Palestinian officials said Tuesday that Fatah and the militant group Hamas were close to an agreement on a plan for administering postwar Gaza. The plan would see Fatah, which governs part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, jointly appointing a committee of up …
Read More »American forces strike, destroy several weapons that fired rockets, mortars near US-led coalition base in Syria
American forces on Tuesday morning attacked and destroyed several weapons including rocket launchers and a tank operating near a U.S.-led coalition base in eastern Syria, the Pentagon said. The U.S. strikes took place near Military Support Site Euphrates and destroyed three truck-mounted rocket launchers, a T-64 tank and mortars that …
Read More »Syrian Opposition Gains Control of Key Provinces Amid Fierce Battles
In an exclusive report for The Media Line, Rizik Alabi details how Syrian opposition forces have gained control over Aleppo and Idlib, marking a significant shift in the power dynamics of northern Syria. After fierce battles with regime forces and Iranian-backed militias, the opposition now holds key territories, including Aleppo …
Read More »Russian, Syrian jets intensify bombing of Syria’s rebel-held northwest
Iran sent thousands of Shi’ite militias to Syria during the Syrian war and, alongside Russia with its air power, enabled Assad to crush the insurgency and regain most of his territory. Russian and Syrian jets struck the rebel-held city of Idlib in northern Syria on Sunday, military sources said, as …
Read More »US Navy destroys Houthi missiles and drones targeting American ships in Gulf of Aden
U.S. Navy destroyers shot down seven missiles and drones fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the warships and three American merchant vessels they were escorting through the Gulf of Aden. No damage or injuries were reported. U.S. Central Command said late Sunday that the destroyers USS Stockdale and USS O’Kane …
Read More »Lebanon Cease-Fire Appears to Hold Despite Israeli Strike
Israel said it had targeted militants headed to a rocket facility, but neither Israel nor Hezbollah seemed keen to immediately return to full-scale fighting. The uneasy truce between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah largely held through its second day in Lebanon on Thursday, although Israel conducted an airstrike that …
Read More »Iraqi fighters head to Syria to battle rebels but Lebanon’s Hezbollah stays out, sources say
Hundreds of Iran-backed Iraqi fighters crossed into Syria on Monday to help the government fight rebels who seized Aleppo last week, while Lebanon’s Hezbollah has no plans for now to join them, according to sources. Iran’s constellation of allied regional militia groups, aided by Russian air power, has been integral …
Read More »Syria launches counterattacks in an attempt to halt insurgency, as Iran’s top diplomat meets Assad
The Syrian military rushed reinforcements to the northwest and launched airstrikes Sunday in an attempt to push back insurgents who seized the country’s largest city of Aleppo, as Iran pledged to help the government counter the surprise offensive. Iran has been a key political and military ally of Syrian President …
Read More »Russia’s Enduring Presence in the Middle East
The Kremlin’s Middle East diplomacy is driven by its rivalry with the West, the imperative to defend deep-rooted Russian interests in the region, and a desire to project power and influence well beyond its periphery. For centuries, the Middle East has been an arena of competition between Russia and the …
Read More »America’s allies in Syria hope they can sway Trump’s decisions about US troops there
For almost a decade, US troops have been on the ground in Syria to assist Kurdish-led forces in the defeat of the infamous Islamic State. These forces tamp down on the ISIS remnants in the northern and eastern regions they presently control, where tens of thousands of captured ISIS fighters, …
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