US, Russia Expand Military Movements in Northeastern Syria

An American vehicle in Tal Tamr, northeastern Syria. (North-Press Agency)
An American vehicle in Tal Tamr, northeastern Syria. (North-Press Agency)
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US, Russia Expand Military Movements in Northeastern Syria

An American vehicle in Tal Tamr, northeastern Syria. (North-Press Agency)
An American vehicle in Tal Tamr, northeastern Syria. (North-Press Agency)

Washington and Moscow have recently expanded their military movements east of the Euphrates in Syria. Paving the way to establish a new base in the al-Hasakah governorate, Washington has deployed an armed unit and a military convoy to the town of Tal Tamr.

Meanwhile, Russian helicopters staged live ammunition military exercises over the Qamishli International Airport. The drill was held after a warplane and several Sukhoi-35 fighter jets had arrived in the area.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced that contact lines in al-Hasakeh’s Tal Tamr, Raqqa governorate’s town of Ain Issa, and the M4 highway had witnessed provocative reinforcements and mobilization by Turkish-backed Syrian factions.

However, the SDF reaffirmed its commitment to de-escalation agreements.

In Tal Tamr, a US armed force and military convoy arrived at the town’s center. US troops toured the area by foot and talked to residents.

Military sources from the Tal Tamr Military Council said that US forces had intensified their patrols in town at a time Turkey is threatening an armed escalation against SDF units in the area. More so, sources revealed that the US troops intended to set up a third base in the region.

Today, US-led International Coalition forces are stationed at the bases of Al-Qasrak and Tal Baydar, about 25 kilometers east of Tal Tamr. One of the bases includes an airstrip.

A convoy of logistical materials for these bases had recently arrived from the neighboring Kurdistan region of Iraq. The convoy included tankers carrying fuel.

The third of its kind in November, and the second in less than 48 hours, the convoy included 40 trucks loaded with logistical materials and military equipment coming through Al-Waleed border crossing.

In other news, US forces conducted on Tuesday a military patrol in the city of Derik, in the far northeastern Syria.

The patrol, consisting of four military armored vehicles without air cover, started from Rubaria Agricultural Airport in the southwestern Derik countryside, which is used by the US forces as a landing strip, and headed to the southern countryside of the city.

This coincided with the flight of two Russian helicopters in the northern and western Derik countryside.



Türkiye Begins Black Box Analysis of Jet Crash That Killed Libyan Military Chief and 7 Others

Libyan national flags fly at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
Libyan national flags fly at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
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Türkiye Begins Black Box Analysis of Jet Crash That Killed Libyan Military Chief and 7 Others

Libyan national flags fly at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
Libyan national flags fly at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)

The technical analysis of the recovered black boxes from a jet crash that killed eight people, including western Libya’s military chief, began as the investigation proceeded in cooperation with Libyan authorities, the Turkish Ministry of Defense said Thursday.

The private jet with Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, four other military officials and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Türkiye’s capital, Ankara, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.

The high-level Libyan delegation was on its way back to Tripoli after holding defense talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.

The wreckage was scattered across an area covering 3 square kilometers (more than a square mile), complicating recovery efforts, according to the Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.

A 22-person delegation, including five family members, arrived from Libya early on Wednesday to assist in the investigation.


Lebanese President: We are Determined to Hold Parliamentary Elections on Time

President Joseph Aoun between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri (Lebanese Presidency file photo)
President Joseph Aoun between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri (Lebanese Presidency file photo)
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Lebanese President: We are Determined to Hold Parliamentary Elections on Time

President Joseph Aoun between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri (Lebanese Presidency file photo)
President Joseph Aoun between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri (Lebanese Presidency file photo)

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reiterated on Thursday that the country’s parliamentary elections are a constitutional obligation that must be carried out on time.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency quoted Aoun as saying that he, alongside Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, is determined to hold the elections on schedule.

Aoun also emphasized that diplomatic efforts have continued unabated to keep the specter of war at bay, noting that "things are heading in a positive direction".

The agency also cited Berri reaffirming that the elections will take place as planned, with "no delays, no extensions".

The Lebanese parliamentary elections are scheduled for May next year.


Israel Calls Countries Condemning New West Bank Settlements ‘Morally Wrong’

Newly constructed buildings are pictured in the Israeli settlement of Givat Zeev near the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on October 24, 2025. (AFP)
Newly constructed buildings are pictured in the Israeli settlement of Givat Zeev near the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on October 24, 2025. (AFP)
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Israel Calls Countries Condemning New West Bank Settlements ‘Morally Wrong’

Newly constructed buildings are pictured in the Israeli settlement of Givat Zeev near the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on October 24, 2025. (AFP)
Newly constructed buildings are pictured in the Israeli settlement of Givat Zeev near the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on October 24, 2025. (AFP)

Israel reacted furiously on Thursday to a condemnation by 14 countries including France and Britain of its approval of new settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling the criticism discriminatory against Jews.

"Foreign governments will not restrict the right of Jews to live in the Land of Israel, and any such call is morally wrong and discriminatory against Jews," Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said.

"The cabinet decision to establish 11 new settlements and to formalize eight additional settlements is intended, among other things, to help address the security threats Israel is facing."

On Sunday, Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that authorities had greenlit the settlements, saying the move was aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Fourteen countries, including Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Canada, then issued a statement urging Israel to reverse its decision, "as well as the expansion of settlements".

Such unilateral actions, they said, "violate international law", and risk undermining a fragile ceasefire in Gaza in force since October 10.

They also reaffirmed their "unwavering commitment to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the two-state solution... where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side-by-side in peace and security".

Israel has occupied the West Bank following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Excluding east Jerusalem, which was occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967, more than 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank, along with about three million Palestinian residents.

Earlier this month, the United Nations said the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, all of which are illegal under international law, had reached its highest level since at least 2017.