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Syrian Regime Increases Gasoline Prices, Rations Internet Usage

Syrians queue to buy bread from a bakery in Aleppo (File photo: AFP)
Syrians queue to buy bread from a bakery in Aleppo (File photo: AFP)
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Syrian Regime Increases Gasoline Prices, Rations Internet Usage

Syrians queue to buy bread from a bakery in Aleppo (File photo: AFP)
Syrians queue to buy bread from a bakery in Aleppo (File photo: AFP)

The Syrian Ministry of Communications and Technology began Sunday implementing a decision on Internet rationing, which would result in a rise in the costs of usage.

The government also, and without any prior notice, decided to increase the price of gasoline by SYP25/liter all over Syria, reaching SYP250/liter, as the exchange rate of the Syrian pound against the US dollar stands at SYP1030.

Inflation is already high, but observers expressed fears of soaring prices after the hike in the price of gasoline.

In an attempt to appease the country’s poorest and most vulnerable population, a decree was issued on a SYP20,000 increase in the salaries of the families of “martyrs,” the missing and soldiers and policemen suffering from huge disabilities.

Internet usage was rationed, which despite its bad shape,is the only means for Syrians to stay connected amid severe power cuts, a stifling domestic gas crisis, and the deterioration in the purchasing power of more than 85 percent of the Syrian people living below the poverty line.

The Ministry of Communications and Technology began applying the new mechanism for rationing Internet usage by setting a threshold for the use of ADSL. If the user exceeds usage limit, speed is reduced.

Immediately after the announcement of the new mechanism, a storm of criticism erupted.

MP Nabil Saleh warned against its consequences, saying that he, and 10 other parliamentarians, submitted a request to interrogate Minister of Communications Iyad al-Khatib.

Saleh wrote on his Facebook page that the Ministry is looking for profits without heeding the economic and psychological consequences that its decisions would have on the people, who have been suffering from a devastating war, soaring inflation, and the loss of basic necessities and living standards.

Former Minister of Communications Amr Salem responded angrily to Saleh, defending the new decision, saying the law targets users who “unfairly” use the Internet, and exchange hundreds of videos daily.

Saleh failed to collect 10 signatures to question the Minister of Oil for depriving a large segment of the Syrian people from cooking gas. He wasn’t either able to collect enough signatures to interrogate the Minister of Internal Trade for further worsening the people’s difficult living conditions.

But the lawmaker was successful in gathering 10 signatures to interrogate the Minister of Communications over the Internet usage limit.

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Arab World

Syrian Security Forces Enter Hasakeh City under Deal with Kurds

Syrian Interior Ministry security forces vehicles travel to enter the city of Hasakah in northeastern Syria, following an agreement between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces reached on January 30, in Al-hasakah, Syria, February 2, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Syrian Interior Ministry security forces vehicles travel to enter the city of Hasakah in northeastern Syria, following an agreement between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces reached on January 30, in Al-hasakah, Syria, February 2, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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Syrian Security Forces Enter Hasakeh City under Deal with Kurds

Syrian Interior Ministry security forces vehicles travel to enter the city of Hasakah in northeastern Syria, following an agreement between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces reached on January 30, in Al-hasakah, Syria, February 2, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Syrian Interior Ministry security forces vehicles travel to enter the city of Hasakah in northeastern Syria, following an agreement between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces reached on January 30, in Al-hasakah, Syria, February 2, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Syrian government security personnel on Monday entered Hasakeh city, a stronghold of Kurdish forces, under an integration deal agreed with the Kurds last week, an AFP team reported.

The two sides reached a comprehensive agreement on Friday to gradually integrate the Kurds' military and civilian institutions into the state, after Kurdish forces ceded territory to advancing government troops in recent weeks after months of tensions and sporadic clashes.

AFP correspondents saw a convoy of government vehicles cross a Kurdish forces checkpoint on its way into Hakaseh in the northeast, as armed Kurdish personnel stood at the roadside.

Some residents gathered along the road to welcome the government forces, waving Syrian flags as women ululated.

Marwan al-Ali, the government's recently appointed head of internal security in Hasakeh province, urged the state forces to carry out their tasks "according to the established plans and fully comply with laws and regulations".

AFP correspondents saw Kurdish security forces deployed inside Hasakeh as government forces entered, though streets were empty and shops closed due to a curfew in force until 6:00 pm (1500 GMT).

Mazloum Abdi, head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), had previously said the deal would be implemented on the ground from Monday, with both sides to pull forces back from frontline positions in parts of the northeast, and from the town of Kobane in the north.

He said a "limited internal security force" would enter parts of Hasakeh and Qamishli, but that "no military forces will enter any Kurdish city or town".

A curfew is set to be put in place for the city of Qamishli on Tuesday.

Friday's deal "seeks to unify Syrian territory", including Kurdish areas, while also maintaining an ongoing ceasefire and introducing the "gradual integration" of Kurdish forces and administrative institutions.

It also appeared to include some Kurdish demands, such as establishing brigades of fighters from the SDF.

The head of internal security in Aleppo province met with Kurdish forces in Kobane on Sunday, discussing security arrangements and plans for government personnel to enter the town.

Hemmed in by the Turkish border and Syrian government forces, Kobane is located more than 200 kilometres (125 miles) from Hasakeh, and has long been seen as a symbol of Kurdish fighters' victory against IS jihadists.

The United States, which led a military coalition that backed the Kurds' campaign against ISIS, has drawn close to Syria's new authorities, recently saying the purpose of its alliance with the Kurdish forces was largely over.

Information Minister Hamza Mustafa has said the integration deal also includes the handover of oil fields, the Qamishli airport and border crossings to the government within 10 days.

As state forces deploy to Kurdish-held areas, only Druze-majority Sweida will effectively remain outside government control.

Arab World

Israel Issues Evacuation Warnings for Buildings in South Lebanon ahead of Strikes

A person inspects a site a day after a series of Israeli airstrikes targeted a large industrial machine in the village of Marwaniyah, southern Lebanon, last January 31 (EPA)
A person inspects a site a day after a series of Israeli airstrikes targeted a large industrial machine in the village of Marwaniyah, southern Lebanon, last January 31 (EPA)
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Israel Issues Evacuation Warnings for Buildings in South Lebanon ahead of Strikes

A person inspects a site a day after a series of Israeli airstrikes targeted a large industrial machine in the village of Marwaniyah, southern Lebanon, last January 31 (EPA)
A person inspects a site a day after a series of Israeli airstrikes targeted a large industrial machine in the village of Marwaniyah, southern Lebanon, last January 31 (EPA)

Israel's military warned on Monday it would soon strike Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, issuing evacuation warnings for buildings in two villages.

The army "will, in the near future, strike military infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization, in response to its prohibited attempts to rebuild its activities in the area," its Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X, telling residents of certain buildings in Kfar Tibnit and Ain Qana "to evacuate them immediately".

 

Arab World

Gaza’s Rafah Border Crossing with Egypt Reopens for Limited Traffic in Key Step for Ceasefire

01 February 2026, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Trucks carrying humanitarian aid arrive in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, after passing through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
01 February 2026, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Trucks carrying humanitarian aid arrive in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, after passing through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
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Gaza’s Rafah Border Crossing with Egypt Reopens for Limited Traffic in Key Step for Ceasefire

01 February 2026, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Trucks carrying humanitarian aid arrive in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, after passing through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
01 February 2026, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Trucks carrying humanitarian aid arrive in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, after passing through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa

Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt reopened on Monday for limited traffic, a key step as the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire moves ahead, according to Egyptian and Israeli security officials.

An Egyptian official said 50 Palestinians would cross in each direction in the first day of the crossing’s operation. The official, involved in talks related the implementation of the ceasefire deal, spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the issue.

State-run Egyptian media and an Israeli security official also confirmed the reopening, which for now at least, is largely symbolic. Few people will be allowed to travel in either direction, and no goods will be allowed to enter.

About 20,000 Palestinian children and adults needing medical care hope to leave devastated Gaza via the crossing, according to Gaza health officials. Thousands of other Palestinians outside the territory hope to enter and return home.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also said that Israel will allow 50 patients a day to leave. An official involved in the discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the diplomatic talks, said each patient would be allowed to travel with two relatives, while some 50 people who left Gaza during the war would be allowed to return each day.

The Egyptian health ministry said in a statement on Monday that 150 hospitals across the country have been prepared to receive Palestinian patients and wounded who will be evacuated from Gaza through the Rafah crossing.

Israel has said it and Egypt will vet people for exit and entry through the crossing, which will be supervised by European Union border patrol agents with a small Palestinian presence. The numbers of travelers are expected to increase over time, if the system is successful.

Israeli troops seized the Rafah crossing in May 2024, calling it part of efforts to combat arms-smuggling for the Hamas group. The crossing was briefly opened for the evacuation of medical patients during a ceasefire in early 2025. Israel had resisted reopening the Rafah crossing, but the recovery of the remains of the last hostage in Gaza last week cleared the way to move forward.

The reopening is a key step as last year’s US-brokered ceasefire agreement that took effect on Oct. 10 moves into its second phase.

Before the war, Rafah was the main crossing for people moving in and out of Gaza. The territory’s handful of other crossings are all shared with Israel. Under the ceasefire terms, Israel’s military controls the area between the Rafah crossing and the zone where most Palestinians live.

Fearing that Israel could use the crossing to push Palestinians out of the enclave, Egypt has repeatedly said it must be open for them to enter and exit Gaza.

The current ceasefire halted more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas that began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The truce’s first phase called for the exchange of all hostages held in Gaza for hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel, an increase in badly needed humanitarian aid and a partial pullback of Israeli troops.

The second phase of the ceasefire deal is more complicated. It calls for installing the new Palestinian committee to govern Gaza, deploying an international security force, disarming Hamas and taking steps to begin rebuilding.