Iran-backed Militias Use Vegetable Trucks to Smuggle Weapons into Syria

File photo of pro-Iran militias in Deir Ezzor. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)
File photo of pro-Iran militias in Deir Ezzor. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)
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Iran-backed Militias Use Vegetable Trucks to Smuggle Weapons into Syria

File photo of pro-Iran militias in Deir Ezzor. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)
File photo of pro-Iran militias in Deir Ezzor. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)

A shipment of arms and ammunition loaded on vegetable trucks entered Syrian territory from Iraq, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Observatory said that the shipment was smuggled out "fear of being targeted” by the United States or Israel.

It entered from the Syria through an unofficial border crossing.

The weapons, which included short-range rockets and their launchers, were moved to the town of al-Mayadin in the southern countryside of Deir Ezzor. They were allegedly stored in tunnels dug beneath the town’s historic citadel.

Meanwhile, the Ain al-Furat Network said that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has shut its shared radio frequencies with the Syrian regime forces in the areas of the eastern countryside of Homs.

The forces only kept a single frequency for emergency purposes.

The network’s correspondent quoted a private military source as saying that the decision came at the request of the IRGC leadership at the T-4 military airport, east of Homs, without providing any further explanation.

The military source said there were seven open frequencies between the Syrian regime forces and the IRGC, including five for military purposes, one logistical, and one medical.

The Russian forces communicate with the Revolutionary Guards through the joint emergency frequency with the Syrian regime.

The relationship between the regime and the Iranian militias is witnessing tensions. Activists said "Hajj Askar," the official in charge of the pro-Iranian militias in al-Bukamal, east of Deir Ezzor, has refused to open halls for the regime forces so they can carry out the settlement agreements set to take effect on Monday.

Instead, the regime set up tents at the entrance of Deir Ezzor to handle the settlement, according to the Observatory.

Last month, over 1,000 people agreed to the settlement in the Reconciliation Center in al-Mayadin.

According to human rights sources, 1,050 persons, most of whom are former members of the opposition factions and defectors from the regime forces, arms dealers, and wanted persons on terrorism charges from different areas of the Deir Ezzor countryside, agreed to the settlement in the center inaugurated by the Syrian intelligence last month.



Netanyahu ‘Takes Revenge’ on Macron in Lebanon

 A photo of Netanyahu and Macron during their meeting in Jerusalem in October 2023 (AFP)
 A photo of Netanyahu and Macron during their meeting in Jerusalem in October 2023 (AFP)
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Netanyahu ‘Takes Revenge’ on Macron in Lebanon

 A photo of Netanyahu and Macron during their meeting in Jerusalem in October 2023 (AFP)
 A photo of Netanyahu and Macron during their meeting in Jerusalem in October 2023 (AFP)

Israel’s insistence that France can not be a member of the international committee that will monitor a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon is due to a series of French practices that have disturbed Israel recently, political sources in Tel Aviv revealed.
These practices are most notably attributed to the French judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, who has joined other judges to unanimously issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the sources revealed.
“The Israeli government is following with concern the French role at The Hague,” they said, noting that veteran French lawyer Gilles Devers led a team of 300 international lawyers of various nationalities who volunteered to accuse Israel of “committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
According to the Israeli Maariv newspaper, Israeli officials believe that Devers, who signed the arrest warrant against Netanyahu and Galant, would not have dared to do so without having received a green light from French President Emmanuel Macron.
Israeli sources also mentioned other reasons for Israel’s anger at France, such as the government’s decision to bar Israeli firms from exhibiting at the Euronaval arms show near Paris earlier this month.
French officials have repeatedly said that Paris is committed to Israel's security and point out that its military helped defend Israel after Iranian attacks in April and earlier this month.
Paris has so far also refused to recognize the Palestinian state. But the Israeli government is not satisfied. It wants France to follow the United States and blindly support its war in Gaza and Lebanon.
Tel Aviv also feels incredibly confident that France should be punished, and therefore, decided that Paris could not participate in the Lebanese ceasefire agreement, knowing that the Israeli government itself has traveled to Paris several times begging for its intervention, especially during the war on Lebanon.
Meanwhile, an air of optimism has emerged in Israel around the chances for an end to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon following negotiations led by US envoy Amos Hochstein.
But any optimism relies on Netanyahu’s final decision. The PM is still conducting talks with his friends and allies of the far right who reject the ceasefire agreement and instead, demand that Lebanese citizens not be allowed to return to their villages on the border with Israel. They also request that a security belt be turned into a permanently depopulated and mined zone.
Hochstein Talks
Meanwhile, political sources in Israel claim that what is holding up a ceasefire deal so far is Lebanon. According to Israel's Channel 12, Hochstein expressed a “firm stance” during his talks with the Lebanese side. The envoy delivered clear terms that were passed on to Hezbollah, which the channel said “led to significant progress” in the talks.
Israeli officials said that Tel Aviv is moving towards a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon with Hezbollah in the coming days.
The channel said that during his late visit to Tel Aviv, coming from Beirut after talks with Speaker Nabih Barri, Hochstein said, “I placed before them (Lebanese officials) a final warning, and it seems to have been effective.”
Iran Obstacle
Despite the “positive atmosphere,” informed diplomatic sources pointed to a major obstacle: Iran.
Channel 12 quoted the sources as saying that Lebanon has not yet received the final approval required from Iran, which has significant influence over Hezbollah.

According to the draft proposal, the Lebanese Army must be redeployed to the south and carry out a comprehensive operation to remove weapons from villages. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces will “supervise and monitor the implementation of the operation.”
Channel 12 said Israel believes that such details could still derail the agreement. It also said that Hezbollah could violate the truce.
“In such cases, Israel would have to conduct military operations inside the Lebanese territory,” the channel reported, adding that “one of the unsettled issues is related to the committee that will oversee the implementation of the agreement between Israel and Lebanon.”
The sources said Tel Aviv “insists that France is not part of the agreement, nor part of the committee that will oversee its implementation.”