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Fire Extinguished on Oil Tanker off Syria after Suspected Drone Attack

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on April 24, 2021, shows smoke billowing from a tanker off the coast of the western Syrian city of Baniyas. (SANA via AFP)
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on April 24, 2021, shows smoke billowing from a tanker off the coast of the western Syrian city of Baniyas. (SANA via AFP)
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Fire Extinguished on Oil Tanker off Syria after Suspected Drone Attack

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on April 24, 2021, shows smoke billowing from a tanker off the coast of the western Syrian city of Baniyas. (SANA via AFP)
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on April 24, 2021, shows smoke billowing from a tanker off the coast of the western Syrian city of Baniyas. (SANA via AFP)

Syria's oil ministry said a fire has erupted in a tanker on its coast after what it said was a suspected drone attack on Saturday.

The official state news agency said the fire in the oil tanker outside Baniyas refinery has been extinguished.

Iran's Al-Alam television said the tanker was one of three Iranian tankers that arrived a while ago at the oil terminal.

The oil ministry said the fire started after a suspected drone attack that originated from the Lebanese territorial waters. It provided no further details and did not specify where the tanker was arriving from.

Syria's oil resources are mostly outside of government-controlled areas but two of its refineries are operating. This makes Damascus reliant on Iran for fuel. But US Treasury sanctions have targeted a network that spanned Syria, Iran and Russia responsible for shipping oil to the Syrian government.

There has been a series of mysterious attacks on vessels in recent months. They have come amid rising tension in the region between Iran, Israel and the United States.

There was an attack earlier this month on an Iranian cargo ship that is said to serve as a floating base for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard forces off the coast of Yemen. The shadow war in the Middle East waters first burst into the open in 2019 when the US Navy blamed a series of blasts in June that year in the Gulf of Oman off the coast of the United Arab Emirates on Iran.

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Jumblatt Hands Over Progressive Socialist Party Arms to Lebanese Army

Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt (Reuters)
Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt (Reuters)
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Jumblatt Hands Over Progressive Socialist Party Arms to Lebanese Army

Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt (Reuters)
Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt (Reuters)

Lebanon’s veteran Druze leader Walid Jumblatt on Thursday called on the Iran-backed Hezbollah group to hand its weapons over to the state, saying arms must be exclusively under government control.

Speaking at a news conference in Beirut, the former head of the Progressive Socialist Party said, “Weapons should only be in the hands of the Lebanese state,” adding that the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms, a long-disputed area on the western slopes of Mount Hermon, are Syrian territory.

Jumblatt’s appeal comes amid growing international calls for Hezbollah to disarm and for the Lebanese government to implement its longstanding pledge—reiterated in its ministerial statement and by President Joseph Aoun during his swearing-in—to ensure that only state institutions bear arms.

His remarks also come as Washington renews its push to resolve files with Syria, including border demarcation, as part of wider regional realignments.

“There’s a new chapter unfolding in the Middle East,” Jumblatt said. “If any Lebanese or non-Lebanese party possesses weapons, I hope they will hand them over to the state in a proper manner.”

He described “the most valuable weapon for future generations” as being one of “memory”—urging the country to pass down stories of resistance against Israel and its collaborators rather than stockpiles of arms.

Jumblatt said he had recently informed the president of the presence of weapons in his hometown of Mukhtara and asked the relevant security agencies to take over the matter. The arms, collected gradually since the May 2008 clashes between Hezbollah and his party, were fully handed over more than three weeks ago.

The arsenal, he said, consisted of light and medium-grade weapons that had been centrally gathered over the years.

He noted that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri—himself a close ally of Hezbollah—remained a “friend and ally,” but added: “The issue of weapons has no bearing on Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon.”

Hezbollah has long justified its arsenal as essential to liberating the Shebaa Farms and Kfar Shouba Hills, areas Israel did not vacate during its 2000 withdrawal from south Lebanon. In recent years, the dispute has expanded to include 13 border points and the northern section of the village of Ghajar, which Israel annexed in 2022.

“Shebaa Farms are covered under UN Resolution 242. It is Syrian land occupied by Israel,” Jumblatt said.

He urged support for the Lebanese army and internal security forces, stressing that Israel still occupies territory and that several Lebanese villages remain destroyed.

He also called for the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

“In this round, Israel and the West have won with US backing,” he said. “But nothing lasts forever.”