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Russian Forces Take Over Two Oil, Gas Fields in Northeast Syria

An oil field in Syria (Archive photo)
An oil field in Syria (Archive photo)
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Russian Forces Take Over Two Oil, Gas Fields in Northeast Syria

An oil field in Syria (Archive photo)
An oil field in Syria (Archive photo)

Russian forces on Saturday took control over the al-Thawra oil facility, located in southwest Raqqa governorate in northeastern Syria, after the Iran-aligned Liwa Fatemiyoun militia having withdrawn from the site.

This follows Russian forces imposing their control of the Toueinane gas field in Raqqa’s countryside on Friday.

Russian military reinforcements alongside units from the Russian-backed Fifth Armored Division arrived on Saturday at al-Thawra oil facility which produces around 2,000 bpd, media sources based in Syria’s Euphrates region reported.

The oil facility used to produce around 6,000 bpd before 2010.

As for the Touneinane gas field, which was controlled by Iranian proxies and operated by HESCO, it produces about 3 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, 60 tons of domestic gas, and two thousand barrels of gas condensate.

Nine Russian military vehicles and four troop carriers transporting members of the Fifth Armored Division rolled into al-Thawra oil facility after Iran-aligned Fatemiyoun militia withdrew from the site as part of understandings reached with Russian forces, reported Eye of Euphrates, a local Syrian opposition media outlet.

Similarly, Eye of Euphrates correspondents reported on seven Russian military vehicles and three troop carriers transporting members of the Fifth Armored Division arriving at the Touneinane gas field on Friday.

It was not clear if Fatemiyoun militants had given up their presence at the gas field also as part of agreements with Russian forces around dividing control over strategic spots in northeast Syria.

Governorates like Deir Ezzor and Hasakah, which are situated near the war-torn country’s borders with Iraq and Turkey, include some of the most vital oil and gas fields in Syria.

It is worth noting that US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) control most of those fields. Hasakah’s Rmeilan oil field, which includes over 1,322 oil wells and 25 natural gas wells, is run by the SDF.

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Arab World

Palestinians Say Israeli Settlers Torch Mosque, Factory

A Palestinian man checks the torched entrance at the damaged Al-Taqwa mosque, whose walls were also daubed with Hebrew graffiti in an attack allegedly carried out by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Al-Tuwani, south of Yatta, near Hebron in the occupied West Bank on July 19, 2026. (AFP)
A Palestinian man checks the torched entrance at the damaged Al-Taqwa mosque, whose walls were also daubed with Hebrew graffiti in an attack allegedly carried out by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Al-Tuwani, south of Yatta, near Hebron in the occupied West Bank on July 19, 2026. (AFP)
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Palestinians Say Israeli Settlers Torch Mosque, Factory

A Palestinian man checks the torched entrance at the damaged Al-Taqwa mosque, whose walls were also daubed with Hebrew graffiti in an attack allegedly carried out by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Al-Tuwani, south of Yatta, near Hebron in the occupied West Bank on July 19, 2026. (AFP)
A Palestinian man checks the torched entrance at the damaged Al-Taqwa mosque, whose walls were also daubed with Hebrew graffiti in an attack allegedly carried out by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Al-Tuwani, south of Yatta, near Hebron in the occupied West Bank on July 19, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli settlers set fire overnight to a mosque in a village in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian official said Sunday, as an AFP journalist saw the structure's entrance scorched and Hebrew graffiti sprayed on its walls.

The incident came during a period of increased attacks against Palestinian communities by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the start of the Gaza war in 2023.

More than two dozen settlers, some masked, attacked the Al-Taqwa mosque in the village of Al-Tuwani during the night and set it on fire, Mohammed Rabie, head of the village council, told AFP.

The settlers also set fire to two houses and a dairy factory, he said, adding the attackers spray-painted Hebrew graffiti on the walls of the mosque.

Rabie said the settlers fled after villagers emerged from their homes, adding that local volunteers managed to extinguish the flames before they spread further.

AFP photographs showed a child and an elderly man inspecting the charred entrance and windows of the mosque, where part of a prayer carpet had also been burned.

Rabie said the dairy factory, run by women from the Masafer Yatta community, suffered extensive damage.

"We thank God that this attack did not turn into a tragedy with loss of life," he said.

The Israeli police said it deployed officers to the village last night "after a report of suspects who caused damage at the site, including a vehicle that was set on fire, damage to the door of a prayer structure, and graffiti sprayed on walls."

"The investigation into the circumstances of the incident... is still ongoing."

"The settlers' attack took place in full view of the Israeli army," Palestinian activist Osama Makhamra told AFP, noting that an Israeli military watchtower stands close to the mosque that was set ablaze.

Rabie, however, said Israeli army, police and fire service personnel arrived in the village about half an hour after the attack and inspected the damage to the mosque and other property.

The Palestinian religious affairs ministry condemned the attack.

In a statement, the ministry described the arson as "a full-fledged terrorist act", accusing Israel's "extremist occupation government" of encouraging settler violence in an effort to displace Palestinians from Masafer Yatta and turn the conflict into "a religious war".

In a recent report, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank had reached "unprecedented" levels, averaging six attacks per day that resulted in casualties or property damage.

Excluding East Jerusalem, around three million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank alongside more than 500,000 Israelis residing in settlements that are considered illegal under international law.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.

Arab World

Eight Peshmerga Forces Wounded in Iranian Strike Targeting Northern Iraqi Kurdistan

A drone is intercepted in the sky over Erbil, Iraq, July 15, 2026, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. Dlawer/X/via REUTERS
A drone is intercepted in the sky over Erbil, Iraq, July 15, 2026, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. Dlawer/X/via REUTERS
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Eight Peshmerga Forces Wounded in Iranian Strike Targeting Northern Iraqi Kurdistan

A drone is intercepted in the sky over Erbil, Iraq, July 15, 2026, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. Dlawer/X/via REUTERS
A drone is intercepted in the sky over Erbil, Iraq, July 15, 2026, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. Dlawer/X/via REUTERS

Eight members of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces were wounded on Sunday in a drone attack targeting the headquarters of the Kurdistan Freedom Party, a Kurdish opposition group, in Erbil in Iraq's Kurdistan region.

Security sources also told Reuters that an attack drone was shot down near the US consulate in Erbil.

Kurdish media outlet Rudaw quoted Adib Khaledian, a member of the leadership of the Kurdistan Freedom Party, as saying that a drone strike early on Sunday targeted the party's Jamshar headquarters near the Darashakran camp in Erbil province, wounding eight Peshmerga fighters.

He added that "four of the Peshmerga fighters were seriously wounded," and said that "surveillance drones are constantly flying over our positions and gathering information," according to the German news agency.

According to the network, the force has been targeted several times by Iran, with previous attacks killing two Peshmerga fighters and wounding 26 others.

 

Arab World

Egypt, Türkiye Conclude Joint Military Exercise

The training featured conventional and unconventional live-fire drills, vertical assault exercises using an aircraft simulator and training on handling improvised explosive devices. (Egyptian military spokesman on Facebook)
The training featured conventional and unconventional live-fire drills, vertical assault exercises using an aircraft simulator and training on handling improvised explosive devices. (Egyptian military spokesman on Facebook)
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Egypt, Türkiye Conclude Joint Military Exercise

The training featured conventional and unconventional live-fire drills, vertical assault exercises using an aircraft simulator and training on handling improvised explosive devices. (Egyptian military spokesman on Facebook)
The training featured conventional and unconventional live-fire drills, vertical assault exercises using an aircraft simulator and training on handling improvised explosive devices. (Egyptian military spokesman on Facebook)

Egypt and Türkiye have concluded a joint military exercise focused on countering drones and conducting unconventional live-fire drills, with the participation of Egyptian airborne and commando units and Turkish special forces.

According to a statement issued Saturday by the Egyptian military spokesperson, the final phase of the multi-day Golden Eagle exercise included “an operation to storm a terrorist stronghold in a residential area using helicopters, during which hostages were freed and the terrorist elements apprehended.”

The training featured conventional and unconventional live-fire drills, vertical assault exercises using an aircraft simulator and training on handling improvised explosive devices.

Participants trained in first aid and lifesaving procedures, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles and methods of countering them, free-fall simulation in a vertical wind tunnel and operational free-fall parachute jumps.

The exercise comes amid growing military cooperation between Egypt and Türkiye, reflected in a series of joint drills held since the two countries signed a military framework agreement five months ago during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Cairo in February.

The Egyptian military spokesperson said the exercise also included a “friendship jump” in which troops carried the flags of both countries, demonstrating the participants’ “high level of proficiency and advanced technical skills.”

The final phase was attended by several senior Egyptian and Turkish military commanders, as well as Türkiye’s military attaché in Cairo.

The first phase of Golden Eagle included theoretical lectures on a range of subjects aimed at standardizing operational concepts and improving integration and coordination among participating personnel. An exhibition of the weapons and equipment used during the exercise was also held.

Last week, Egypt’s commander-in-chief of the armed forces and minister of defense and military production, Ashraf Salem Zaher, met Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler in Türkiye to discuss strengthening military cooperation in training and the transfer and exchange of expertise between the two countries’ armed forces.