Iranian Militias Switch Positions in Syria

View of a damaged building in the aftermath of missile attacks in Erbil, Iraq March 13, 2022. (Reuters)
View of a damaged building in the aftermath of missile attacks in Erbil, Iraq March 13, 2022. (Reuters)
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Iranian Militias Switch Positions in Syria

View of a damaged building in the aftermath of missile attacks in Erbil, Iraq March 13, 2022. (Reuters)
View of a damaged building in the aftermath of missile attacks in Erbil, Iraq March 13, 2022. (Reuters)

After a dozen ballistic missiles struck Iraq’s northern Kurdish regional capital of Erbil, Iranian militias across Syria undertook redeployment and repositioning operations.

The attack against Erbil had also targeted the US consulate’s new building on Saturday evening.

In the western Euphrates region, Iranian-backed militias in Al-Bokamal and its desert, Al-Mayadeen and its countryside have changed their positions and outposts and stationed in new posts, transported weapons and ammunition to other locations in Al-Shibli area, Al-Mazarea in the outskirts and desert of Al-Mayadeen and in Al-Raqqah, informed sources at the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

The war monitor’s sources have also reported that Iranian-backed militias have transported their forces and weapons from two areas of Maadan desert.

According to Observatory sources, Iranian-backed militias conducted unusual movements in Palmyra and its desert and other areas in the eastern countryside of Homs, as these militias have repositioned in new sites there and evacuated warehouses and points.

Similar operations on the outskirts of the capital Damascus and near the border with Lebanon in the Damascus countryside have occurred.

The mass reshaping of Iranian positioning in Syria came after two members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force and two other Syrian fighters operating under the banner of Iran-backed militias were killed in an Israeli attack on March 7.

Israel had hit their military positions near Damascus International Airport.

Severe tensions have also taken over Syrian-Iraqi borders. Beyond military calculations and positions, the area is troubled by terrorists and smugglers.

On Friday night, clashes erupted between a group of smugglers and Iraqi border guards in the Al-Bokamal desert border with Iraq in Syria’s eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.

According to the Observatory, the clashes started with the attempt of a group of smugglers to cross the Iraqi border. Eventually, the smugglers managed to flee towards Syrian territory amid clashes.



Israeli Troops Battle Palestinian Fighters in Gaza City of Khan Younis

 Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Troops Battle Palestinian Fighters in Gaza City of Khan Younis

 Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)

Israeli troops battled Palestinian fighters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and destroyed tunnels and other infrastructure, as they sought to suppress small militant units that have continued to hit troops with mortar fire, the military said on Friday.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said troops had killed around 100 Palestinian fighters since Israeli troops began their latest operation in Khan Younis on Monday, which continued as pressure mounted for a deal to halt the fighting.

It said seven small units that had been firing mortars at the troops were hit in an air strike, while further south, in Rafah, four fighters were also killed in air strikes.

The Islamic Jihad armed wing said it fired rockets toward the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and other Israeli towns near Gaza. No casualties were reported, the Israeli ambulance service said.

The continued fighting, more than nine months since the start of Israel's invasion of Gaza following the Oct. 7 attack, underlined the difficulty the IDF has had in eliminating fighters who have reverted to a form of guerrilla warfare in the ruins of the coastal strip.

A Telegram channel operated by the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two main militant groups in Gaza, said fighters had been waging fierce battles with Israeli troops east of Khan Younis with machine guns, mortars and anti-tank weapons.

Medics said at least six Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in eastern Khan Younis.

US PRESSURE

US President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president, both urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a proposed ceasefire deal as soon as possible.

However there has been no clear sign of movement in talks to end the fighting and bring home some 115 Israeli and foreign hostages still being held in Gaza. Public statements from Israel and Hamas appear to indicate that serious differences remain between the two sides.

Local residents contacted by messenger app, said Israeli tanks had pushed into three towns to the east of Khan Younis, Bani Suhaila, Al-Zanna and Al-Karara and blew up several houses in some residential districts.

The military said air force jets hit around 45 targets, including tunnels and two launch pads from which rockets were fired into Beersheba in southern Israel.

Even while the fighting continued around Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, in the northern part of the enclave, Israeli tanks pushed into the Tel Al-Hawa suburb west of Gaza city, residents said.

A Hamas Telegram channel said fighters targeted an Israeli tank in Tal Al-Hawa and shot an Israeli soldier.

Medics said two Palestinians were also killed in an air strike in western Gaza city.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants.

Israeli officials estimate that some 14,000 fighters from armed groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have been killed or taken prisoner, out of a force they estimated to number more than 25,000 at the start of the war.