Russian Military Patrols Syria's Golan Heights

Russian military units patrolling Golan Heights (Russia Today)
Russian military units patrolling Golan Heights (Russia Today)
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Russian Military Patrols Syria's Golan Heights

Russian military units patrolling Golan Heights (Russia Today)
Russian military units patrolling Golan Heights (Russia Today)

Russia media published a video of Russian military units patrolling the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967.

The video showed soldiers and vehicles separating the Syrian and Israeli armies and observation points on hills and high areas in the region. Some of the soldiers were seen wearing combat fatigue bearing the letter "Z," the symbol of the military campaign in Ukraine.

Last January, Russian military planes carried out a patrol with the Syrian Air Force in the Golan, along with Israel, which continues to bomb Iranian sites around Syria.

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the fighters were launched from the Russian Hmeimim base and al-Dumayr Airport.

The statement said the Russian and Syrian military pilots had conducted a joint air patrol mission along the Golan Heights and the Euphrates River.

"The mission's route ran along the Golan Heights, the southern border, the Euphrates River and over northern Syria," the statement read.

"Russian pilots took off from the Hmeymim Air Base, while Syrians took off from the Seikal and Dumayr airfields outside Damascus," the ministry added.

The mission involved Russia's Su-34 and Su-35 aircraft and the A-50 early warning and control aircraft, as well as Syria's MiG-23 and MiG-29 planes.

At the end of 2020, it was reported that Russian forces would conduct their first patrol along the Syrian border with Israel.

Sources said the Russian vehicles moved towards the military base, the Russian observation center in the Quneitra region.

The redeployment implemented Moscow's decision to revive the UN Disengagement Forces (UNDOF) in the Golan.

According to a Russian official, Moscow is assisting the Syrian army in joint exercises in the Golan region, noting that the goal of the Russian presence is to monitor the ceasefire in the demilitarized zone on the border with Israel.

In August 2018, international forces agreed on a de-escalation zone in southern Syria.

Israeli and international media said that the Iranian forces had withdrawn their heavy weapons in Syria to 85 km from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

"The Iranians withdrew, and the Shiite formations are not there," TASS news agency quoted Russian presidential special envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, as saying.

The redeployment came in implementation of the agreement concluded between former US President Donald Trump and Russian Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Helsinki in mid-July 2018.

Both presidents asserted that the US and Russia would work together to ensure Israel's security.

"We both spoke with Bibi (the then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), and they would like to do certain things with Syria having to do with the safety of Israel," Trump said, adding that "creating safety for Israel is something both Putin and I would like to see very much."



Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 25 in Gaza and Huckabee Makes First Appearance as US Ambassador

A man looks through the rubble to inspect a destroyed building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 18, 2025. (AFP)
A man looks through the rubble to inspect a destroyed building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 25 in Gaza and Huckabee Makes First Appearance as US Ambassador

A man looks through the rubble to inspect a destroyed building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 18, 2025. (AFP)
A man looks through the rubble to inspect a destroyed building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 18, 2025. (AFP)

Israeli airstrikes across Gaza killed at least 25 people on Friday including children, hospital workers said, as the new US ambassador to Israel made his first public appearance in Jerusalem.

The dead included 15 people killed in three strikes on the southern city of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Ten people were killed in Jabalia, including eight from the same home, according to the Indonesian Hospital, where the bodies were brought.

The strikes came a day after more than two dozen people died in Gaza as Israel continued attacks, pressuring Hamas to return the hostages and disarm.

US Ambassador Mike Huckabee visited the Western Wall on Friday, the holiest Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem’s Old City. He inserted a prayer into the wall, which he said was handwritten by US President Donald Trump. "Those are his initials, D.T.,“ said Huckabee while showing the note to the media.

In his first act as ambassador, Huckabee said Trump told him to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Huckabee also said every effort was being made to bring home the remaining hostages held by Hamas. A one-time presidential hopeful, Huckabee has acknowledged his past support for Israel’s right to annex the West Bank and incorporate its Palestinian population into Israel but said it would not be his “prerogative” to carry out that policy.

During his first term, Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital over Palestinian objections and moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv. Palestinians seek the eastern part of the city, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, as their future capital.

Huckabee's arrival comes at a pivotal time in the 18-month war, as international mediators including the US are trying to get a broken ceasefire back on track.

Israel is demanding that Hamas release more hostages at the start of any new ceasefire and ultimately agree to disarm and leave the territory. Israel has said it plans to occupy large “security zones” inside Gaza.

Khalil al-Hayya, head of Hamas’ negotiating delegation, said Thursday the group had rejected Israel’s latest proposal along those lines. He reiterated Hamas’ stance that it will return hostages only in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting truce, as called for in the now-defunct ceasefire agreement reached in January.

Hamas currently holds 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive.

Friday’s airstrikes came a day after aid groups raised alarm over Israel’s blockade of Gaza, where it has barred entry of all food and other goods for more than six weeks. Thousands of children have become malnourished, and most people are barely eating one meal a day as stocks dwindle, the United Nations said.

Israel’s Defense Minister says the blockade is one of the “central pressure tactics” against Hamas, which Israel accuses of siphoning off aid to maintain its rule. Aid workers deny there is significant diversion of aid, saying the UN closely monitors distribution. Rights groups have called it a “starvation tactic.”

The war began when Hamas-led gunmen attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s offensive has since killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.  

The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and most of its food production capabilities. The war has displaced around 90% of the population, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings.