An Iranian top commander for Syria has, for the first time, publicly admitted that Iran suffered “a major defeat” with the ouster of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, a close ally of Tehran.
As Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi insurgents continue to violently disrupt US, Israeli, and Western commercial shipping in the Middle East, the US military on January 8 carried out air strikes against two of the militant group’s weapons storage facilities in Yemen. The US suffered no injuries or damage to property in the operation.
Several Arab media outlets reported on Thursday evening that Israel conducted strikes on facilities associated with the Syrian Ministry of Defense, situated to the east of Aleppo.
With just three weeks remaining of his presidency, US President Joe Biden has re-emphasized his commitment to helping Ukraine resist Russia’s invasion: on Monday, December 30 he announced the provision of nearly $2.5 billion in security assistance for Ukraine.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a major operation in Quneitra, a strategically significant city in southwestern Syria near the Golan Heights. Syrian sources have confirmed that Israeli tanks have surrounded government buildings and issued evacuation orders, according to Sky News Arabia on Monday.
Late Monday night, sirens were triggered across central Israel as air defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Yemen. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), this was the seventh such nighttime attack in less than two weeks. The missile was successfully intercepted before it could reach Israeli territory.
An exclusive report by Israel’s KAN News on Sunday revealed that Israel executed a commando raid in September on an underground Iranian missile production facility near Maysaf, Syria. The operation targeted two key sites: the Syrian defense industry’s Scientific Studies and Research Center and an underground facility operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Russia’s leading security service suggested Thursday it had uncovered a plot by Kyiv to kill “senior Defense Ministry officials,” prompting Moscow to fire drones at Ukraine, injuring several people.
Israeli air defenses intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels early Wednesday, marking the second consecutive night and fourth attack in a week targeting central Israel in an escalating near-nightly pattern. The same day, the Houthis also launched a drone that crashed in an open area near Ashkelon in southern Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Iranian-backed Iraqi militias have reportedly agreed to cease actions against Israel, according to the Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al-Akhbar.
The US Defense Department confirmed Thursday that there are actually around 2,000 American troops currently deployed in Syria, rather than the previously stated figure of around 900, MediaLine reports. The updated information follows the ouster of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Islamic insurgent group on December 1.
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Friday that its forces carried out a precision airstrike on Thursday in Syria’s Dayr az Zawr Province, targeting ISIS leader Abu Yusif. The strike successfully eliminated him along with another ISIS operative. This action comes as the U.S. intensifies efforts to prevent the terrorist group’s attempts to liberate 8,000 ISIS operatives currently detained in Syrian jails.
The U.S. military says it has conducted airstrikes targeting a missile storage facility and a command-and-control post operated by Houthis in Yemen after the Iran-backed group struck Israel, injuring dozens of people.
The second oldest church in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, was among sites hit by Russian ballistic missiles and other weapons, killing at least two personals and injuring over 20 people, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said his forces were winning on the bloodstained frontlines.
After an empty school in central Israel was damaged by a partially intercepted Houthi missile overnight, Israel carried out retaliatory air strikes in Yemen which killed nine people on Thursday morning, Deutsche Welle (DW) reports. No one was injured in the Houthi strike but extensive damage was caused to the school and to surrounding cars in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv.
The United States military says it has killed 12 fighters of the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, in Syria amid concerns it will carve out a caliphate in central areas of the country.
Israel carried out one of its most intense military campaigns in Syria in over a decade, striking air defense systems, missile depots, and strategic sites in Tartus. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights described the strikes as the “heaviest in years,” with massive explosions registering as a magnitude 3.0 seismic event. Videos on social media captured fireballs and mushroom clouds lighting up the night sky.
Israel and Jordan held secret talks on Friday to coordinate the situation in Syria, according to three Israeli officials cited by Axios.
In a move that worries neighboring countries, Russia launched a massive air strike against western Ukraine on Friday in what Kyiv called “one of the largest attacks” on its power infrastructure since the war erupted in February 2022.
The head of NATO has told member states to prepare for war, describing the current security situation as “the worst in my lifetime.”