Regime Forces Attack ‘De-escalation Zones’ in East Damascus

File photo: Rebel fighters in Jobar, Syria. Amer Almohibany / AFP
File photo: Rebel fighters in Jobar, Syria. Amer Almohibany / AFP
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Regime Forces Attack ‘De-escalation Zones’ in East Damascus

File photo: Rebel fighters in Jobar, Syria. Amer Almohibany / AFP
File photo: Rebel fighters in Jobar, Syria. Amer Almohibany / AFP

Syrian regime forces have made reinforcements on the Jobar and Ein Tarma fronts, east of Damascus, while the opposition forces thwarted the attack.

The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces said targeting residential areas and medical centers serves the terrorist groups’ interest.

Failaq al-Rahman announced that it thwarted an attempt by the 4th Armored Division to storm Ein Tarma region, killing dozens of the regime forces and armed men supporting them. An officer in Failaq al-Rahman stated that after the regime forces’ failure to launch the attack, they shelled Jobar and Ein Tarma as well as Jesrin town.

Jobar and Ein Tarma fall under the de-escalation zones in tandem with an agreement signed between Failaq al-Rahman and the Russian party mid-August.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced on Wednesday that fierce clashes were ongoing in Damascus and its outskirts of eastern Ghouta between the regime forces and their militias from one side and Failaq al-Rahman fighters from the other.

Further, the negotiations’ committee of Eastern Qalamoun held a round of talks with the Russian side in the presence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Syrian regime figures. The meeting discussed the current situation and the strict measures on civilians in Eastern Qalamoun.

The escalation in Damascus and Ghouta witnessed similar tension in the north of Syria where airstrikes targeted Aleppo’s countryside, leading to the destruction of a school but without causing any injuries, revealed SOHR.

In a related matter, Russia said that airstrikes in Idlib have killed five prominent field commanders and 32 members of al-Nusra Front. Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said that the airstrikes also destroyed militant ammunition depots and military vehicles.



Israeli Troops Battle Palestinian Fighters in Gaza City of Khan Younis

 Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Troops Battle Palestinian Fighters in Gaza City of Khan Younis

 Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)

Israeli troops battled Palestinian fighters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and destroyed tunnels and other infrastructure, as they sought to suppress small militant units that have continued to hit troops with mortar fire, the military said on Friday.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said troops had killed around 100 Palestinian fighters since Israeli troops began their latest operation in Khan Younis on Monday, which continued as pressure mounted for a deal to halt the fighting.

It said seven small units that had been firing mortars at the troops were hit in an air strike, while further south, in Rafah, four fighters were also killed in air strikes.

The Islamic Jihad armed wing said it fired rockets toward the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and other Israeli towns near Gaza. No casualties were reported, the Israeli ambulance service said.

The continued fighting, more than nine months since the start of Israel's invasion of Gaza following the Oct. 7 attack, underlined the difficulty the IDF has had in eliminating fighters who have reverted to a form of guerrilla warfare in the ruins of the coastal strip.

A Telegram channel operated by the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two main militant groups in Gaza, said fighters had been waging fierce battles with Israeli troops east of Khan Younis with machine guns, mortars and anti-tank weapons.

Medics said at least six Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in eastern Khan Younis.

US PRESSURE

US President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president, both urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a proposed ceasefire deal as soon as possible.

However there has been no clear sign of movement in talks to end the fighting and bring home some 115 Israeli and foreign hostages still being held in Gaza. Public statements from Israel and Hamas appear to indicate that serious differences remain between the two sides.

Local residents contacted by messenger app, said Israeli tanks had pushed into three towns to the east of Khan Younis, Bani Suhaila, Al-Zanna and Al-Karara and blew up several houses in some residential districts.

The military said air force jets hit around 45 targets, including tunnels and two launch pads from which rockets were fired into Beersheba in southern Israel.

Even while the fighting continued around Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, in the northern part of the enclave, Israeli tanks pushed into the Tel Al-Hawa suburb west of Gaza city, residents said.

A Hamas Telegram channel said fighters targeted an Israeli tank in Tal Al-Hawa and shot an Israeli soldier.

Medics said two Palestinians were also killed in an air strike in western Gaza city.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants.

Israeli officials estimate that some 14,000 fighters from armed groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have been killed or taken prisoner, out of a force they estimated to number more than 25,000 at the start of the war.