BEIRUT/PARIS: Syrian pro-government forces reached the outskirts of a sprawling rebel-held air base on Wednesday, the target of a wide-ranging offensive in the northwestern Idlib province.
Recapturing the Abu Zuhour air base, which the rebels took in 2015, has been one of the main goals of the government offensive launched in late October. The operations also aim to secure the road linking the capital, Damascus, with the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest.
The government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media said troops are fighting Al-Qaeda-linked militants and other insurgents in different areas near Abu Zuhour. It said troops approaching from the south are now 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away from the base.
The government offensive has displaced tens of thousands of people, who have fled toward areas close to the Turkish border.
The push into Idlib province, which is mostly held by rebels, is the deepest by the government since it lost much of the area three years ago. The province is covered by a de-escalation agreement reached last year between Russia and Iran, who back President Bashar Assad, and Turkey, which supports the opposition.
The UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein expressed “grave concern” over the situation in Idlib, which is home to more than 2.6 million Syrians, including more than 1.1 million who fled fighting elsewhere in the country.
Zeid also condemned the upsurge in civilian casualties in the eastern suburbs of Damascus known as eastern Ghouta, stressing that all parties are obliged under international law to distinguish between lawful military targets and civilians.
On Wednesday, more than two dozen people were killed in the government bombardment of eastern Ghouta and rebel shelling of the capital itself.
“The suffering of the people of Syria knows no end,” Zeid said in a statement about eastern Ghouta, where nearly 400,000 people are living under government siege.
“In Idlib, ground attacks and airstrikes have escalated as a rapidly-moving government offensive gains momentum, jeopardizing the safety of hundreds of thousands of civilians,” said Zeid.
He said that at least 85 civilians, including 21 women and 30 children, have been killed and at least 183 injured in eastern Ghouta since Dec. 31.
The push toward Abu Zuhour came as the opposition’s Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported several explosions in the coastal province of Latakia, an Assad stronghold. The Observatory said the blasts were the result of explosions in an arms depot east of Latakia.
State media did not report any blasts in the area.
Meanwhile, France said on Wednesday it was “extremely concerned” by the Syrian government offensive and demanded that commitments made at an international deal in Astana to reduce hostilities be respected.
“France condemns the intense bombardments carried out by the Assad regime’s air force and its allies in the Idlib region in recent days, particularly those targeting the civilian population and several hospitals,” France’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
It added that deliberately targeting health centers constituted a violation of international law.
The Syrian army, supported by Iran-backed militias and Russian air power, began an offensive in late October in Hama province. By the end of last week, they had advanced into Idlib, close to an insurgent-held military airport.
The fighting and air strikes have forced more than 60,000 people to leave their homes since Nov. 1, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The area is part of a de-escalation zone agreement in the Kazakh capital Astana last year between Turkey, which supports rebel groups, and Assad allies Iran and Russia.
“We ask that the commitments made in Astana be respected, so that the violence stops as soon as possible. Safe, comprehensive and unimpeded humanitarian access to all people in need must be ensured immediately,” the ministry added.
It also said it was “outraged” by the ongoing siege in Eastern Ghouta.
In Moscow, the Russian military urged its Turkish counterparts to tighten monitoring of the opposition in northern Syria in the wake of a drone attack on Russian military bases in the country.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces repelled a series of drone attacks Saturday, adding that out of the 13 drones involved, seven were shot down and six were forced to land without inflicting any damage.
The official military daily Krasnaya Zvezda said the ministry sent letters to the Turkish military asking it to deploy observers to Idlib to ensure that rebels don’t launch more attacks.
Russia entered the civil war in 2015 to bolster government forces, helping them to secure a series of victories against Daesh as well as mainstream rebels.
Syrian troops reach outskirts of key rebel-held air base
Syrian troops reach outskirts of key rebel-held air base
Arab Parliament describes Israeli assault on Gaza hospital as ‘war crime’
- Attack is latest in ‘ongoing series of atrocities’ against Palestinians, it says
- Body calls for end to ‘international silence,’ as crisis worsens
LONDON: The Arab Parliament has denounced Israel’s burning of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday as “a new war crime,” following reports that patients, injured civilians and medical staff were forced to evacuate under perilous conditions.
According to witnesses, Israeli troops stormed the hospital, setting large sections ablaze, detained its director and ordered the evacuation of hundreds to the nearby Indonesian Hospital.
The displaced individuals were left in dire conditions, lacking food, water, electricity and medical supplies, witnesses said.
The assault rendered the facility “useless,” worsening Gaza’s already severe health crisis, the Palestinian territory’s health officials said on Saturday.
In a statement on Saturday, the Arab Parliament described the incident as “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law” and called for those responsible to be brought before international courts.
“This crime is added to an ongoing series of atrocities by the occupation forces against Palestinian civilians,” it said.
The Arab Parliament accused Israel of systematically targeting Gaza’s already fragile health infrastructure and said the international community’s silence had emboldened these actions.
“The persistence on the total and complete destruction of the dilapidated health system in the Gaza Strip is a direct result of international silence on its crimes,” it said.
The statement urged the UN Security Council and broader international community to take action, calling for an immediate ceasefire, accountability for alleged war crimes and measures to prevent further humanitarian catastrophes in Gaza.
Babies freezing to death due to cold weather and lack of shelter in Gaza, says UNRWA chief
- Philippe Lazzarini issued stark warning about dire humanitarian situation in Gaza
LONDON: Freezing temperatures and a lack of basic supplies in Gaza are threatening lives amid Israel’s ongoing assault on the enclave, a United Nations official warned on Saturday.
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, issued a stark warning about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where he said babies and infants were succumbing to the cold due to the region’s harsh winter weather and inadequate shelter.
“Meanwhile, blankets, mattresses, and other winter supplies have been stuck in the region for months waiting for approval to get into Gaza,” Lazzarini wrote on X.
He also emphasized the urgent need for the immediate provision of essential winter supplies and reiterated calls for a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid to reach those in need.
The World Food Program has also highlighted the worsening hunger crisis in Gaza. The agency reported that it has only managed to deliver about a third of the food required to support the population.
“Hunger is everywhere in Gaza,” the WFP stated in a post on X. The agency echoed calls for the restoration of law and order, safe and sustained humanitarian access, and an immediate ceasefire to alleviate the suffering.
UN agencies continue to urge swift international action to address the urgent needs of Gaza’s vulnerable population.
Egypt completes trial run of new Suez Canal channel extension
- Suez Canal Authority says two ships passed through a new stretch of the canal’s two-way section
- Revenue from the waterway has plunged since Yemen’s Houthi militants began attacking vessels in the Red Sea
CAIRO: Egypt said on Saturday it had successfully tested a new 10km channel near the southern end of the Suez Canal, even as its revenue from the waterway has plunged since Yemen’s Houthi militants began attacking vessels in the Red Sea.
The Suez Canal Authority said in a statement that during a trial run two ships passed through a new stretch of the canal’s two-way section without incident.
Following the 2021 grounding of the container ship Ever Given that blocked the vital waterway for six days, Egypt accelerated plans to extend the second channel in the southern reaches of the canal and widen the existing channel.
Its revenue from the waterway, the gateway to the shortest route between Europe and Asia, has nevertheless tumbled since Yemen’s Houthi militants began attacking ships in the Red Sea in November 2023 in what they say is solidarity with Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said on Thursday that due to “regional challenges,” the country had lost approximately $7 billion in Suez Canal revenue in 2024, marking more than a 60 percent drop from 2023.
According to the Suez Canal Authority, the latest expansion extends the total length of the canal’s two-way section to 82 km from a previous 72 km. The canal is 193 km long in total.
“This expansion will boost the canal’s capacity by an additional 6 to 8 ships daily and enhance its ability to handle potential emergencies,” the Suez Canal Authority said in its statement.
Earlier this year, Egypt said that it was considering an additional expansion project separate to the 10 km channel extension.
Houthi rebels say new air raids hit northern Yemen
- Houthis say raids hit the Buhais area of Hajjah province’s Medi district
SANAA: Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said new air raids hit the country’s north on Saturday, shortly after they claimed responsibility for a missile attack on Israel.
A Houthi military statement said the raids were carried out in the Buhais area of Hajjah province’s Medi district, blaming “US-British aggression.”
There was no immediate comment from London or Washington.
The Houthis made the same claim about a raid they said hit a park in the capital Sanaa on Friday.
Hostilities have also flared between the rebels and Israel in recent days after a series of Houthi missile attacks prompted deadly Israeli air strikes in rebel-held areas on Thursday.
Six people were killed, including four at Sanaa airport, where World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was waiting for a flight.
On Saturday, the Houthis claimed they had “successfully” targeted the Nevatim base south of Jerusalem with a ballistic missile.
The Israelis had earlier said a missile launched from Yemen was shot down.
The Houthis, part of the “axis of resistance” of Iran-allied groups, have been firing at Israel and ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in solidarity with Palestinians since the war in the Gaza Strip broke out last year.
Lebanon returns 70 officers and soldiers to Syria, security official says
- Many senior Syrian officials and people close to Bashar Assad have fled the country to Lebanon
Lebanon expelled around 70 Syrian officers and soldiers on Saturday, returning them to Syria after they crossed into the country illegally via informal routes, a Lebanese security official and a war monitor said.
Many senior Syrian officials and people close to the former ruling family of Bashar Assad fled the country to neighboring Lebanon after Assad’s regime was toppled on Dec 8.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a London-based organization with sources in Syria, and the Lebanese security official said Syrian military personnel of various ranks had been sent back via Lebanon’s northern Arida crossing.
SOHR and the security official said the returnees were detained by Syria’s new ruling authorities after crossing the border.
The new administration has been undertaking a major security crackdown in recent days on what they say are “remnants” of the Assad regime. Several of the cities and towns concerned, including in Homs and Tartous provinces, are near the porous border with Lebanon.
The Lebanese security official said the Syrian officers and soldiers were found in a truck in the northern coastal city of Jbeil after an inspection by local officials.
Lebanese and Syrian government officials did not immediately respond to written requests for comment on the incident.
Reuters reported that they included Rifaat Assad, an uncle of Assad charged in Switzerland with war crimes over the bloody suppression of a revolt in 1982.
Earlier this month, Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said top Assad adviser Bouthaina Shaaban had flown out of Beirut after entering Lebanon legally. In an interview with Al Arabiya, Mawlawi said other Syrian officials had entered Lebanon illegally and were being pursued.
