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Israeli airstrike in the northern West Bank kills a Palestinian militant and wounds 5 other people

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  • Syrians stroll through Assad's palaces, take furniture and ornaments

    Video obtained by Reuters showed people entering the Al-Rawda Presidential Palace, as children ran through the grand, formal rooms and men slid a large trunk across the ornate patterned floor. Video of another palace, the older-style Muhajreen Palace, verified by Reuters, showed groups of men and women walking across a white marble floor and through sets of tall wooden doors. The scenes were reminiscent of the fall of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime in Iraq two decades ago.

  • The fall of Bashar Assad after 14 years of war in Syria brings to an end a decades-long dynasty

    BEIRUT (AP) — The fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government Sunday brought to a dramatic close his nearly 14-year struggle to hold onto power as his country fragmented amid a brutal civil war that became a proxy battlefield for regional and international powers.

  • Syria hit by US and Israeli airstrikes as war bloggers fret about 'threat' to Russian bases

    Syria's new rebel leaders are facing the daunting task of healing a divided nation - and the toppling of the Assad regime has not put an end to fighting in the country.

  • Watching with trepidation and glee, Netanyahu orders military to seize Syria buffer zone

    Israeli leaders are watching events across the border in Syria with trepidation, as 50 years of detente were upended in a matter of hours.

  • Israel seizes Golan buffer zone after Syrian troops leave positions

    PM Netanyahu said the 1974 disengagement agreement had "collapsed" with the rebel takeover of Syria.

  • Syrian government falls in stunning end to 50-year rule of Assad family

    BEIRUT (AP) — The Syrian government fell early Sunday in a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family after a sudden rebel offensive sprinted across government-held territory and entered the capital in 10 days.

  • Israeli strike targets air defence installation near Syria's Mediterranean Latakia port

    An Israeli strike targeted an air defence installation near Syria's Mediterranean Latakia port, Syrian security sources said on Monday. Israel conducted three airstrikes in the Syrian capital a day earlier, against a security complex and a government research centre which it has said in the past was used by Iran to develop missiles, two regional security sources told Reuters on Sunday.

  • Israel 'more optimistic' on prospects of Gaza hostage deal

    Israel is now more optimistic about a possible hostage deal in Gaza, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday, amid reports that Hamas had asked for lists of all hostages still held by militant groups in the Palestinian enclave. He said indirect negotiations were under way about the return of about 100 hostages and that, while it was still too early to be sure, prospects had improved.

  • What’s happening in Syria? The key developments amid warnings of Isis threat

    The lightning quick collapse of Bashar al-Assad's has left the world taking stock on a new-look Middle East.

  • As Israel advances on a Syrian buffer zone, it sees peril and opportunity

    TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The dramatic downfall of Syrian President Bashar Assad presents possible danger, and an opening, for neighboring Israel.

  • Rebels take Syrian city from U.S.-backed group after U.S.-Turkey deal, source says

    ANKARA (Reuters) -The United States and Turkey reached an agreement to ensure the safe withdrawal of U.S.-backed Kurdish Syrian forces (SDF) from the northern city of Manbij after an advance by Turkey-backed rebels, a Syrian opposition source said on Monday. The Turkey-backed Syrian opposition groups had earlier taken control of Manbij from the SDF, a Turkish security source said, a day after rebels in the southern capital of Damascus declared Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ouster.

  • Former al-Qaeda member al-Golani rebrands as a pluralist amid doubts over Syria’s democratic future

    Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly Abu Mohammed al-Golani, has evolved from an al-Qaida affiliate leader to a rebranded figure promoting pluralism as Syria’s insurgency topples Assad. Despite his attempts at moderation, doubts remain about his democratic intentions.View on euronews

  • Analysis: Collapse of Syria's Assad is a blow to Iran's 'Axis of Resistance'

    MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — For Iran’s theocratic government, it keeps getting worse.

  • Egypt accuses Israel of 'exploiting power vacuum' after seizing Golan Heights buffer zone

    Israeli troops have seized a demilitarised buffer zone in the Golan Heights in a move that has been criticised by Egypt and Qatar. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his forces had entered the 155-square mile area after a rebel advance ended Syrian President Bashar al Assad's rule on Sunday. The zone was established by a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Syria in 1974.

  • Netanyahu to take the stand in his corruption trial for the first time

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is set to take the stand on Tuesday for the first time in his long-running corruption trial under a court order that is likely to force him to juggle between the courtroom and war room for weeks. Israel has been waging war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza for more than a year, during which Netanyahu had been granted a delay for the start of his court appearances. Charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, Netanyahu will testify three times a week, the court said, despite the Gaza war and possible new threats posed by wider turmoil in the Middle East, including in neighbouring Syria.

  • Rebel forces 'reach Damascus suburbs' as protesters topple statue on outskirts

    Syrian rebels have reportedly taken the key city of Homs and reached the suburbs of the capital Damascus as their lightning offensive threatens to end Bashar al Assad's 24-year rule. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents are now active in three Damascus suburbs, including Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya - making it the first time they have reached the outskirts of the city since 2018, when government forces recaptured the area after a years-long siege. Meanwhile, Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul-Ghani said insurgent forces had now "fully liberated" Syria's central city of Homs - in a strategically important move the cuts off Damascus from coastal military bases.

  • Four Israeli soldiers killed in accidental explosion in Lebanon - Army Radio

    Four Israeli soldiers who were killed in southern Lebanon were likely killed in an accidental detonation of explosives as they demolished a Hezbollah tunnel laden with weapons, Israel's Army Radio reported on Monday. The Israeli military said that four soldiers fell in combat, without providing further details. Army Radio said that the incident happened on Sunday and that an initial review found that the detonation set off secondary explosions, leading to the collapse of the tunnel while the soldiers were in it.

  • Israel says it has struck suspected chemical weapons sites and long-range rockets in Syria

    JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's foreign minister says it has struck suspected chemical weapons sites and long-range rockets in Syria in order to prevent them from falling into the hands of hostile actors.

  • Assad's regime has fallen. Could a power vacuum bring more turmoil to Syria?

    After the collapse of the Syrian government that ended the Assad family’s 50-year iron rule, there are concerns about what a ‘power vacuum’ could mean for the country, according Sajjan Gohel, international security director at the Asia-Pacific Foundation. Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/1.7404700.

  • Ousted Syrian leader Assad flees to Moscow after rebels capture Damascus

    Syria's Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow as Islamist-led rebels captured Damascus Sunday, ending five decades of Baath party rule. Celebrations erupted nationwide. Assad's luxurious home was overrun as the government collapsed 11 days into a surprise rebel offensive, over 13 years after Syria's civil war began.