News Digest — 12/9/24
At Defense Minister’s Instruction , IDF Takes Control Of Additional Sites In Syria
The IDF is deepening its control of strategic locations in southern Syria, and Defense Minister Israel Katz has instructed the IDF to act to take control of additional sites in the partition zone in Syria and to maximize its achievements.
The order comes Monday (9th) less than a day after the IDF took control of the Syrian Golan Heights, in an effort to protect Israel from the fallout of the fighting after the Syrian rebels brought down the Assad regime late on Saturday night (7th).
Katz also instructed that the IDF work to create a security area which is clear of heavy strategic weapons and terror infrastructure in the southern area, near the partition area, which could threaten the State of Israel, while reaching out to the local Druze population and other populations in the area.
Parallel to this, the IDF is working to thwart and prevent the reopening of the smuggling route from Iran to Lebanon, which runs through Syria, the Syrian area, and locations on the border.
Katz also instructed the IDF to continue working to destroy heavy and strategic weapons around Syria, including surface-to-air missiles, aerial defense systems, surface-to-surface missiles, cruise missiles, long-range rockets, and anti-ship missiles.
Netanyahu Tours Syrian Border, Extends Hands Of Peace
On Sunday (8th), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz visited Mount Bental in the Golan Heights at an observation post overlooking the Syrian border following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. During the visit, they received a detailed briefing on developments along the Syrian border and the reinforcement of IDF forces in the area.
Netanyahu characterized the event as “an historic day in Middle East history,” claiming that the regime’s “collapse is the direct result of our forceful action against Hezbollah and Iran, Assad’s main supporters.” He emphasized that the regime’s collapse “set off a chain reaction of all those who want to free themselves from this tyranny and its oppression.”
Addressing the security situation, Netanyahu clarified, “We Have to take actions against possible threats. One of them is the collapse of the Separation Of Forces Agreement from 1974 between Israel and Syria. This agreement has been held for 50 years. Last night it collapsed. The Syrian army abandoned its positions. We gave the Israeli army the order to take over these positions to ensure that no hostile force embeds itself right next to the border of Israel. This is a temporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found.
Defense Minister Katz reinforced the security message, emphasizing Israel’s determination to prevent a return to vulnerability along the border, promising to protect all Golan Heights communities – both Jewish and Druze.
While maintaining a firm security stance, Netanyahu delivered a message of openness. He recalled the Israel field hospital that treated thousands of Syrians during the civil war, noting that hundreds of Syrian children were born in Israel. He extended “a hand of peace” to the Druze – “who are brothers of our Druze brothers in Israel – as well as “to the Kurds, to the Christians, and to the Muslims who want to live in peace with Israel.”
Netanyahu concluded by stating, “If we can establish neighborly relations and peaceful relations with the new forces emerging in Syria, that’s our desire. But if we do not, we will do whatever it takes to defend the State of Israel and the border of Israel.”
Syrian Exiles Prepare To Head Home, Send Messages Of Peace To Israel
Syrian journalist in exile Noor Golani, like many other of his countrymen who escaped the Assad regime during the civil war, was making plans to return home after living in Germany.
In an interview with Ynet he said he had been watching events unfold and was pleased to see the regime fall, as he had long hopes and believed it would and claimed the rebel forces refrained from harm to civilians as they advanced.
Thank God all the detainees were freed from jail. Many Syrians waited for their children to be released. Some had been imprisoned for years and they were never informed,” he said. “I did not sleep. This is the first morning of the post-Assad era. There is no Assad, no Iran, no Ba’ath Party. It is the best morning I have had.”
Golani said his father was murdered by the regime. I am glad that my father’s murderer was toppled. The person who destroyed the country and killed two million Syrians is gone. Syria has been returned to its people,” he said.
He also sent a message to Israelis, to calm concerns, although the developments in the wake of the fall of Assad, are not yet known. “The Syrian people want to build a country that respects its citizens, with institutions, without war and destruction, only peace,” he said in the interview.
“I understand the concern of Israelis over what is happening in Syria but it is the regime that caused everything,” he said. “There was cooperation in the region in the past. There were no violations and no attacks. It was a stable region. The Syrian regime brought in the militias and all the problems. It was the problem. Now, I tell you there will be stability,” he said.
“I want to give a message to Israel, that we do not want war and division. We want peace. Do not fear the Syrian people,” he said.
“In a separate interview, Syrian opposition member Yahya al Kurdi could not hide his joy and, like many other Syrians in exile, was celebrating the fall of Assad’s regime. “There will be a new life for 20 million people,” he said.
“For 50 years the regime has killed Syrians,” he told Ynet. He thanked Turkey for taking in millions of refugees from Syria and also thanked Israel and president-elect Donald Trump.
“The future of Syria will be a joint one for all factions,” he said. “Syria is not Lebanon, Yemen or Iran and the opposition is not heading in different directions. Israel helped us indirectly by weakening Hezbollah. It is important for me to say this was also thanks to Trump’s election,” he said.
Al Kurdi had been attempting to prove that foreign interests had been intervening in discussions on Syria in the UN. He appealed to the international body to launch an investigation. “For over a decade the Syrian people have suffered terribly under the regime. Cities were destroyed, millions displaced, and countless lives were lost. Despite that, there has not been enough international intervention to help the Syrians.”
That neglect, as he called it, raises disturbing questions regarding decisions made at the UN, he said, claiming that those who negotiated with the Syrian opposition had been working for Iran and Russia.
The Fall Of The Assad Regime: A Dramatic Blow To Iran’s Axis Of Resistance – Maj. (res.) Danny Citrinowicz
In hindsight, Israel’s targeting of senior Hezbollah figures and Iranian Quds Force leaders in Lebanon and Syria dramatically undermined the ability of Iran’s Axis of Resistance to assist the Syrian army. The heavy blow suffered by Hezbollah and the fall of Assad’s regime threaten to dismantle the defense system that Qassem Soleimani so successfully built for Tehran.
Soleimani essentially established the Axis of Resistance, which relied on Iran’s ability to advance its interests, deter Israel and the U.S. from acting against Iran, and keep war away from Iran’s borders without paying a significant price for achieving these goals. Now, rebuilding Hezbollah’s capabilities without Assad is highly questionable.
Tehran could theoretically enrich uranium to a military grade level of 90% to theoretically “compensate” for the damage to the axis and significantly strengthen Iran’s deterrence. However, such a move without Hezbollah’s protective umbrella, combined with Israel’s demonstrated capability to strike in Iran and the presence of President Trump in the White House, could pose a direct threat to the regime in Tehran.
The writer, a retired Israeli intelligence officer who specialized in Iran, is a research fellow at INSS (Institute for National Security Studies – Tel Aviv University)
Post-Assad Syria: Winners And Losers, Crisis And Opportunity
Syria’s pro-Iranian Alawite minority has fallen. Damascus was captured by the most formidable element of the anti-Assad coalition, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), The group is led by the Sunni Islamic fundamentalist Abu Mohammad al Jolani.
Despite Western media re-broadcasts of Jolani’s recent messages “We come in peace,” Jolani is suspected of remaining a committed Islamist who has vowed to establish an Islamic Republic in Syria. Historically, he has been an avowed enemy of the West and Israel.
It would be prudent for the West to remember that HTS stands for the liberation of the entire Levant, which includes not only Syria, but Lebanon, Israel and Jordan as well.
Turkey is a major supporter of HTS. Turkey has hosted at least three million Syrian refugees during the 12-year Syrian civil war, and Istanbul has been the site of several assemblies of Syrian opposition groups.
Russia and Iran, the former regime’s erstwhile supporters, are the losers in the fall of the Assad dictatorship.
The Russians will need to negotiate with the new sheriff in town, presumably to oversee Russia’s withdrawal from its Syrian air bases and naval facility.
(JCFA Iran-Syrian Desk (Jerusalem Center For Security and Foreign Affairs.)
(jcpa.org)
Hamas Submits Names Of Hostages Who Would Be Included In Hostage Deal – Report
As of Monday morning, (9th), Hamas has reportedly presented Egyptian mediators an initial list with the names of the hostages who would be included in a possible hostage deal, according to the London-based Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, citing a source familiar with the subject.
According to the report, the list included four hostages who hold American citizenship, in addition to hostages who are elderly and who suffer from medical conditions.
Hamas also reportedly submitted a list with the names of Palestinian prisoners.
On Sunday (8th), a Hamas delegation headed by Hamas senior official Khalil al-Hayya, visited Cairo for hostage deal negotiations, which the report claimed have reached an “advanced stage.”
Al-Araby Al-Jadeed further claimed that an Israeli delegation was set to head to the Egyptian capital on Monday (9th) for further discussions.
On Saturday (7th), the Saudi-owned news outlet Asharq Al-Awsat reported that Hamas was attempting to determine the number of living Israeli hostages it and other terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip were holding.
Senior UNRWA School Staff Were Hamas Terrorists – Report
At least 24 teachers and administrators at UNRWA schools were named as armed fighters in Hamas’ internal documents.
Dozens of staff at UNRWA schools in the Gaza Strip were active members of Hamas’ military wing, and were named as combatants on internal documents and issued weapons by the terror group, according to a New York Times report.
Israeli forces seized numerous documents from Hamas offices in the Strip which clearly indicated that at least 24 administrators and teachers on UNRWA’s payroll were Hamas operatives.
Several Gazans speaking anonymously, confirmed to the Times that it was widely known that many UNRWA staff were affiliated with Hamas or active members of the terror group.
One teacher was often seen dressed in Hamas fatigues after leaving his post at an UNRWA school.
A quick glance at the social media profiles of many of those named on the list shows open support for Hamas, including posts of the terror groups’ banners.
In 2017, a tunnel used by the Hamas terror group was located inside of an UNRWA school.
Khaled al-Masri, the principal of the school, is a Hamas operative who was given a handgun and assault rifle by the terror group, according to the Times report.
But despite extensive evidence of Hamas infiltrating UNRWA schools, the UN agency has not taken steps to expel terrorists from its payroll.
“The UN has been unable and/or unwilling to eliminate Hamas militants and their supporters, as well as those from other terror groups, from their ranks,” James Lindsay, who served as UNRWA’s general counsel until 2007, told the Times.
“UNRWA hiring practices and the makeup of the labor pool from which UNRWA draws its employees suggests to me that the numbers the Israelis are talking about are probably pretty close to the truth.”
In a laconic statement, UNRWA commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini claimed that the organization does not have the resources to conduct thorough background checks on its employees.
He also sniped that it was “extraordinarily interesting” that Israel shared the documents with the press, rather than UNRWA.
Lazzarini did not acknowledge that UNRWA has consistently rejected evidence of terror within the organization, when presented with that information by Israel.
After being shown footage of UNRWA employees throwing a murdered Israel’s corpse into a vehicle during the October 7th terror onslaught, the organization only managed to say that some of its staff “may” have been involved with Hamas.
“The UN seems intent on portraying this problem as a few bad apples, rather than acknowledging that the tree is rotten,” said Amir Weissbrod, Israel’s foreign ministry’s deputy director for international organizations, told the Times.
Hamas spokesman Basem Naim declined to comment on the report.
