Report: 10,000 Iranian Militants Killed in Syria

The ongoing military operations in Syria have resulted in extensive damage to the infrastructure (AP)
The ongoing military operations in Syria have resulted in extensive damage to the infrastructure (AP)
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Report: 10,000 Iranian Militants Killed in Syria

The ongoing military operations in Syria have resulted in extensive damage to the infrastructure (AP)
The ongoing military operations in Syria have resulted in extensive damage to the infrastructure (AP)

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) documented the death of 499,657 people since the outbreak of the Syrian uprising.

The Observatory also announced that the death toll included 1,712 Lebanese Hezbollah members and 8,628 others from non-Syrian militiamen backed by Iran and Russia.

Last year, the United Nations Human Rights Office announced that it compiled a list of 350,209 identified individuals killed in the conflict in Syria between March 2011 to March 2021.

In March 2011, the Observatory announced that 494,438 people had been killed since the start of the conflict in Syria when protests turned into an armed conflict.

The Observatory said that the civilian deaths are 160,681, including 120,158 men, 15,237 women, and 25,286 children in its new report.

It detailed the deaths as follows: 49,359 civilians died under torture in regime prisons, 52,508 were killed in shelling and gunfire by regime forces, and 26,403 in airstrikes by the regime’s air force.

In addition, 8,683 civilians were killed by Russian bombardments, and 2,504 others were killed in airstrikes, the source of which was not confirmed.

SOHR also reported that factions killed 2,320 civilians, militants killed 900 civilians, while 1,692 civilians died in various attacks. Up to 919 civilians died of poor living conditions, and the International Coalitions killed 2,676 civilians.

The non-civilian deaths amounted to 338,976 and were distributed as follows: 91,267 from the regime forces, 67,242 from militias loyal to the regime, Iran and Russia, 1,712 from the Lebanese Hezbollah, and 8,628 from non-Syrian militiamen backed by Iran and Russia.

The list also included 8,017 dead during the fighting and militant factions, 3,588 dissidents from the regime forces, 10,886 of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), 3,228 Kurdish fighters, and 41,101 ISIS terrorists.

The Observatory added that the figures do not include more than 55,000 citizens killed under torture in the regime’s prisons.

The report also does not account for over 3,200 Kurdistan Workers’ Party fighters who were killed during their fight alongside the SDF.

Furthermore, the Observatory could not verify the status of over 3,200 civilians and fighters abducted in ISIS prisons and more than 4,100 prisoners and missing members of the regime forces and loyal militiamen.

The Observatory said that over 1,800 persons were kidnapped by militant factions, ISIS, and Fateh al-Sham Front (former Jabhat Al-Nusra) on charges of “loyalty to the regime.”

The ongoing military operations, shelling, bombardment, and various explosions have injured more than 2.1 million civilians and displaced about 13,000,000 other civilians, including hundreds of thousands of children and women.

Meanwhile, the US State Department said that Washington does not support efforts to normalize relations with the Assad regime and will not normalize relations until there is irreversible progress towards a political solution.

“We will not normalize relations with Assad until and unless there is irreversible progress towards that political solution. The Syrian people deserve nothing less after more than a decade of war,” said spokesman Ned Price.”



One Dead as Israeli Forces Open Fire on West Bank Stone-Throwers

Israeli troops during a military operation in the Palestinian village of Qabatiya, near the West Bank city of Jenin, 27 December 2025. (EPA)
Israeli troops during a military operation in the Palestinian village of Qabatiya, near the West Bank city of Jenin, 27 December 2025. (EPA)
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One Dead as Israeli Forces Open Fire on West Bank Stone-Throwers

Israeli troops during a military operation in the Palestinian village of Qabatiya, near the West Bank city of Jenin, 27 December 2025. (EPA)
Israeli troops during a military operation in the Palestinian village of Qabatiya, near the West Bank city of Jenin, 27 December 2025. (EPA)

The Israeli military said its forces killed a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank in the early hours on Thursday as they opened fire on people who were throwing stones at soldiers.

Two other people were hit on a main ‌road near the ‌village of Luban ‌al-Sharqiya ⁠in Nablus, ‌the military statement added. It described the people as militants and said the stone-throwing was part of an ambush.

Palestinian authorities in the West Bank said ⁠a 26-year-old man they named as ‌Khattab Al Sarhan was ‍killed and ‍another person wounded.

Israeli forces had ‍closed the main entrance to the village of Luban al-Sharqiya, in Nablus, and blocked several secondary roads on Wednesday, the Palestinian Authority's official news agency WAFA reported.

More ⁠than a thousand Palestinians were killed in the West Bank between October 2023 and October 2025, mostly in operations by security forces and some by settler violence, the UN has said.

Over the same period, 57 Israelis were killed ‌in Palestinian attacks.


UN Chief Condemns Israeli Law Blocking Electricity, Water for UNRWA Facilities

A girl stands in the courtyard of a building of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Askar camp for Palestinian refugees, east of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on December 31, 2025. (AFP)
A girl stands in the courtyard of a building of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Askar camp for Palestinian refugees, east of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on December 31, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Chief Condemns Israeli Law Blocking Electricity, Water for UNRWA Facilities

A girl stands in the courtyard of a building of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Askar camp for Palestinian refugees, east of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on December 31, 2025. (AFP)
A girl stands in the courtyard of a building of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Askar camp for Palestinian refugees, east of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on December 31, 2025. (AFP)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned on Wednesday a move by Israel to ban electricity or water to facilities owned by the UN Palestinian refugee agency, a UN spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the move would "further impede" the agency's ability to operate and carry out activities.

"The Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations remains applicable to UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), its property and assets, and to its officials and other personnel. Property used ‌by UNRWA ‌is inviolable," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the ‌secretary-general, ⁠said while ‌adding that UNRWA is an "integral" part of the world body.

UNRWA Commissioner General Phillipe Lazzarini also condemned the move, saying that it was part of an ongoing " systematic campaign to discredit UNRWA and thereby obstruct" the role it plays in providing assistance to Palestinian refugees.

In 2024, the Israeli parliament passed a law banning the agency from operating in ⁠the country and prohibiting officials from having contact with the agency.

As a ‌result, UNRWA operates in East Jerusalem, ‍which the UN considers territory occupied ‍by Israel. Israel considers all Jerusalem to be part ‍of the country.

The agency provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. It has long had tense relations with Israel, but ties have deteriorated sharply since the start of the war in Gaza and Israel has called repeatedly for UNRWA to ⁠be disbanded, with its responsibilities transferred to other UN agencies.

The prohibition of basic utilities to the UN agency came as Israel also suspended of dozens of international non-governmental organizations working in Gaza due to a failure to meet new rules to vet those groups.

In a joint statement, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom said on Tuesday such a move would have a severe impact on the access of essential services, including healthcare. They said one in ‌three healthcare facilities in Gaza would close if international NGO operations stopped.


Israel Says It ‘Will Enforce’ Ban on 37 NGOs in Gaza

The sun sets behind the ruins of destroyed buildings in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on December 31, 2025. (AFP)
The sun sets behind the ruins of destroyed buildings in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on December 31, 2025. (AFP)
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Israel Says It ‘Will Enforce’ Ban on 37 NGOs in Gaza

The sun sets behind the ruins of destroyed buildings in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on December 31, 2025. (AFP)
The sun sets behind the ruins of destroyed buildings in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on December 31, 2025. (AFP)

Israel said on Thursday that 37 international NGOs operating in Gaza had not complied with a deadline to meet "security and transparency standards," in particular disclosing information on their Palestinian staff, and that it "will enforce" a ban on their activities. 

The groups will now be required to cease their operations by March 1, which the United Nations has warned will exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory. 

"Organizations that have failed to meet required security and transparency standards will have their licenses suspended," the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism said in a statement on Thursday. 

Several NGOS have said the requirements contravene international humanitarian law or endanger their independence, while Israel has faced international criticism in the run-up to the deadline. 

Israel says the new regulation aims to prevent bodies it accuses of supporting terrorism from operating in the Palestinian territories. 

"The primary failure identified was the refusal to provide complete and verifiable information regarding their employees, a critical requirement designed to prevent the infiltration of terrorist operatives into humanitarian structures," the ministry said. 

In March, Israel gave a ten-month deadline to NGOs to comply with the new rules, which demand the "full disclosure of personnel, funding sources, and operational structures." 

The deadline expired on Wednesday. 

The 37 NGOs "were formally notified that their licenses would be revoked as of January 1, 2026, and that they must complete the cessation of their activities by March 1, 2026," the ministry said Thursday. 

- 'Weaponization of bureaucracy' - 

Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli said: "The message is clear: humanitarian assistance is welcome - the exploitation of humanitarian frameworks for terrorism is not." 

Numerous prominent humanitarian organizations have been hit by the ban, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), World Vision International and Oxfam, according to the list provided by the ministry. 

In the case of MSF, Israel accused it of having two employees who were members of Palestinian groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas. 

MSF said earlier this week that the request to share a list of its staff "may be in violation of Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law" and said it "would never knowingly employ people engaging in military activity". 

On Thursday, 18 Israel-based left-wing NGOs denounced the decision to ban their international peers, saying "the new registration framework violates core humanitarian principles of independence and neutrality." 

"This weaponization of bureaucracy institutionalizes barriers to aid and forces vital organizations to suspend operations," they said. 

On Wednesday, United Nations rights chief Volker Turk described Israel's decision as "outrageous", calling on states to urgently insist Israel shift course. 

"Such arbitrary suspensions make an already intolerable situation even worse for the people of Gaza," he said. 

UN Palestinian refugee agency chief Philippe Lazzarini said the move sets a "dangerous precedent". 

"Failing to push back against attempts to control the work of aid organizations will further undermine the basic humanitarian principles of neutrality, independence, impartiality and humanity underpinning aid work across the world," he said on X. 

- 'Catastrophic' - 

On Tuesday, the foreign ministers of 10 countries, including France and the United Kingdom, urged Israel to "guarantee access" to aid in the Gaza Strip, where they said the humanitarian situation remains "catastrophic". 

A fragile ceasefire has been in place in Gaza since October, following a deadly war waged by Israel in response to Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023. 

Conditions for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip remain dire, with nearly 80 percent of buildings destroyed or damaged by the war, according to UN data. 

About 1.5 million of Gaza's more than two million residents have lost their homes, said Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza.