Iran Guards Deploy Aircraft Detecting Radar in Western Syria

An air force intelligence checkpoint in Qarfa town, in Daraa, after it was completely evacuated. (Ahrar Houran Gathering)
An air force intelligence checkpoint in Qarfa town, in Daraa, after it was completely evacuated. (Ahrar Houran Gathering)
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Iran Guards Deploy Aircraft Detecting Radar in Western Syria

An air force intelligence checkpoint in Qarfa town, in Daraa, after it was completely evacuated. (Ahrar Houran Gathering)
An air force intelligence checkpoint in Qarfa town, in Daraa, after it was completely evacuated. (Ahrar Houran Gathering)

Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps factions set aircraft-detecting radar in Syria’s al-Mazare area, around al-Mayadeen city in the eastern sector of the Deir Ezzor countryside.

According to sources from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Iranian military experts have monitored the process of fixing and operating the radar.

The area is strategically vital for its geographic altitude that overlooks al-Mayadeen city and regions held by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and coalition forces east of the Euphrates River.

Two weeks ago, the IRGC’s Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas militia withdrew from its military position near the al-Shibli area on the outskirts of al-Mayadeen. Lebanese Hezbollah fighters were deployed in their place.

Prior, the IRGC had transported a number of weapons and ammunition from their caches in the al-Mazare area to houses in residential neighborhoods in the city, raising fears among the locals that they would be used as human shields.

Meanwhile, the central committees in the southern Daraa region reached a new agreement, after meeting with the Russian-delegated officer, Assad Allah, to cease military operations in the Daraa al-Balad neighborhood and the governorate’s countryside.

The regime forces had closed all roads in Jasim city, in the northern countryside of Daraa, coinciding with the arrival of military reinforcements of about 200 soldiers to al-Mohs hill west of the city, according to the Ahrar Houran Gathering.

The Russian forces and the Central Committee in Houran reached an agreement on Saturday to displace 132 wanted persons to northern Syria. However, several of the included people refused to leave Daraa to any other area, according to informed sources.

Local sources in Daraa said the regime forces insisted on displacing several opposition fighters to stop the military campaign.

The opposition website Ahrar Houran Gathering stated that the regime’s security committee gave the central committee until Sunday morning to respond to this condition.

The agreement also includes the entry of Eighth Brigade forces of the Fifth Corps, supervised by the Russian troops, to several locations in Daraa.



Israel Says It Is Considering Alternatives to Ceasefire Talks with Hamas, Deepening Uncertainty

Palestinians wait for food aid trucks to enter from northern Gaza, in Gaza City, Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians wait for food aid trucks to enter from northern Gaza, in Gaza City, Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP)
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Israel Says It Is Considering Alternatives to Ceasefire Talks with Hamas, Deepening Uncertainty

Palestinians wait for food aid trucks to enter from northern Gaza, in Gaza City, Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians wait for food aid trucks to enter from northern Gaza, in Gaza City, Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday his government was considering "alternative options" to ceasefire talks with Hamas after Israel and the US recalled their negotiating teams, throwing the future of the negotiations into further uncertainty.

Netanyahu's statement came as a Hamas official said negotiations were expected to resume next week and portrayed the recall of the Israeli and American delegations as a pressure tactic. Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating the talks alongside the United States, said the pause was only temporary and that talks would resume, though they did not say when.

The teams left Qatar on Thursday as President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said Hamas’ latest response to proposals for a deal showed a "lack of desire" to reach a truce. Witkoff said the US will look at "alternative options," without elaborating.

In a statement released by his office, Netanyahu echoed Witkoff, saying, "Hamas is the obstacle to a hostage release deal."

"Together with our US allies, we are now considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas’s terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region," he said. He did not elaborate. Israel’s government didn’t immediately respond to whether negotiations would resume next week.

Stall in talks comes as hunger worsens

A breakthrough on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has eluded the Trump administration as experts warn Gaza is being pushed closer to famine, after months of Israel entirely blocking food or letting in only limited amounts. This month, deaths related to malnutrition have accelerated.

More than two dozen Western-aligned countries and more than 100 charity and human rights groups have called for an end to the war, harshly criticizing Israel’s blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out. The charities and rights groups said even their own staff were struggling to get enough food.

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognize Palestine as a state. "The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved," he said.

Jordan has requested to carry out airdrops of aid into Gaza "due to the dire situation," a Jordanian official said. The official said the airdrops will mainly be food and milk formula.

An Israeli security official said the military was coordinating the drops, which were expected in the coming days. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the yet-to-be-finalized plans.

Desperate Palestinians gathered at a charity kitchen in Gaza City on Friday, clutching empty pots waiting for a share of watery lentil soup. Such kitchens distributing cooked meals have been a main source of food for many Palestinians, but the number of meals they produce every day has plummeted to 160,000 from more than a million in April, according to the UN.

"We’ve been living three months without bread," said one woman in line, Riham Dwas. "We’re relying on charity kitchens, surviving on a pot of lentils and there are many times when we don’t even have that."

When she can't find food, she takes her children to a hospital to be put on saline IV drips for sustenance.

Mourners carry the bodies of strike victims

An Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter for displaced people in Gaza City, killing at least five people, including an 11-year-old boy, according to hospital officials. Afterwards, dozens of mourners marched carrying the bodies from Shifa Hospital as women nearby screamed and wept.

"Enough!" screamed Taraji Adwan, whose son and grandson were among the dead. She said the strike hit as she was filling up water jugs.

"Stop the war! Our children are dying from starvation, malnutrition, dehydration, lack of food, strikes, and dying from fear and destruction. Enough, Hamas! Enough, Israel! Enough, world!" she said.

The Gaza Health Ministry said around 80 people were killed since Thursday night, mostly in strikes but including nine killed while seeking aid.

Talks have struggled over issue of ending the war

Hamas official Bassem Naim said Friday that the group was told that the Israeli delegation returned home for consultations and would return early next week to resume ceasefire negotiations.

Hamas said that Witkoff's remarks were meant to pressure the group for Netanyahu's benefit during the next round of talks and that in recent days negotiations had made progress. Naim said several gaps had been nearly solved, such as the agenda of the ceasefire, guarantees to continue negotiating to reach a permanent agreement and how humanitarian aid would be delivered.

In a joint statement, Egypt and Qatar also said progress had been made. "It is a natural to pause talks to hold consultations before the resumption of the dialogue once more," they said.

The sides have held weeks of talks in Qatar, reporting small signs of progress but no major breakthroughs. Officials have said a main sticking point is the redeployment of Israeli troops from positions in Gaza after any ceasefire takes place.

The deal under discussion is expected to include an initial 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Aid supplies would be ramped up, and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting ceasefire.

The talks have been bogged down over competing demands for ending the war. Hamas says it will only release all hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal and end to the war. Israel says it will not agree to end the conflict until Hamas gives up power and disarms. The group says it is prepared to leave power but not surrender its weapons.

Hamas is believed to be holding the hostages in different locations, including tunnels, and says it has ordered its guards to kill them if Israeli forces approach.

Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, but fewer than half are believed to be alive. Their families say the start-stop talks are excruciating.