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☆ UAE Sends First Ambassador to Syria Since Conflict
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

Incoming Emirati envoy Hassan al-Shehi presented his credentials to Syria's foreign affair minister Faysal al-Meqdad at the foreign ministry on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and, to a lesser extent, the UAE then backed rebels against Assad - but Abu Dhabi has rebuilt ties with Damascus in recent years. Assad visited the UAE in 2022 - his first trip to an Arab state since the civil war erupted - and again in 2023 after a devastating earthquake killed thousands in Syria. The tragedy cleared the way for a thaw in Arab ties with Assad and months later the Arab League reversed its more than decade-long suspension of Syria's membership. Hundreds of thousands of people have died in the Syria conflict, which spiralled out of an uprising against Assad, drew in numerous foreign powers and splintered the country.

Persons: Hassan al, Shehi, Faysal, Bashar al, Assad, Abu Dhabi, Firas Makdesi, Maya Gebeily, Ed Osmond Organizations: United Arab Emirates, Incoming, Arab League, Regional Locations: DAMASCUS, Damascus, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Iran, Al, Riyadh

☆ Biden’s Gaza problems are deeper than just being interrupted in public
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Camila Dechalus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

The administration appears to be struggling with finding Arab American and Muslim leaders who are willing to even meet with White House officials, and no Muslim or Arab American groups have endorsed Biden’s reelection bid. And I think that’s a pretty good descriptor of Arab American voters right now.”The ceasefire calls are coming from a diversity of progressive groups, including those representing Jewish voters, voters of color and young people – key parts of Biden’s winning 2020 coalition. In the last presidential election cycle, Biden received the support of several prominent Muslim American elected officials and community leaders. At least 146,620 of the 200,000 Muslim American voters in Michigan cast a ballot in the 2020 election cycle, according to an analysis by Emgage. Some Arab American and Muslim voters say even if Biden’s campaign ramps up their outreach, it will be too late.

Persons: Washington CNN —, Rashida Tlaib, Joe Biden, Biden, …, ”, Tlaib –, Biden’s, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Abdullah Hammoud, he’s, ” Hammoud, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Hammoud, it’s, Kamala Harris ’, Harris, Harris ’, ” “, Hanan Shaheen, Wadee Alfayoumi, Joe ”, Adrian Hemond, “ He’s, Hemond, Chavez Rodriguez’s, Assad Turfe, Wayne, he’d, Chavez Rodriguez, there’s, “, we’ve, Osama Siblani, Siblani, Dilawar Syed –, –, Usamah Andrabi, Khalid Turaani, Farah Khan, Trump, Hillary Clinton, Nabila Taha, ” Taha, ” Michael Tyler, Ariana Afshar, Hassan Abdel Salam, Dawud Walid, Samraa Luqman, ” CNN’s Kaanita Iyer Organizations: Washington CNN, Michigan Democratic, Palestinian, firebrand, Muslim, CNN, Democratic, White, Dearborn, ”, Intergovernmental Affairs, American, American voters, Jewish, Arab American, Lebanese American, US Small Business Administration, Democratic Party, Republicans, Justice Democrats, Muslim American, Biden, Michigan, Trump ., University of Minnesota, Islamic, Trump Locations: Michigan, Palestinian American, Israel, Gaza, Tlaib, Detroit, Arab, ”, Palestinian, America, Illinois, Chavez Rodriguez’s Michigan, Gaza’s, Dearborn, Lebanese, Northville , Michigan, Minnesota, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Washington ,, California

☆ Iran-backed groups in the Middle East and major US military deployments
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | Abbas Allawati | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The US has attacked Iranian-backed groups in Yemen, Syria and Iraq, while Iran-linked groups have targeted American personnel in Iraq and Syria. The US, having been trying to pivot away from the Middle East for years, finds itself drawn back into the region. And in some places, including Iraq and Syria, the US military presence overlaps that of Iran and its allies. The US has around 13,500 US forces in Kuwait, the largest American military presence in the region. The US this month quietly reached an agreement that extends its military presence for another 10 years at the base.

Persons: Yemen’s, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Harakat, Sayyid, Al, Haq, Asad, Bashar al, Assad, Israel, Ali, Dalton Williams Organizations: UAE CNN, Hamas, Islamic, Navy, Marine Expeditionary Unit, Institute for National Security, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, National Intelligence, Badr Organization, Asad Air Base, Erbil AB, Al, Force, Fatemiyoun, ISIS, Syria Security, Syrian Democratic Forces, Syrian Free Army, CNN, Gaza, US Air Force, Battalion, 163rd Cavalry Regiment, Ali Al Salem Air Base, U.S . Air Force, Washington, United Arab, US, Udeid, Base, Forward Headquarters, Combined Air Operations Centre, Prince Sultan Air Base, UAE, Al Dhafra, Al Dhafra Air Base, Gulf Air Warfare Center, US Naval Forces Central Command Locations: Abu Dhabi, UAE, Israel, Iran, US, Iranian, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Tehran, Pakistan, Islamic Republic, Washington, Lebanon Lebanon, East, Lebanon, Gaza, Tel Aviv, Iraq Tehran, Baghdad, Al, Erbil, Syria Iran, Syrian, Pakistani, ”, Red, Saudi, Yemen’s, Kuwait, U.S, Palestinian, Arab, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Doha, Al Dhafra Air, Bahrain, Jordan, Incirlik

☆ Iranian and Hezbollah commanders help direct Houthi attacks in Yemen, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Luke Dray | Getty ImagesCommanders from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Lebanon's Hezbollah group are on the ground in Yemen helping to direct and oversee Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, four regional and two Iranian sources told Reuters. In his weekly news conferences, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has repeatedly denied Tehran is involved in the Red Sea attacks by the Houthis. Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam denied any Iranian or Hezbollah involvement in helping to direct the Red Sea attacks. The person said Iranian commanders had travelled to Yemen as well and set up a command centre in the capital Sanaa for the Red Sea attacks which is being run by the senior IRGC commander responsible for Yemen. Mohammed Hamoud | Getty ImagesAccording to two former Yemeni army sources, there is a clear presence of IRGC and Hezbollah members in Yemen.

Persons: Luke Dray, Washington, Nasser Kanaani, Houthi, Mohammed Abdulsalam, Saleh al, Samad, Mohammed Hamoud, Abdulaziz al, Sager, Adrienne Watson, Abdulghani, Abdulsalam, Bashar al, Assad, Ali Khamenei Organizations: Getty, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Hezbollah, Reuters, Hamas, Foreign, Guards, Gulf Research, White House, U.S, Sana'a Center, Strategic Studies, Iranian Guards Locations: Djibouti, Yemen, Iran, Gaza, Israel, Tehran, Sana'a, Saudi, Asia, Europe, Gaza ., Lebanese, Iraq, Syria, Iranian, Bab, Sanaa, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Washington, Gulf, Islam

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — An Israeli strike on the Syrian capital, Damascus, destroyed Saturday a building used by Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard killing and wounding 10 people, state media outlets and an official with an Iran-backed group said. State-TV reported that the “Israeli aggression” targeted a residential building in the tightly guarded western Damascus neighborhood of Mazzeh, home to several diplomatic missions, including the Lebanese and Iranian embassies. The strike came amid widening tensions in the region and the Israeli offensive on Gaza that has killed thousands. Political Cartoons View All 253 ImagesLast month, an Israeli airstrike on a suburb of Damascus killed Iranian general Seyed Razi Mousavi, a longtime adviser of the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Syria. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years.

Persons: ”, Seyed Razi Mousavi, Bashar Assad’s, Israel, Saleh Arouri, ____ Mroue Organizations: Revolutionary Guard, Syrian, Human Rights, Lebanese, East, Associated Press, Iranian Locations: DAMASCUS, Syria, Damascus, Iran, Mazzeh, Gaza, Israel, Beirut, Golan, Lebanon, Red

☆ Exclusive-Iranian and Hezbollah Commanders Help Direct Houthi Attacks in Yemen, Sources Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +9 min

By Samia Nakhoul and Parisa HafeziDUBAI (Reuters) - Commanders from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Lebanon's Hezbollah group are on the ground in Yemen helping to direct and oversee Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, four regional and two Iranian sources told Reuters. In his weekly news conferences, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has repeatedly denied Tehran is involved in the Red Sea attacks by the Houthis. Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam denied any Iranian or Hezbollah involvement in helping to direct the Red Sea attacks. The person said Iranian commanders had travelled to Yemen as well and set up a command centre in the capital Sanaa for the Red Sea attacks which is being run by the senior IRGC commander responsible for Yemen. According to two former Yemeni army sources, there is a clear presence of IRGC and Hezbollah members in Yemen.

Persons: Samia Nakhoul, Washington, Nasser Kanaani, Houthi, Mohammed Abdulsalam, Abdulaziz al, Sager, Adrienne Watson, Abdulghani, Abdulsalam, Bashar al, Assad, Ali Khamenei, Iryani, Mohammad Ghobari, Angus McDowall, David Clarke Organizations: Reuters, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Hezbollah, Hamas, Foreign, Guards, Gulf Research, White House, Sana'a Center, Strategic Studies, Iranian Guards Locations: Parisa, DUBAI, Yemen, Iran, Gaza, Israel, Tehran, Saudi, Asia, Europe, Gaza ., Lebanese, Iraq, Syria, Iranian, Bab, Sana'a, Sanaa, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Washington, Gulf, Islam, Lebanon, Aden

☆ Israeli Strike on Damascus Kills Four Iranian Revolutionary Guards -Source
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Laila Bassam and Kinda MakiehBEIRUT/DAMASCUS (Reuters) -An Israeli missile strike on Syria's capital Damascus on Saturday killed four members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, including the head of the force's information unit in Syria, a security source in the regional pro-Syria alliance told Reuters. Syrian state media said a building in the Mazzeh neighbourhood of Damascus was targeted in a likely Israeli attack, without giving further details. Iran's state-run Press TV said two Iranian Guards military advisers were killed in the Israeli strike on Damascus. Essam Al-Amin, head of the Al-Mowasat Hospital in Damascus, told Reuters that his hospital had received one corpse and three wounded people, including a woman, following Saturday's attack. In December, an Israeli strike killed two Guards members in Damascus, and another on Dec. 25 killed a senior adviser to the Guards who was overseeing military coordination between Syria and Iran.

Persons: Laila Bassam, Bashar al, Essam Al, Amin, Makdesi, Nayera Abdallah, Maya Gebeily, Mark Heinrich Organizations: Saturday, Iran's, Guards, Reuters, Hamas, Iranian Guards, Mowasat, Jihad Locations: BEIRUT, DAMASCUS, Israeli, Damascus, Syria, Israel, Iran, Gaza, Syrian, Mazzeh, Iran's, Beirut, Dubai

☆ Iran vows revenge on Israel for strike that kills 5 guards in Damascus
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Tehran vowed to carry out revenge attacks against Israel on Saturday after a missile strike flattened a building used as a base of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards in Damascus, killing five Guards and an unspecified number of Syrian troops. Ambulances and fire trucks gathered around the site of the strike, which had been cordoned off, a Reuters journalist at the scene said. In December, an Israeli air strike killed two Guards members, and another near Damascus on Dec. 25 killed a senior adviser to the Guards who was overseeing military coordination between Syria and Iran. The conflict has reverberated across the Middle East with violence surging in Syria, Lebanon, northern Iraq and in the Red Sea. On Saturday, an Israeli strike in south Lebanon killed two members of Hamas as they were traveling in their car, three security sources told Reuters.

Persons: Bashar al, Nasser Kanaani, Essam Al, Amin Organizations: Israel, Revolutionary Guards, Guards, Reuters, Iranian Guards, Hamas, Foreign Ministry, Mowasat, Palestinian Locations: Tehran, Damascus, Iran, Israeli, Israel, Syria, Gaza, Mazzeh, Iranian, Lebanon, Iraq, Red

☆ An Israeli airstrike on the Syrian capital killed at least 4 Iranian advisers, state media say
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

An Israeli strike on the Syrian capital on Saturday destroyed a building used by the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, killing at least four Iranians, Syrian and Iranian state media reported. Iranian state television said four advisers from the Revolutionary Guard had been killed in the strike in Damascus, without identifying them, adding that Israel was behind the strike. Last month, an Israeli airstrike on a suburb of Damascus killed Iranian general Seyed Razi Mousavi, a longtime adviser of the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Syria. Iranian and Syrian officials have long acknowledged Iran has advisers and military experts in Syria, but denied there were any ground troops. Earlier this month, a strike said to be carried out by Israel killed top Hamas commander Saleh Arouri in Beirut.

Persons: Israel, Nour, Sadegh Omidzadeh, Hajj Gholam, Rami Abdurrahman, Khaled Mawed, Seyed Razi Mousavi, Bashar Assad, Bashar Assad's, Saleh Arouri Organizations: Iranian, Revolutionary Guard, Quds Force, Hajj, Syrian, Human Rights, Security, Windows, Associated Press Locations: Wafideen, Damascus, Syria, Israeli, Syrian, Iran, Mazzeh, Venezuela, South Africa, Israel, Gaza, Beirut, Golan, Lebanon, Red

☆ Iran accuses Israel of killing a spy chief and 3 of its top Revolutionary Guards in Syria, escalating tensions in the region
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An airstrike on Damascus on Saturday killed four senior members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. The attack is the latest escalation in tensions in the region following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The attack killed the chief of the IRGC intelligence in Syria and his deputy along with two other members of Iran's Revolution Guards, according to Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency. The attack is the latest escalation in tensions in the region following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas. Throughout the war, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syrian territory , predominantly targeting Iran-backed forces and Syrian Army positions, which have intensified since the Israel-Hamas war began, per AFP.

Persons: Israel, —, Nasser Kanani, Bashar al Organizations: Saturday, Iran's, Guards, Service, Guards Corps, Public Relations Department, Zionist, Revolution Guards Corps, Iranian Armed Forces, Human Rights, Israel, Iran, Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Syrian Army, Hamas, US State Department Locations: Damascus, Iran, Israel, Syria, Iranian, Tehran, Syrian, AFP

☆ Iran says attacks by its allies won’t stop until Israel’s war in Gaza ends
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Tamara Qiblawi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Attacks by Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East won’t stop until Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza ends, Tehran’s top diplomat warned on Wednesday, as tensions across the region threaten to spiral into wider conflict. Since Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel and the Israeli offensive in Gaza that followed, the militant group Hezbollah has engaged in daily confrontations with Israeli forces on the Lebanon-Israel border. Houthi rebels have launched a series of attacks on commercial ships and Western military vessels in the Red Sea, a major artery for international trade. Iran also launched missile strikes in Syria and Pakistan against what it described as terrorist groups who it blamed for deadly attacks inside Iran in recent weeks. Meanwhile, there are fears that the ripple effects of the tensions have begun to extend beyond the Middle East.

Persons: Tehran’s, Hossein Amir, Abdollahian, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Hassan Nasrallah, “, Hizam al, Assad, Matt Miller, ” Miller, Israel, Herzi Halevi, ” Halevi, Chris Liakos, Adam Pourahmadi, Jennifer Hansler, Wayne Chang Organizations: CNN, Economic, Sunday, Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Iraq, US, State, Israel’s, Staff, Israel Defence Forces Locations: Gaza, Iranian, Davos, Israel, Lebanon, Red, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Erbil, Pakistan, Yemen, “, East, China, ”

☆ Opinion | The Genocide Charge Against Israel Is a Moral Obscenity
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Bret Stephens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In recent decades, as many as three million people perished in a famine in North Korea that was mainly government-induced. But North Korea, Syria and China have never been charged with genocide at the International Court of Justice. It’s obscene because it politicizes our understanding of genocide, fatally eroding the moral power of the term. The war between Israel and Hamas is terrible — as is every war. But if this is genocide, what word do we have for the killing fields in Cambodia, Stalin’s Holodomor in Ukraine, the Holocaust itself?

Persons: Assad, Israel Organizations: International Court of Justice Locations: North Korea, China, gulag, Syria, Israel, Cambodia, Ukraine

☆ Iran vows revenge after Israel kills top military commander in Syria
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-26 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Israel killed Iranian general Seyed Razi Mousavi in Syria, where he coordinated Iran-backed forces. Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi vowed revenge on Israel. Iran-backed groups in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq have launched attacks on Israel and its allies in support of Hamas. Hossein Akbari, Iran's ambassador to Syria, condemned the killing, saying that Mousavi was in Syria as a "formal military advisor." Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years.

Persons: Israel, Seyed Razi Mousavi, Ebrahim Raisi, —, Daniel Hagari, Mousavi, Bashar Assad's, Qassim Soleimani, Houthi, IRNA, Hossein Akbari, Akbari, IRNA didn't Organizations: Service, Iranian, Revolutionary Guard, Reuters, Quds Force, Hamas, Monday, Human Rights, Syrian Locations: Syria, Iran, Israel, Damascus, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Lebanon, Irbil, U.S, Britain, Lebanese, Russia

"While it's Syrians that are calling for it, for the use of chemical weapons in Syria, if states so wish, it could be far beyond Syria," Olabi told Reuters. The Exceptional Chemical Weapons Tribunal proposal was launched on Nov. 30, the day victims of chemical attacks are remembered worldwide. 'SOME KIND OF JUSTICE'The use of chemical weapons is banned under the Geneva Conventions that codified the laws of war. That ban was strengthened by the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, a non-proliferation treaty joined by 193 states which is overseen by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The OPCW has the power to investigate claims of chemical weapons use and in some cases identify alleged perpetrators, but it has no prosecutorial powers.

Persons: Safaa Kamel, We'll, Ibrahim Olabi, Olabi, Bashar al, Akande, Mohamad Salim Namour, IIIM, Catherine Marchi, Uhel, Maya Gebeily, Stephanie van den Berg, Anthony Deutsch, Mahmoud Hasano, Angus MacSwan, Bernadette Baum Organizations: HAGUE, Reuters, Diplomats, Convention, Organisation, Chemical Weapons, United Nations, United Nations International Law Commission, ICC, UN, Islamic, TEN, International, Thomson Locations: Eastern Ghouta, Syria, Syrian, Afrin, BEIRUT, The Hague, Jobar, Syria's, Damascus, Ghouta, British, Geneva, France, Balkans, Rwanda, Lebanon, Douma, Russia, Beirut

☆ Opinion | How to Kill a Palestinian State
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Bret Stephens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

On Oct. 7, the axis of resistance became the face of the Palestinian movement. On Oct. 8, demonstrators around the world chose to embrace that axis. When Rashida Tlaib, the Michigan congresswoman, posted that “75 years later, the Nakba continues to this day” and declined to accept Israel as a Jewish state, she was embracing it. When Judith Butler, the Berkeley professor, told an interviewer that “the roots of the problem are in a state formation that depended on expulsions and land theft to establish its own ‘legitimacy’” and supported a binational state, she was embracing it. “A left that lauds intersectionality hasn’t noticed that Hamas’s axis of support consists of Iran, famous most recently for killing hundreds of protesters demanding women’s freedom.”

Persons: ”, Assad, Mohamed Khairullah, Rashida Tlaib, Judith Butler, ’ ”, ” Susie Linfield, “, hasn’t Organizations: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Israel, Los Locations: Syria, Prospect Park, N.J, Michigan, Berkeley, Los Angeles, ”, N.Y.U, Iran

A deal for a temporary cease fire was inching into view in Israel's war against Hamas, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tempered expectations by vowing that the war would continue even if a deal is reached. “We are at war, and we will continue the war,” he said. Israel has vowed to continue the war until it destroys Hamas’ military capabilities and returns all hostages. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose government maintains ties with Hamas officials, said Turkey’s foreign minister and intelligence chief were working with Qatari officials to negotiate releases. Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Israel, Gaza — Israel, NETANYAHU, ”, “, Mostafa Madbouly, ” Madbouly, Israel —, Hadas Kalderon, Kalderon, John Kirby, Kirby, “ We’ve, ” NETANYAHU, ‘, ” Netanhayu, Khalil al, Hayya, Valdis Dombrovskis, ” BIDEN, WASHINGTON, Joe Biden, ” “, ” Biden, Biden's, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Tebboune, ” Tebboune, ” Erdogan, Israel’s, Asad, Assad, Qassim Abdul, Bassem, Tara Copp, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Sergey Lavrov, Lavrov, ” Lavrov, Ziad Makary, Farah Omar, Rabih Maamari, Kfar Kila, Laiqa Serhan, Reuters videojournalist, Abduallah, Qatar’s Al, Izzat, Ismail Haniyeh, Goren, Tal Chaimi, ” Netanyahu, Mosab Abu Toha, Hamza Abu Toha, Mosab, Hamza, ” Mosab Abu Toha, Abu, Abu Toha Organizations: Hamas, Senior, Palestinian, Troops, Health Ministry, West Bank, WAR, JERUSALEM, CAIRO —, Israel, White, National Security, Israel —, European Union, ” EU, HIT ISRAEL, Algerian, International Criminal, Hezbollah, Cabinet, MUSLIM, Arab League, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, United Nations Security Council, Lebanese, National News Agency, Reuters, Agence France, Jazeera, SEA DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Galaxy Leader, U.S . Navy, OFFICIAL, PEN, Yorker Locations: Israel, United States, Qatar, Gaza, Gaza City, Gaza —, Iran, Yemen, Egypt, Cyprus, israel, Israeli, EGYPT, CAIRO, TEL AVIV, HAIFA, Beirut, EU, STRASBOURG, France, TURKEY, ALGERIA, GAZA ALGIERS, Algeria, Turkey, Turkish, BAGHDAD, Iraq, U.S, al, Baghdad, Anbar, Syria, Zahra, Bassem Mroue, Washington, JERUSALEM, “, Russian, Moscow, Russia, LEBANON, ISRAEL, BEIRUT, Lebanon, Kibbutz Manara, Kfar, IRAN, YEMEN, United Arab, Tehran, American, Red, Persian, Hormuz, Shifa

With a power vacuum and years of civil conflict following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, militias grew and multiplied in Iraq, some supported by Iran. While he came to power with the Iranian-backed groups' support, he also wants continued good relations with the U.S. and has backed the ongoing presence of American troops in his country. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a meeting with al-Sudani this month, warned of consequences if Iranian-backed militias continued to attack U.S. facilities in Iraq and Syria. An official with one of the Iranian-backed militias said al-Sudani put “great pressure” on the militias not to carry out attacks during Blinken's visit. But the U.S. military response to the attacks on its forces has been minimal.

Persons: Biden, Israel, Asad, Haq, Badr, Bashar Assad, Mohammed Shia, Antony Blinken, Sudani, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, —, Qassim Soleimani, Abu Mahdi al, Muhandis, Qassim Abdul Organizations: WASHINGTON, U.S, Islamic, Hamas, Pentagon, Islamic Jihad, WHO, State, Popular Mobilization Forces, Hezbollah, Iran’s, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Officials, Quds Force, Military, Associated Press Locations: Iraq, Syria, Islamic State, skyrocket, U.S, The U.S, Baghdad, Israel, Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Al, Tehran, Boukamal, Maysulun, Deir el, Bulbul, Mayadin ., IRAQ, Zahra

☆ International Court Finds Evidence of Torture Violations in Syria
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Jess Bravin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Syria, led by President Bashar al-Assad, has been ordered to adhere to a global anti-torture treaty. Photo: Iranian Presidency/Zuma PressCiting extensive evidence of human rights abuses during Syria’s 12-year-long civil war, the International Court of Justice ordered the regime of President Bashar al-Assad to obey the global treaty prohibiting torture and preserve evidence of violations for future prosecution. Thursday’s 13-2 vote came in a case filed by Canada and the Netherlands against Syria under the Convention Against Torture, a major instrument of international law that has been ratified by more than 170 countries. The Russian and Chinese judges who sit on the ICJ—a judicial arm of the United Nations based in The Hague—dissented.

Persons: Bashar al, Assad, The Hague — Organizations: International Court of Justice, United Nations Locations: Syria, Canada, Netherlands, The Hague

☆ France issues arrest warrant against Syria's President Assad - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Nov 15 (Reuters) - French judges have issued arrest warrants for Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad, and two other senior officials over the use of banned chemical weapons against civilians in Syria, a judicial source said on Wednesday. It is the first international arrest warrant that has been issued for the Syrian head of state, whose forces responded to protests that began in 2011 with a brutal crackdown that U.N. experts have said amount to war crimes. It is the first time international arrest warrants have been issued over the chemical weapons attack in Ghouta in 2013, says Mazen Darwish, lawyer and founder of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), which filed the case in France. In October, French judges issued warrants for two former defence ministers over a 2017 bomb that killed a French-Syrian man at his home in Daraa. Reporting by Layli Foroudi and Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Richard LoughOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Bashar al, Assad, Maher al, Mazen Darwish, Darwish, Layli Foroudi, Dominique Vidalon, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Richard Lough Organizations: Eastern Ghouta, Syrian Center for Media, United Nations, Organisation, Chemical Weapons, Thomson Locations: Syria, Douma, Eastern, Syrian, Ghouta, France, Daraa

☆ French Judges Issue Warrant for Assad in Syria War Crimes Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Marlise Simons | More About Marlise Simons | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

French investigative judges have issued an international arrest warrant for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria that accuses him of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity over the deadly use of chemical weapons against his own people, a judicial official said on Wednesday. The move was a major step to hold Mr. al-Assad and his circle accountable for some of the worst atrocities committed in the yearslong Syria conflict. In the absence of any international court or tribunal that has jurisdiction over Syrian crimes, a patchwork of efforts for accountability has been underway for some time. Several countries, including Germany, Sweden and France, have launched prosecutions of individuals — mostly of low-level members of the Syrian security forces. A special war crimes unit in the French judiciary has been investigating a complaint against Mr. al-Assad and his close associates that was filed in March 2021 by three international human rights groups.

Persons: Bashar al, Assad, al Locations: Syria, Germany, Sweden, France

Paris CNN —France has issued an arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the alleged use of banned chemical weapons against civilians in Syria, a judicial source told CNN on Wednesday. This is the first international arrest warrant against Assad. “All Interpol member states should then comply with the arrest warrant,” Chammas told CNN. “We have never used our chemical arsenal in our history,” Assad said in 2017. He added that “morally” the Syrian government would never do this “because it’s not acceptable.”

Persons: Bashar al, Assad, Maher al, Michael Chammas, ” Chammas, “, Mazen Darwish, ” Darwish, Hadi al Khatib, ” Assad, it’s, ” Organizations: Paris CNN —, CNN, Interpol, Syrian Centre for Media, Open Society Justice Initiative, Eastern Ghouta, Syrian Center for Media Locations: Paris CNN — France, Syria, Germany, Douma, Eastern, Ghouta, Damascus, France

☆ Russian forces kill 34 fighters in Syria's Idlib - Interfax agency
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 13 (Reuters) - Russian forces have killed 34 fighters and wounded more than 60 in air strikes on targets in Syria's Idlib governorate, Russia's Interfax reported late on Sunday, citing the deputy head of the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria. "The Russian Aerospace Forces carried out air strikes in the province of Idlib on targets of illegal armed groups involved in shelling the positions of Syrian government troops," Interax cited Rear Admiral Vadim Kulit as saying of the Saturday attack. Kulit said that in 24 hours, positions of Syrian government troops were attacked seven times. Kulit also reiterated frequent Russian accusations of aircraft violation in Syria's airspace by the U.S.-led coalition saying that a number of jet and drone flights were not coordinated with the Russian side. Earlier, a source told Reuters that the United States has carried out two air strikes against Iran-aligned groups in Syria.

Persons: Vadim Kulit, Kulit, Bashar al, Assad, Lidia Kelly, Robert Birsel Organizations: Russian Reconciliation Center, Russian Aerospace Forces, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Idlib, Russia's, Syria, Aleppo, Moscow, Damascus, Gaza, U.S, Russian, United States, Iran, Melbourne

☆ This Photograph of Dead Palestinian Children Demands to Be Seen - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Lydia Polgreen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +13 min

The photograph tells us nothing about whether or how these children are related. Hundreds of Israeli hostages, including children, are believed to be held in Gaza by Hamas, their families desperate for their safe release. It is a rare thing for mainstream news organizations to publish graphic images of dead or wounded children. There is nothing quite so devastating as the image of a child whose life has been snuffed out by senseless violence. And so the slaughter in Maine reminded me of another image from Gaza, one you may have seen on social media.

Persons: Mahmud Hams, Israel, I’ve, Emmett Till’s, Kim Phuc Phan Thi, Nick Ut’s, “, Biden, ” Susan Sontag, ”, Sontag, photojournalists, Aaron Young, Mohammed Salem, Khan Younis, Inas Abu Maamar, Saly, Mary, Jesus, Bashar al Organizations: Palestinian Hamas, Agence France, Ministry of Health, Times, The Times, Hamas, Oslo Accords, Reuters Locations: Al Aqsa, Deir al, Gaza, Israel, Palestinian, Mahmud, Vietnam, Syrian, Turkey, Europe, Oslo, ”, Bosnia, Sarajevo, Maine, Khan, Khartoum, Russian

☆ Russian Forces Kill 34 Fighters in Syria's Idlib - Interfax Agency
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

(Reuters) - Russian forces have killed 34 fighters and wounded more than 60 in air strikes on targets in Syria's Idlib governorate, Russia's Interfax reported late on Sunday, citing the deputy head of the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria. "The Russian Aerospace Forces carried out air strikes in the province of Idlib on targets of illegal armed groups involved in shelling the positions of Syrian government troops," Interax cited Rear Admiral Vadim Kulit as saying of the Saturday attack. Kulit said that in 24 hours, positions of Syrian government troops were attacked seven times. Kulit also reiterated frequent Russian accusations of aircraft violation in Syria's airspace by the U.S.-led coalition saying that a number of jet and drone flights were not coordinated with the Russian side. Earlier, a source told Reuters that the United States has carried out two air strikes against Iran-aligned groups in Syria.

Persons: Vadim Kulit, Kulit, Bashar al, Assad, Lidia Kelly, Robert Birsel Organizations: Reuters, Russian Reconciliation Center, Russian Aerospace Forces Locations: Idlib, Russia's, Syria, Aleppo, Moscow, Damascus, Gaza, U.S, Russian, United States, Iran, Melbourne

CNN —Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is in the Saudi capital Riyadh for a major summit on the Israel-Hamas war, where Arab leaders pressed for an end to the conflict. It marks the first trip by an Iranian leader to Saudi Arabia in 11 years after the two countries restored diplomatic relations in March. He shook hands with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the heir to the Saudi throne and the country’s de facto ruler. A significant number of Arab leaders are attending the emergency gathering Saturday, titled the Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit. The summit is being hosted by Saudi Arabia in response to the “unprecedented circumstances in Gaza,” according to a statement released by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Persons: Ebrahim Raisi, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Raisi, ”, we’ve, “, Mahmoud Abbas, Hassan Nasrallah, Israel’s, Bashar al, Assad Organizations: CNN, Saudi Arabia’s Crown, Palestinian, –, Hamas, Arab, Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Arab League Locations: Saudi, Riyadh, Israel, Saudi Arabia, …, Al, Aqsa, ”, Gaza, United States, Washington, Palestine, Iran

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