Middle East latest: Israel bombs hundreds of sites across Syria as army pushes into border zone
Israel said Tuesday it had bombed more than 350 military sites in Syria during the previous 48 hours, targeting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the wave of airstrikes in neighboring Syria was necessary to keep the weapons from being used against Israel following the Syrian government’s stunning collapse.
Israel also acknowledged its troops were pushing into a border buffer zone inside Syria, which was established after the 1973 Mideast war. However, Israel denied its forces were advancing Tuesday toward the Syrian capital of Damascus.
Life in the capital was slowly returning to normal after jihadi-led Syrian insurgents ousted President Bashar Assad over the weekend. People celebrated for a third day in a main square, and shops and banks reopened.
The United States said Tuesday it would recognize and support a new Syrian government that renounces terrorism, destroys chemical weapons stocks and protects the rights of minorities and women.
Syria's nearly 14-year civil war killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of the country’s prewar population of 23 million, becoming a proxy battlefield for regional and international powers.
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BEIRUT — Insurgents who overthrew the Syrian government now say they have wrested control of the eastern city of Deir el-Zour after intense battles with a Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed force.
Syria’s rebel military command announced Tuesday evening that they had completely captured the city of Deir el-Zour.
A member of the jihadi group Hayat al-Tahrir, which leads the insurgent alliance, said in a recorded video that the group would soon conduct a thorough sweep of the city’s neighborhoods to secure the area, adding that the strategic nearby town of Boukamal has also fallen to opposition forces.
“We will advance toward Raqqa and Hasakah and other areas in eastern Syria,” the HTS fighters said.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces had only held the city for a few days. The SDF said it deployed to Deir el-Zour and west of the Euphrates River on Friday, replacing Syrian government forces. At the time, the SDF said its fighters were not in control of the Boukamal border crossing with Iraq.
Earlier Tuesday, the top U.S. military commander for the Middle East was in eastern Syria for meetings with the SDF. It wasn’t clear if he met with SDF leader Mazloum Abdi.
BEIRUT — Syria’s transitional government will made up of members from the rebel-led administration that ruled an insurgent stronghold in the country's northwest, the new prime minister said Tuesday, who called the task “a great challenge.”
The caretaker Syrian government, which will oversee the country’s affairs until March, held its first meeting Tuesday since overthrowing former President Bashar Assad. It was attended by the departing Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Jalali and other ministers along with new Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir. He had led the so-called “salvation government” in areas controlled by rebel groups — led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS — that have taken control of much of the country.
“We were tasked by the general command with managing the affairs of the Syrian government during a transitional period,” Bashir said in a statement following the meeting in Damascus. He added that he hopes ministers in the former Syrian government will assist the new government during this transitional period.
“The caretaker government was formed from a number of ministers of the revolutionary government, which is the Syrian Salvation Government, and this government is a temporary caretaker government that will last until March 2025, until the constitutional issues are resolved,” Bashir said.
The insurgent alliance is led by a former senior al-Qaida militant, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who cut ties with the extremist group years ago and has promised representative government and religious tolerance.
SAYDNAYA, Syria — Tens of thousands came to Saydnaya Prison from all over Syria after the fall of former President Bashar Assad to search for their loved ones. The place so notorious for its horrors was long known as “the slaughterhouse.”
For the past two days, all have been looking for signs of loved ones who disappeared years or even decades ago into the secretive, sprawling prison just outside Damascus.
But hope gave way to despair Monday. People opened the heavy iron doors lining the hallways to find cells inside empty. With sledgehammers, shovels and drills, men pounded holes in floors and walls, looking for what they believed were secret dungeons, or chasing sounds they thought they heard from underground. They found nothing.
Insurgents freed dozens of people from the Saydnaya military prison on Sunday when Damascus fell. Since then, almost no one has been found.
“Where is everyone? Where are everyone’s children? Where are they?” said Ghada Assad, breaking down in tears.
An estimated 150,000 people were detained or went missing in Syria since 2011 — and tens of thousands of them are believed to have gone through Saydnaya.
WASHINGTON — The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East was on the ground in Syria on Tuesday, meeting with a Kurish-led, U.S.-allied force at several bases in the country's east, U.S. Central Command said. Army Gen. Erik Kurilla visited with U.S. military commanders and troops as well as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
It wasn’t clear if he met with SDF leader Mazloum Abdi, and U.S. Central Command did not respond to a request for details about his visit or with whom he met. U.S. officials said they did not know what his message to the SDF was.
The U.S has about 900 troops in Syria, including forces working with Kurdish allies in the northeast to prevent any resurgence of the Islamic State group.
In a press release, Central Command said Kurilla received an “assessment of force protection measures, the rapidly evolving situation, and ongoing efforts to prevent ISIS from exploiting the current situation.”
Kurilla then went on to Iraq where he met with leaders in Baghdad.
UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations says it still getting reports about the looting of warehouses with humanitarian aid in a number of areas in Syria, including around the capital Damascus.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Tuesday that U.N. agencies and their partners are working to identify the extent of looting at the warehouses, including those of U.N. agencies and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.
Dujarric said U.N. aid officials report that “the humanitarian situation remains volatile across Syria, with reports of people continuing to be displaced.”
Humanitarian officials reported that 25 trucks carrying U.N. aid crossed from Turkey to northwest Syria, which the situation is now relatively calm, the U.N. spokesman said.
All 11 receptions opened in Idlib in the northwest to host newly displaced families were empty as of Monday, Dujarric said.
In the northeast, he said, authorities report that as of Tuesday 100,000 people have been displaced due to fighting in Tal Rifaat and other parts of Aleppo governorate.
Dujarric said the U.N.’s partners report that “reception centers in Tabqa and Raqqa have reached full capacity, and more than 200 sites – including municipal buildings, schools, mosques, and stadiums – are being used to accommodate newly displaced people.”
WASHINGTON — Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched multiple drones and a missile at three commercial ships being escorted in the Gulf of Aden by U.S. Navy ships, a U.S. official said Tuesday.
There was no damage and no injuries. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, said U.S. Navy destroyers, and Navy helicopter and a French Air Force aircraft shot down four of the drones and the missile. The three U.S. affiliated flagged ships were sailing east toward Djibouti.
A Houthi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, said Tuesday that the rebels targeted American supply ships and two U.S. destroyers.
The Iran-backed Houthis have targeted shipping through the key waterway for more than a year, attacks they say are meant to force an end to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s military said it bombed more than 350 sites in Syria during the previous 48 hours, targeting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country.
There is concern that, with the sudden collapse of the Syrian government, weapons stockpiles could be seized by jihadi militants.
Warplanes hit what Israel said were Syrian air defense systems, military airfields, missile depots, and dozens of weapons production sites in the cities of Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia, and Palmyra, the Israeli army statement said.
In naval operations overnight Monday, Israeli missile ships struck two Syrian navy facilities simultaneously — Al-Bayda port and Latakia port — where the army said 15 Syrian naval vessels were docked.
Israeli did not specify how many Syrian naval vessels were hit. The private security firm Ambrey said it had seen evidence that at least six Soviet-era Syrian navy missile ships were hit.
Israeli officials said earlier that Israel also targeted alleged chemical weapons sites.
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Tuesday that his country’s military launched a wave of airstrikes across Syria to destroy the toppled government’s leftover “military capabilities,” and said Israel wants relations with the new government emerging Syria.
Hours after Israeli warplanes pounded Syria, Netanyahu said Israeli doesn’t want to meddle in Syria’s internal affairs, but would take necessary steps to protect Israel's security and prevent jihadi militants from seizing the Syrian army assets.
He warned that if the new Syrian government “allows Iran to re-establish itself in Syria or allows the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah, or attacks us -- we will respond forcefully and we will exact a heavy price from it.”
He spoke in a video statement recorded at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, after his first day of testimony in his corruption trial.
DAMASCUS, Syria — In Umayyad Square in Damascus, Syrians celebrated the fall of President Bashar Assad for the third day on Tuesday despite Israeli airstrikes across the country. Insurgents who recently took control of the capital city tried to impose a new rule banning the celebratory gunfire. There were a few violators, and much less deafening gunfire.
Protesters climbed the square's central monument to wave the Syrian revolutionary flag. On the ground, crowds chanted: “Out with Bashar! Out with Bashar!” Assad fled to Russia over the weekend after a lightning rebel offensive toppled his brutal police state.
Demonstrators from different provinces marched in the square in groups, celebrating Assad's fall. Men on motorcycles and horses paraded into the square.
One woman from Idlib province shouted that the Israeli strikes ruined the joy of ousting Assad. “Why are you striking us? We just deposed a tyrant,” she said.
“Give us peace. Leave us alone,” said Ahmed Jreida, 22, a dentist student, when asked about the Israeli airstrikes.
Hamzeh Hamada, 22, said this was the first time he had gone out to a demonstration.
“We want the country to get better, to live in dignity and be like other countries that respect citizens’ rights and where there are no bribes,” he said. “We have suffered a lot from bribes. ... We had to bribe people for very minor things; things that should be our right.”
Abdul-Jalil Diab was taking a stroll with his brothers in another square in western Damascus. He said he came back from Jordan the day Damascus fell. He was there studying German to prepare to move to Germany and said he is now reconsidering his plans. He was ecstatic, saying words can’t describe how he feels.
“We are happy to get rid of the corrupt regime that was based on bribes. The whole country feels better. Everyone is happy and celebrating,” Abdul-Jalil Diab said.
QAMISHLI, Syria — Residents of northeast Syria in the area around Qamishli airport said Tuesday they heard explosions overnight after an airstrike hit trucks loaded with rockets and ammunition that were heading to a military base in Tartab.
“We don’t know the story. It was only in the morning when we realized they are trucks loaded with ammunition, leftovers of the former army, the regime,” said Ibrahim al-Thalaj, who lives near the base. He said residents assumed that the strikes were Israeli.
Israel has carried out a heavy wave of airstrikes across Syria targeting military infrastructure after Syrian insurgents toppled the government of Bashar Assad. However, Turkish security officials said Tuesday that the strike in Qamishli was carried out by Turkey, targeting weapons and ammunition that were abandoned by the Syrian army and seized by Syrian Kurdish militants.
The explosions lasted for over 20 minutes after the strike, and many houses in the surrounding area were damaged as a result, residents of the area said.
“We just felt a strike hitting. It hit the first one (truck) and we saw the other trucks retreating back, and from there rockets and shells started flying over,” said Hamid al-Asaad, an eyewitness from Qub al-Zeki village in Qamishli.
“We were sitting when these explosions started to hit the house,” said Mahmoud Hamza of Tartab. “It was hitting randomly and we didn’t know where it was coming from. ... Once we got out of our house, a rocket hit the house.”
There were no details released by the local Kurdish administration regarding the explosions, but members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces blocked the road to the base.
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s intelligence agency, MIT, has attacked a convoy of trucks that was allegedly carrying missiles, heavy weapons and ammunition that were abandoned by the Syrian government and reportedly seized by Syrian Kurdish militias, Turkish security officials said Tuesday.
The officials said 12 trucks, two tanks and two ammunition depots were “destroyed” in aerial strikes in the city of Qamishli, near the border with Turkey in northeast Syria. The officials provided the information on condition of anonymity in line with Turkish regulations. They did not say when the attack occurred.
The officials said the intelligence agency detected that weapons left by the Syrian government forces were being moved to warehouses belonging to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Defense Units, or YPG. Turkey views the group as a terrorist organization because of its links to the banned Kurdish militants that have led a decadeslong insurgency in Turkey.
According to the officials, he group was allegedly planning to use the equipment and supplies against Turkish security forces.
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By Suzan Fraser
WASHINGTON — The White House is signaling its approval of Israel’s strikes against Syrian military and alleged chemical weapons targets and the seizure of a buffer zone in the Syrian Golan Heights after the fall of the Assad government.
“These are exigent operations to eliminate what they believe are imminent threats to their national security,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday, saying the U.S. would leave it up to the Israelis to discuss details of their operations.
“They have as always the right to defend themselves,” Kirby said. He declined to detail and U.S. intelligence cooperation with the Israelis that went into the strikes. Kirby said the White House was reasserting its support of the 1974 Golan Heights disengagement agreement, but didn’t criticize the Israeli seizure of the demilitarized zone.
Israel has a long history of seizing territory during wars with its neighbors and occupying it indefinitely, citing security concerns. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally, except by the United States.
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration says it will recognize and support a new Syrian government that renounces terrorism, destroys chemical weapons stocks and protects the rights of minorities and women.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Tuesday that the U.S. would work with groups in Syria and regional partners to ensure that the transition from President Bashar Assad’s deposed government runs smoothly. He was not specific about which groups the U.S. would work with.
Blinken says Syrians should decide their future and that other countries should “support an inclusive and transparent process” and not interfere.
“The United States will recognize and fully support a future Syria government that results from this process,” he said. “We stand prepared to lend all appropriate support to all of Syria’s diverse communities and constituencies.”
DAMASCUS, Syria — Jihad Mustafa Shibani was taking his new motorcycle for a spin with a friend around the house of the deposed Syrian president in western Damascus on Tuesday.
Shibani was released from prison a week before the capital Damascus fell, after he served two years on charges of buying his motorcycle using foreign currency on accusations he was dealing in dollars. He was tortured for 15 days and and given a quick trial where he was sentenced for two years, he said. He was released the day Aleppo fell to the insurgents.
“Everything was banned in Syria. The (Assad loyalists) only could use it,” Shibani said. He said he has never been to this neighborhood, because it was taken over by Assad, his family and supporters. “For 50 years, my family’s house is near here, and we don’t know anything about it. ... The Syrian people had been oppressed, you can’t imagine.”
Shibani said he has no fear of the rebel newcomers who have taken control of the country. “We are not afraid. There can be no one more unjust than Bashar. Impossible.”
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