Regime Official Threatens to ‘Punish’ Returning Syrians

Pro-Syrian regime forces in Deir al-Zour. (Getty Images)
Pro-Syrian regime forces in Deir al-Zour. (Getty Images)
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Regime Official Threatens to ‘Punish’ Returning Syrians

Pro-Syrian regime forces in Deir al-Zour. (Getty Images)
Pro-Syrian regime forces in Deir al-Zour. (Getty Images)

A member of the Syrian regime threatened on Monday to “hold accountable” any displaced Syrian, who returns to their homeland.

Issam Zaherddine, commander of the Republican Guard of the Syrian regime in Deir al-Zour, said: “I hope that whoever fled Syria to another country would not return.”

“We vow not to forgive or to forget. My advice, no one should come back,” he told official state television.

Meanwhile, a commander in Lebanon’s “Hezbollah” declared in a televised appearance that the end of the blockade against Deir al-Zour was achieved through Russian and Iranian support, as well as the backing of “foreign fighters,” regime forces and “Hezbollah.”

Abou Mustafa’s appearance marked the first for a party member in Syria, which is seen as a change in “Hezbollah’s” media policy.

The group had never revealed the identity of any of its military commander since its formation in the 1980s. It usually reveals the names of commanders after their death.

Abou Mustafa, the “Hezbollah” field commander in Deir al-Zour, did not appear on the group’s al-Manar television, but on the al-Mayadeen satellite channel, which is close to the party.

He explained that he was able to appear on television through the approval of party chief Hassan Nasrallah.

“The victory in Deir al-Zour would not have been possible without the Russian-Iranian-Syrian alliance,” he told al-Mayadeen.

“Hezbollah,” he added, “is an integral part of an axis that extends from Iran to Iraq to Damascus, then Beirut and the Palestinian territories.”



UN Chief: Palestinians in Gaza Enduring Humanitarian Catastrophe of Epic Proportions

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, near Gaza City, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, 29 July 2025. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, near Gaza City, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, 29 July 2025. (EPA)
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UN Chief: Palestinians in Gaza Enduring Humanitarian Catastrophe of Epic Proportions

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, near Gaza City, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, 29 July 2025. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, near Gaza City, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, 29 July 2025. (EPA)

A trickle of aid into the Gaza Strip must become an ocean, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday.

“Food, water, medicine and fuel must flow in waves and without obstruction,” he said, describing an alert by a global hunger monitor on Tuesday as confirming “what we have feared: Gaza is on the brink of famine.”

“Palestinians in Gaza are enduring a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. This is not a warning. It is a reality unfolding before our eyes,” he said in a statement.

A worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding in Gaza and immediate action is needed to end fighting and allow unimpeded aid access, a global hunger monitor warned on Tuesday, saying failure to act now would result in widespread death.

Its alert coincided with a statement from Gaza health authorities saying Israel's military campaign had now killed more than 60,000 Palestinians.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) raised the prospect that the manmade starvation crisis could be formally classified as a famine, in the hope that this might raise the pressure on Israel to let far more food deliveries in.

"Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths," the IPC said.

It added that it would quickly carry out the formal analysis that could allow it to classify Gaza as "in famine".