Regime Presses on in Northwest Syria

FILE PHOTO: Road direction signs are pictured at the entrance to Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib, Syria August 24, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Road direction signs are pictured at the entrance to Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib, Syria August 24, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki/File Photo
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Regime Presses on in Northwest Syria

FILE PHOTO: Road direction signs are pictured at the entrance to Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib, Syria August 24, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Road direction signs are pictured at the entrance to Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib, Syria August 24, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki/File Photo

Russian-backed regime forces seized a cluster of towns and villages in northwest Syria Thursday, as deadly air strikes hit the opposition-held bastion, a monitor said.

Seven civilians died in air strikes in the south of the bastion, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, a day after regime air strikes killed 12 others, including six children in a single town.

Bashar al-Assad's forces have been chipping away at the southern edge of the stronghold for three weeks, after months of deadly bombardment.

Last week, the regime took control of the town of Khan Sheikhoun on a key highway that runs through Idlib province, linking Damascus to second city Aleppo.

Overnight, pro-regime fighters "managed to advance in the southern Idlib countryside", according to the head of the Britain-based Observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman.

They took control of the towns of Al-Tamaanah and Al-Khuwayn, as well as nearby villages, east of Khan Sheikhoun, he said.

"The forces are trying to further extend their control in the area of Khan Sheikhoun before they advance north in the direction of the town of Maaret al-Noman," he added.

Maaret al-Noman is the next stop northwards on the Damascus-Aleppo highway.

Regime air strikes killed 12 civilians -- half of them children -- in Maaret al-Noman on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, another four civilians, including one child, were killed in other parts of the bastion.



Hezbollah Says Refuses to Disarm Until Israel Withdraws from South Lebanon

Hezbollah supporters listen to a televised speech by the movemen't leader Naim Qassem in Beirut's southern suburbs on July 6, 2025. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
Hezbollah supporters listen to a televised speech by the movemen't leader Naim Qassem in Beirut's southern suburbs on July 6, 2025. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
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Hezbollah Says Refuses to Disarm Until Israel Withdraws from South Lebanon

Hezbollah supporters listen to a televised speech by the movemen't leader Naim Qassem in Beirut's southern suburbs on July 6, 2025. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
Hezbollah supporters listen to a televised speech by the movemen't leader Naim Qassem in Beirut's southern suburbs on July 6, 2025. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem reiterated Sunday the group’s refusal to lay down its weapons before Israel withdraws from all of southern Lebanon and stops its airstrikes.

Qassem spoke in a video address as thousands gathered in Beirut’s southern suburbs to mark Ashoura.

Since the ceasefire with Hezbollah in November, Israel has continued to occupy five strategic border points in southern Lebanon and to carry out near-daily airstrikes.

“How can you expect us not to stand firm while the Israeli enemy continues its aggression, continues to occupy the five points, and continues to enter our territories and kill?” Qassem said in his video address. “We will not be part of legitimizing the occupation in Lebanon and the region. We will not accept normalization (with Israel).”

In response to those who ask why the group needs its missile arsenal, Qassem said: “How can we confront Israel when it attacks us if we didn’t have them? Who is preventing Israel from entering villages and landing and killing young people, women and children inside their homes unless there is a resistance with certain capabilities capable of minimal defense?”

His comments come ahead of an expected visit by US envoy Tom Barrack to Beirut to discuss a proposed plan for Hezbollah’s disarmament and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the rest of southern Lebanon.