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Commercial Plane from Türkiye Lands in Damascus for 1st Time in 13 Years

A Turkish Airlines aircraft carrying a diplomatic delegation from Ankara and an aid shipment provided by the Turkish Red Crescent, lands at the Damascus International Airport in the Syrian capital on January 23, 2025. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)
A Turkish Airlines aircraft carrying a diplomatic delegation from Ankara and an aid shipment provided by the Turkish Red Crescent, lands at the Damascus International Airport in the Syrian capital on January 23, 2025. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)
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Commercial Plane from Türkiye Lands in Damascus for 1st Time in 13 Years

A Turkish Airlines aircraft carrying a diplomatic delegation from Ankara and an aid shipment provided by the Turkish Red Crescent, lands at the Damascus International Airport in the Syrian capital on January 23, 2025. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)
A Turkish Airlines aircraft carrying a diplomatic delegation from Ankara and an aid shipment provided by the Turkish Red Crescent, lands at the Damascus International Airport in the Syrian capital on January 23, 2025. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)

A commercial plane from Türkiye landed in Damascus for the first time in 13 years on Thursday, Syrian state media said.
The Turkish Airlines plane flew from Istanbul to the Syrian capital, SANA reported, two weeks after the first international commercial flight landed, from Qatar, since former Syrian President Bashar Assad’s fall.
Ankara backed opposition groups in northwestern Syria that fought against Assad and his allies during the uprising-turned-conflict and never restored ties, even when most Mideast countries did in 2023.
Now Türkiye, a key ally of the new authorities under Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has expressed its intention to invest in Syria’s economy and help its ailing electricity and energy sectors.

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Hezbollah Urges Lebanese State to Push for Israel’s Pullout

A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) vehicle drives as residents who were displaced because of the hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel return to the Lebanese village of Khiam, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Karamallah Daher
A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) vehicle drives as residents who were displaced because of the hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel return to the Lebanese village of Khiam, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Karamallah Daher
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Hezbollah Urges Lebanese State to Push for Israel’s Pullout

A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) vehicle drives as residents who were displaced because of the hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel return to the Lebanese village of Khiam, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Karamallah Daher
A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) vehicle drives as residents who were displaced because of the hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel return to the Lebanese village of Khiam, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Karamallah Daher

Hezbollah said on Thursday that Israel has to completely withdraw from Lebanon as the 60-day period in a ceasefire deal comes to an end, adding that the Lebanese state should push for guarantee for the withdrawal.

The Iran-backed group also said in a statement that it was following developments and any breach to the agreement would not be accepted.

Israel and Hezbollah agreed in November to an American- and French-mediated ceasefire, bringing an end to more than a year of fighting. Under the deal, Israeli forces were to withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah forces were to withdraw from south of the Litani river over the 60-day period ending next Monday morning.

Hezbollah said in its statement that it was the Lebanese state’s responsibility to act and press the countries sponsoring the ceasefire agreement should Israel delay its military pullout from south Lebanon.

Caretaker National Defense Minister Maurice Sleem on Thursday met with acting Army Commander Major General Hassan Audi at his office in Yarzeh to discuss the situation in southern Lebanon and the implementation stages of the ceasefire arrangements.

Sleem reaffirmed Lebanon's firm position on the necessity of the Israeli troop withdrawal from the South in line with the ceasefire deadline of January 26.

Speaker Nabih Berri also discussed the matter with head of the Ceasefire Monitoring Committee, US General Jasper Jeffers, in Ain al-Tineh.

Discussions reportedly focused on developments on the Israeli withdrawal from remaining occupied territories in southern Lebanon, as well as Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement and UN Resolution 1701.