Hezbollah Running Secret Prison Near Syria's Palmyra

Hezbollah and Syrian flags flutter on a military vehicle in Western Qalamoun, Syria August 28, 2017. (Reuters)
Hezbollah and Syrian flags flutter on a military vehicle in Western Qalamoun, Syria August 28, 2017. (Reuters)
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Hezbollah Running Secret Prison Near Syria's Palmyra

Hezbollah and Syrian flags flutter on a military vehicle in Western Qalamoun, Syria August 28, 2017. (Reuters)
Hezbollah and Syrian flags flutter on a military vehicle in Western Qalamoun, Syria August 28, 2017. (Reuters)

The Lebanese Hezbollah party has recently set up a new secret prison in Syria, revealed the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Director of the UK-based monitor Rami Abdul Rahman said the facility was set up west of Palmyra city in Homs' eastern countryside in central Syria.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat this was not the first such prison set up by the Iran-backed party.

It had established such prisons in the Qalamoun region, including one in al-Qusayr city near the Lebanese-Syrian border.

The facility is overseen by Hezbollah loyalists recruited from among the local population.

Fighters combating Hezbollah and detained in regions controlled by the party are held at these prisons, said Abdul Rahman.

The party refuses to turn them over to the regime, contrary to previous occasions when detainees were released in exchange for money.



Independent Israeli Commission Blames Netanyahu and Others for October 2023 Attack

A protester walks between vehicles as people protest demanding the release of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, ahead of a possible ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 26, 2024. (Reuters)
A protester walks between vehicles as people protest demanding the release of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, ahead of a possible ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 26, 2024. (Reuters)
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Independent Israeli Commission Blames Netanyahu and Others for October 2023 Attack

A protester walks between vehicles as people protest demanding the release of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, ahead of a possible ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 26, 2024. (Reuters)
A protester walks between vehicles as people protest demanding the release of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, ahead of a possible ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 26, 2024. (Reuters)

The independent civilian commission of inquiry into the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel has found Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly responsible for the failures leading up to the attack, alongside former defense ministers, the army chief and the heads of the security services.

The civil commission presented its findings today after a four-month probe in which it heard some 120 witnesses. It was set up by relatives of victims of the Hamas attack, in response to the absence of any state probe.

The commission determined that the Israeli government, its army and security services “failed in their primary mission of protecting the citizens of Israel.”

It said Netanyahu was responsible for ignoring “repeated warnings” ahead of Oct. 7, 2023 for what it described as his appeasing approach over the years toward Hamas, and for “undermining all decision-making centers, including the cabinet and the National Security Council, in a way that prevented any serious discussion” on security issues.

The commission further determined that the military and defense leaders bear blame for ignoring warnings from within the army, and for reducing the army’s presence along the Gaza border while relying excessively on technological means.

On the day of the Hamas attack, the report says, the army’s response was both slow and lacking.

The civil commission called for the immediate establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the Oct. 7 attack.

Netanyahu has opposed launching a state commission of inquiry, arguing that such an investigation should begin only once the war is over.