Iranian Proxy Militias in Syria Open Recruitment to Support Hamas

Iranian proxy militias in Deir Ezzor
Iranian proxy militias in Deir Ezzor
TT
20

Iranian Proxy Militias in Syria Open Recruitment to Support Hamas

Iranian proxy militias in Deir Ezzor
Iranian proxy militias in Deir Ezzor

Iranian proxy militias in Syria kicked off a campaign to support and aid the Hamas movement that launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in Israel, local sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday.

They said Iranian Revolutionary Guards militia commanders launched the campaign from cultural centers in the Deir Ezzor province to gather support for Hamas.

Also, public meetings were held to discuss the unprecedented escalation in Palestine. The militias launched donation campaigns and started accepting all those willing to engage in the fight against Israel on the southern Syrian front.

The director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) Rami Abdul Rahman told Asharq Al-Awsat that Iranian proxy militias, including the Lebanese Hezbollah and the “Syrian Resistance for the Liberation of the Golan,” have ordered their fighters to stay on high alert within their positions in the western countryside of Damascus, at the borders with Lebanon and in the occupied Golan.

At the southern front on the border with the occupied Golan, several sources confirmed that government forces, allied militias affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah members were placed on high alert in anticipation of an Israeli attack inside Syrian territory.

Meanwhile, the military leadership in Damascus called on officers, non-commissioned officers, and individuals working at airports and military institutions to join their work, and they also suspended leaves.

Sources reported frenzy movements by Iranian proxy militias near the Syria-Lebanon border in the Damascus countryside and areas near the border with the occupied Syrian Golan and Al-Qunaitrah countryside.

They brought in military and logistical reinforcement to fortify these positions, moved weapons to safer places and put on high alert to deal with any possible Israeli attacks, in light of the current situation in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Local sources said that weapons and military equipment had been transferred from warehouses belonging to Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in the Damascus countryside and the vicinity of the Damascus International Airport, to the southern front.

Meanwhile, security sources told Syria’s Voice of the Capital website that special units from Hezbollah deployed along the border in southern Syria with the Syrian territories occupied by Israel.

The site also reported that Iranian Revolutionary Guard officer, Hajj Muhammad Assadullah, and fighters from the Revolutionary Guards, left the town of Sayyida Zeinab, south of Damascus, and headed to the Al-Quneitra governorate.

Assadullah and his group had supervised the transfer of drones from the headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards in Daraa Governorate to military sites close to the Golan Heights and the occupied Palestinian territories.

Meanwhile, Sada Al-Sharqiya website said the leadership of the Iranian militias in the city of Al Bukamal, located within areas of Iranian influence in Deir Ezzor governorate, held a meeting with their local fighters and called on them to donate in support of the resistance.

The site also reported that the security official in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Al Bukamal announced that the Guard’s leadership would move its members from Deir Ezzor to the Damascus countryside and Al-Quneitra.

Also, Naher Media website confirmed reports saying a convoy of 12 vehicles had entered on Sunday from Iraq to Syria from the border point controlled by Iran, east of Deir Ezzor.

The vehicles were moved in small batches for fear of being targeted by coalition or Israeli aircrafts. Al Bukamal residents were advised not to approach the main street where the convoy will pass, under penalty of punishment, adding that the final destination of the convoy was unknown.



Palestinian President Abbas Appoints New Deputy in Major Step in Naming Successor

Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)
Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)
TT
20

Palestinian President Abbas Appoints New Deputy in Major Step in Naming Successor

Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)
Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday named a veteran aide and confidant as his new vice president. It’s a major step by the aging leader to designate a successor.

The appointment of Hussein al-Sheikh as vice president of the Palestine Liberation Organization does not guarantee he will be the next Palestinian president. But it makes him the front-runner among longtime politicians in the dominant Fatah party who hope to succeed the 89-year-old Abbas.

Abbas hopes to play a major role in postwar Gaza. He has been under pressure from Western and Arab allies to rehabilitate the Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.  

The PLO is the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinian people and oversees the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. Abbas has led both entities for two decades.