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Syrian Security Forces Enter Hasakeh City under Deal with Kurds

Syrian Interior Ministry security forces vehicles travel to enter the city of Hasakah in northeastern Syria, following an agreement between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces reached on January 30, in Al-hasakah, Syria, February 2, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Syrian Interior Ministry security forces vehicles travel to enter the city of Hasakah in northeastern Syria, following an agreement between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces reached on January 30, in Al-hasakah, Syria, February 2, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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Syrian Security Forces Enter Hasakeh City under Deal with Kurds

Syrian Interior Ministry security forces vehicles travel to enter the city of Hasakah in northeastern Syria, following an agreement between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces reached on January 30, in Al-hasakah, Syria, February 2, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Syrian Interior Ministry security forces vehicles travel to enter the city of Hasakah in northeastern Syria, following an agreement between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces reached on January 30, in Al-hasakah, Syria, February 2, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Syrian government security personnel on Monday entered Hasakeh city, a stronghold of Kurdish forces, under an integration deal agreed with the Kurds last week, an AFP team reported. 

The two sides reached a comprehensive agreement on Friday to gradually integrate the Kurds' military and civilian institutions into the state, after Kurdish forces ceded territory to advancing government troops in recent weeks following months of tensions and sporadic clashes. 

The government's push to extend its authority across the entire country comes as a blow to the Kurds, who had sought to preserve their de facto autonomy in parts of the north and northeast that they seized while battling the ISIS group during Syria's civil war. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is a key backer of the Syrian government and has long been hostile to Kurdish forces in Syria, warned on Monday that anyone who attempted to "sabotage" the deal between Damascus and the Kurds would be "crushed". 

AFP correspondents saw a convoy of government vehicles cross a Kurdish forces checkpoint on its way into Hakaseh in the northeast, as armed Kurdish personnel stood at the roadside. 

Some residents gathered along the road to welcome the government forces, waving Syrian flags as women ululated. 

Marwan al-Ali, the government's recently appointed head of internal security in Hasakeh province, urged the state forces to carry out their tasks "according to the established plans and fully comply with laws and regulations". 

AFP correspondents saw Kurdish security forces deployed inside Hasakeh as government forces entered the mixed Kurdish-Arab city, which was under a curfew until 6:00 pm (1500 GMT). 

Mazloum Abdi, head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), had previously said the deal would be implemented on the ground from Monday, with both sides to pull forces back from frontline positions in parts of the northeast, and from the town of Kobane in the north. 

Later on Monday, state media reported that government security personnel entered the countryside around Kobane, more than 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Hasakeh. 

Hemmed in by the Turkish border and Syrian government forces, the town has long been seen as a symbol of Kurdish fighters' victory against ISIS extremists. 

Syrian state television said a United Nations aid convoy of 20 trucks had reached Kobane on Monday. 

- Airport, oil fields - 

Abdi also said a "limited internal security force" would enter parts of Hasakeh and Qamishli, but that "no military forces will enter any Kurdish city or town". 

A curfew is set to be put in place for the city of Qamishli on Tuesday. 

Friday's deal "seeks to unify Syrian territory", including Kurdish areas, while also maintaining an ongoing ceasefire and introducing the "gradual integration" of Kurdish forces and administrative institutions, according to the text of the agreement. 

It also appeared to include some Kurdish demands, such as establishing brigades of fighters from the SDF. 

Erdogan on Monday said the agreement marked "a new chapter" for Syria, adding that he hoped it would be "sustained through peace, stability, development, and prosperity". 

"We hope that the agreement will be implemented in a manner consistent with its spirit, without resorting to cheap calculations such as obstruction, stalling, or foot-dragging," he said, adding that whoever attempted to "sabotage" the deal would be "crushed". 

The United States, which led a military coalition that backed the Kurds' campaign against ISIS, has drawn close to Syria's new authorities, recently saying the purpose of its alliance with the Kurdish forces was largely over. 

Syrian Information Minister Hamza Mustafa has said the integration deal also includes the handover of oil fields, the Qamishli airport and border crossings to the government within 10 days. 

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Arab World

Hezbollah, Israel Trade Evacuation Warnings as Ground Campaign Remains Unclear

A Lebanese man walks near the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli air strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs (Reuters)
A Lebanese man walks near the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli air strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs (Reuters)
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Hezbollah, Israel Trade Evacuation Warnings as Ground Campaign Remains Unclear

A Lebanese man walks near the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli air strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs (Reuters)
A Lebanese man walks near the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli air strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs (Reuters)

Hezbollah and the Israeli military have entered a new phase of the conflict in southern Lebanon, marked by a sharp escalation in missile fire that began late Wednesday.

Israel responded by widening evacuation warnings in southern Lebanon to areas north of the Litani River and south of the Zahrani River, as Israeli ground operations over the past 10 days have consisted of limited incursions followed by withdrawals.

Israel also issued evacuation warnings in central Beirut, specifically in the Bashoura area adjacent to downtown Beirut, triggering major disruption in the capital.

The area is hosting tens of thousands of displaced people from southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs. The Israeli military enforced the warning by striking a building with two heavy air raids following two warning strikes.

Later, the Israeli military said Hezbollah had stored hundreds of millions of dollars beneath the targeted building and that armed guards were stationed there. It said access to the storage site was through the parking lot.

The military then issued another warning for a building dozens of meters away in the Zoqaq al-Blat area and struck it in an air raid.

The escalation reached a new level when a precision strike targeted the Lebanese University’s Faculty of Sciences, killing two professors inside the building.

In Israel, Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed the Israeli military to “prepare to expand operations in Lebanon and restore calm and security to the northern communities.”

Katz said he warned Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, that if the Lebanese government cannot control its territory and prevent Hezbollah from threatening the northern communities and firing rockets toward Israel, it will do so itself, and it will seize territory.

Hezbollah escalation

Hezbollah launched a heavy rocket barrage late Wednesday, with most of the projectiles fired from north of the Litani River toward Israel. The rockets targeted northern border settlements as well as military sites deeper inside Israel, according to Israeli media and Hezbollah.

More than 200 rockets were fired in successive barrages over nearly four hours, causing no deaths or injuries, according to Israeli authorities.

Hezbollah appeared to escalate after days of heavy Israeli bombardment targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Lebanese sources monitoring Hezbollah said the decision to escalate “appears to have been taken after Israel announced it would not evacuate the northern settlements, so that displaced residents would not create pressure on it.”

The sources said Hezbollah was therefore trying to pressure Tel Aviv by forcing evacuations in northern Israel.

Northern Israel was expected to remain largely insulated from the fighting after Hezbollah vacated the area south of the Litani following the 2024 war, and after the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers cleared and destroyed Hezbollah rocket depots south of the river.

However, most of the rockets targeting northern Israel were launched from north of the Litani.

A Lebanese security source said 95% of the rockets fired at Israel during the latest escalation overnight Wednesday originated north of the Litani.

The Israeli military said Thursday that Hezbollah had launched “around 200 rockets and around 20 drones, in addition to ballistic missiles that were being launched from Iran at the same time,” describing it as the largest barrage Hezbollah has fired since the start of the war.

It vowed to respond forcefully, while Hezbollah rockets struck areas in Tel Aviv and Israeli military facilities in Haifa, Tiberias and Safed.

Evacuation warnings

Israel quickly responded Thursday by issuing what it described as the broadest evacuation warning since the war began, covering the area between north of the Litani River and south of the Zahrani River, extending to western Bekaa.

Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, said on X that residents should move north of the Zahrani River, which lies about 56 kilometers from the Israeli border at its midpoint.

The warning covers the Zahrani district and part of Nabatieh district, particularly the Iqlim al-Tuffah area, which is entirely included in the evacuation order, as well as villages in western Bekaa.

Local sources in southern Lebanon told Asharq Al-Awsat that the area north of the Litani came under very heavy air strikes overnight Wednesday-Thursday, with bombardment lasting for hours in villages where Hezbollah was launching rockets.

Ground battle

The shape of the ground battle remains unclear, with Israeli forces carrying out incursions inside Lebanese territory without establishing permanent positions.

A Lebanese security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israeli incursions have been taking place for 10 days, ranging from a few hundred meters to 3 kilometers inside Lebanon.

The source said the Israeli military “has not established any new military position inside Lebanese territory,” but instead enters areas and then withdraws.

According to the sources, incursions have occurred on several axes. In the east, they included the area south of Kfar Shouba, as well as the villages of Adaisseh, Markaba, Kfar Kila and south of Khiam, extending to the outskirts of Tall al-Nahas.

Other incursions took place farther south in Aitaroun, Yaroun, Maroun al-Ras and Qawzah.

The sources stressed that what is happening “is not an invasion, but incursions after which Israeli forces withdraw beyond the border.”

At the same time, Hezbollah said its fighters carried out large-scale missile and drone attacks targeting strategic military bases in the suburbs of Tel Aviv and elite training centers, as well as “pounding Zionist settlements and barracks with swarms of attack drones and precision rocket salvos.”

The death toll from Israeli strikes on Lebanon has risen to 687 since the war between Israel and Hezbollah began on March 2, 2026, Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos said. He added that the dead include “98 children and 52 women.”

Arab World

Iran, Hezbollah ‘Parallel Missile War’: Tactic to Confuse Israel or War of Attrition?

A damaged building in Beirut’s southern suburbs after an Israeli strike on the area, with a large portrait of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei displayed on it (Reuters)
A damaged building in Beirut’s southern suburbs after an Israeli strike on the area, with a large portrait of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei displayed on it (Reuters)
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Iran, Hezbollah ‘Parallel Missile War’: Tactic to Confuse Israel or War of Attrition?

A damaged building in Beirut’s southern suburbs after an Israeli strike on the area, with a large portrait of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei displayed on it (Reuters)
A damaged building in Beirut’s southern suburbs after an Israeli strike on the area, with a large portrait of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei displayed on it (Reuters)

The war in the region is showing a striking military shift, with Iran and Hezbollah launching missiles simultaneously toward Israel, signaling a move from sporadic attacks to coordinated fire across two fronts.

The step reflects an effort to impose new military equations and generate simultaneous pressure across multiple arenas.

Experts say the confrontation is effectively being run as a single front led by Tehran, with the Lebanese front appearing as a direct extension of the battle Iran is fighting.

Hezbollah underscored that when it said its missile attacks were in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, while Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement Wednesday evening that it had joined Hezbollah in what was called “Operation Al-Asf Al-Makoul.”

Lebanese government summons Iranian embassy official

The Iranian statement triggered a response in Lebanon. The cabinet decided to summon the Iranian embassy’s charge d’affaires, linking the move to a recent decision banning any activity by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon.

Information Minister Paul Morcos said that after the Revolutionary Guards’ statement referring to a joint operation with Hezbollah, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam asked Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji to “summon the appropriate official from the Iranian embassy.”

Rajji subsequently summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires and tasked the secretary-general of the Foreign Ministry with meeting him on Friday morning to convey Lebanon’s position rejecting any Iranian interference in the country’s internal affairs.

One front managed between Tehran and Beirut

Since the start of the US-Iran war, near-daily barrages have been launched from Iranian territory toward Israel’s interior, alongside dozens of rockets fired from southern Lebanon toward northern Israel.

The synchronized attacks deliver both a political and military message. Air raid sirens have sounded across wide areas from northern to central Israel during the barrages.

The latest operation was what Hezbollah called “Operation Al-Asf Al-Makoul,” which the Revolutionary Guards also said it had joined alongside the group.

Israeli military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said Thursday that Hezbollah, in coordination with Iran, launched an overnight attack involving missiles and drones targeting cities and communities across Israel.

About 200 rockets and 20 drones were fired, he said, in addition to ballistic missiles launched from Iran at the same time.

Shoshani described it as the largest barrage Hezbollah has fired since the start of the war, but said Israeli air defenses and a rapid response limited the damage.

A security source told Asharq Al-Awsat the parallel strikes leave “no room for doubt that the military order comes from the same source,” adding that Iran views the war as “one front, not two,” managed from Tehran and Beirut alike.

The source said that view is also reflected in Israeli assassinations targeting Revolutionary Guard commanders, adding that those carrying out operations tied to that source “must execute the orders.”

Tactic aimed at Israeli air defenses

Retired Brigadier General Yaroob Sakher said the parallel launches reflect a tactic aimed primarily at confusing Israel’s air defense systems.

He said barrages fired by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon, given the group’s geographic proximity to Israel, serve to occupy defense systems and disperse their ability to respond to threats, opening a time window for long-range Iranian missiles attempting to penetrate those defenses.

Hezbollah as an ‘attrition front’

Sakher said the approach relies on synchronized barrages: closer-range rockets serve as a defensive distraction, while missiles launched farther away aim to exploit the resulting confusion.

But he said the tactic’s results remain limited, succeeding at times but failing often because of the density and sophistication of Israeli air defenses.

Sakher places the approach within what he describes as a broader Iranian strategy. In his view, Tehran sees the war as a major confrontation that could threaten its future and is therefore deploying all available tools.

That includes expanding regional tension while activating its regional allies, foremost Hezbollah, which forms the front closest to Israel.

However, he said Hezbollah no longer possesses all its previous capabilities after the blows it has sustained, leaving its role closer to a front of attrition or distraction than a decisive battlefield.

Israel strikes across multiple fronts

Sakher said Israel, in turn, is pursuing a parallel strategy by spreading its strikes across multiple fronts.

As Iran operates simultaneously from Tehran and Beirut, Israel is balancing its attacks between Iran and Hezbollah, backed by significant military and logistical capabilities, along with a US military presence in the region and the continued arrival of cargo aircraft carrying weapons to Israel.

He said the ongoing strikes have begun to affect Iran’s missile capabilities by targeting production sites and storage facilities above and below ground, gradually reducing its ballistic missile stockpile.

Hezbollah’s missile arsenal, he added, is also being depleted under sustained Israeli strikes.

In Sakher’s assessment, the balance of power clearly favors the United States and Israel because of the wide gap in military technology.

Iran, he said, relies on less advanced capabilities than those of the opposing side, including technologies based on artificial intelligence.

“In the short term, the battle does not appear to be moving in Tehran’s favor,” Sakher said, pointing to the continuing strikes on Iran’s missile capabilities.

He added that this could accelerate the confrontation's resolution, unless new political or military developments emerge.

Arab World

Strike Kills 2 Academics at Lebanese University as Israel Bombs Central Beirut

People stand amid debris in front of damaged buildings in the aftermath of a reported Israeli strike in Zuqaq al-Blat, central Beirut, Lebanon March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
People stand amid debris in front of damaged buildings in the aftermath of a reported Israeli strike in Zuqaq al-Blat, central Beirut, Lebanon March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Strike Kills 2 Academics at Lebanese University as Israel Bombs Central Beirut

People stand amid debris in front of damaged buildings in the aftermath of a reported Israeli strike in Zuqaq al-Blat, central Beirut, Lebanon March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
People stand amid debris in front of damaged buildings in the aftermath of a reported Israeli strike in Zuqaq al-Blat, central Beirut, Lebanon March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

An Israeli strike that hit in the vicinity of Lebanon’s only public university killed the director of the faculty of sciences Hussein Bazzi and professor Mortada Srour.

The campus is in Hadath, on the outskirts of Beirut’s southern suburbs, which Israel had warned last week should be evacuated.

It was not clear whether the campus was directly targeted, but smoke could be seen rising near the building’s courtyard in the aftermath.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the bombing, which he said targeted the campus, as a crime and a “violation of international laws and norms that prohibit attacks on educational institutions and civilians.”

Israel’s military said Thursday night it had begun another wave of strikes on Lebanon’s capital, saying it was targeting Hezbollah sites.

Israeli strikes hit two buildings in busy residential and commercial districts near central Beirut.