DECEMBER 7, 2024 09:00Updated: DECEMBER 7, 2024 09:23
Illustrative image of Hamas terrorists.(photo credit: Canva, MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images, YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH 90)
Hamas is attempting to determine the number of living Israeli hostages it and other terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip are holding, Palestinian sources told Saudi-owned news outlet Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday.
The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hamas leadership reached out to other groups to assess the number of living hostages.
The report comes as sources told the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar that hostage deal negotiations have been reported to enter a new and “final” phase.
Plans for Gaza’s ‘day after’
An Egyptian source told the Lebanese outlet that “several points are still pending” regarding the plan for Gaza after the war ends, specifically managing and rebuilding the Gaza Strip.
Visitors at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. September 25, 2024. (credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)
Ongoing contact with the Qataris has taken a positive turn in the past two days, Al-Akhbar added.
Additional topics that are reportedly on the table in negotiations are the IDF’s presence in the Gaza Strip and the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
DECEMBER 6, 2024 18:44Updated: DECEMBER 7, 2024 07:19
People take part in a protest against Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in the southern Druze city of Sweida, Syria, September 8, 2023.(photo credit: Suwayda 24/via REUTERS)A second front opened in the Syrian Civil War on Friday following several uprisings in southern Syria, which led regime forces to flee several key cities in the region.
At least four people were killed and 16 injured in clashes between Druze militias and regime security forces in Sweida, according to local media.
#شاهد: عنصر من الجيش السوري يعلن انشقاقه في ساحة الكرامة وسط السويداء في لقاء مع كاميرا السويداء 24، ومراسلنا يؤكد أن المجموعات الأهلية عملت على تأمينه وحمايته..تفاصيل أكثر حال ورودها.. pic.twitter.com/WwY3FD8TI0
Militias took control of the main police station and the biggest civilian prison hours after hundreds of people protested in a main square demanding the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad. Later in the day, the major military headquarters in the nearby town of Harek was captured.
Sweid has been a center for anti-government protests by the Syrian Druze community for several years. At least 17 people were killed in the city in 2022, following local militias and government paramilitary. In September 2023, over 10,000 people rallied in the city against the government, calling for the fall of the regime.
“People are seeing what is happening in the rest of Syria as the liberation of Syria and a chance to bring down the regime,” activist Ryan Marouf, editor of Suwayda 24, a website that covers the province, told Reuters.
People take part in a protest against Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in the southern Druze city of Sweida, Syria, September 8, 2023. (credit: Suwayda 24/via REUTERS)
A spokesman for Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the head of the Druze community in Israel, stated Friday that he is “following with great concern the events in Syria, particularly in the Druze strongholds in Sweida and the developments of the past hours.”
“Tarif is conducting direct and urgent talks with all involved parties in an effort to prevent attacks on the Druze strongholds,” the spokesperson said.
Southern rebel uprisings
The uprising in Sweida was only one of several as government forces evacuated themselves from nearly a dozen major settlements in southern Syria. Southern rebels announced the formation of a unified operations room in order to integrate the various groups following the mass uprisings.
Southern Rebels filmed themselves entering central Daraa late on Friday, something they had not done in over 10 years.
Daraa, the so-called “Cradle of the Syrian Revolution,” was where major protests against the regime began, which ultimately led to a brutal crackdown that only enflamed the protestors.
The IDF announced on Friday afternoon that it was reinforcing the Golan Heights with additional aerial and ground forces, announcing it would “not tolerate threats near the Israeli border.”
Additionally, Assad forces were forced to withdraw from Deir ez-Zor in the far east of the country, and northern rebel groups reached the gates of Homs in the center of the country.
The IAF struck Hezbollah’s weapon-smuggling routes near the crossings at the Syrian-Lebanese border on Thursday night, the IDF announced on Friday.
The strikes are said to have significantly depleted the capabilities of Hezbollah’s Unit 4400, which is in charge of weapons smuggling.
The IDF referred to the strike as part of its efforts to dismantle weapon-smuggling routes used by the Syrian regime in the Syrian-Lebanese border over the past few weeks.
Infographic showing the location of the IDF’s strikes on Hezbollah weapon’s smuggling routes (credit: IDF)
Hezbollah’s terror infrastructure
The IDF added that Hezbollah, with the support of the Syrian regime, takes advantage of civilian infrastructure to carry out terrorist activities and smuggle weapons with the purpose of harming Israeli civilians.
Additionally, the IDF stressed that it will continue to eliminate threats to Israel that violate the outlines of the ceasefire agreement, and will not allow Hezbollah to rehabilitate.
