Russia Launches 560 Strikes Against ISIS Positions in Central Syria during November

 A displaced girl in the countryside of Idlib, northwest Syria, on Saturday, November 27, 2021. (AFP)
A displaced girl in the countryside of Idlib, northwest Syria, on Saturday, November 27, 2021. (AFP)
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Russia Launches 560 Strikes Against ISIS Positions in Central Syria during November

 A displaced girl in the countryside of Idlib, northwest Syria, on Saturday, November 27, 2021. (AFP)
A displaced girl in the countryside of Idlib, northwest Syria, on Saturday, November 27, 2021. (AFP)

Russian fighter jets conducted more than 560 strikes on different ISIS positions in Central Syria during November, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

Since March 24, 2019, SOHR documented the killing of at least 1,597 regime soldiers and pro-regime forces, including at least three Russians, and 153 Iranian-backed militiamen.

All were killed in ISIS attacks, bombings and ambushes west of the Euphrates in the deserts of Deir Ezzor, al-Raqqah, Homs, al-Suwaidaa, Hama and Aleppo.

Also, Syria regime forces carried out 490 violations in the de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria during November, said Ahmed al-Omar, the official in charge of documenting the violations in Idlib.

The violations included bombardments (artillery and missile) and airstrikes by Russian fighter jets, which killed 16 civilians, including five children, and injured more than 40 others.

According to opposition-led monitor group and a follow-up unit, the regime forces launched intense artillery and missile shelling targeting several areas in the southern countryside of Idlib.

Three civilians who were seriously injured in the attacks were transferred to hospitals in northern Idlib.

Meanwhile, ISIS carried out an unexpected attack on three Syrian regime and Iranian military sites in the vicinity of Khanasir area, south of Aleppo, activists reported.

The terrorist group used machine guns and mortars, killing six soldiers and wounding several others.

The attack was followed by intense airstrikes carried out by Russian fighter jets, which extended from the Hama desert to the Al-Raqqa and Deir Ezzor deserts in eastern Syria, targeting ISIS-affiliated sites. At least 20 militants were killed and injured during the attacks, according to activists.



Türkiye, Hamas Discuss Gaza Ceasefire Deal’s Second Phase, Turkish Source Says

Palestinian children play next to tents in a makeshift camp for displaced people set up on the beach in Gaza City, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP)
Palestinian children play next to tents in a makeshift camp for displaced people set up on the beach in Gaza City, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP)
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Türkiye, Hamas Discuss Gaza Ceasefire Deal’s Second Phase, Turkish Source Says

Palestinian children play next to tents in a makeshift camp for displaced people set up on the beach in Gaza City, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP)
Palestinian children play next to tents in a makeshift camp for displaced people set up on the beach in Gaza City, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP)

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Wednesday ​met with Hamas political bureau officials in Ankara to discuss the ceasefire in Gaza and advancing the ‌agreement to ‌its ‌second ⁠phase, ​a ‌Turkish Foreign Ministry source said according to Reuters.

The source said the Hamas officials told Fidan that they had fulfilled ⁠their requirements as ‌part of the ‍ceasefire ‍deal, but that Israel's ‍continued targeting of Gaza aimed to prevent the agreement from ​moving to the next phase.

The Hamas members ⁠also said humanitarian aid entering Gaza was not sufficient, and that goods like medication, equipment for housing, and fuel were needed, the source ‌added.


Israel Says It Killed Hamas Financial Officer in Gaza

Buildings destroyed during Israeli ground and air operations stand in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP)
Buildings destroyed during Israeli ground and air operations stand in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP)
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Israel Says It Killed Hamas Financial Officer in Gaza

Buildings destroyed during Israeli ground and air operations stand in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP)
Buildings destroyed during Israeli ground and air operations stand in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP)

The Israeli army said Wednesday that it had identified a Hamas financial official it killed two weeks ago in a strike in the Gaza Strip.

Abdel Hay Zaqut, a financial official in Hamas's armed wing, on December 13 in the same strike that killed military commander Raed Saad, seen by Israel as one of the architects of Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack.

The Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said on Wednesday that Zaqut was killed while he was in a vehicle alongside Raed Saad in "a joint operation by the Israeli army and the Shin Bet", Israel's internal security agency.

Zaqut "belonged to the financial department of the armed wing" of Hamas, Adraee wrote on X.

"Over the past year, Zaqut was responsible for collecting and transferring tens of millions of dollars to Hamas's armed wing with the aim of continuing the fight against the State of Israel," he said.

Hamas's leader for the Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Hayya, confirmed on December 14 the death of Saad and "his companions", though he did not name Zaqut.

The Israeli army said Saad headed the weapons production headquarters of Hamas's military wing and oversaw the group's build-up of capabilities.

Since October 10, a fragile truce has been in force in the Gaza Strip, although Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violations.

The war began with Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed more than 70,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, a figure the UN deems is credible.


Lebanon Central Bank Governor Expresses Reservations Over Draft Law on Deposit Recovery

 Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam heads a cabinet meeting in Beirut, Lebanon December 23, 2025. (Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam heads a cabinet meeting in Beirut, Lebanon December 23, 2025. (Reuters)
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Lebanon Central Bank Governor Expresses Reservations Over Draft Law on Deposit Recovery

 Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam heads a cabinet meeting in Beirut, Lebanon December 23, 2025. (Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam heads a cabinet meeting in Beirut, Lebanon December 23, 2025. (Reuters)

Lebanon’s Central Bank governor has expressed some reservations over a draft law allowing depositors to gradually recover funds ​frozen in the banking system since a financial collapse in 2019, a move critical to reviving the economy.

Karim Souaid described the proposed timetable for the cash component of deposit repayments as "somewhat ambitious" in a statement on Tuesday.

He suggested ‌it may ‌be adjusted without hindering ‌the depositors' ⁠rights ​guarantee "regular, ‌uninterrupted, and complete payments over time".

He also urged the cabinet to conduct a careful review of the draft law , calling for clarifications to ensure fairness and credibility before it is submitted to parliament.

The central ⁠bank governor said the draft required further refinement, ‌including clearer provisions to guarantee equitable ‍treatment of depositors ‍and to reinforce the state’s commitments ‍under the law.

The 2019 financial collapse - the result of decades of unsustainable financial policies, waste and corruption - led the state to default ​on its sovereign debt and sank the Lebanese pound.

The draft law marks ⁠the first time Beirut has put forward legislation aimed at addressing a vast funding shortfall - estimated at $70 billion in 2022 but now believed to be higher.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Monday urged ministers to swiftly approve the draft legislation.

The cabinet discussed the law on Monday and Tuesday and is set to continue discussions ‌on Friday.