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Hezbollah Launches Dozens of Rockets at Northern Israel

Projectiles fired from the Israeli Iron Dome air defense system to intercept missiles fired from southern Lebanon, over the upper Galilee, northern Israel, early 04 August 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Projectiles fired from the Israeli Iron Dome air defense system to intercept missiles fired from southern Lebanon, over the upper Galilee, northern Israel, early 04 August 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
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Hezbollah Launches Dozens of Rockets at Northern Israel

Projectiles fired from the Israeli Iron Dome air defense system to intercept missiles fired from southern Lebanon, over the upper Galilee, northern Israel, early 04 August 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Projectiles fired from the Israeli Iron Dome air defense system to intercept missiles fired from southern Lebanon, over the upper Galilee, northern Israel, early 04 August 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

Hezbollah said it had bombarded northern Israel late on Saturday with “dozens of Katyusha rockets” in response to Israeli attacks that hit civilians in southern Lebanon.
Concerns are rising in Lebanon about an outbreak of a war between Hezbollah and Israel amid regional tension.
In a statement, Hezbollah said: “In response to the enemy’s attacks on the southern villages... particularly the attacks on the villages of Kfar Kila and Deir Siryan and the injury of civilians'', it targeted a new area, “Beit Hillel”, in northern Israel with “dozens of Katyusha rockets”.
The Israeli enemy said that Hezbollah launched about 30 rockets from Lebanon at the Galilee region late last night.
According to the Times of Israel on Sunday, Israel said the Iron Dome air defense system intercepted most of those rockets, but one of them fell on the northern town of Beit Hillel, and several other rockets landed in open areas.
Israeli Air Force fighter jets have in response targeted the rocket launcher used in the attack in the town of Marjayoun in southern Lebanon, as well as other Hezbollah infrastructure in the area.
The Israeli army also stated that it shelled the area of Adaysseh with artillery.

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Syria Authorities Say Armed Groups Have Agreed to Disband

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks to the media in Damascus, Syria, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks to the media in Damascus, Syria, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
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Syria Authorities Say Armed Groups Have Agreed to Disband

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks to the media in Damascus, Syria, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks to the media in Damascus, Syria, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Syria's new leaders announced Tuesday that they had reached an agreement with the country's opposition groups on their dissolution and integration under the defense ministry.  

Absent from the meeting were representatives of the US-backed, Kurdish-led forces that control swathes of Syria's northeast.  

The meeting between the opposition groups and Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa "ended in an agreement on the dissolution of all the groups and their integration under the supervision of the ministry of defense", said a statement carried by the SANA news agency and the authorities' Telegram account.

The announcement comes just over two weeks after President Bashar al-Assad fled Syria, following a lightning offensive spearheaded by Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group.

On Sunday Sharaa, long known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, had said the new authorities would "absolutely not allow there to be weapons in the country outside state control".  

That also applied to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), he said.  

Last week, the military chief of HTS told AFP that Kurdish-held areas would be integrated under the new leadership, and that "Syria will not be divided".  

Thirteen years of civil war in Syria has left more than half a million people dead and fragmented the country into zones of influence controlled by different armed groups backed by regional and international powers.

SDF spokesman Farhad Shami told AFP the question of his group's integration into the national armed forces "should be discussed directly".  

He did not dismiss the possibility, saying that doing so would strengthen "the whole of Syria".  

Shami added that his forces prefer "dialogue with Damascus to resolve all questions".  

- 'Economic leverage' -  

Türkiye has long held ties with HTS, and analysts say that since the opposition took over Syria, both sides have sought to profit from the relationship.  

Ankara accuses the People's Protection Units (YPG) -- the main component of the SDF -- of being affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long insurgency on Turkish soil.  

Earlier this month, a Syria specialist who advises Western diplomats in Türkiye said: "The Turks would like to push HTS into striking at the Kurds but HTS doesn't want to get involved."

Although Ankara's role in Assad's overthrow had been "overstated", Türkiye now has "real economic leverage" thanks to the 900-kilometer (560-mile) border it shares with Syria, the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.  

How the situation develops will also depend on US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20 but has already proclaimed that "Türkiye is going to hold the key to Syria".  

Since late November, the SDF has been battling Türkiye-backed fighters who launched an offensive on Kurdish-held areas at the same time as HTS's anti-Assad campaign.  

On Tuesday, the SDF said in a statement its fighters were waging deadly combat to the east of the key city of Manbij, with 16 deaths in its ranks.  

Syria's Kurds, long oppressed under Assad's rule, saw an opportunity during the war to carve out a semi-autonomous territory in the northeast.  

They proved an indispensable ally to the US-led coalition battling the ISIS group.  

Since Assad's ouster on December 8, they have issued numerous statements welcoming his downfall, and also put out calls for dialogue with the new leadership in Damascus and with Türkiye.  

In Syria's northeast, both the Kurdish flag and the three-star independence-era flag used by the new authorities can be seen.