Syrian Regime Prepares for Military Operation in Western Countryside of Daraa

Syrian regime forces in Tafas, summer of 2022. (Horan Free League)
Syrian regime forces in Tafas, summer of 2022. (Horan Free League)
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Syrian Regime Prepares for Military Operation in Western Countryside of Daraa

Syrian regime forces in Tafas, summer of 2022. (Horan Free League)
Syrian regime forces in Tafas, summer of 2022. (Horan Free League)

Military reinforcements arrived in Syria's western countryside of Daraa Governorate on Monday morning, signaling the Syrian government's preparation for new military operations in the outskirts of Tafas, Dael, Yadouda, and Al-Mazareeb.

This information was reported by local military sources in the western countryside of Daraa.

According to sources, Syrian regime forces successfully reached the Tafas-Al-Mazareeb road on Monday morning.

They deployed at various points in the area and conducted extensive combing operations. Moreover, they raided several abandoned buildings in the southern part of Tafas, west of Daraa, including the “Planter” factory and the Abu Na'im Press.

The local news network Daraa 24 reported that the military campaign in the western countryside of the governorate is targeting farms and expansive plains between the city of Tafas and the towns of Al-Mazareeb and Yadouda, along with the surrounding areas.

This region has witnessed recurring incidents of theft, road blockades, and assassinations.

Additionally, it has become a haven for cells affiliated with ISIS following the recent military campaign against the organization in Daraa city. Moreover, a drug trafficking gang is active in the area.

A leader in one of the local factions in Tafas explained to Asharq Al-Awsat that the targeted groups by Syrian regime forces in the recent military movements in western Daraa, including drug traffickers and cells affiliated with ISIS, have been working to swiftly evacuate and relocate their positions as soon as they learn of potential military operations targeting them.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, the local leader, who requested anonymity, pointed out that the regime forces conducted military operations in this area around the same time last year.

They imposed financial levies on farmers, who ended up incurring significant losses, estimated at over one billion Syrian pounds, because of the military operations coincided with the harvest season.



Israeli Strikes Kill 15 in Gaza as Hospital in North of the Region Makes Distress Call

 Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike on the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on November 19, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike on the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on November 19, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Israeli Strikes Kill 15 in Gaza as Hospital in North of the Region Makes Distress Call

 Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike on the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on November 19, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike on the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on November 19, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Israeli forces killed at least 15 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, including a rescue worker, health officials said, as tanks deepened their incursion in the area and blew up homes, according to residents.

Medics said at least 12 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in the area of Jabalia, in northern Gaza, earlier on Wednesday. They said at least 10 people remained missing as rescue operations continued. Another man was killed in tank shelling nearby, they said.

In the Sabra suburb of Gaza City, the Palestinian civil emergency said an Israeli air strike targeted one of their teams during a rescue operation, killing one staff and wounding three others.

The death raised the number of civil emergency service members killed since Oct 7, 2023, to 87, it said.

There was no immediate Israeli comment on the two incidents.

Adding to the challenges facing the healthcare system in north Gaza areas, the civil emergency service said their vehicles were hardly operational because of shortages of fuel and equipment, citing Israel's continued refusal to allow them to bring the needed supplies.

In Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, medics said one man was killed and others wounded in an Israeli air strike on the eastern territory of the city.

Residents in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun, where the army has operated since early last month, said forces blew up dozens of houses in the three areas, adding to fears Israel was seeking to clear residents to create a buffer zone, something Israel denies.

Israel said it sent forces into the two towns and refugee camp to fight Hamas gunmen launching attacks and to prevent them from regrouping. It said it had killed hundreds of them since Oct 5.

Hamas and the Islamic Jihad armed wing claimed they killed many Israeli soldiers in anti-tank and mortar fire as well as ambushes by explosive devices during the same period.

Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of three medical facilities barely operational in the north of the enclave, said the hospital came under Israeli fire on Tuesday.

"The healthcare system is still operating under extremely harsh conditions. Following the arrest of 45 members of the medical and surgical staff and the denial of entry to a replacement team, we are now losing wounded patients daily who could have survived if resources were available," said Abu Safiya.

"Unfortunately, food and water are not allowed to enter, and not even a single ambulance is permitted access to the north. Yesterday, the hospital was bombed across all its departments without warning, as we were trying to save an injured person in the intensive care unit," he added.

Speaking during a visit to Gaza on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hamas would not rule the Palestinian enclave after the war had ended and that Israel had destroyed the group's military capabilities.

Netanyahu also said Israel had not given up trying to locate the 101 remaining hostages believed to be still in the enclave and he offered a $5 million reward for the return of each one.

Qatar, a key ceasefire mediator alongside Egypt, said it informed Hamas and Israel it will stall its mediation efforts unless the two warring parties showed "willingness and seriousness" to reach a deal.

Hamas wants a deal that ends the war, while Netanyahu vowed the war can only end once Hamas is eradicated.

The 2023 attack on Israel, which shattered Israel's aura of invincibility, marked the country's bloodiest day in its history, with 1,200 people killed and over 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel responded with its most destructive offensive in Gaza, killing nearly 44,000 people and wounding 103,898, according to the Gaza health ministry, and turning the enclave into a wasteland of rubble with millions desperate for food, fuel, water and sanitation.