Global Coalition-led Operation Arrests 3 ISIS Leaders in Deir Ezzor

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and US troops during a patrol in Hasakeh, Syria. (Reuters)
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and US troops during a patrol in Hasakeh, Syria. (Reuters)
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Global Coalition-led Operation Arrests 3 ISIS Leaders in Deir Ezzor

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and US troops during a patrol in Hasakeh, Syria. (Reuters)
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and US troops during a patrol in Hasakeh, Syria. (Reuters)

A security operation led by the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in the eastern countryside of Syria’s Deir Ezzor, resulted in the arrest of three ISIS commanders, announced a top Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) leader.

The source said that the detainees are head of Zakat, head of the Finance Diwan and commander of assassinations in Deir Ezzor.

He revealed that the forces raided the homes of the suspects in the town of Diban, and arrested them along with eight others on charges of secretly dealing with active cells affiliated with ISIS.

Official military spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), Colonel Wayne Marotto announced that the coalition forces conducted a series of strikes on ISIS camps in a remote area of the Syrian Desert, or Badiya, in the early hours of October 4.

The desert is a known terrorist safe haven with a large concentration of ISIS fighters, said Marotto, adding that ISIS “uses these desolate, war-torn spaces to train fighters and plot their malicious terrorist attacks throughout the region and abroad.”

The spokesman asserted that the coalition and SDF will not stop denying terrorists these safe havens, saying it "remains the most effective force against ISIS in Syria."

Meanwhile, the Kurdish Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, announced it will allow thousands of Syrians, including families of ISIS fighters, in al-Hol camp to leave for their areas.

The co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council, the political wing of Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), Riad Derar said that Syrians will leave al-Hol and only foreigners will remain.

Syrian relatives of the extremist group fighters “will be released with guarantees from their families”, Derar was quoted by AFP.

The official did not provide a date for the release and said the decision does not include Syrian extremists held by the SDF.



US Says Israel Must Improve Gaza's Humanitarian Situation or Risk Aid

 People attempt to extinguish a fire at the site of an Israeli strike on tents sheltering displaced people, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
People attempt to extinguish a fire at the site of an Israeli strike on tents sheltering displaced people, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
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US Says Israel Must Improve Gaza's Humanitarian Situation or Risk Aid

 People attempt to extinguish a fire at the site of an Israeli strike on tents sheltering displaced people, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
People attempt to extinguish a fire at the site of an Israeli strike on tents sheltering displaced people, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Israel must take urgent steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza to avoid legal action involving US military aid, according to news reports on Tuesday.

"We are writing now to underscore the US government's deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, and seek urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory," they wrote in an Oct. 13 letter to their Israeli counterparts, posted by an Axios reporter on X, according to Reuters.

The State Department and Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives for Israel's government also could not be immediately reached for comment.

The report comes as Israeli forces expand operations into northern Gaza amid ongoing concerns about access to humanitarian aid throughout the enclave and civilians' access to food, water and medicine.

US officials earlier this year said Israel may have violated international humanitarian law using US-supplied weapons during its military operation in Gaza.

This week's letter cited Section 620i of the Foreign Assistance Act, which restricts (prohibits) military aid to countries that impede delivery of US humanitarian assistance.

It also cited a National Security Memorandum that US President Joe Biden issued in February that requires the State Department to report to Congress on whether it finds credible Israel's assurances that its use of US weapons does not violate US or international law.