Iran's FM Arrives in Damascus, Invites Assad to Visit Tehran

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian at a press conference in Damascus (AFP)
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian at a press conference in Damascus (AFP)
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Iran's FM Arrives in Damascus, Invites Assad to Visit Tehran

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian at a press conference in Damascus (AFP)
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian at a press conference in Damascus (AFP)

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian handed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad an invitation from Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to visit Iran.

Amirabdollahian arrived Sunday in Syria and discussed the latest regional and international developments with Assad.

The FM condemned the Israeli attack that targeted military advisors in Syria.

Since the beginning of 2024, Israel launched over ten attacks against Iranian militias' sites within Syria, killing about 31 soldiers and injuring nine others, including six from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), six from the Lebanese Hezbollah, and three Iraqis.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the attacks destroyed about 27 targets, including weapons and ammunition depots, headquarters, centers, and vehicles.

On Saturday, ahead of Amirabdollahian's visit to Damascus coming from Beirut, Israel bombed al-Dimas Airport, west of Damascus, targeting the Syrian military infrastructure.

Deputy head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation Vadim Collet explained that the Israeli warplanes launched their attack from outside Syrian airspace, according to Russia Today.

The Syrian FM Faisal Mekdad met with Amirabdollahian for bilateral talks.

Iran's top diplomat condemned the US "illegal presence" on Syrian territory and said that he discussed with President Assad the latest regional and international developments.

The Syrian President affirmed that the US stance towards the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip threatens the expansion of conflict by continuing to provide the Zionist entity with lethal weapons and Washington's aggressions.

Assad said: "The Zionist entity and the West are in trouble today, and the West is now required to save that entity, and Israel's escalation in Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon is nothing but an attempt to get out of this trouble."

The President criticized the relevant international institutions, especially the Security Council, for their inability to stop Israel's massacres against the Palestinian people.

Israel is preparing to complete commiting crimes in Rafah, said Assad.

Amirabdollahian, in turn, said that Gaza is now the main issue not only at the regional level but also at the international level, noting that Syria is on the front lines in supporting the Palestinian people and their cause.

Ahead of his visit to Syria, the Iranian FM was in Beirut, where he met with Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement Ziad al-Nakhalah, Hamas official Osama Hamdan, and Deputy Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Jamil Mezher.

"The region is moving toward stability, security, and political solutions," Amirabdollahian said in a news conference at the Iranian Embassy in Beirut.

Media reports stated that decision-makers in Tehran are considering the next steps regarding the escalation of US and Israeli attacks against its forces in Syria and Iraq.

According to reports, the military tends toward responding to the assassinations, while the diplomatic channels believe it is crucial to maintain restraint and avoid escalation to keep matters under control. They seek to exploit the regional developments for the benefit of Iranian diplomacy.



Israel Military Says Soldier Killed in Gaza 

A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 21, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israel Military Says Soldier Killed in Gaza 

A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 21, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 21, 2025. (Reuters)

The Israeli military announced that one of its soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Gaza on Wednesday, but a security source said the death appeared to have been caused by "friendly fire".

"Staff Sergeant Ofri Yafe, aged 21, from HaYogev, a soldier in the Paratroopers Reconnaissance Unit, fell during combat in the southern Gaza Strip," the military said in a statement.

A security source, however, told AFP that the soldier appeared to have been "killed by friendly fire", without providing further details.

"The incident is still under investigation," the source added.

The death brings to five the number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza since a ceasefire took effect on October 10.


Syria: SDF’s Mazloum Abdi Says Implementation of Integration Deal May Take Time

People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
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Syria: SDF’s Mazloum Abdi Says Implementation of Integration Deal May Take Time

People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman

Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, said the process of merging the SDF with Syrian government forces “may take some time,” despite expressing confidence in the eventual success of the agreement.

His remarks came after earlier comments in which he acknowledged differences with Damascus over the concept of “decentralization.”

Speaking at a tribal conference in the northeastern city of Hasakah on Tuesday, Abdi said the issue of integration would not be resolved quickly, but stressed that the agreement remains on track.

He said the deal reached last month stipulates that three Syrian army brigades will be created out of the SDF.

Abdi added that all SDF military units have withdrawn to their barracks in an effort to preserve stability and continue implementing the announced integration agreement with the Syrian state.

He also emphasized the need for armed forces to withdraw from the vicinity of the city of Ayn al-Arab (Kobani), to be replaced by security forces tasked with maintaining order.


Israeli Far-Right Minister to Push for ‘Migration’ of West Bank, Gaza Palestinians 

A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)
A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)
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Israeli Far-Right Minister to Push for ‘Migration’ of West Bank, Gaza Palestinians 

A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)
A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would pursue a policy of "encouraging the migration" of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported Wednesday.

"We will eliminate the idea of an Arab terror state," said Smotrich, speaking at an event organized by his Religious Zionism Party late on Tuesday.

"We will finally, formally, and in practical terms nullify the cursed Oslo Accords and embark on a path toward sovereignty, while encouraging emigration from both Gaza and Judea and Samaria.

"There is no other long-term solution," added Smotrich, who himself lives in a settlement in the West Bank.

Since last week, Israel has approved a series of measures backed by far-right ministers to tighten control over the West Bank, including in areas administered by the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords, in place since the 1990s.

The measures include a process to register land in the West Bank as "state property" and facilitate direct purchases of land by Jewish Israelis.

The measures have triggered widespread international outrage.

On Tuesday, the UN missions of 85 countries condemned the measures, which critics say amount to de facto annexation of the Palestinian territory.

"We strongly condemn unilateral Israeli decisions and measures aimed at expanding Israel's unlawful presence in the West Bank," they said in a statement.

"Such decisions are contrary to Israel's obligations under international law and must be immediately reversed.

"We underline in this regard our strong opposition to any form of annexation."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called on Israel to reverse its land registration policy, calling it "destabilizing" and "unlawful".

The West Bank would form the largest part of any future Palestinian state. Many on Israel's religious right view it as Israeli land.

Israeli NGOs have also raised the alarm over a settlement plan signed by the government which they say would mark the first expansion of Jerusalem's borders into the occupied West Bank since 1967.

The planned development, announced by Israel's Ministry of Construction and Housing, is formally a westward expansion of the Geva Binyamin, or Adam, settlement situated northeast of Jerusalem in the West Bank.

The current Israeli government has fast-tracked settlement expansion, approving a record 52 settlements in 2025.

Excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements and outposts, which are illegal under international law.