All posts tagged: Syria

Hezbollah Launches Rockets at Israel, Testing U.S.-Mediated Deal

Hezbollah Launches Rockets at Israel, Testing U.S.-Mediated Deal

Published by Sam Flores

By Maya Gebeily, Alexander Cornwell and Jana Choukeir BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, June 3 (Reuters) – The Israeli military said it had intercepted rockets ⁠fired ⁠by Hezbollah into Israel on Wednesday, while Lebanese security sources ⁠said an Israeli strike hit a car near Beirut, testing a U.S.-mediated deal that aims to get the sides to curb attacks. Iran-backed Hezbollah said ​in a statement it had fired a rocket salvo at an Israeli troop position in northern Israel, the first time it had announced a cross-border missile attack since Monday. Lebanon has emerged as a focal point of the ‌regional crisis this week, with the risk of further escalation ‌looming over efforts to seal a deal between Iran and the United States. Tehran insists Israel halt Lebanon attacks under any agreement. Hostilities have continued in southern Lebanon since the U.S.-mediated agreement was announced on Monday, when ⁠President Donald Trump said ⁠he asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to carry out a major raid on Beirut, and that Hezbollah, through ​intermediaries, had pledged not to attack Israel. Israeli Defence …

Australian woman held in custody on charges of traveling to Syria to join Islamic State group

Australian woman held in custody on charges of traveling to Syria to join Islamic State group

Published by Sam Flores

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian mother of four was held in custody after she appeared in a court on Thursday charged with traveling to Syria and joining the Islamic State group. Rayann El Houli, 34, was arrested at her Melbourne home eight months after she returned to Australia via Lebanon with her children and another woman, police and her lawyer said. The arrest came two days after seven women and 12 children linked to IS returned to Australia from a Syrian refugee camp against the wishes of the Australian government. Three weeks ago, four women and nine children in similar circumstances returned from the same Roj camp for displaced people, which is located near the area where the frontiers of Syria, Turkey and Iraq converge. Three of the four women were charged on arrival with slavery and terrorism offenses and remain in custody. All the women who returned from Syria this month remained under police investigation. Another woman, who accompanied El Houli to Australia from Lebanon, also was under investigation, Australia Federal Police Deputy …

Australian woman charged over travel to Syria to join Islamic State : NPR

Australian woman charged over travel to Syria to join Islamic State : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

FILE – Unidentified women walk between tents in a section of the camp housing Australian family members of suspected Islamic State militants in the Roj Camp in eastern Syria, Feb. 18, 2026. Baderkhan Ahmad/AP hide caption toggle caption Baderkhan Ahmad/AP MELBOURNE, Australia — An Australian mother of four was held in custody after she appeared in a court on Thursday charged with traveling to Syria and joining the Islamic State group. Rayann El Houli, 34, was arrested at her Melbourne home eight months after she returned to Australia via Lebanon with her children and another woman, police and her lawyer said. The arrest came two days after seven women and 12 children linked to IS returned to Australia from a Syrian refugee camp against the wishes of the Australian government. Three weeks ago, four women and nine children in similar circumstances returned from the same Roj camp for displaced people, which is located near the area where the frontiers of Syria, Turkey and Iraq converge. Three of the four women were charged on arrival with …

Witnesses accuse the Israeli army of arbitrary arrests in Syria

Witnesses accuse the Israeli army of arbitrary arrests in Syria

Published by Sam Flores

The place is Beit Jinn, in the countryside to the west of Damascus. It’s the night of November 28, 2025. Israeli soldiers launch a ground offensive. While bombs fall from the sky and artillery is fired at homes, clashes break out between Israeli soldiers and some villagers. A video posted online by the Israeli army shows soldiers arresting brothers Nidal Akasha Akasha and Muhammad Akasha Akasha in the fray. In a statement, the Israeli army claims that Nidal and Muhammad have ties to the Islamist group Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya. The FRANCE 24 Observers team interviewed a number of Syrians who had been arrested and then detained in an Israeli prison for months before being released. We also spoke to the families of those still detained. We also analysed rare images posted online by the Israeli army, which claims that they have been arresting “suspicious persons” or those “linked to armed groups”. Through our research, we identified three different arrest operations carried out by the Israeli army in 2025.  A total of 13 villagers died, and more …

Syria cannot heal without a rebuilt health system | Syria’s War

Syria cannot heal without a rebuilt health system | Syria’s War

Published by Sam Flores

Last week, European Union and Syrian officials met in Brussels for high-level talks on the country’s reconstruction. The EU’s support for Syria’s health system, including 14 million euros ($16.25m) to rehabilitate Ar-Rastan Hospital in Homs, is a significant contribution that merits recognition. While the EU is demonstrating what strategic investment can achieve, the gap between the conditions returnees face and what they need for a healthy life remains a major barrier for the country’s recovery. After 14 years of conflict, Syria is facing a public health crisis that no government can address on its own. The restoration of health services will instead require large-scale, coordinated action from across the international community. A recent report authored by my organisation, Relief International, details the crisis at hand: many of the 3.7 million Syrians who have returned home are encountering a health system left fractured and struggling after years of devastation. According to our findings, 78 percent of returnees in Deir Az Zor reported that healthcare was unavailable. In al-Tebni district, 41 percent of surveyed households said at …

Why Uyghurs fought in Syria — and what lies next : NPR

Why Uyghurs fought in Syria — and what lies next : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

A senior Uyghur militant stands in an olive grove in northern Syria, where Uyghur commanders say their fighters began an ultimately successful assault on Syrian regime forces in November 2024. Emily Feng/NPR hide caption toggle caption Emily Feng/NPR JISR AL-SHUGHUR, Syria — The plan was daring: Under cover of night, an elite group of forces would ambush Syrian government soldiers and cut off strategic supply lines supporting the regime-held northern city of Aleppo. For months, the fighters had been quietly clearing a disused water tunnel just over 2 miles long, deep behind enemy lines in the countryside around Aleppo. During a secret meeting with Ahmed al-Sharaa — then the leader of the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and now the leader of Syria — they agreed to prepare a joint assault to liberate Aleppo from regime control. These elite fighters were not from Syria. They were Uyghurs — a largely Muslim ethnic minority long persecuted in China. And when the offensive kicked off one night in November 2024, they went to work. Hobayd, a senior …

UN Food Agency Halves Syria Food Aid, Halts Bread Subsidy Over Funding Shortages

UN Food Agency Halves Syria Food Aid, Halts Bread Subsidy Over Funding Shortages

Published by Sam Flores

May 13 (Reuters) – The World Food Programme said on ⁠Wednesday ⁠it had halved emergency food ⁠assistance in Syria due to funding shortages, warning that millions ​remained vulnerable despite signs of stabilisation in parts of the country. The U.N. agency’s biggest donor, the ‌United States, has slashed its ‌foreign aid under President Donald Trump, and other countries have also made or announced ⁠cuts in ⁠development and humanitarian assistance.   The WFP said in a statement the number ​of people receiving emergency food aid in Syria fell to 650,000 in May from 1.3 million, while scaling back operations in all 14 Syrian governorates to just seven. Meanwhile, 7.2 million people ​in Syria remain acutely food insecure, including 1.6 million facing severe hunger, the WFP ⁠said. ⁠Many households were already reducing ⁠meal portions, ​eating less nutritious food or skipping meals altogether, it added. “The reduction in WFP’s assistance ​is driven solely by ⁠funding constraints, not by a decrease in needs,” Marianne Ward, the WFP’s country director in Syria, said in the statement. The WFP also halted a …

UAE Sees Rapidly Growing Trade With Syria, as Ties Warm

UAE Sees Rapidly Growing Trade With Syria, as Ties Warm

Published by Sam Flores

DUBAI, May 12 (Reuters) – Trade between the United ⁠Arab ⁠Emirates and Syria more than doubled ⁠in 2025 and has further to grow, a UAE minister said on Tuesday, ​addressing a Damascus investment forum that signalled rapidly warming ties between the states. UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade ‌Thani Al Zeyoudi told the first ‌Syrian-Emirati Investment Forum that non-oil trade between the United Arab Emirates and Syria reached a record $1.4 billion in ⁠2025, up ⁠132% from the previous year. He said the increase opens prospects for expanding ​bilateral trade. The Syrian and Emirati sides reached a series of preliminary agreements on dozens of investment projects in the tourism, construction, infrastructure, agriculture, aviation and logistics sectors during the two-day event. The UAE, a strong opponent of Islamist movements across the ​Middle East, has moved more slowly than Saudi Arabia and Qatar in expanding ties with the new ⁠Syrian ⁠government led by President Ahmed ⁠al-Sharaa, a former al ​Qaeda commander. But a gradual improvement in ties has accelerated since the start of the Iran war, as the ​UAE …

ISIL-linked Australian women arrested at airports | Newsfeed

ISIL-linked Australian women arrested at airports | Newsfeed

Published by Sam Flores

NewsFeed Three ISIL-linked Australian women have been arrested at airports in Melbourne and Sydney based on allegations of slavery and terrorism. They were amongst four women and nine children arriving from Syria after spending years in al-Roj Camp near the border between Syria and Iraq. Published On 7 May 20267 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Source link