities, have now been shattered. Inside Lebanon, Hezbollah, which had become the army of the Shiites of Lebanon and imposed itself as the sacred third part of the country’s trinity — “the army, the people and the resistance” — to which every Lebanese leader had to pay homage, has dramatically lost support. Israel was so surgical in its bombing inside Lebanon, trying to hit only Hezbollah targets and pro-Hezbollah neighborhoods, that it sent the message: “If you live in places that are loyal to the Lebanese state, you are safe, but if you stay in places Hezbollah controls, you are not safe,” explained Hanin Ghaddar, an expert on Hezbollah at The Washington Institute. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F12%2F02%2Fopinion%2Ftrump-mideast-syria-conflicts.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F12%2F02%2Fopinion%2Ftrump-mideast-syria-conflicts.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F12%2F02%2Fopinion%2Ftrump-mideast-syria-conflicts.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F12%2F02%2Fopinion%2Ftrump-mideast-syria-conflicts.html).

Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Thousands of people fled the central **Syrian** city of **Homs** overnight and into Friday morning, a war monitor and residents said, as rebel forces sought to push their lightning offensive against government forces farther south. They have already captured the key cities of **Aleppo** in the north and **Hama** in the centre, dealing successive devastating blows to president **Bashar al-Assad**, nearly 14 years after protests against him erupted across Syria. The **Syrian Observatory for Human Rights**, a **UK**\-based war monitor, said thousands of people had begun fleeing on Thursday night towards Syria’s western coastal regions, a stronghold of the government. According to Reuters, a resident of the coastal area said thousands of people had begun arriving there from Homs, fearing the rebels’ fast-paced advance.  Syrian rebels celebrate capture of second major city after Assad regime forces withdraw – video On Friday morning, **Israeli** airstrikes hit two border crossings between **Lebanon** and Syria, Lebanon’s transport minister, **Ali Hamieh**, said. The Syrian state news agency, Sana, said the **Arida border crossing** with Lebanon was out of service due to the attack. The Israeli military said it had attacked weapons transfer hubs and infrastructure overnight on the Syrian side of the Lebanese border, saying these routes had been used by the Lebanese armed group **Hezbollah** to smuggle weapons. **Russian** bombing overnight also destroyed the **Rustan Bridge** along the key **M5 highway**, to prevent rebels from using this main route to Homs city, a Syrian army officer told Reuters. “There were at least eight strikes on the bridge,” he added. Government forces were working to strengthen positions around Homs city with fresh reinforcements, he said. Rebels led by the Islamist faction **Hayat Tahrir al-Sham** had pledged to move on to the central city of Homs, a crossroads city that links the capital **Damascus** to the north and Assad’s heartland along the coast. “Your time has come,” said a rebel operations room in an online post, calling on Homs residents to rise up in revolution. More on that in a moment, but first, here are some of the other latest developments: * **The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, said 826 people, mostly combatants but also including 111 civilians, have been killed in the country since the violence erupted last week.** It marks the most intense fighting since 2020 in the civil war sparked by the repression of pro-democracy protests in 2011. * **Iran says it conducted a successful space launch, the latest for its program the west alleges improves Tehran’s ballistic missile programme.** Iran conducted the launch using its Simorgh programme, a satellite-carrying rocket that had seen a series of failed launches. The launch took place at Iran’s Imam Khomeini Spaceport in rural Semnan province. There was no immediate independent confirmation Friday the launch was successful. * **Iraqi foreign minister, Fuad Hussein, will meet his Syrian and Iranian counterparts on Friday to discuss the situation in Syria**, the Iraqi state news agency said on Thursday. * **A Hamas official said on Thursday that international mediators have resumed negotiating with the militant group and Israel over a ceasefire in Gaza**, and that he was hopeful a deal to end the 14-month war was within reach. Ceasefire negotiations were halted last month when Qatar suspended talks with mediators from Egypt and the US because of frustration over a lack of progress between Israel and Hamas. * **Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said that he plans to hold talks on Friday with Turkish and Iranian officials on the situation in Syria.** On Thursday, Lavrov said Moscow was “very much concerned” with a recent escalation of violence in Syria. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20thousands%20flee%20Homs%20in%20central%20Syria%20as%20rebel%20forces%20push%20on&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/dec/06/middle-east-crisis-thousands-people-flee-homs-central-syria-rebel-forces-israel-gaza-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6752a4b98f08d291b2199891#block-6752a4b98f08d291b2199891) Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature **Syrian** troops and their **Iran**\-backed allies “suddenly” pulled out of eastern **Deir Ezzor** city and its surroundings on Friday, a war monitor said, as a rebel offensive dealt the government a series of blows, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). “Syrian regime forces and commanders of Iran-backed allied groups suddenly withdrew from Deir Ezzor city and its countryside with columns of soldiers heading towards central Syria,” **Rami Abdel Rahman**, who heads the **Syrian Observatory for Human Rights** war monitor, told AFP. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20thousands%20flee%20Homs%20in%20central%20Syria%20as%20rebel%20forces%20push%20on&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/dec/06/middle-east-crisis-thousands-people-flee-homs-central-syria-rebel-forces-israel-gaza-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6752e2998f0896ed0c236007#block-6752e2998f0896ed0c236007) **Turkish** president **Recep Tayyip Erdoğan** said on Friday that he hopes **Syrian** rebels will continue their advances against president **Bashar al-Assad**’s forces in [Syria](https://www.theguardian.com/world/syria), reports Reuters. Speaking to reporters after Friday prayers, Erdoğan said he had still not received a positive response from Assad to a call he made earlier this year to meet and normalise ties. “The advances of the opposition are continuing as of now … Our hope is that this walk in Syria continues without any issues,” he said. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20thousands%20flee%20Homs%20in%20central%20Syria%20as%20rebel%20forces%20push%20on&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/dec/06/middle-east-crisis-thousands-people-flee-homs-central-syria-rebel-forces-israel-gaza-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6752deae8f08d291b2199ac3#block-6752deae8f08d291b2199ac3) **Turkey** confirmed on Friday that it would meet **Russian** and **Iranian** foreign ministers for talks on the escalating civil war in **Syria**, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). The talks will take place in **Qatar** on Saturday. Turkey’s foreign minister, **Hakan Fidan**, “will meet with the Russian and Iranian ministers … for a meeting under the Astana process” on the sidelines of the **Doha** forum, a foreign ministry source told AFP. The Astana process involving the three countries was launched by **Kazakhstan** in 2017 with the aim to find a political solution to the civil war in Syria, which has flared again after a lightning offensive by Islamist-led rebels over the past week. Iranian state media had reported earlier that a meeting was expected on the forum’s sidelines between Turkey, which supports some of the rebels, and **Damascus** allies Iran and **Russia**. Qatar, which gave early support to the rebels after president **Bashar al-Assad**’s government crushed a peaceful uprising in 2011, remains a fierce critic of Assad but is calling for a negotiated end to the fighting, reports AFP. Turkey shares a border of more than 900 kilometres (560 miles) with Syria and currently is home to about three million Syrian refugees. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20thousands%20flee%20Homs%20in%20central%20Syria%20as%20rebel%20forces%20push%20on&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/dec/06/middle-east-crisis-thousands-people-flee-homs-central-syria-rebel-forces-israel-gaza-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6752d9d68f08065f386f2129#block-6752d9d68f08065f386f2129) **Israel**’s military offensive in the **Gaza Strip** has killed at least 44,612 **Palestinians** and injured 104,834 since 7 October 2023, the **Gaza health ministry** said on Friday. The toll includes 32 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20thousands%20flee%20Homs%20in%20central%20Syria%20as%20rebel%20forces%20push%20on&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/dec/06/middle-east-crisis-thousands-people-flee-homs-central-syria-rebel-forces-israel-gaza-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6752d65a8f08d291b2199a7d#block-6752d65a8f08d291b2199a7d) **Iran** aims to send missiles and drones to **Syria** and increase the number of its military advisers there to support president **Bashar al-Assad** in his battle against rebels, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Friday. “It is likely that Tehran will need to send military equipment, missiles and drones to Syria … Tehran has taken all necessary steps to increase number of its military advisers in Syria and deploy forces,” the official said on condition of anonymity. “Now, Tehran is providing intelligence and satellite support to Syria.” [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20thousands%20flee%20Homs%20in%20central%20Syria%20as%20rebel%20forces%20push%20on&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/dec/06/middle-east-crisis-thousands-people-flee-homs-central-syria-rebel-forces-israel-gaza-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6752d42d8f0896ed0c235f6a#block-6752d42d8f0896ed0c235f6a) The head of **US**\-backed **Syrian Kurdish** force said on Friday that **Islamic State** group had taken control over some areas in eastern **Syria**. “Due to the recent developments, there is increased movement by Islamic State mercenaries in the Syrian desert, in the south and west of Deir Al-Zor and the countryside of al-Raqqa,” **Mazloum Abdi** said in a press conference, referring to areas in the east of the country, according to Reuters. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20thousands%20flee%20Homs%20in%20central%20Syria%20as%20rebel%20forces%20push%20on&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/dec/06/middle-east-crisis-thousands-people-flee-homs-central-syria-rebel-forces-israel-gaza-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6752d08c8f0896ed0c235f21#block-6752d08c8f0896ed0c235f21) The director of north **Gaza**’s **Kamal Adwan hospital** said **Israel** conducted several strikes on Friday that hit the facility, one of the last functioning health centres in the area, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). “There was a series of airstrikes on the northern and western sides of the hospital, accompanied by intense and direct fire,” **Hossam Abu Safieh** said, adding that four staff were killed and no surgeons were left at the site. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20thousands%20flee%20Homs%20in%20central%20Syria%20as%20rebel%20forces%20push%20on&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/dec/06/middle-east-crisis-thousands-people-flee-homs-central-syria-rebel-forces-israel-gaza-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6752cb848f0896ed0c235ef0#block-6752cb848f0896ed0c235ef0) The escalation in fighting in **Syria** has displaced about 280,000 people in just over a week, the **UN** said on Friday, warning that numbers could rise to 1.5 million. “The figure we have in front of us is 280,000 people since 27 November,” **Samer AbdelJaber**, head of emergency coordination at the UN’s **World Food Programme (WFP)**, told reporters in **Geneva**. “That does not include the figure of people who fled from Lebanon during the recent escalations” in fighting there, he added. The mass displacement has happened since rebels led by **Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)** launched their lightning offensive a little more than a week ago. That occurred just as a tenuous ceasefire in neighbouring **Lebanon** took hold between **Israel** and Syrian president **Bashar al-Assad**’s ally **Hezbollah**. WFP warned that the fresh mass-displacement inside Syria, more than 13 years after the country’s civil war erupted, was “adding to years of suffering”. AbdelJaber said the WFP and other humanitarian agencies were “trying to reach the communities wherever their needs are”, and that they were working “to secure safe routes so that we can be able to move the aid and the assistance to the communities that are in need”. He also stressed the urgent need for more funding to ensure humanitarians are “ready for any scenario basically in terms of displacements that could evolve in the coming days or months”. According to AFP, AbdelJaber cautioned that “if the situation continues evolving (at the current) pace, we’re expecting collectively around 1.5 million people that will be displaced and will be requiring our support”. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20thousands%20flee%20Homs%20in%20central%20Syria%20as%20rebel%20forces%20push%20on&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/dec/06/middle-east-crisis-thousands-people-flee-homs-central-syria-rebel-forces-israel-gaza-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6752c5698f08d291b219997d#block-6752c5698f08d291b219997d) **Syria**’s army backed by warplanes, including from ally **Russia**, were targeting “terrorist vehicles and gatherings” in **Hama** province on Friday, the defence ministry said, amid a major rebel offensive, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). “Our armed forces are targeting terrorist vehicles and gatherings in the north and south of Hama province using artillery, missiles and joint Syrian-Russian warplanes,” a ministry statement said, citing a military source. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20thousands%20flee%20Homs%20in%20central%20Syria%20as%20rebel%20forces%20push%20on&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/dec/06/middle-east-crisis-thousands-people-flee-homs-central-syria-rebel-forces-israel-gaza-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6752bfe28f08065f386f2005#block-6752bfe28f08065f386f2005) Rebel military commander **Hassan Abdel Ghani** said in a statement on Telegram on Friday that “our forces continue to march steadily towards the city of Homs”, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). He said “hundreds” of fighters who had been forced to leave **Homs** years ago after the government retook it had returned “to deter Assad’s aggression against their city”. Homs was once dubbed the “capital of the revolution” because of the large-scale protests in the city when **Syria**’s uprising began in March 2011. The **UK**\-based S**yrian Observatory for Human Rights** said tens of thousands of residents were fleeing Homs on Thursday towards the coast, fearing the rebel advance ([see 7.41am GMT](https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/dec/06/middle-east-crisis-thousands-people-flee-homs-central-syria-rebel-forces-israel-gaza-latest-updates?page=with:block-6752a4b98f08d291b2199891#block-6752a4b98f08d291b2199891)). [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20thousands%20flee%20Homs%20in%20central%20Syria%20as%20rebel%20forces%20push%20on&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/dec/06/middle-east-crisis-thousands-people-flee-homs-central-syria-rebel-forces-israel-gaza-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6752bd968f08d291b2199948#block-6752bd968f08d291b2199948) The leader of an Islamist rebel alliance driving a lightning offensive in **Syria** has said the goal of the campaign is to overthrow the government of president **Bashar al-Assad**, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). “When we talk about objectives, the goal of the revolution remains the overthrow of this regime. It is our right to use all available means to achieve that goal,” **Abu Mohammed al-Jolani** told CNN in an interview published on Friday. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20thousands%20flee%20Homs%20in%20central%20Syria%20as%20rebel%20forces%20push%20on&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/dec/06/middle-east-crisis-thousands-people-flee-homs-central-syria-rebel-forces-israel-gaza-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6752b8098f0896ed0c235e46#block-6752b8098f0896ed0c235e46) **Israel**’s military said on Friday that it carried out strikes overnight targeting **Hezbollah** “weapon-smuggling routes” on the **Syria-Lebanon** border, just over a week into a fragile ceasefire in its war with the Lebanese group. Official media in both Lebanon and [Syria](https://www.theguardian.com/world/syria) reported that the air raid put the **al-Arida** border crossing – already hit during the Israel-Hezbollah war – out of service. The Israeli air force “conducted strikes on weapon-smuggling routes and terror infrastructure sites located near the Syrian regime’s crossings at the Syrian-Lebanese border”, the military said in a statement that included a map identifying one of the targets as the al-Arida crossing, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). Syrian state news agency, Sana, said that “the al-Arida border crossing between Syria and Lebanon is out of service again due to an Israeli attack that targeted it” early on Friday. According to AFP, Lebanon’s official National News Agency said the strike “led to damage to infrastructure” and cut off the border road “again after the bridge was repaired” following a previous attack. Israel has struck border crossings between Syria and Lebanon numerous times, saying it aims to prevent weapons smuggling from Syria into Lebanon. The latest strike came amid mutual accusations between Israel and Hezbollah of violating the terms of a ceasefire agreement that came into effect on 27 November. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20thousands%20flee%20Homs%20in%20central%20Syria%20as%20rebel%20forces%20push%20on&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/dec/06/middle-east-crisis-thousands-people-flee-homs-central-syria-rebel-forces-israel-gaza-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6752b3ef8f08065f386f1fb5#block-6752b3ef8f08065f386f1fb5) A monitor of **Syria**’s war said rebels were just 5km (3 miles) from third city **Homs** on Friday, after controlling two strategic towns on the road linking it to **Hama**, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions have reached five kilometres from the outskirts of Homs city after controlling the towns of Rastan and Talbisseh,” said the **Syrian Observatory for Human Rights**, adding that controlling Homs would allow the rebels to “cut off the main road leading to the Syrian coast”, the stronghold of president **Bashar al-Assad**’s **Alawite** minority. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20thousands%20flee%20Homs%20in%20central%20Syria%20as%20rebel%20forces%20push%20on&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/dec/06/middle-east-crisis-thousands-people-flee-homs-central-syria-rebel-forces-israel-gaza-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6752b0498f08d291b21998e2#block-6752b0498f08d291b21998e2) Thousands of people fled the central **Syrian** city of **Homs** overnight and into Friday morning, a war monitor and residents said, as rebel forces sought to push their lightning offensive against government forces farther south. They have already captured the key cities of **Aleppo** in the north and **Hama** in the centre, dealing successive devastating blows to president **Bashar al-Assad**, nearly 14 years after protests against him erupted across Syria. The **Syrian Observatory for Human Rights**, a **UK**\-based war monitor, said thousands of people had begun fleeing on Thursday night towards Syria’s western coastal regions, a stronghold of the government. According to Reuters, a resident of the coastal area said thousands of people had begun arriving there from Homs, fearing the rebels’ fast-paced advance.  Syrian rebels celebrate capture of second major city after Assad regime forces withdraw – video On Friday morning, **Israeli** airstrikes hit two border crossings between **Lebanon** and Syria, Lebanon’s transport minister, **Ali Hamieh**, said. The Syrian state news agency, Sana, said the **Arida border crossing** with Lebanon was out of service due to the attack. The Israeli military said it had attacked weapons transfer hubs and infrastructure overnight on the Syrian side of the Lebanese border, saying these routes had been used by the Lebanese armed group **Hezbollah** to smuggle weapons. **Russian** bombing overnight also destroyed the **Rustan Bridge** along the key **M5 highway**, to prevent rebels from using this main route to Homs city, a Syrian army officer told Reuters. “There were at least eight strikes on the bridge,” he added. Government forces were working to strengthen positions around Homs city with fresh reinforcements, he said. Rebels led by the Islamist faction **Hayat Tahrir al-Sham** had pledged to move on to the central city of Homs, a crossroads city that links the capital **Damascus** to the north and Assad’s heartland along the coast. “Your time has come,” said a rebel operations room in an online post, calling on Homs residents to rise up in revolution. More on that in a moment, but first, here are some of the other latest developments: * **The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, said 826 people, mostly combatants but also including 111 civilians, have been killed in the country since the violence erupted last week.** It marks the most intense fighting since 2020 in the civil war sparked by the repression of pro-democracy protests in 2011. * **Iran says it conducted a successful space launch, the latest for its program the west alleges improves Tehran’s ballistic missile programme.** Iran conducted the launch using its Simorgh programme, a satellite-carrying rocket that had seen a series of failed launches. The launch took place at Iran’s Imam Khomeini Spaceport in rural Semnan province. There was no immediate independent confirmation Friday the launch was successful. * **Iraqi foreign minister, Fuad Hussein, will meet his Syrian and Iranian counterparts on Friday to discuss the situation in Syria**, the Iraqi state news agency said on Thursday. * **A Hamas official said on Thursday that international mediators have resumed negotiating with the militant group and Israel over a ceasefire in Gaza**, and that he was hopeful a deal to end the 14-month war was within reach. Ceasefire negotiations were halted last month when Qatar suspended talks with mediators from Egypt and the US because of frustration over a lack of progress between Israel and Hamas. * **Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said that he plans to hold talks on Friday with Turkish and Iranian officials on the situation in Syria.** On Thursday, Lavrov said Moscow was “very much concerned” with a recent escalation of violence in Syria. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20thousands%20flee%20Homs%20in%20central%20Syria%20as%20rebel%20forces%20push%20on&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/dec/06/middle-east-crisis-thousands-people-flee-homs-central-syria-rebel-forces-israel-gaza-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-6752a4b98f08d291b2199891#block-6752a4b98f08d291b2199891)

Islamist insurgents have captured the Syrian city of Hama in a battle to seize a vital location on the road to Damascus, marking the [latest challenge to Bashar al-Assad’s control of the country.](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/05/syrian-rebels-surround-strategic-city-of-hama-after-aleppo-takeover) Militants led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) entered the city from the east on Thursday after surrounding it during five days of fighting with forces loyal to Assad. Video circulating online suggested that the insurgents had captured a military airport outside Hama, and released prisoners held in a fearsome state detention facility. As night fell, militant representatives said they had “fully established control over the city of Hama,” and called on police and militias in the city to defect. “This victory will be without revenge and merciful,” said the leader of HTS, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, in a message to the people of Hama. The Syrian defence ministry initially denied that insurgents had enteredHama, calling its defensive lines “impregnable”. But as fighting intensified and drew closer to the city centre, the Syrian army said it had withdrawn, redeploying its forces “to preserve the lives of civilians and not to involve the people of Hama city in these battles”. Positioned on a highway that runs down the western side of Syria towards the capital, Damascus, Hama was the site of mass uprisings against Assad in 2011, and then fierce battles when opposition forces attempted and failed to take control of the city in the ensuing civil war. Hama is also the [site of a notorious 1982 massacre](https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/from-the-archive-blog/2011/aug/01/hama-syria-massacre-1982-archive), when forces loyal to former president Hafez al-Assad besieged the town to prevent an uprising led by Sunni Muslim opponents of his rule. The sweeping offensive led by HTS has resulted in Assad losing control of Syria’s second largest city, Aleppo, and swaths of the northwest of the country. The UN’s World Food Programme said the escalation has displaced more than 280,000 people, “adding to years of suffering.” The surge in violence has led to fears of an aid crisis, with UN secretary general Antonio Guterres speaking of an urgent need for civilian access to immediate humanitarian support, and a parish priest in Aleppo, Father Bahjat Karakach, voicing concerns that the fear of the bombing is giving way to the [“danger of hunger”](https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Famine-looms-in-wake-of-bombing%2C-warns-Aleppo%27s-parish-priest-62050.html) amid soaring food prices. Guterres urged a UN-facilitated political process to end the bloodshed, asking “all those with influence to do their part for the long-suffering people” of Syria and noting all parties had an obligation to protect civilians. On Friday, Iraqi foreign minister Fuad Hussein will meet his Syrian and Iranian counterparts in Baghdad to discuss the situation in Syria, the Iraqi state news agency reported.The move comes days after [emergency talks were held in Ankara.](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/02/syria-crisis-summit-turkey-iran-russia) Some Iraqi fighters entered Syria early this week to support Assad, Iraqi and Syrian sources told Reuters. Iraq’s Iran-aligned Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary coalition has mobilised along the border with Syria, saying this was purely preventive in case of spillover into Iraq. Tens of thousands of members of Assad’s Alawite minority community were fleeing Syria’s third city Homs on Thursday, for fear that Islamist-led rebels would keep up their advance, a war monitor said. Homs lies just 40km (25 miles) south of Hama. Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported “the mass exodus of Alawites from Homs neighbourhoods, with tens of thousands heading towards the Syrian coast, fearing the rebel advance”. Khaled, who lives on the city’s outskirts told Agence France-Presse that “the road leading to \[coastal\] Tartus province was glowing ... due to the lights of hundreds of cars on their way out”. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Guterres in a phone call that the conflict in Syria had reached “a new phase.” “The Syrian regime, at this stage, must urgently engage with its own people for a comprehensive political solution,” he said. The sudden losses appear to have unsettled Assad’s longtime backers in Moscow and Tehran, with [Russian forces consumed with their invasion of Ukraine](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/04/moscow-claims-external-forces-seeking-to-escalate-violence-in-syria) and Iran concerned about its forces being targeted by Israeli airstrikes on Syrian territory, which have increased in the last year. Naim Qassem, head of Iranian proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon that has fought in support of Assad, pledged to “stand by Syria to thwart the aggression against it.” The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters that Moscow was “closely monitoring”, events in Syria. “Depending on the assessment of the situation, we will be able to talk about the degree of assistance that is needed by the Syrian authorities to cope with the militants and eliminate this threat,” he said. Gregory Waters, an analyst of the Syrian army with the Middle East Institute, said a combination of low morale, low pay, corruption and dysfunction within the chain of command had contributed to the sudden rout of government forces from areas they had controlled for years. The Syrian army, he said, was “completely unprepared”, for the insurgent offensive. Amid reports of rising desertions from the Syrian army or fighters fleeing their positions, Assad issued a decree raising salaries for military personnel by 50% earlier this week. The Syrian president appeared to be seeking to muster a counter-offensive as the fighting drew closer to the capital. Military support from Iran and Russia has been limited when compared with previous iterations of the conflict in Syria, said Waters. “I think it’s hard to see a scenario where forces loyal to the regime in Damascus can regain momentum,” he said. “Even if the Russians and Iranian or Iranian-backed forces get more involved, they’re still limited by their own wars. It feels unlikely to reach the level of support we’ve seen previously.”

For once, use of the word “historic” is justified in describing the [toppling of Bashar al-Assad’s regime](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/08/bashar-al-assad-reported-to-have-fled-syria-as-rebels-say-they-have-captured-damascus) after more than 50 years of brutal dictatorship, 13 years of on-off civil war and a world of suffering. The people of Syria, or most of them at least, are jubilant. They should enjoy the moment. They deserve it. It recalls the celebrations that accompanied the fall of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi. Yet such memories carry a warning and a threat. The warning is that joy can quickly turn to tears, and liberation to renewed repression, should the sudden collapse of hated but relatively stable authoritarian structures trigger an uncontainable descent into chaos. The threat is that the ensuing political and military vacuum will be contested by self-seeking actors interested not in justice and reconciliation, but power and retribution. In [Syria](https://www.theguardian.com/world/syria), revenge is a dish served hot – and it’s back on the menu. The beginning of the campaign to oust Assad can be traced back to Daraa, in south-western Syria, the scene of a popular revolt in 2011. In that context, the successful advance of the militant group [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/07/syria-assad-damascus-hayat-tahrir-al-sham-insurgents) from its base in Idlib, in north-west Syria, to the capital, Damascus, is a fitting ending: a popular revolution by the people, for the people. Yet no one can yet tell what kind of Syrian future is envisaged by the HTS leader, [Abu Mohammed al-Jolani](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/06/who-is-abu-mohammed-al-jolani-leader-of-syrian-insurgents-hts), formerly an al-Qaida-linked jihadist and a wanted terrorist rebranded as national liberator. HTS has a record of human rights abuses and authoritarian rule in Idlib. Many Syrians reportedly flocked to the HTS banner as Jolani’s forces drove south. But other groups, with [different aims and interests](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/08/who-are-the-syrian-rebels-who-have-captured-damascus-explained-in-30-seconds), are moving quickly to exploit the crisis. They include a coalition of Kurdish-led nationalist militias in the north-east – the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces; Turkish-backed rebel factions collectively known as the Syrian National Army; and opposition groups in the south, united by hatred of Assad but perhaps not much else. Can the prewar Syrian mosaic – multi-ethnic, multi-religious, unusually tolerant and secular – be pieced back together? Is Jolani a man fit to lead a nation? Who else might prevent an anarchic territorial and political fracturing? No one has answers to these questions as yet. The regime’s prime minister, Mohammed Ghazi Jalali, announced that, unlike the wretched Assad, he is staying put and is ready to work with the insurgents. Brave words, and hopefully not his last. The challenges ahead are truly daunting. The civil war killed more than 300,000 people, although some estimates are double that figure. About 100,000 people are believed missing or forcibly disappeared since 2011. Where are they? A terrible accounting now begins. Half the population – about 12 million people – are displaced. Tens of thousands were detained without trial, tortured, abused. Their prisons are now emptying, sending a tide of angry, embittered, physically and psychologically scarred and vengeful people back into a devastated, already dysfunctional society. Millions of refugees, in [Turkey](https://www.theguardian.com/world/turkey) and Jordan, may head home en masse. Humanitarian and security calamities loom.  Syrian rebels broadcast first news bulletin on state television – video [Destructive foreign meddling](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/10/epic-failure-of-our-age-how-west-failed-syria) – central to the story of Syria since the war began – is another very real threat if things fall apart. Assad’s toppling represents a huge defeat for his main sponsors, Russia and Iran. Vladimir Putin moved into Syria in 2015 after the then US president, Barack Obama, backed off, prioritising counter-terrorism over support for pro-democracy forces. Russian air force bombers, along with Iranian Revolutionary Guards, kept Assad in power. Putin’s reward was military bases and increased leverage. All that’s imperilled now. For Iran, the Syrian collapse is but the latest in a string of reverses linked to Israel’s fightback after the 7 October 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks. Israel’s degradation of Hezbollah in Lebanon, Tehran’s key ally in the so-called region-wide “axis of resistance”, denied Assad another important prop and rendered more vulnerable Iran’s position. Its embassy in Damascus is reportedly under attack. [Its diplomats have fled](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/06/world/middleeast/iran-syria-evacuation.html). Yet neither Russia nor Iran will give up. They will seek to shape the new order to their advantage, regardless of what’s best for Syrian people. Much the same may be said of Israel which, in its campaign against Hamas and other Iranian proxies, has repeatedly bombed what it says are Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Damascus and elsewhere in Syria. Tehran sees Israel’s hand in Assad’s downfall. Though perhaps not deliberately, Israel – following the law of unintended consequences – certainly helped undermine him. Now it worries about a [failed state on its border](https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-12-08/ty-article/.premium/assads-fall-deals-a-major-blow-to-the-iranian-axis-but-poses-challenges-for-israel/00000193-a52e-d812-a3d3-afbe0b3e0000), who is in control of Assad’s chemical weapons, and a possibly renewed Islamist jihadist threat. Talking of own goals, that former footballer Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, president of Turkey, is well in the lead. He is thought to have given HTS the green light to launch its offensive after Assad rebuffed his attempts to create a border buffer zone inside Syria. Erdoğan is [obsessed with the Kurdish “threat”](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/07/assad-syria-turkey-iran-russia-diplomats-regime) from northern Syria and Iraq. He may now send more troops across the border. Yet did he really intend to smash the regime and trigger chaos throughout Syria? Maybe Erdoğan could explain how that serves Turkey’s interests. Unless the darker conspiracy theories are believed, the US, Britain and Europe have been just as surprised by events as Assad. That in itself is an alarming intelligence failure – but then again, the west’s record throughout the Syrian war has been one long, abject failure. It largely looked on as the most terrible suffering, mass displacement, war crimes, illegal use of chemical weapons and other horrors unfolded. Its occasional interventions – such as Donald Trump’s one-off 2017 bombing of regime military facilities after a chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhun in Idlib – were undertaken more to ease collective consciences than to effect real change. Now the west plays spectator again – although the threat posed by state failure is urgent. “[It’s not our fight](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/7/not-our-fight-president-elect-trump-distances-us-from-syrias-conflict),” says Trump smugly. No use looking, either, to Arab neighbours in the Gulf for help at this critical moment. Just over a year ago, Assad succeeded in [shattering his well-earned international pariah status](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/14/more-than-300000-syrian-civilians-died-any-attempt-to-rehabilitate-assad-is-utterly-shameful) at an Arab League summit in Riyadh. He was feted by, among others, the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman. The not-so-diplomatic message was that Assad was back. Rehabilitated. The world could do business with him again. Wrong. Assad was a monster and he still is. Wherever he’s gone, he should not sleep easy. In the meantime, it falls to the Syrian people to save Syria. No one else will. * Simon Tisdall is the Observer’s foreign affairs commentator * _**Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])**_

 The swift downfall of Bashar al-Assad is reverberating in Syria and throughout the Middle East. Some changes are already apparent. Syrians who fled the country's vicious civil war years ago are lining up at border crossings to return home. The gates are swinging open at the country's notorious prisons, freeing thousands. Syrians are speaking freely after decades of repressive rule. Many more developments are still to come. Here's a preliminary look at what the upheaval could mean for a range of countries that have interests in Syria. ### United States The U.S. military carried out an unusually large airstrike Sunday on Islamic State bases in central Syria. The U.S. says this was done because a group of Islamic State fighters gathered to train, perhaps hoping to take advantage of the turmoil in Syria. The U.S. hit some 75 targets with a variety of aircraft, including massive B-52 bombers. U.S. forces have been battling the Islamic State in Syria for a decade and largedly defeated the group five years ago. About 900 U.S. troops remain to prevent a resurgence of the extremist organization. Most of the Americans are in remote northeastern Syria, with others in the far south. President Biden said Sunday the U.S. would maintain this military presence. He called Assad's ouster both a moment of risk and opportunity, adding that the U.S. would work with Syrians as they try to put together a new government. However, President-elect Trump is striking a different tone. He took to social media over the weekend and said Syria is not a U.S. problem, the U.S. should not get involved, and should just let events play out. But the U.S. is already involved. Those U.S. troops are not just fighting the Islamic State, they've also been protecting vulnerable Syrian civilians. Mouaz Moustafa, with the [Syrian Emergency Task Force](https://setf.ngo/), an American aid group, said the U.S. forces have supplied humanitarian assistance to displaced civilians in a barren area on Syria's southern border. "If you spoke to any of these people and you asked them about the United States military, and you asked them about the relationship between the two, those Syrians love the American military," Moustafa said.  Assad's downfall is the latest in a series of major setbacks for Tehran. Persian Iran has spent the past four decades developing Arab partners and proxies in the region, collectively known as the "axis of resistance." But in the past year, they've been tumbling like dominos. Iran was critical to Assad as he battled to stay in power during the country's civil war that erupted in 2011. Iran's Revolutionary Guards maintained a strong presence in Syria until pulling out last week, just ahead of rebel advances. Iran also used Syria as a bridge to ship weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon. But now Assad is gone, Hezbollah has been greatly weakened by its war with Israel, and another Iranian proxy, Hamas in Gaza, has been devastated by its own war with Israel. "Losing Syria will deal a huge blow to Iran and its proxies in the region. And that's why I think right now the leaders in Tehran must be feeling quite anxious," said [Gonul Tol](https://www.mei.edu/profile/gonul-tol), with the Middle East Institute in Washington. "This is a moment where Iran's regional strategy has been dealt a huge blow, and at a time when the regime at home is being questioned by millions of Iranians."  Syria was Russia's main partner in the region for decades. When the Syrian rebels were threatening Assad's government in 2015, the Russian air force heavily bombed rebel areas and helped secure Assad's hold on power. Russia's President Vladimir Putin said this showed Russia's commitment to supporting its allies. But Russia is now preoccupied with the war in Ukraine and carried out only a few airstrikes as Assad's regime collapsed, demonstrating it was not able or willing to provide significant support. Russia places great value on the naval base and the air base it has on Syria's Mediterranean coast. They are Russia's only military bases in the Middle East, and now they are very much at risk. Russia's previous bombing campaigns inflicted heavy punishment on the rebels — and Syrian civilians — and they may not be inclined to let Russia keep that military presence. In addition, Russia has granted asylum to Assad and his family, which could be a point of contention with a new Syrian government. ### Israel Israel was always at odds with Assad, but considered him the devil they knew. Israel acknowledged that Assad kept the frontier with Israel largely calm, even when the wider region was aflame. Israel will now face a Syria that's highly unpredictable and where Islamist groups could assume a prominent role. For the past year, Israel has been fighting one such group to its south — Hamas in Gaza — and another to its north — Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel is wary of a similar group in Syria. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed the strategic territory. Israel's continued hold on the Golan Heights is certain to remain a major point of friction, regardless of who emerges in power in Damascus. ### Turkey Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has multiple aims in Syria and is well positioned to play a leading role in its future. For starters, he would like to shape a new government in Syria to his liking, said the Middle East Institute's Gonul Tol, author of [_Erdogan's War: A Strongman's Struggle at Home and in Syria._](https://academic.oup.com/book/46145) "Turkey can become the kingmaker," said Tol. "Turkey will stand to benefit both domestically and regionally from a new and, potentially, a very friendly government in Damascus." The Turkish leader would also like to see more than 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey head home. Some have already begun doing so. In addition, Turkish construction companies are well placed to rebuild Syria, ravaged by more than a decade of war. However, Erdogan's ambitions will depend on Syria restoring relative stability. Under Erdogan, the Turkish military has often operated in Syria against various Kurdish groups that Erdogan views as a potential threats to his rule. If Erdogan chooses to operate against Kurdish factions in Syria, that could undermine efforts to rebuild Syria.

The skies were quiet the other night in the northwestern town of Tel Rifaat, Syria, and relief was palpable among fighters and civilians who have lived for years under the constant threat of bombardment. A man named Ali, 48, guarded the northern entrance to town, sitting in a chair on the road next to a wood stove at an old police post. He gave only his first name for security reasons. But there was no danger of attack, he said, and no bombing. As night fell in the courtyard of a primary school, Syrian rebel fighters from the town — who helped recapture it from government-allied forces less than two weeks ago — knelt for the evening Muslim prayer. They were still elated by their victory, which ended their own lives of displacement, spent in tents, and those of many families from the town, who were already coming home. “The people of Tel Rifaat really wanted to return to their town,” said Firas Alito al-Ageid, 40, commander of the rebel unit. “This was the most important thing. They had the desire to return.” Image A man named Ali, with a cat, guarding a checkpoint on the main road leading into town. Rebel fighters at Friday Prayer in Tel Rifaat after retaking the town. “It is from God that we are back in our land,” one fighter said. The map highlights the city of Tel Rifaat, north of Aleppo, in northwestern Syria. It also locates the capital, Damascus, in the southwest.  By The New York Times Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F12%2F15%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Fsyria-rebel-stronghold-return.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F12%2F15%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Fsyria-rebel-stronghold-return.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F12%2F15%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Fsyria-rebel-stronghold-return.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F12%2F15%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Fsyria-rebel-stronghold-return.html).

Israel struck dozens of sites in [Syria](https://www.theguardian.com/world/syria) overnight with airstrikes, despite the Syrian rebel leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, saying his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group was not interested in conflict with Israel. The latest airstrikes follow a statement by Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, that Israeli troops, who seized the Golan Heights buffer zone with Syria last week, would remain for the winter on Mount Hermon [in positions they occupied last week.](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/11/golan-heights-israeli-troops-syria-assad) Katz’s office said in a statement that “due to what is happening in Syria, there is enormous security importance to our holding on to the peak”. Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, a nom de guerre used by Ahmed al-Sharaa, told Syrian state media: “There are no excuses for any foreign intervention in Syria now after the Iranians have left. We are not in the process of engaging in a conflict with Israel.” Jolani said Israel was using false pretexts to justify its attacks on Syria, but that he was not interested in engaging in new conflicts as the country focused on rebuilding following the end of Bashar al-Assad’s reign. He added that “diplomatic solutions” were the only way to ensure stability stability and rather than “ill-considered military adventures”. [Syria map](https://interactive.guim.co.uk/uploader/embed/2024/12/golanheights-zip/giv-45596Qb4KZHwvC0w) “Israeli arguments have become weak and no longer justify their recent violations. The Israelis have clearly crossed the lines of engagement in Syria, which poses a threat of unwarranted escalation in the region,” Jolani said. “Syria’s war-weary condition, after years of conflict and war, does not allow for new confrontations. The priority at this stage is reconstruction and stability, not being drawn into disputes that could lead to further destruction.” The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Israel fired 61 missiles at Syrian military sites in less than five hours on Saturday evening. Israeli air raids hit bases, heavy weapons, sites associated with the former Assad regime’s missile and chemical weapons programme, and destroyed Syria’s small naval force in port of Latakia. [](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/15/israel-launches-dozens-of-airstrikes-on-syria-despite-rebel-leader-peace-pledge#img-2) Syrian naval vessels destroyed by an Israeli airstrike last week in the port of Latakia. Photograph: Omar Albam/AP The continuing strikes have prompted mounting concern among diplomats and international officials concerned over what they fear may be an open-ended new occupation of Syrian territory. The UN has called on Israel to withdraw from the buffer zone, which sits between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, said he was “deeply concerned by the recent and extensive violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”. France, Germany and Spain have also called on Israel to withdraw from the demilitarized zone. The UN has said Israel is in violation of a 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria that established the buffer zone. Israel has said the 1974 disengagement agreement “collapsed” with the fall of the Assad regime government. Responding to Jolani, the Israel Defence Forces chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, said, “We aren’t intervening in what is happening in Syria. We have no intention of administering Syria.” “There was an enemy country here. Its army collapsed. There is a threat that terror elements will come here, and we advanced so … extreme terror elements won’t settle close to the border with us. “We are unequivocally intervening only in what determines Israeli citizens’ security. The deployment along the entire border, from Mt Hermon to the meeting of the Israeli-Syrian-Jordanian border, is proper.” According to reports, among the sites hit over the over the weekend were military headquarters, Syrian army positions, radars, and arms caches and assets of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center, which was responsible for developing advanced weapons. Israel also estimates it has destroyed much of the Syrian air force’s infrastructure and aircraft. The scale of the Israeli bombing campaign has surprised many western capitals who had believed that any Israeli strikes would be limited to chemical weapons and missiles sites rather than an effort aimed at the wholesale destruction of the Syria’s military, which has had 70% of its capabilities destroyed in hundreds of attacks. The latest Israeli air raids came as the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, wound up talks with Jordan, Turkey and Iraq with the aim of trying to shape the future of post-Assad Syria by forging consensus among regional partners and allies whose interests often diverge. “We know that what happens inside of Syria can have powerful consequences well beyond its borders, from mass displacement to terrorism,” he told reporters in Aqaba, Jordan. “And we know that we can’t underestimate the challenges of this moment.” Blinken also confirmed contacts between the Biden administration and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Blinken would not discuss details of the direct contacts with HTS but said it was important for the US to convey messages to the group about its conduct and how it intended to govern in a transition period.

United in duplicity, if nothing else, Russia, Iran, Turkey and the US – key external players in Syria’s long-running drama – all agreed. The country’s “sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity” [must be respected and maintained](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/g7-leaders-statement-on-syria-12-december-2024), each separately declared last week after Bashar al-Assad’s sudden, welcome downfall. Even Israel, recklessly bombing Syria to blazes in the Jewish state’s [largest ever military operation](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdx921zreweo), denied it was interfering in the country’s internal affairs. Such cynicism is breathtaking. Like ravening wolves, supposed friends and neighbours tug at the still twitching corpse of the deposed regime. Unchecked, they could tear Syria apart, again. Importunate foreign powers also have this in common: they seemingly cannot abide the thought of Syria’s people independently charting their own future. Last week’s revolution – the overdue denouement of a popular revolt begun in 2011 – was ultimately achieved despite them and largely [without outside help](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/syria/day-after-bashar-al-assad-russia-iran). The Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is not an ideal choice to lead the country. But [after 13 years of failing Syria](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/10/epic-failure-of-our-age-how-west-failed-syria), the international community was not asked for its opinion. Self-serving outside interventions and, in the case of the west, craven cop-outs undercut or helped defeat pro-democracy forces. They lengthened the war. Russia sought regional influence and military bases. Iran’s militias built supply routes to proxies in Gaza and Lebanon. Turkey went gunning for Kurds. The US and the UK, burned by Iraq, focused on fighting Islamic State terror. Barack Obama jettisoned his 2009 “[new beginning](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-Cairo-university-6-04-09)” with the Muslim world and, later, his red lines on chemical weapons. “Foreign powers, whose meddling did so much to propel Syria’s long civil war, must avoid repeating the mistake. Few capitals look enthusiastically at Islamists dominant in Damascus, but for now no option exists but to work with the new authorities,” [the International Crisis Group (ICG) says](https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/east-mediterranean-mena/syria/priorities-after-assads-fall). Untroubled by an enfeebled Assad, Israel mostly confined itself to hitting Iran-linked forces during the civil war. Now, suddenly, it has discerned an existential threat. That at least is how it justifies illegal border land-grabs inside Syria, condemned as destabilising by the UN, and hundreds of [attacks on “strategic targets”](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/10/israel-strikes-hundreds-of-military-targets-in-syria). Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says he’s worried a hostile HTS [may allow Iran back in](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/middle-east/israel-iran-dangerous-new-normal-suzanne-maloney). “If \[HTS\] attacks us, we will respond forcefully… What happened to the previous regime will also happen to this regime,” he warned. No surprise that he’s not celebrating. As all the world knows, peace is not Netanyahu’s thing. > The idea, attractive to western governments, that Russia and Iran have been permanently repulsed is wishful thinking Yet by opportunistically attacking an undefended [Syria](https://www.theguardian.com/world/syria) and seizing chunks of territory, he invites the outcome he most wants to avoid: the enmity of Assad’s successors and long-term Israel-Syria hostility. But wait! Maybe he doesn’t want to avoid it. As all the world knows, Netanyahu loves a war. The idea, attractive to western governments, that Russia and Iran have been permanently repulsed is wishful thinking. The Kremlin is certainly distracted by Ukraine. But precisely because that [war is assuming global dimensions](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/26/ukraine-russia-war-nato-biden-putin), Vladimir Putin will not surrender his strategic eastern Mediterranean air and naval bases if he can avoid it. Moscow is pursuing a deal with the transitional government, despite having bombed and gassed opposition fighters and civilians for almost 10 years. To steal a march, Putin may offer the recognition and material support that [western countries are withholding](https://responsiblestatecraft.org/assad-russia-military/). Iran’s Shi’ite leadership was stunned to an almost comical degree by Assad’s sudden toppling by Sunni rebels. But Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who never learns anything, is not abandoning his “[axis of resistance](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/11/iran-khamenei-says-al-assad-ouster-us-israel-plot-blames-neighbour)”. If it cannot do so openly, Tehran and its militias will act clandestinely inside and via Syria, including rearming Hezbollah. Khamenei tacitly blamed Turkey as well as the US and Israel for Assad’s fall, and it’s true [Ankara backed HTS’s offensive](https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/12/10/syria-assad-turkey-erdogan-iran-geopolitics-middle-east-rivalry/). But President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s motives are deeply selfish. As the Islamists advanced south, Turkish proxies attacked US-backed Kurds along the northern border where Erdoğan, like Netanyahu, is building a buffer zone. He believes Kurds, not HTS, are the terrorists. Fighting continues amid renewed [mass civilian displacement](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/12/shamima-begum-and-65-other-is-linked-britons-detained-in-syria-face-uncertain-future) across north-east Syria. It’s plain Turkey wants a bigger chunk of post-Assad Syrian territory – even if that means sabotaging the Kurds’ policing of detention camps housing defeated IS caliphate terrorists. Last week, the US, while insisting that it, too, respects Syrian sovereignty, attacked [75 IS hideouts](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/9/us-announces-air-strikes-on-isil-targets-in-syria-sfter-al-assadss-fall) in the eastern desert. Donald Trump has threatened in the past to withdraw US forces from Syria. But Marco Rubio, his choice as secretary of state, argues they should stay to prevent a re-emerging terrorist threat. [skip past newsletter promotion](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/15/the-world-failed-to-save-syria-now-its-people-must-be-free-to-chart-their-own-path#EmailSignup-skip-link-14) Sign up to Observed Analysis and opinion on the week's news and culture brought to you by the best Observer writers **Privacy Notice:** Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our [Privacy Policy](https://www.theguardian.com/help/privacy-policy). We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google [Privacy Policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy) and [Terms of Service](https://policies.google.com/terms) apply. after newsletter promotion > Humanitarian aid should be offered to Syria unconditionally. Easing sanctions would help That is how European governments see it, too. Better blood in the sand in Syria than on the streets of Paris, London or New York. Trump says Syria is “not our fight”. He may yet decide otherwise. Out-of-control armed groups, score-settling, huge social dislocation, returning refugees, vast unmapped minefields and a wrecked economy pose daunting challenges across Syria. But so far the HTS leadership is making positive noises about a peaceful political transition, new security arrangements, safeguarding chemical weapons and respect for minorities. “Those governments with ties to HTS should urge it to bring as wide a range of voices as possible into government and to tread an inclusive line,” the ICG urged, referring to the Gulf states and [Turkey](https://www.theguardian.com/world/turkey), meeting in Jordan this weekend. Upholding human rights is more important than any quest for supremacy or vengeance. [Humanitarian aid](https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/12/1158091) should be offered to Syria unconditionally. Easing sanctions would help. Yet how refreshing it would be if, just for once, a newly liberated people was trusted to chart its own path towards democracy, justice, reconciliation and reconstruction, free from outside interference. Let Syrians decide what they need, what kind of future they want. Until then, back off, stop meddling – and celebrate their victory. Simon Tisdall is the Observer’s Foreign Affairs Commentator

Good morning. Israel [bombed dozens of sites in Syria](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/15/israel-launches-dozens-of-airstrikes-on-syria-despite-rebel-leader-peace-pledge) overnight, despite the Syrian rebel leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani aka [Ahmed al-Sharaa](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/10/syria-new-leader-two-identities-ahmed-al-sharaa-abu-mohammed-al-jolani), saying his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group was not interested in conflict with Israel. Jolani’s comments came as Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced on Sunday that he had approved a plan to expand settlement-building in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The latest airstrikes follow a statement by the country’s defence minister, Israel Katz, that Israeli troops, who seized the Golan Heights buffer zone with [Syria](https://www.theguardian.com/world/syria) last week, would remain for the winter. The UN, France, Germany and Spain have called on Israel to withdraw from the buffer zone, which sits between Syria and the Israeli-occupied area. Meanwhile, [at least 12 Palestinians were killed, including children, in an Israeli airstrike](https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/dec/16/middle-east-crisis-israeli-government-golan-heights-occupation-syria-gaza-latest-updates?page=with:block-675fd4148f082fbec06c22a6#block-675fd4148f082fbec06c22a6) on a shelter for the displaced in Gaza’s Khan Younis school turned shelter for displaced Palestinians on Sunday, the Hamas-run civil defence agency said.  Drone footage shows destroyed vessels at northern Syrian port of Latakia – video * **What is Israel bombing in Syria?** Israeli air raids have hit bases, heavy weapons, sites associated with the former Assad regime’s missile and chemical weapons programme, and destroyed Syria’s small naval force in port of Latakia. The scale of the Israeli bombing campaign has surprised many western capitals. * **How did Netanyahu justify further settlements?** He justified expanding Israeli settlements in the occupied Golan Heights “in light of the war and the new front facing Syria” and a desire to double the Israeli population in the area. “We will continue to hold on to it, cause it to blossom and settle in it,” he said. **Hundreds** **believed to be dead as Cyclone Chido devastates French** **islands of Mayotte** ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Hundreds believed to be dead as Cyclone Chido devastates French islands of Mayotte – video At least several hundred people are feared to have been killed after the [worst cyclone in almost a century](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/15/hundreds-feared-dead-as-cyclone-chido-devastates-french-island-of-mayotte) ripped through the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte on Saturday, leaving health services in ruins. Rescuers have been dispatched to the islands, which lie between the coast of Mozambique and Madagascar, but their efforts are likely to be hindered by damage to airports and electricity distribution in an area where clean drinking water is subject to chronic shortages. The archipelago’s prefect, François-Xavier Bieuville, said the confirmed toll of 11 dead was likely to soar over the coming days. “I think there will certainly be several hundreds, maybe we will reach a thousand, even several thousands.” * **How powerful was the storm?** Winds of at least 140mph uprooted trees, tore houses apart and pounded the impoverished archipelago’s already weak infrastructure. * **What complicates relief efforts?** French authorities say about 100,000 people live in Mayotte clandestinely, which some healthcare workers believe makes them reluctant to seek assistance – due to fears it would lead to their removal. * **How deadly have previous cyclones been in the region?** Cyclone Idai killed more than 1,300 people in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe in 2019. Cyclone Freddy left more than 1,000 dead across several countries last year. **Lindsey Graham contradicts Trump’s assertion that January 6 investigators ‘should go to jail’** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/16/first-thing-israel-strikes-syria-netanyahu-approves-settlement-expansion#img-2) Lindsey Graham rejected Donald Trump’s view that officials who investigated the deadly attack on the US Capitol in 2021 should be imprisoned. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP Senator Lindsey Graham on Sunday [rejected Donald Trump’s view](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/15/trump-lindsey-graham-january-6-investigators) that officials who investigated the deadly attack on the Capitol in 2021 should be imprisoned. On NBC’s Meet the Press, Graham was asked whether he agreed with Trump’s assertion that investigators should go to jail. “No,” said South Carolina’s senior senator. Meanwhile, independent leftwing senator Bernie Sanders said on Sunday that Joe Biden should “very seriously consider” issuing pre-emptive pardons. * **How will Trump approach the January 6 convicted?** More than 1,250 people have pleaded guilty or otherwise been convicted in the January 6 attack. At least 645 people have been sentenced to serve some time in prison, ranging from a few days to 22 years. Trump says he’ll pardon them on “day one”. **In other news …** ------------------- [](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/16/first-thing-israel-strikes-syria-netanyahu-approves-settlement-expansion#img-3) About 2 million people gathered in Yeouido, Seoul, South Korea, on 14 December to call for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol. Photograph: Chris Jung/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock * **South Korea’s constitutional court has begun reviewing the impeachment of President Yoon Suk****\-yeol,** over his attempt to [impose martial law](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/16/south-korea-han-dong-hoon-resignation-impeachment-yoon-suk-yeol) on 3 December. * **Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has been discharged from hospital**, after spending six days recovering from emergency [surgery](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/15/brazil-president-lula-leaves-hospital-after-brain-surgery) to drain a hematoma in his brain. * **Israel has announced it will close its embassy in Ireland,** citing Dublin’s decision last week to support a petition at the international court of justice [accusing the country of genocide](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/15/israel-to-close-dublin-embassy-after-ireland-supports-icj-genocide-petition). **Stat of the day: Russian tanker sinks in Black Sea spilling 4,300 tons of oil** ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Two Russian tankers sink in Black Sea spilling 4,300 tonnes of oil – video A Russian tanker carrying about 4,300 tons of oil products has sunk in the Black Sea amid stormy conditions, while a second has run aground. Commentators pointed out that the oil products, if spilled into the Black Sea, would cause serious [ecological damage](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/15/two-russian-tankers-sink-in-black-sea-spilling-oil) to a marine environment already badly affected by war. [](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/16/first-thing-israel-strikes-syria-netanyahu-approves-settlement-expansion#img-4) Axelle Ponsonnet, Southern Transept, The Removal of the Forest of Scaffolding, February 2023, pencil on paper Illustration: Axelle Ponsonnet After disaster struck Notre Dame in 2019, Axelle Ponsonnet [began to draw](https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/dec/16/axelle-ponsonnet-carnet-de-chantier-ballade-dans-notre-dame) parts of the cathedral exposed by the fire, some not seen for centuries. “At one point, the entire internal volume of the cathedral was filled with scaffolding,” Ponsonnet said. “When they started taking the scaffolding down, it was like everything could breathe again.” **Climate check: Anxious scientists brace for Trump’s climate denialism** ------------------------------------------------------------------------- [](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/16/first-thing-israel-strikes-syria-netanyahu-approves-settlement-expansion#img-5) Donald Trump visits the Double Eagle Energy oil rig in Midland, Texas in 2020. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP Trump dominated conversations at the annual American Geophysical Union meeting this year. The prospect of Trump slashing budgets and mass-firing federal staff has given America’s scientific community a sort of [collective anxiety attack](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/15/scientists-climate-denial-trump). “We all feel like we have a target on our backs,” one said. **Last Thing: A white T-shirt for $202? Welcome to capitalism’s era of ‘bespoke basics’** ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/16/first-thing-israel-strikes-syria-netanyahu-approves-settlement-expansion#img-6) Who in their right mind, writes Morwenna Ferrier, would pay $200 for something they may spill coffee down? Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian It’s made from mid-weight Supima brushed cotton, with subtle stitching and slim elbow-length sleeves. It’s comfy and fits perfectly. It’s also … a white T-shirt. And who in their right mind, [writes](https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2024/dec/16/bespoke-basics-would-you-pay-160-for-this-t-shirt) Morwenna Ferrier, would pay $202 for something they may spill coffee down? **Sign up** ----------- Sign up for the US morning briefing First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, [subscribe now](https://www.theguardian.com/info/2018/sep/17/guardian-us-morning-briefing-sign-up-to-stay-informed). **Get in touch** ---------------- If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

The mother of the missing American journalist Austin Tice has told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in a letter that her family has “credible information” that Mr. Tice may be held in a prison outside the Syrian capital, Damascus, and urged the Israelis to pause military strikes in the area to allow rescuers to search the site. Mr. Tice’s mother, Debra Tice, said in the letter, dated Dec. 14 and addressed to Mr. Netanyahu, that the prison was under a Syrian military museum in the mountainous Mount Qasioun area and had a tunnel that was connected to a neighborhood and a government palace. “We are aware that your military has an active campaign in the area, preventing rescuers from approaching and accessing the prison facility,” Ms. Tice wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times. “We have no way of knowing if the prisoners there have food and water. We urgently request you pause strikes on this area and deploy Israeli assets to search for Austin Tice and other prisoners. Time is of the essence.” Gal Hirsch, the Israeli government’s lead envoy for hostage affairs, confirmed he had received the letter, and he said that he was coordinating on a daily basis with U.S. officials, including Roger D. Carstens, the U.S. government’s special presidential envoy for hostage affairs. “We will do everything possible in assisting the United States of America to bring the hostages and missing persons back home,” Mr. Hirsch said. U.S. officials said on Monday that they did not have specific information about Mr. Tice’s whereabouts. The Israeli military has been bombing weapons depots and air defenses in Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based organization that tracks the conflict in Syria. Israel has said it wants to keep military equipment away from extremists. Mr. Tice was abducted in 2012 outside Damascus as the country descended into civil war. The United States has said it believes he was being held by the government of Bashar al-Assad. [The Assad regime had long maintained](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/16/world/middleeast/austin-tice-journalist-syria.html) that it was not holding Mr. Tice and had no information about him. Mr. Tice’s family and the United States government have [stepped up efforts](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/us/politics/austin-tice-search-syria.html?searchResultPosition=1) to locate him since Dec. 8, when rebel groups seized Damascus after overrunning several other major cities, and Mr. al-Assad fled to Russia.

Standing at the gates of the Khmeimim airbase, a fighter from the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) eyed a pink vape being puffed on by a Russian soldier. Catching his gaze, the soldier offered it to him. The bearded fighter took a drag and shrugged, giving a thumbs up to the Russian soldier, who let him keep it. Just over a week ago, Russian jets taking off from Khmeimim airbase were heading to northern Syria to drop bombs on rebel groups. This week, Russians are negotiating with the same factions, now in control of the country after their [12-day lightning offensive that toppled the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/14/the-army-just-ran-away-how-bashar-al-assad-lost-his-brutal-grip-on-syria). [](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/16/this-is-not-a-peaceful-country-russian-military-forms-fragile-truce-with-syrian-rebels-it-used-to-bomb#img-2) A Syrian fighter guards the entrance of the Khmeimim airbase in Latakia, Syria. Photograph: Ümit Bektaş/Reuters “We don’t feel unsafe, we are hoping to make friendly relations with the new government as soon as it becomes a legitimate government,” said a representative of the Russian military, who allowed the Guardian rare access to the Khmeimim airbase on Sunday. The representative said communications with HTS started a week ago to [coordinate military affairs between Russian forces in Syria and the country’s new leaders.](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/09/moscow-reaches-out-to-new-syrian-leadership-in-move-to-secure-bases) “Neither side is making provocations and things have been fine,” the Russian military representative said, as he gestured to boxes of humanitarian aid and Russian ministry of defence-branded backpacks, which they said were a gift from Russia to the Syrian people.  Guardian reporter watches Russian forces at Khmeimim airbase in Syria – video HTS fighters guarded the gates of the airbase as Russian Mig fighter jets took off. “We used to be scared whenever we would hear the sound of a Russian jet – now it’s become normal,” Abu Khaled, a 26-year-old HTS fighter guarding the airbase said. Outside, Russian soldiers still milled about the town of Khmeimim, shopping at stores whose signs were written in Cyrillic. Russian forces first entered Syria in 2015 when Assad requested their military assistance against opposition forces, which he had been fighting since Syria’s 2011 revolution. Now their presence in Syria has been called into question as the opposition take the reins of power. [Map](https://interactive.guim.co.uk/uploader/embed/2024/12/russian_bases_in_syria_and_control/giv-4559YgbqEbvgKHeN/) The EU foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas, said on Monday that Russia and Iran “should not have a place” in Syria, and said the bloc would raise the issue of Russian military bases with the country’s new leadership. HTS and Russia are at the “first step” of negotiations over if and how Russia will maintain its military bases in post-Assad Syria, an HTS official familiar with the talks told the Guardian. Both sides described the atmosphere of the negotiations as positive. [Russia wants to maintain its control over Tartous port, its only port in the Mediterranean sea and the Khmeimim airbase in Latakia, a key logistics point for its Africa operations.](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/03/seizure-of-aleppo-threatens-moscows-foothold-in-syria-and-the-wider-region) [ Assad denies planning to flee Syria before evacuation by Moscow ](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/16/un-envoy-calls-for-inclusive-transition-syria-rebel-leader) Though the HTS official acknowledged Russia’s role in [“bombing innocent civilians”](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/02/russia-committed-war-crimes-in-syria-finds-un-report) in Syria since 2015, it seemed the rebel group was taking a pragmatic approach towards its relations with foreign powers. The HTS official said there would be “no red lines” in negotiations with the Russians, which would be based on “strategic interests, not ideology”. Moscow and HTS have both made their opening moves: Moscow offered humanitarian aid to Syria, which is mired in an economic and humanitarian crisis. This was refused, as HTS felt it had several foreign donors already beating on its door. In his first public comments since he was forced from power, Assad said on Monday that his first stop after fleeing Damascus was the Khmeimim airbase, where he claimed to have overseen combat operations between fleeing to Moscow. The HTS official said the new Syrian government would seek the extradition of Assad, or ask him to be turned over to the international criminal court. They added that they were not optimistic that Russia would grant either request. The primary aim of HTS appears to be establishing good economic and political relations with Russia and other international powers, which the HTS official said would confer legitimacy on the new rebel government. The official cited the hasty pullout of US forces from Afghanistan in 2021 as a lesson on what the group wanted to avoid with Russia. [](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/16/this-is-not-a-peaceful-country-russian-military-forms-fragile-truce-with-syrian-rebels-it-used-to-bomb#img-3) A Russian soldier stands on top of a water tower at Khmeimim airbase. Photograph: Ümit Bektaş/Reuters To that end, HTS has provided security for Russian forces over the last few days as they moved vehicles and personnel from the T4 airbase in Homs, central Syria, to Khmeimim airbase and Tartous port. Columns of Russian armoured personnel carriers, tanks and pickup trucks with the Russian flag waving and a large “Z” painted on the sides have filled Syria’s highways for the past two days, escorted by HTS fighters. [Aerial view of Khmeimim airbase](https://interactive.guim.co.uk/uploader/embed/2024/12/syria_bases_before_and_after/giv-4559ANfrSkssqTsn/) The Russian military representative confirmed that the T4 airbase in Homs had been completely emptied out of personnel and equipment by Saturday, in coordination with HTS. The representative added that troops were not withdrawing from Syria but just repositioning, while they waited for Russia’s presidency to make a decision about what to do next. Living conditions in the besieged T4 base had become dire in the last week, with refuse building up and food supplies growing low, according to the HTS official – allegations on which the Russian representative did not comment. Khmeimim airbase and Tartous port are now the only active Russian bases in Syria – a far cry from the vast military footprint Moscow maintained in the country under Assad. The question of Tartous appeared easier to resolve than the airbase, as the HTS official said the group was open to allowing the Russians to maintain their control over the port, citing international law as a complication for cancelling the 49-year lease of the naval facility – even if it was signed with the now deposed Assad regime. Whether the Syrian people would accept a continued Russian presence in the country after years of Russian jets bombing people in rebel-held territory was another question. “This is not a peaceful country, go look at Idlib and the liberated areas, they are all destroyed,” Abo Khaled said, gesturing at the Russian jets taking off from Khmeimim airbase. HTS, on its part, seems willing to turn the page on the bloody past of the Syrian civil war and focus on pulling Syria out of its miserable humanitarian state. “We are forced to repair relations, the country is dead, people are very poor. People are trying hard to stop the bloodshed, they would like to build a new life and move forward,” the HTS official said. [](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/16/this-is-not-a-peaceful-country-russian-military-forms-fragile-truce-with-syrian-rebels-it-used-to-bomb#img-4) Smoke rises from the site of a Syrian army weapons depot hit overnight by an Israeli bombardment. Photograph: Bakr Alkasem/AFP/Getty Images Ziad Taweel, the head of the Latakia international airport that borders the Russian airbase, said HTS had instructed him to go back to work and get the civilian airport back online, but he had only been granted approval by the Russians to return on Sunday. The last civilian flight from the airport was almost two weeks ago and the exterior of the airport was littered with abandoned army vehicles and boxes of weaponry, though the interior was left untouched. As Taweel inspected the airport, escorted by balaclava-wearing Russian commandos, an HTS fighter and a soldier joked. The HTS fighter, gazing at Russian Mrap military vehicles and planes, made sure to take some selfies with the Russian military officials, before walking off the base towards his colleagues.

BBC Geir Pedersen said the international community was ready to help and support Syria's new leadership It is vital that Syria's new leadership keeps its promises to respect the rights of all the country's diverse religious and ethnic groups, according to UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen. Mr Pedersen, speaking to the BBC in Damascus, said Syrians were experiencing "a lot of hope and a lot of fear... at the same time". He called for all parties, inside and outside Syria, to do all they could to create stability in the country. Bashar al-Assad's regime [was overthrown less than two weeks ago](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c99x0l1d432o) by a rebel coalition led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, known as HTS, a Sunni Islamist group that claims to have disavowed its jihadist extremist past since it split from al-Qaeda in 2016. HTS is designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN, the US, the EU, the UK and others. Symbolically, its leader has dropped his wartime pseudonym of Abu Mohammed al-Jolani and [reverted to his real name of Ahmed al-Sharaa](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0q0w1g8zqvo). Sunni Muslims are a majority in Syria, which has a strong secular tradition. Sharaa insists HTS is a religious nationalist movement prepared to tolerate other groups. Mr Pedersen said Sharaa has said "many positive things". But some Syrians, he said, did not believe the HTS leader, who until 2016 had a long history as a jihadist extremist. "I must be honest. I'm hearing from many Syrians that they're asking questions whether this will actually be implemented. They've got their doubts." That, he said, was not surprising, given the speed of change in Syria. "If the transition is to succeed, this needs to be a process that is co-operative." "\[Sharaa\] needs to work with the different armed factions that went in together with him. He needs to work with a broader group of former opposition. He needs to make sure that he's working with a broad group of civil society women. And as we all agree with the broadest spectrum possible of Syrian society." Mr Pedersen, who has been the UN special envoy since 2018, said the international community was ready to help and support Syria's new leadership. He emphasised that hopes of lifting sanctions on Syria and taking HTS off the terrorist list depended on its behaviour. He hoped to give it the benefit of the doubt for three months - the time HTS has said its interim government will rule before a more long-term arrangement. "I think there is an understanding that for Syria really to be successful, we need to see a delisting, and we need to see sanctions lifted. But I think also it's very important that it's understood that this will not just happen because everyone wants positive things." "Member states are following very carefully what will be happening on the ground, but I do believe that if what has been said in public is actually being implemented in practice, yes, then I think we can see the delisting and the end of sanctions." SANA Geir Pedersen held talks with HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa earlier this week As for Syria's neighbours, Mr Pedersen said that Israel's actions since the fall of Assad had been "highly irresponsible". Since the 1967 Middle East war, Israel has occupied and later annexed the area of southern Syria known as the Golan Heights. Most other states, other than the US, consider the Golan to be occupied land. Israel's current bombing campaign against Syrian military facilities and its occupation of more Syrian land in the Golan Heights demilitarised buffer zone and neighbouring areas were, Mr Pedersen said, "a danger to the future of Syria, and these activities need to stop immediately". "There is no reason that Israel should occupy new Syrian territory. The Golan is already occupied. They don't need new land to be occupied. So what we need to see is that also Israel acts in a manner that don't destabilise this very, very fragile transitional process," he added. Mr Pedersen is also concerned about the complex web of power in northern Syria. Turkey has a well-established relationship with HTS. It has troops in the north-west, as well as a militia known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), made up of rebel factions that it backs. Since Assad was overthrown, the SNA has attacked the other force in Syria's north, a Kurdish-led militia alliance called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which is supported by the US. Mr Pedersen said it was Turkey's interests to follow certain key principles, along with other foreign powers. "What is it that we all need to see in Syria now? We need to see stability. We need to see that there are not new population groups that are displaced. We need to see that people are not running away from Syria as refugees. We need to see that refugees are returning, that... internally displaced can be returning to their homes." After 54 years under the rule of two authoritarian Assad presidents, Syria is fragmented, with towns and villages heavily damaged by almost 14 years of war and a population traumatised by war and the deadly cruelty of the regime. Mr Pedersen said it was vital for HTS to start a process that will bring justice to all the families of more than 100,000 Syrians who disappeared after detention by the regime since 2011. Most are presumed dead. "If this process is not moving in the right direction, there is a huge danger that this anger can erupt in a manner that is in no one's interest." Syrians, Mr Pedersen said, wanted to own the process of rebuilding their country. That might be difficult given the turbulence across the Middle East and propensity of Syria's neighbours and other big powers to interfere. Time is short. If HTS keeps its promises, "within the next few weeks and months there is hope that Syria can have a bright future", he said. He warned that if that doesn't happen, "there is also a danger of new strife and even civil war." "But we need to bet that the future for Syria can now be fixed. And that we can start the process of healing."

Iran’s top ranking general in Syria has contradicted the official line taken by Iran’s leaders on the sudden downfall of their ally Bashar al-Assad, saying in a remarkably candid speech last week that Iran had suffered a major defeat but would still try to operate in the country. An audio recording of the speech, given last week by Brig. Gen. Behrouz Esbati at a mosque in Tehran, surfaced publicly on Monday in Iranian media, and was a stark contrast to the remarks of Iran’s president, foreign minister and other top leaders. They have for weeks downplayed the magnitude of Iran’s strategic loss in Syria last month, when rebels swept Mr. al-Assad out of power, and said Iran would respect any political outcome decided by Syria’s people. “I don’t consider losing Syria something to be proud of,” said General Esbati according to the audio recording of his speech, which [Abdi Media,](https://abdimedia.net/podcast/listen-uncensored-file-revelations-and-above-controversial-remarks-general-aftabati-one) a Geneva-based news site focused on Iran, published on Monday. “We were defeated, and defeated very badly, we took a very big blow and it’s been very difficult.” General Esbati revealed that Iran’s relations with Mr. al-Assad had been strained for months leading to his ouster, saying that the Syrian leader had denied multiple requests for Iranian-backed militias to open a front against Israel from Syria, in the aftermath of the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7, 2023. Iran had presented Mr. al-Assad with comprehensive military plans on how it could use Iran’s military resources in Syria to attack Israel, he said. The general also accused Russia, considered a top ally, of misleading Iran by telling it that Russian jets were bombing Syrian rebels when they were actually dropping bombs on open fields. He also said that in the past year, as Israel struck Iranian targets in Syria, Russia had “turned off radars,” in effect facilitating these attacks. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F01%2F08%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Firan-general-syria-defeat.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F01%2F08%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Firan-general-syria-defeat.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F01%2F08%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Firan-general-syria-defeat.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F01%2F08%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Firan-general-syria-defeat.html).

Syria Civil Defence The Syria Civil Defence said some of the 15 wounded were in a critical condition At least 15 people, 14 of them women, have been killed in a car bomb attack on a vehicle transporting agricultural workers in northern Syria, first responders say. Another 15 women were wounded by the blast on the outskirts of the city of Manbij, east of Aleppo, according to the Syria Civil Defence agency, also known as the White Helmets. It said some of the wounded were in a critical condition and warned that the death toll might rise. There was no immediate claim from any armed groups for the bombing, which was the deadliest since rebel forces overthrew president Bashar al-Assad in December. It was also the second car bomb attack in Manbij in only three days. On Saturday, two children and a woman were among four people killed by an explosion on a street in the city centre, the Syria Civil Defence said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, reported that the blast was near a military position and that nine people were killed, including several pro-Turkish fighters. Since the collapse of the Assad regime, Manbij and its surrounding area have seen intense clashes between Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) factions and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is supported by the US. The SNA launched an offensive to capture territory west of the River Euphrates, which the SDF had held since driving out the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) in 2016. The SNA took control of Manbij on 9 December, after fighters from the SDF-affiliated Manbij Military Council withdrew. But since then, the SDF has been carrying out a counter-offensive.

Five suspected Islamist terrorists accused of kidnapping and torturing four French journalists covering the war in [Syria](https://www.theguardian.com/world/syria) have gone on trial in Paris. The men include the French jihadist Mehdi Nemmouche, 39, who is serving life imprisonment for an attack on a Jewish museum in Brussels in 2014 in which four people died. The five are charged with being part of an Islamic State group that [held the journalists](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/20/kidnapped-french-journalists-released-syria), as well as dozens of others including humanitarian workers, between 2013 and 2014. On Monday, as he appeared in court to give his name, Nemmouche denied having been the journalists’ captor. “I was never the jailer of the western hostages or any other hostage, and I never met these people in Syria,” he told the Paris court, breaking his silence after not speaking throughout the Brussels trial or during the investigation. All four journalists have told investigators they are sure Nemmouche was their jailer. During what is seen as a historic trial in [Europe](https://www.theguardian.com/world/europe-news), the court will hear details of the psychological and physical torture allegedly inflicted on the journalists, as well as the wider general treatment of hostages by the IS group in Syria, where 27 western reporters and humanitarian workers were kidnapped between 2012 and 2014. Eight were killed – three Americans, two Britons, two Japanese and a Russian – while three others, including two women, remain missing, presumed dead. The foreign correspondent Didier François and the photographer Édouard Elias were working for the French radio station Europe 1 when they were kidnapped near Aleppo on 6 June 2013, shortly after crossing into Syria from Turkey. Two weeks later Nicolas Hénin, a reporter with Le Point magazine, and the photographer Pierre Torres were taken hostage by armed and masked men in the city of Raqqa. All four were released in April 2014 after 10 months in captivity. The trial that opened in Paris on Monday comes after French investigators carried out a 10-year inquiry stretching across more than a dozen countries. In the dock alongside Nemmouche are Abdelmalek Tanem, 35, a French national accused of being another IS jailer, and a Syrian man, Kais Al Abdallah, 41, who is accused of having helped the terror group to kidnap the journalists. Both have denied the charges. Also on trial but not present in court are the high-ranking IS leader Oussama Atar, previously convicted in absentia for coordinating the wave of terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015, including at the Bataclan concert hall, and Salim Benghalem, accused of being in charge of the terrorist group’s hostage-holding operation. Both are reported to have died in Syria. The prosecutor’s office accuses the five of running a “hostage factory” and “torture training centres” in which those being held were subject to psychological and physical punishment. On his release François recounted how Nemmouche had crushed his fingers and pulled out his nails. Hénin said the jihadist had made him kneel in front of a wall and prepare to be decapitated. At the opening of the trial on Monday, Nemmouche said the first time he saw Hénin “was at the court in Brussels”. Hénin said the IS cell treated Syrian captives even worse than the westerners. “The Syrian prisoners were terrified of being tortured by the jihadists who would scream at them in French,” he said, adding that local prisoners were often suspended on hooks and had their throats cut. “We asked ourselves if we would be next, they said we would end up having our heads cut off,” Hénin added. The former hostages told investigators they had recognised Nemmouche as one of their jailers, who had called himself Abu Omar, when he was arrested after the bombing in Belgium and his photograph circulated in the press. They told police Nemmouche was “talkative”, “perverse” and “committed to religious ethnic cleansing”. A number of other convicted jihadists, including one in jail in the US, are expected to give evidence in the trial, which will continue for five weeks.

Israel has restarted ground operations in the northern Gaza Strip and killed at least 25 people in airstrikes on the southern city of Khan Younis in what it says is a renewed military campaign aimed at pressuring Hamas into releasing Israeli hostages. At least 25 people were killed in the attack on Khan Younis early on Friday, the local Nasser hospital told AFP, as the search for survivors continued. More than 1,250 Palestinians in the besieged territory have been killed in Israeli bombings since 18 March, including at least 100 people on Thursday alone in airstrikes [that hit three schools turned shelters](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/03/at-least-27-killed-in-israeli-bombing-of-shelter-in-gaza-city-rescuers-say). The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the targets were Hamas control centres. [](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/04/israel-restarts-ground-operations-gaza-strip-hamas-hostages-airstrikes-lebanon-syria#img-2) The search continues for survivors of an Israeli airstrike on Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, early on Friday. Photograph: Mariam Dagga/AP According to the UN, 280,000 people have been forced to leave their homes or shelters since Israel decided to abandon a two-month-old ceasefire with [Hamas](https://www.theguardian.com/world/hamas), cutting off aid and fuel on 2 March and resuming large-scale bombing two weeks later. Ground troops have since re-entered the strip’s southernmost city of Rafah and the Netzarim corridor that cuts off [Gaza](https://www.theguardian.com/world/gaza) City from the rest of the territory. On Friday, the IDF said troops were advancing in Shuja’iya, a northern suburb of Gaza City. Israeli officials vowed this week to [seize large swathes of the strip](https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/apr/02/israel-gaza-war-idf-hamas-live-updates-latest-news) as security zones and establish a new military corridor between Rafah and Khan Younis, exacerbating Palestinian fears of permanent displacement and annexation. Friday also saw escalations on other fronts in the regional conflagration set in motion by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on southern Israel. Israel says 1,200 people, the majority of them civilians, were killed and a further 250 taken captive in the attack; all but 59 have since been released in hostage and detainee swaps. Israel’s retaliatory military campaign on Gaza has killed at least 50,600 people, most of them civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry. In Lebanon on Friday, the Israeli military said it had killed Hassan Farhat, a senior Hamas commander, in an airstrike on the southern city of Sidon, a move that threatens to upset the fragile truce signed in November with the Hamas-allied Lebanese militant group [Hezbollah](https://www.theguardian.com/world/hezbollah). [](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/04/israel-restarts-ground-operations-gaza-strip-hamas-hostages-airstrikes-lebanon-syria#img-3) Firefighters tackle a blaze at an apartment block in Sidon, Lebanon, after an airstrike by Israeli forces. Photograph: Mohammad Abushama/Anadolu/Getty Images The bombing came after Israel targeted what it said were Hezbollah facilities in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, last week [for the first time since the ceasefire](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/28/israel-dahiyeh-beirut-lebanon-hezbollah) went into effect. That attack was launched in response to rocket fire aimed at northern Israel, which neither Hamas nor Hezbollah claimed responsibility for. Tensions between Israel and the new transitional government in [Syria](https://www.theguardian.com/world/syria) are also rising after a wave of Israeli airstrikes across the country and a deepening Israeli ground incursion in the Daraa border area on Thursday, in which 13 people were killed. Israel has long targeted Hezbollah and Iranian assets in Syria but has continued its bombing campaign since Islamist-led rebel groups forced the dictator Bashar al-Assad to flee the country in December. It has also seized land in southern Syria and warned that Islamist groups must stay away from Israeli territory. Hakan Fidan, the foreign minister of Turkey, which backs the new regime in Damascus, on Friday accused Israel of fuelling regional instability. “Israel is taking out, one by one, all these capabilities that a new state can use against Isis and other terrorist threats,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of a Nato summit in Brussels. “What Israel is doing in Syria is not only threatening the security of Syria, but also is paving the way for future instability of the region.” Also on Friday, the Israeli army confirmed troops killed a Palestinian teenager after shooting at a group of boys and young men throwing stones near the occupied West Bank village of Husan the night before. Palestinian officials gave his name as Yusef Zaoul, 17. The IDF did not comment on the deceased’s name or age.

Lucy Williamson BBC Middle East correspondent A growing confrontation between Israel and Turkey over influence in Syria is posing a serious challenge for Syria's fragile new government. On Wednesday night, Israel bombed several military targets in Syria, including two airports – Hama military airport and the T4 base near Homs. Syria's foreign ministry said the bombardment virtually destroyed the Hama base. A prominent Syrian human rights group said four defence ministry employees were killed, and a dozen other people injured. [The air strikes hit Syria](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce92g5nk55eo), but their real target was Turkey. Shortly afterwards, Israel's foreign minister accused Turkey of playing a "negative role" in Syria, and Israel's defence minister warned Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, that he would "pay a very heavy price" if he allowed "hostile forces" to enter his country. Ankara is currently negotiating a joint defence pact with Sharaa's new government, and there have been widespread reports that Turkey is moving to station aircraft and air defence systems at Syria's T4 and Aleppo airbases. Some analysts compared Israel's intense air strikes on Hama airport this week with the much lighter bombing on the edge of the T4 base, suggesting that Turkey may have already moved some equipment there and that Israel was calibrating its attack to avoid a full-blown escalation. Relations between Israel and Turkey have nose-dived since the Gaza war began in October 2023, with Ankara introducing trade restrictions and accusing Israel of genocide. That regional tension is now playing out on new ground in Syria. After the air strikes on Wednesday, Turkey's foreign ministry accused Israel of destabilising the region by "both causing chaos and feeding terrorism" and said it was now the greatest threat to the security of the region. But foreign minister Hakan Fidan told Reuters news agency that his country was not seeking confrontation with Israel, and that Syria could set its own policies with its southern neighbour. Syria's new leader has repeatedly signalled that he was not looking for confrontation with Israel. Soon after sweeping President Bashar al-Assad from power last December, he told the BBC that Syria would not pose a threat to any country. He has even left the door open to normalising diplomatic relations with Israel in the future, telling the Economist last month that Syria wanted peace with all parties, but that it was too early to discuss such a sensitive issue. His top priority since taking power has been to unite a bitterly divided Syria, and pacify external relations with its neighbours, while he cements his power and control. But Israel has not made that easy. Its military interventions in Syria are fuelling conflict with both external powers like Turkey, and with internal groups like jihadists in the country's south. Once an implacable enemy of Syria's former president and his Iranian ally, Israel is also suspicious of Sharaa, a man who once led the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda and whose new government is backed by Turkey. Since he took power, Israel's military has repeatedly pounded Syrian weapons stores, airfields and other military sites left by the former regime, to avoid them falling into enemy hands, it says. It has also occupied a demilitarised buffer zone, set up after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, and has sent forces onto the Syrian side of a nearby mountain, setting up nine bases across the area. Israeli troops are also making regular incursions into Syria's south-western provinces, vowing to prevent the presence of any armed groups or government forces there. Earlier this week, the local government in the southern city of Deraa said nine civilians were killed in an Israeli bombardment, during the deepest incursion there yet by Israeli forces. Another four people were killed in Israeli shelling near the village of Koya late last month, after local gunmen tried to stop the advance of Israeli forces there. Since then, mosques in both Deraa and Damascus have reportedly called for jihad against Israeli forces. Charles Lister, head of the Syria Programme at the US-based Middle East Institute, which studies the region, has counted more than 70 ground incursions into south-west Syria since February, describing this as "an extraordinarily dangerous moment – and an unnecessary one". Since the fall of Assad four months ago, he says, not one attack has targeted Israel from Syria, the country's security forces have intercepted "at least 18 weapons shipments destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon, and dismantled at least eight formerly Iranian-linked rocket launch sites". Many Syrians are disappointed by Israel's response to their new government. They watched for years as Israel targeted the Assad regime, and believed that Assad's fall would bring the chance for a less confrontational relationship with Israel. Some say that view is now changing. "We used to believe that the Israeli army was only targeting Assad's regime forces," said Ismail, a restaurant owner in the west of the country. "But its continued, incomprehensible bombings are sadly making us think that Israel is an enemy of the Syrian people." Syria is vulnerable because its internal divisions are easily inflamed by regional and global interventions. The roots of sectarian conflict run deep here, nourished by decades of repressive rule by the Assad family, members of Syria's Alawite minority. Ahmed al-Sharaa's attempts to reassure the country's minorities were interrupted in early March by an explosion of violence in Syria's coastal region – a stronghold of the former regime. At least 1,000 Alawite civilians or disarmed fighters were massacred by pro-government forces, after government units were ambushed in a co-ordinated attack led by remnants of Syria's former armed forces. Those former armed forces were once backed by Iran. Some analysts believe their remnants may still be receiving some support from Tehran. Syrians celebrated the fall of Bashar al-Assad as an end to their civil war, and a chance to unite. But outside powers helped fuel that civil war for more than a decade, and its neighbours are now eyeing the vacuum left by Assad. The risk is growing that Syria will again fall victim to the conflicts of outside powers, played out on Syrian soil.

Israel’s military is organising hiking tours for civilians in newly occupied Syrian territory during the Passover holiday, local media has reported. The twice-daily tours in the contested [Golan Heights](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/11/golan-heights-israeli-troops-syria-assad) will run for a week beginning this Sunday. Tickets sold out almost immediately. Under a military escort in bulletproof buses, small groups will travel up to 2.5km into Syrian territory that was off limits until the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) seized the Golan buffer zone after [the fall of the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/08/syrians-celebrate-fall-of-bashar-al-assad-after-five-decades-of-dynastic-rule). Israel has occupied the Golan Heights since 1967 and now controls hundreds more square kilometres of Syrian land. The itinerary includes the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, which overlooks Damascus, and Lebanon’s Shebaa Farms at the foot of the mountain. The Israeli-occupied strip of Lebanese land, reputedly the site of God’s covenant with Abraham, has been a flashpoint for violence between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah for decades. Visitors will also be able to hike and swim in the Ruqqad river valley which flows into the Yarmouk on the border with Jordan, and see parts of the abandoned Ottoman Hejaz railway, which used to connect the empire’s capital in Istanbul to Haifa, Nablus and holy sites in present day Saudi Arabia. The trips have been organised by the IDF’s 210th Division, the Golan regional council, the Keshet Yehonatan religious education centre, the environmentalist Golan Field School and the Israel nature and parks authority, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported. The tours are part of a wider initiative, “Returning to a Safer North”, after the end of last year’s Israel-Hezbollah war, which was part of the regional fallout ignited by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel and the ensuing war in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said: “It’s important for us to restore heritage and tourism to the region and to tell the story of the battles fought during the war.” Tourists sign up at their own risk and the trips may be cancelled at short notice if there are security issues. In response to questions from Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the IDF said that the tour was “inside Israel”, rather than Syria, although the visits take place in the Golan Heights demilitarised buffer zone, internationally recognised as Syrian territory. [The IDF began a heavy bombing campaign across Syria](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/25/israel-strikes-targets-in-southern-syria-after-demanding-demilitarisation) targeting the regime’s weapons stockpiles shortly after Assad fled the country, while ground troops advanced in violation of a 1974 agreement. [Benjamin Netanyahu](https://www.theguardian.com/world/benjamin-netanyahu), Israel’s prime minister, has demanded that forces belonging to Syria’s new Islamist-led transitional government stay away from the border area and that the IDF remain until an alternative arrangement can be found. Given demand, organisers have said that they hope the security situation will permit additional tours to Syria after Passover.