Observatory: ISIS Killed Over 100 in Syria Since Start of Year

ISIS continues its attacks despite its defeat in 2013. (AFP)
ISIS continues its attacks despite its defeat in 2013. (AFP)
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Observatory: ISIS Killed Over 100 in Syria Since Start of Year

ISIS continues its attacks despite its defeat in 2013. (AFP)
ISIS continues its attacks despite its defeat in 2013. (AFP)

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that more than 100 civilians and military were killed in 50 operations on Syrian territories since the beginning of 2024, despite the “definitive defeat of the organization and the cessation of its control over extensive swathes of Syrian territory."

Since the start of the year, ISIS cells have executed 50 separate operations in the desert, including ambushes, armed assaults, and bombings in areas like the western Euphrates, Deir Ezzor, Raqqa, and Homs.

SOHR added that the death toll from these military activities in the Syrian desert has risen to 133 since the beginning of 2024. This toll includes 17 fatalities attributed to ISIS and 101 to regime forces and militias. Additionally, five civilians lost their lives while gathering truffles, and ten individuals, including a child, fell victim to ISIS attacks in the Syrian desert.

According to statistics from the Observatory, operations were delineated into various regions: 16 in the Deir Ezzor desert, resulting in the deaths of 27 soldiers, including seven from pro-Iran militias, two from the organization, and two truffle hunters. In the Homs desert, 27 operations led to the deaths of 50 soldiers, including three from pro-Iran militias and 12 from the organization, along with six civilians.

Additionally, three operations in the Raqqa desert resulted in 11 soldier fatalities, including three from the organization, while three operations in the Hama desert led to 10 soldier deaths and seven civilian casualties, including a child.

Furthermore, one operation in the Aleppo desert resulted in the deaths of three pro-Iranian militia members.



Israel Pessimistic about Ceasefire Deal with Lebanon

Damage caused by Israeli raids in Lebanon. (AP)
Damage caused by Israeli raids in Lebanon. (AP)
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Israel Pessimistic about Ceasefire Deal with Lebanon

Damage caused by Israeli raids in Lebanon. (AP)
Damage caused by Israeli raids in Lebanon. (AP)

The United States' special envoy for the Middle East, Amos Hochstein, decided to extend his visit to Beirut until Wednesday, political sources in Tel Aviv said. The envoy, who was expected in Israel on Wednesday morning, will arrive there by Thursday at the latest.

Despite the positive signals from Washington about Hochstein’s visit to the Lebanese capital, Israelis cast doubt on the likelihood that a deal could be reached to end the war on Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The sources said US officials are very serious about reaching a possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war. “Coordination is ongoing between the administration of President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump, who are both determined to end the war,” the sources stressed.

As evidence, they said, Washington has decided to place a US general at the head of a military technical committee tasked to achieve the total deployment of the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon.

However, Israel is skeptical. It believes Hezbollah is maneuvering and will not accept the Israeli terms of the US proposal.

The sources said the Israeli army is indirectly taking part in the Hochstein-led negotiations by exerting pressure on Lebanon and intensifying its attacks on the capital, not just its southern suburbs where Hezbollah has a strong presence, as well as the South and eastern Bekaa region.

Former head of Israeli Defense Intelligence Professor Amos Yadlin, who held a meeting with Hochstein recently, revealed that the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon is making great progress.

He said a deal could be announced this weekend. “The most important thing is that the agreement between Israel and Washington on the US guarantees is ready. If an agreement is reached in Beirut on those guarantees, a ceasefire deal will be signed and put into effect,” Yadlin said.

Biden sent a message to Israel that the US administration will not only serve as a guarantor to Israel, but it has also given it legitimacy in its right to self-defense, he revealed.

“In Washington, they agree with us that Israel has cancelled its known MABAM doctrine (the ‘war between the wars’), and is now ready to wage a war whenever it is attacked. Hochstein and other mutual friends of Israel and Lebanon have made this clear, but this policy has to be understood in Lebanon, Syria and Iran,” he added.

Meanwhile, the majority of officials close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remain pessimistic about reaching a ceasefire deal with Lebanon.

The right-wing newspaper Israel Hayom quoted an Israeli political source as saying that “an agreement is not likely to be reached in the near future.”

Instead, it said, the Israeli military has approved plans to attack the southern suburbs of Beirut, carry out assassinations wherever possible, even in the majority-Christian part of east Beirut and continue to target Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon.

On Tuesday, Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right minister of finance, said, “We will not agree to any arrangement that is not worth the paper it is written on.”

Addressing the ceasefire efforts, Netanyahu told a Knesset meeting that “the important thing is not the piece of paper.”