Five Syrian Soldiers Killed, 20 Injured by ISIS

Syrian army soldiers prepare to launch a mortar towards insurgents in the village of Kfar Nabuda, in the countryside of Hama province on May 11, 2019. (SANA via AP)
Syrian army soldiers prepare to launch a mortar towards insurgents in the village of Kfar Nabuda, in the countryside of Hama province on May 11, 2019. (SANA via AP)
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Five Syrian Soldiers Killed, 20 Injured by ISIS

Syrian army soldiers prepare to launch a mortar towards insurgents in the village of Kfar Nabuda, in the countryside of Hama province on May 11, 2019. (SANA via AP)
Syrian army soldiers prepare to launch a mortar towards insurgents in the village of Kfar Nabuda, in the countryside of Hama province on May 11, 2019. (SANA via AP)

Five Syrian soldiers were killed and 20 injured in a rocket attack by ISIS militants on a military transport bus on Sunday in the east of the country at approximately 7 p.m. local time (1700 GMT), Syrian state media said on Monday.

ISIS, the extremist group that declared a so-called “caliphate” straddling parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014, has lost all territory that was under its control in 2019.

However, the group continues to wage a low-level insurgency in both countries.

The state media report on Monday quoted an unnamed official saying the ISIS militants launched rockets at the bus traveling in the Palmyra desert, then followed it with gunfire from an anti-aircraft gun.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said suspected ISIS militants ambushed the military convoy, killing at least nine soldiers and members of government-allied militias. The group said 15 were wounded.

The different reports could not be immediately reconciled.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat in remarks published Monday that seven regime troops were killed in an ISIS attack on an oil field in Raqqa’s countryside on Saturday night.

Heavy fighting between the two sides left seven soldiers dead, the sources said.



Hamas Says It Will Release American-Israeli Hostage Edan Alexander on Monday

FILE PHOTO: Varda Ben Baruch, grandmother of hostage Edan Alexander, points at the portrait of Edan, as family members and supporters of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack, stand near the kibbutz defense on the day they use giant loudspeakers to call their captive loved ones over the border between Israel and Gaza, at Kibbutz Nir Oz, in southern Israel, April 20, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Varda Ben Baruch, grandmother of hostage Edan Alexander, points at the portrait of Edan, as family members and supporters of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack, stand near the kibbutz defense on the day they use giant loudspeakers to call their captive loved ones over the border between Israel and Gaza, at Kibbutz Nir Oz, in southern Israel, April 20, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
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Hamas Says It Will Release American-Israeli Hostage Edan Alexander on Monday

FILE PHOTO: Varda Ben Baruch, grandmother of hostage Edan Alexander, points at the portrait of Edan, as family members and supporters of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack, stand near the kibbutz defense on the day they use giant loudspeakers to call their captive loved ones over the border between Israel and Gaza, at Kibbutz Nir Oz, in southern Israel, April 20, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Varda Ben Baruch, grandmother of hostage Edan Alexander, points at the portrait of Edan, as family members and supporters of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack, stand near the kibbutz defense on the day they use giant loudspeakers to call their captive loved ones over the border between Israel and Gaza, at Kibbutz Nir Oz, in southern Israel, April 20, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo

The Hamas militant group says it will release the last living American-Israeli hostage held in Gaza on Monday.

In a statement, Hamas did not immediately disclose further details about the release.

Hamas had announced on Sunday that it would free Edan Alexander as a good will gesture for the Trump administration.

There was no immediate comment from Israeli authorities on the timing of the release. The Israeli prime minister’s office said earlier Monday that the release was expected, without mentioning when. It said it hadn’t committed to a ceasefire as part of the release, but would create a “safe corridor” to allow Alexander's release.

Alexander, an Israeli soldier, was taken captive on Oct. 7, 2023.

Alexander’s family, which is based in the US, was on route to Israel, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group representing the captives' families.