Türkiye Says Israel’s Ground Offensive into Lebanon Is Illegal, Kremlin Voices Concern

An Israeli attack helicopter fires towards Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel, October 1, 2024. (Reuters)
An Israeli attack helicopter fires towards Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel, October 1, 2024. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Says Israel’s Ground Offensive into Lebanon Is Illegal, Kremlin Voices Concern

An Israeli attack helicopter fires towards Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel, October 1, 2024. (Reuters)
An Israeli attack helicopter fires towards Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel, October 1, 2024. (Reuters)

Türkiye’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that Israel's ground offensive into Lebanon was an illegal attempt at occupation that violated Lebanese territorial integrity, and added the operation must immediately end with Israel withdrawing from Lebanon.

Israeli paratroopers, commandos and armored units launched raids at the start of a ground incursion into south Lebanon, as intense fighting erupted with Hezbollah fighters on Tuesday.

In a statement, the foreign ministry said Israel's offensive targeted regional countries' security and stability as well, and added it was "highly likely" that a new migrant wave will emerge from the fighting.

It called on the UN Security Council to "do what is necessary" in line with international law.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday it was deeply concerned about Israel's military activity in Lebanon and a reported strike on the Syrian capital, Damascus.

Syrian state media said on Tuesday morning that three civilians had been killed and nine others injured in an Israeli airstrike on Damascus.

"We are witnessing together that the geography of hostilities is expanding, which is further destabilizing the region and increasing tensions. These tensions are destructive to the region and the surrounding areas. We remain deeply concerned," Peskov said.

He added that Moscow was in constant contact with Damascus.

"We see no immediate risks at the moment, but of course we condemn such strikes against a sovereign state," said Peskov.

Poland will limit the number of staff at its embassy in Beirut, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday, adding that Warsaw would organize transport for Polish citizens who want to leave Lebanon.

"The decision was made to limit the staff at our embassy in Beirut," spokesperson Pawel Wronski told reporters. "Mainly these are the families of diplomats. We will try to keep the essential people, and those who are not essential will return to the country (Poland)" 



Syria's New Rulers Appoint Maysaa Sabrine to Lead Central Bank, Official Says

People and cars are seen in front of the Central Bank of Syria, after rebels seized the capital and ousted Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria December 11, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
People and cars are seen in front of the Central Bank of Syria, after rebels seized the capital and ousted Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria December 11, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
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Syria's New Rulers Appoint Maysaa Sabrine to Lead Central Bank, Official Says

People and cars are seen in front of the Central Bank of Syria, after rebels seized the capital and ousted Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria December 11, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
People and cars are seen in front of the Central Bank of Syria, after rebels seized the capital and ousted Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria December 11, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo

Syria's new rulers have appointed Maysaa Sabrine, formerly a deputy governor of the Syrian central bank, to lead the institution as the first woman to do so in its more than 70-year history, a senior Syrian official said.

Sabrine, a longtime central bank official mostly focused on oversight of the country's banking sector, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

She replaces Mohammed Issam Hazime who was appointed governor in 2021 by then-President Bashar al-Assad and remained on after Assad was ousted by a lightning opposition offensive on Dec. 8.

Since the takeover, the bank has taken steps to liberalize an economy that was heavily controlled by the state, including by cancelling the need for pre-approvals for imports and exports and tight controls on the use of foreign currency.

But Syria and the bank itself remain under strict US sanctions.

The bank has also taken stock of the country's assets after Assad's fall and a brief spate of looting that saw Syrian currency stolen but the main vaults left unbreached, Reuters reported.

The vault holds nearly 26 tons of gold, the same amount it had at the start of its civil war in 2011, sources told Reuters, but foreign currency reserves had dwindled from around $18 billion before the war to around $200 million, they said.