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Kayhan: After Syria, it’s Iraq’s turn; Israel aims to reach Euphrates

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Syria War

Kayhan noted that Israeli army tanks, after crossing the Syrian governorate of Quneitra, have reached the administrative borders of Damascus.

“If the situation continues as it is and the Zionist regime’s goal with these advances is the Nile to Euphrates project, the next target could be Iraq,” the daily warned.

There are widespread reports that Israel, along with regional players like Turkey, played a role in the fall of the Assad government.

Israeli military aggressions on Syria have been ongoing since the beginning of the war in Syria in 2011, primarily targeting popular resistance forces.

Following the downfall of Assad, Israel launched an invasion of Syria, capturing key territories and conducting extensive strikes against military and infrastructure targets inside the country.

Tehran experienced 18 days of unhealthy air in past 30 days

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Air Pollution

Tehran experienced its cleanest air on November 29 with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 63, while December 19 marked the most polluted day with an AQI of 174.

Particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns was the primary pollutant on all polluted days, with one day also recording particulate matter smaller than 10 microns in the undesirable range.

Research shows that exposure to these fine particles, which are often byproducts of combustion and industrial processes, leads to several health complications.

These include premature death in heart and lung disease patients, nonfatal heart attacks, irregular heartbeat, lung cancer, worsened asthma, reduced lung function, and increased respiratory symptoms.

Tehran’s air quality on Saturday morning stood at an AQI of 91, indicating acceptable conditions after four continuous days of unhealthy air.

Israeli PM to skip Auschwitz liberation event in Poland over ‘ICC arrest fears’

By
IFP Media Wire
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Benjamin Netanyahu

Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, Poland’s deputy foreign minister, who is organising the ceremony, told Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita that Warsaw was committed to respecting the ICC’s decisions.

Last month, the Hague-based court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the former Israeli defence minister.

The two were accused of “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts” during Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, which began following the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October.

All 124 members of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, are now compelled to arrest the two Israeli leaders and hand them over to the court. Poland is among its signatories.

According to Rzeczpospolita, both Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog are not due to attend the Auschwitz event on 27 January. Israeli Education Minister Yoav Kisch is expected to be there.

According to the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum, historians estimate that around 1.1 million people perished in the concentration camp during the less than five years of its existence. The majority, around one million people, were Jews.

Both Gallant and Netanyahu have avoided travelling to Europe or making any stopovers there en route to the United States, which is not a signatory to the Rome Statute.

Several signatories, including the Netherlands, France, the UK, Ireland and Belgium, have indicated that they would respect the ICC’s ruling.

Some member states have previously flouted their obligation: both South Africa and Jordan failed to arrest Omar al-Bashir when the Sudanese autocrat, who is wanted by the international court, visited them, drawing the ire of human rights groups and the ICC.

The ICC does not have enforcement powers, instead relying on the cooperation of member states to arrest and surrender suspects.

Iran calls on France to probe killing of two nationals in shooting

By
IFP Media Wire
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The Iranian Foreign Ministry

According to Le Monde, five people were killed in northern France on December 14, including two Iranian men, aged 19 and 30. It quoted local police and the prefecture as saying that the men were living in a local camp for migrants.

A 22-year-old suspect surrendered to authorities and was taken into custody on the same day with authorities saying he had no criminal record

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular, Parliamentary, and Expatriate Affairs Vahid Jalalzadeh on Friday expressed condolences to the families and loved ones of the two Iranian nationals who were killed in a “suspicious armed attack for racist motives”.

He called on relevant security and judiciary officials of France to investigate the case and give accurate information in this regard.

Immediately after the incident, the Iranian embassy in Paris contacted the French authorities to follow up on the matter and demanded the identification, prosecution and punishment of the perpetrators of the crime, he said.

Jalalzadeh added that Iran’s Foreign Ministry, in contact with the French embassy in Tehran, has emphasized the need for a thorough judicial investigation and prosecution of the perpetrator or perpetrators of this crime in order to ensure justice is served and blood money of the victims will be paid.

He affirmed the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s seriousness in fulfilling its duties vis-a-vis the rights of the country’s nationals living abroad.

The ministry would take necessary measures to facilitate the repatriation of the bodies of the two men to Iran and pursue the issue until all circumstances of the incident are clarified, the diplomat emphasized.

US drops $10M terrorism reward offered for capture of Syrian rebel leader who toppled Assad

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Abu Mohammed al-Jolani

The announcement followed a meeting in Damascus between the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaida, and the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, who led the first U.S. diplomatic delegation into Syria since Assad’s ouster.

HTS remains designated a foreign terrorist organization, and Leaf would not say if sanctions stemming from that designation would be eased. But, she told reporters that al-Sharaa had committed to renouncing terrorism and as a result the U.S. would no longer offer the reward.

“We discussed the critical need to ensure terrorist groups cannot pose a threat inside Syria or externally, including to the U.S. and our partners in the region,” she stated.

“Based on our discussion, I told him that we would not be pursuing the Rewards for Justice reward offered,” Leaf said in a telephone news conference from Jordan where she traveled after visiting Syria.

Leaf and other U.S. officials have noted al-Sharaa’s public statements about protecting minority and women’s rights are welcomed, but they remain skeptical that he will follow through on them in the long run.

“He came across as pragmatic,” she continued, adding, “It was a good first meeting. We will judge by deeds not just by words.”

The U.S. delegation’s visit was aimed at pushing for an inclusive government and seeking information on the whereabouts of missing American journalist Austin Tice.

Along with Leaf, former special envoy for Syria Daniel Rubinstein and the Biden administration’s chief envoy for hostage negotiations, Roger Carstens, joined the meetings with interim leaders and members of civil society.

Carstens said there was no new information confirming Tice’s fate or whereabouts but vowed that efforts to find him would continue. He traveled previously to Lebanon to seek information. More U.S. officials are expected to visit Syria in the coming days to pick up the search, he added.

“We’re going to be like bulldogs on this,” Carstens said, adding that the U.S. was focusing on about six prisons where it believed Tice may have been held in the past. He stated the U.S. also had information about three more prisons where Tice might have been incarcerated, and up to 40 sites may end up being examined for evidence of Tice’s presence.

Tice, who has had his work published by The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers and others, disappeared at a checkpoint in a contested area west of Damascus as the Syrian war intensified.

A video released weeks after Tice went missing showed him blindfolded and held by armed men and saying, “Oh, Jesus”. He has not been heard from since. Assad’s government publicly denied that it was holding him.

Leaf’s team was the first group of American diplomats to formally visit Syria in more than a decade, since the U.S. shuttered its embassy in Damascus in 2012, although a small number of U.S. diplomats had been assigned to political advisory roles with military units inside Syria since then.

Shortly before the delegation arrived in Damascus, the U.S. military announced it had conducted airstrikes in northeastern Syria on Thursday, killing a leader of the Islamic State group and one other militant. The strike was part of an ongoing effort to prevent IS insurgents from taking advantage of the upheaval in Syria, including any plan to release the more than 8,000 IS prisoners held in detention by Kurds who have partnered with the U.S., Central Command said in a statement.

The Pentagon revealed Thursday that the U.S. had doubled the number of its forces in Syria to fight IS before Assad’s fall. There are roughly 2,000 there now.

Israeli officials say Tel Aviv hit by missile fired from Yemen

By
IFP Media Wire
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Yemen Missile Israel

The projectile landed in Tel Aviv’s southern Jaffa area, Israel’s military said, adding that attempts to intercept a missile from Yemen failed shortly after sirens sounded in central Israel.

It noted a fallen projectile was identified in the area.

At least 16 people sustained minor injuries from glass fragments that broke in nearby buildings, Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency service reported.

In addition, 14 victims were treated for slight injuries they sustained seeking shelter, as well as seven panic victims.

Israel’s second-largest city, Tel Aviv is the commercial and diplomatic center. Direct hits from projectiles fired at the coastal city are rare, due to its extensive air defenses.

Since Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza started in October last year, the regime has come under fire from missiles and rockets from Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

Israel’s besiegement and bombardment of Gaza has led to tens of thousands of deaths and a humanitarian catastrophe, while its attacks on Lebanon have killed about 4,000.

The Houthis have for months targeted ships in the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest waterways, calling the attacks a response to the war in Gaza.

The Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah say they won’t stop striking Israel and its allies until a ceasefire is reached in the Palestinian enclave.

Israeli soldiers fire at protesters in Syria’s Deraa, wounding one

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Syria War

Israeli fire injured the man, identified by local media as Maher al-Hussein, in the leg on Friday as protesters gathered in the town of Maariyah to demand an end to the Israeli military presence in the area.

A local journalist told Al Jazeera that al-Hussein was transported to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.

Since opposition forces toppled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on December 8, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes on Syria in what it said is a bid to prevent military equipment from falling into hostile hands.

In a move widely condemned internationally, Israel also sent troops into a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights and beyond, calling it a defensive and temporary measure.

“During a protest against [Israeli military] activities in the area of Maariya in southern Syria, [the Israeli army] called on protesters to distance themselves from the troops,” the military said.

The village is just outside the southern point of the UN-patrolled zone.

“After the troops identified a threat, they operated in accordance with standard operating procedures against the threat. … The protester was shot in the leg,” the military added.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a war monitor, announced the Israeli soldiers were stationed at a barracks in the village.

“During a protest condemning the Israeli incursion, a young man was injured by Israeli forces’ gunfire in the village of Maariya, in the Daraa region,” the SOHR added.

“During the protest, the Israeli forces stationed at the Al-Jazeera barracks opened fire directly at the demonstrators, injuring a young man in the leg.”

It remains unclear how Syria’s new interim government, headed by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, plans to handle Israel’s military actions across the country.

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera this week, the interim government’s spokesman Obaid Arnaut said the government’s approach “will be outlined in the near future” without providing details.

“People are angry and think that the regime has been replaced by the Israeli aggression. I currently have no further details on this matter,” he continued, adding, “Our primary goal is to ensure Syria is safe from any external threats.”

Five killed, many wounded in Ukrainian strikes on Russia using US-made HIMARS: Governor

By
IFP Media Wire
-
HIMARS

The strikes caused extensive damage to civilian infrastructure throughout the city, damaging a a house of culture, a primary school, and living and study quarters belonging to Rylsk Aviation College. The attack also shattered windows in apartment buildings and impacted several private homes as well as 15 or more vehicles.

Initial reports suggested that at least one child was among the casualties, but in the latest update on Saturday morning, Khinshtein clarified the death toll, stating that five adults, but no minors, lost their lives in the attack.

“What happened today is a huge tragedy for all of us,” Khinshtein wrote in a Telegram post.

The work of emergency services has been complicated by repeated attacks from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the governor added.

He expressed confidence that those responsible for the attack would face retribution and that all destroyed infrastructure will be repaired.

In a short video message posted on his Telegram channel on Friday, Khinshtein accused Kiev’s forces of “deliberately choosing civilian facilities [and] social facilities as their targets”.

Several Russian Telegram channels and media outlets have published what appears to be footage of the aftermath of the attack shot by eyewitnesses. In some of these video clips, several burning cars and damaged buildings can be seen.

Rylsk is located about 30 kilometers from the Ukrainian border and has a population of around 15,000.

Ukrainian forces invaded Kursk Region on August 6, with a force reportedly of some 35,000 troops. The area they control has been steadily shrinking in recent months, but they still maintain a presence in some parts of the region.

US says Daesh leader killed in Syria

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Daesh Flag

Washington has stepped up military action against the terror group since the fall of Bashar Assad’s government earlier this month, hitting areas that were shielded by Syrian and Russian air defenses before a lightning offensive by rebels who now control the country.

The strike took place on Thursday in Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria, killing Daesh leader “Abu Yusif” and another operative, the US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said on social media, without providing further details on the two terrorists.

“This airstrike is part of CENTCOM’s ongoing commitment, along with partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks,” CENTCOM noted.

The strike “was conducted in an area formerly controlled by the Syrian regime and Russians,” it added.

The US has for years carried out periodic strikes and raids to help prevent a resurgence of Daesh but has launched dozens of strikes since Assad’s fall.

On Dec. 8 — the day militants took the capital Damascus — Washington announced strikes on more than 75 Daesh targets that CENTCOM announced were aimed at ensuring it “does not seek to take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria”.

And on Monday, CENTCOM said US forces killed 12 terrorists from the group in strikes it said were carried out “in former regime and Russian-controlled areas”.

The announcement of the latest strike came a day after the US noted it had this year doubled the number of troops it has in Syria as part of the anti-IS fight.

The US had for years said it has some 900 military personnel in the country as part of international efforts against the terror group, which seized swathes of territory there and in neighboring Iraq before being defeated by local forces backed by a US-led air campaign.

But there are now “approximately 2,000 US troops in Syria” and have been for at least a few months, Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder told journalists, adding he had just received the updated figure.

New evidence discloses ‘routine’ oil shipments from Turkey to Israel

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Turkey Erdogan

In November, the Stop Fuelling Genocide campaign released evidence that suggested that the “Seavigour” tanker shipped crude oil from Turkey’s Ceyhan port to a pipeline near Ashkelon in Israel.

The port is the last stop on the BP-owned Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which transports Azeri crude oil from Azerbaijan. The oil is then shipped from the Heydar Aliyev Terminal at Ceyhan to Israel, accounting for almost 30 percent of its crude oil imports.

The researchers have since tracked 10 journeys made in the past year by the “Kimolos” tanker between Ceyhan and Ashkelon, with eight of them occurring after Turkey announced its embargo in May.

Despite the ship turning off its tracking signal for several days in the Eastern Mediterranean to mask its route, the researchers managed to identify it as docking in Israel 10 times using satellite imagery.

Port logs for the Kimolos reveal that on a typical trip to Israel, the tanker is registered as being bound for Egypt, leaving with a full load of oil. But the tanker does not dock in Egypt, instead “disappearing” for a few days in the Eastern Mediterranean.

This strategy follows a similar pattern to that of the Seavigour, which also turned off its location transponder and reappeared in Sicily days later.

Both the Kimolos and the Seavigour are Suezmax size vessels, which are chartered specifically for crude oil shipments.

Citing official state export records, the researchers announced Azerbaijan has exported 1.3 million tonnes of crude oil to Israel per month since the start of its war on Gaza in October 2023.

As both the Kimolos and the Seavigour can transport approximately 140,000 metric tonnes, an export of 1.3 million tonnes of crude oil would require an average of eight to 10 trips a month.

“Not only is this transfer of crude oil violating the economic embargo, but the rate and frequency of the refuelling is actively sustaining war crimes,” the researchers said, adding that the crude oil exports are refined to fuel F-35 fighter jets used by Israel in Gaza.

An investigative report by Energy Embargo for Palestine documenting how crude oil supplied to Israel by the BTC pipeline is refined into fighter jet fuel suggested that Turkey could be viewed as violating the duty to prevent genocide by the International Court of Justice if it rules that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

A researcher at the Stop Fuelling Genocide campaign said the findings were evidence of “a systematised trade of crude oil shipped from Turkish ports to Israel”.

“We warned that our previous evidence was only the tip of the iceberg,” the researcher noted.

The Turkish energy ministry has repeatedly denied that any oil tankers bound for Israel have left Ceyhan since May, stating that “companies transporting oil through the BTC pipeline for export to global markets from Haydar Aliyev Terminal have respected Turkiye’s recent decision not to engage in trade with Israel”.

The campaign said the new revelations constitute a “second and more serious exposure” of the ministry’s claims.

Azerbaijan’s oil exports to Israel increased four-fold since the beginning of this year, ballooning from 523,554 tonnes in January to 2,372,248 tonnes in September.

Middle East Eye previously reported that the advocacy group Oil Change International, which authored a report tracking oil shipments to Israel up until July 2024, said its data sources showed multiple shipments from Ceyhan since May.

A Turkish official previously told MEE that BP sells oil to intermediary companies, which Ankara cannot control, and tankers pick up the oil “without declaring their final destination”.

The revelations come after Ankara announced in November that it was severing all ties with Israel.

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