New West Daraa Town Joins Russian Roadmap

The Russian military police in front of the settlement center in the town of al-Shajarah in the Yarmouk basin. (Daraa 24)
The Russian military police in front of the settlement center in the town of al-Shajarah in the Yarmouk basin. (Daraa 24)
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New West Daraa Town Joins Russian Roadmap

The Russian military police in front of the settlement center in the town of al-Shajarah in the Yarmouk basin. (Daraa 24)
The Russian military police in front of the settlement center in the town of al-Shajarah in the Yarmouk basin. (Daraa 24)

Syrian regime forces and Russian military forces have entered a new town, al-Shajarah, west of Daraa in southern Syria. They carried out inspections of homes and combed surrounding farmlands.

Officers from the Syrian army’s 16th Brigade were present at the inspections alongside local leaders and citizens.

A deal sponsored by Russia with the central negotiating committee in the Daraa governorate has allowed regime forces and Russian military police to enter the town and set up a center for settling the status of wanted civilians and military personnel in the area.

The center was established on Sunday with locals coming in from al-Shajarah and nearby villages and towns, including Abdeen, Beit Ara, Nafaa, al-Qusayr, Jamla, Abdin, and Koya, to settle their status and turn in their individual weapons in compliance with the signed agreement.

Now that the settlement center has been set up in al-Shajarah, the Russian police and the Syrian regime would have successfully implemented the new deal.

A few days ago, they had finished implementing the first part of the deal which included other towns such as Hayt, Jallin, Masaken Jalin, and Saham al-Golan in the Yarmouk basin region.

A member of the Central Negotiating Committee in the western countryside of Daraa told Asharq Al-Awsat that the security committee of the Syrian regime in Daraa informed it and dignitaries from the towns of Hayt and Saham al-Golan on Sunday to hand over more light and medium weapons from the area.

Regime forces argued that the number of weapons handed over in the first day of the establishment of the settlement center in the town of Saham al-Golan on Sunday was not enough.

On Monday, more light and medium weapons were delivered, according to some media outlets.

Syrian officers from the army’s 16th Brigade on Sunday and Monday toured the towns of Jallin, Saham al-Golan, and Hayt, accompanied by the Russian police. They left the towns without establishing stations or posting points in the area.



Israeli Settlers Briefly Crossed into Lebanon, the Military Says

UN "blue line" notifications are pictured near the Lebanese-Israeli border as seen from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon October 14, 2022. (Reuters)
UN "blue line" notifications are pictured near the Lebanese-Israeli border as seen from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon October 14, 2022. (Reuters)
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Israeli Settlers Briefly Crossed into Lebanon, the Military Says

UN "blue line" notifications are pictured near the Lebanese-Israeli border as seen from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon October 14, 2022. (Reuters)
UN "blue line" notifications are pictured near the Lebanese-Israeli border as seen from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon October 14, 2022. (Reuters)

A group of Israeli settlers have briefly crossed the border into Lebanon before they were removed by troops, the military acknowledged Wednesday.

The civilians who crossed the border came from the Uri Tzafon movement, a group calling for Israeli settlement of southern Lebanon. Photos posted by the group online Saturday showed a small group of activists holding signs and erecting tents inside Lebanon while Israeli soldiers were present.

After first denying the reports to Israeli media, the military said Wednesday that civilians had crossed the border “by a few meters” and were removed by troops.

The military called the border breach a “serious incident” and said it was investigating.

“Any attempt to approach or cross the border into Lebanese territory without coordination poses a life-threatening risk and interferes with the IDF’s ability to operate in the area and carry out its mission,” the military said, using the acronym for the Israel Defense Forces.

The settler group Uri Tzafon, which means “Awaken the North” in Hebrew, crossed the border in the area of the Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras. In the past, the movement has said the area is home to an old Hebrew settlement.

Groups of settler activists also have breached the Gaza border more than once since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, at one point erecting small wooden tents before they were evacuated by troops. Daniela Weiss, the leader of the movement to resettle Gaza, claims she has entered Gaza twice since the start of the war.

Israel’s settler movement has been emboldened by its current government -- the furthest-right in Israeli history -- and is now seeking to expand to parts of southern Lebanon and the north of the Gaza.