BEIRUT: At least eight missing Lebanese soldiers are presumed dead, it emerged on Sunday, after cease-fires were announced in battles against Daesh in the Syrian border region.
The Lebanese army said its cease-fire took effect at 7:00 a.m. (4:00 a.m. GMT) on Sunday, bringing a pause to clashes in the barren and mountainous areas close to the border with Syria.
Hezbollah and the Syrian army, which are waging their own fight against Daesh in Syria’s western Qalamoun region, also declared a cease-fire, according to reports.
That side spoke of a “realized victory,” against Daesh, while Lebanon’s response was complicated by news that eight missing army soldiers who had been kidnapped by Daesh more than three years ago had likely been killed.
Daesh had reportedly held nine Lebanese soldiers captive since 2014, when its members along with other militants overran the northeast border town of Arsal.
The head of Lebanon’s internal security agency said the army and security forces had retrieved remains thought to belong six of the soldiers, and were conducting digs on Lebanese land for two others, according to Reuters. DNA tests were needed to confirm the identities, the news agency reported.
“We believe, almost certainly, that these are the remains of the soldiers,” said Gen. Abbas Ibrahim.
The fate of the soldiers was not known until Sunday, when their relatives gathered in Beirut as they awaited news in the case.
Ibrahim told the soldiers’ relatives that “God will help you,” according to a spokesman.
“I know this is a difficult moment ... Liberating the land calls for offering our souls to this country,” Ibrahim said, according to Reuters.
“We do not bargain. We are in the position of the victor and are imposing conditions.”
The remains of six bodies were retrieved from the ground, and it was found that they were wearing shoes issued by the Lebanese army.
News of the discovery regarding the soldiers came just hours after the army announced a cease-fire to hold talks over their fate.
Media close to Hezbollah said the cease-fire deal and negotiations included “the transfer of Daesh armed militants and their families to Deir Ezzor” in Syria, in exchange for the handover of five bodies of fighters buried in Syria, the remains of two other fighters and a prisoner, as well as revealing the fate of the Lebanese soldiers.
The sudden cease-fire and negotiations led to a state of political confusion inside Lebanon.
Ministers from the Free Patriotic Movement moved to the Lebanese army operations room in the barracks of Ras Baalbek in the northeast.
The ministers included Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Defense Minister Yacoub Sarraf, Energy Minister Cesar Abi Khalil, Tourism Minister Avadis Kadanian and Economy Minister Raed Khoury.
“Lebanon is defeating … terrorism with its own capabilities and strength. This is a purely Lebanese decision,” Bassil said.
The Lebanese foreign minister added: “We did not accept to negotiate with this terrorist organization. We would not have let them go except in exchange for the most valuable thing in the world (our soldiers).”
“Our army defeated (the terrorists) and obliged them to flee. The real victory is to know the fate of the soldiers.”
Cease-fire halts Syria-Lebanon border fight against Daesh
Cease-fire halts Syria-Lebanon border fight against Daesh
Iran foreign ministry affirms support for Syria’s sovereignty
- Assad fled Syria earlier this month as rebel forces led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) entered the capital Damascus
Tehran: Iran affirmed its support for Syria’s sovereignty on Monday, and said the country should not become “a haven for terrorism” after the fall of president Bashar Assad, a longtime Tehran ally.
“Our principled position on Syria is very clear: preserving the sovereignty and integrity of Syria and for the people of Syria to decide on its future without destructive foreign interference,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a weekly press briefing.
He added that the country should not “become a haven for terrorism,” saying such an outcome would have “repercussions” for countries in the region.
Assad fled Syria earlier this month as rebel forces led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) entered the capital Damascus after a lightning offensive.
The takeover by HTS — proscribed as a terrorist organization by many governments including the United States — has sparked concern, though the group has in recent years sought to moderate its image.
Headed by Ahmed Al-Sharaa, Syria’s new leader and an ardent opponent of Iran, the group has spoken out against the Islamic republic’s influence in Syria under Assad.
Tehran helped prop up Assad during Syria’s long civil war, providing him with military advisers.
During Monday’s press briefing, Baqaei said Iran had “no direct contact” with Syria’s new rulers.
Sharaa has received a host of foreign delegations since coming to power.
He met on Sunday with Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan, and on Monday with Jordan’s top diplomat Ayman Safadi.
On Friday, the United States’ top diplomat for the Middle East Barbara Leaf held a meeting with Sharaa, later saying she expected Syria would completely end any role for Iran in its affairs.
A handful of European delegations have also visited in recent days.
Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, which has long supported Syria’s opposition, is expected to send a delegation soon, according to Syria’s ambassador in Riyadh.
Iran says ‘no direct contact’ with Syria rulers
- Foreign ministry spokesman: ‘We have no direct contact with the ruling authority in Syria’
TEHRAN: Iran said Monday it had “no direct contact” with Syria’s new rulers after the fall of president Bashar Assad, a longtime Tehran ally.
“We have no direct contact with the ruling authority in Syria,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a weekly press briefing.
Jordan foreign minister holds talks with Syria’s new leader
- It was the first visit by a senior Jordanian official since Bashar Assad’s fall
AMMAN: Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi met with Syria’s new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Damascus on Monday, Amman said, the latest high-profile visit since Bashar Assad’s ouster.
Images distributed by the Jordanian foreign ministry showed Safadi and Sharaa shaking hands, without offering further details about their meeting.
A foreign ministry statement earlier said that Safadi would meet with the new Syrian leader as well as with “several Syrian officials.”
It was the first visit by a senior Jordanian official since Assad’s fall.
Jordan, which borders Syria to the south, hosted a summit earlier this month where top Arab, Turkish, EU and US diplomats called for an inclusive and peaceful transition after years of civil war.
Sharaa, whose Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) spearheaded the offensive that toppled Assad on December 8, has welcomed senior officials from a host of countries in the Middle East and beyond in recent days.
Jordanian government spokesman Mohamed Momani told reporters on Sunday that Amman “sides with the will of the brotherly Syrian people,” stressing the close ties between the two nations.
Momani said the kingdom would like to see security and stability restored in Syria, and supported “the unity of its territories.”
Stability in war-torn Syria was in Jordan’s interests, Momani said, and would “ensure security on its borders.”
Some Syrians who had fled the war since 2011 and sought refuge in Jordan have begun returning home, according to Jordanian authorities.
The interior ministry said Thursday that more than 7,000 Syrians had left, out of some 1.3 million refugees Amman says it has hosted.
According to the United Nations, 680,000 Syrian refugees were registered with it in Jordan.
Jordan in recent years has tightened border controls in a crackdown on drug and weapon smuggling along its 375-kilometer border with Syria.
One of the main drugs smuggled is the amphetamine-like stimulant captagon, for which there is huge demand in the oil-rich Gulf.
Israeli airstrikes on Gaza kill at least 20 people, Palestinian medics say
- Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,200 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry till date
Palestinian medics say Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 20 people.
One of the strikes overnight and into Monday hit a tent camp in the Muwasi area, an Israel-declared humanitarian zone, killing eight people, including two children. That’s according to the Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, which received the bodies.
Hospital records show another six killed in a strike on people securing an aid convoy and another two killed in a strike on a car in Muwasi. One person was killed in a separate strike in the area.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir Al-Balah said three bodies arrived after an airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp.
The Israeli military says it only strikes militants, accusing them of hiding among civilians. It said late Sunday that it had targeted a Hamas militant in the humanitarian zone.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. Around 100 captives are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,200 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry says women and children make up more than half the dead but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. The military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
