Israeli Intelligence Arrests Hamas Cell in Jerusalem
Religious Jews in a Jerusalem suburb during Purim celebrations (EPA)
The Israeli intelligence (Shin Bet) arrested a Palestinian cell in Jerusalem that transferred $250,000 from Turkey to finance alleged terrorist activities and pay families of martyrs and prisoners.
The Israeli Public Prosecution has submitted an indictment to a court in Jerusalem against four citizens from Sur Baher and Beit Hanina, on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
They were accused of running a terrorist group, encouraging terrorist activities, financing terrorism, tax offenses, and money laundering.
The Shin Bet claimed the detainees were assigned to carry out military operations that led to clashes during the holy month of Ramadan.
The Shin Bet and the Israeli police arrested the four suspects last month, but a media blackout was imposed, which was removed Friday during the trial.
The indictment named the detainees as freed prisoner Khaled Sabah, a senior Hamas official in Jerusalem, his two sons Munib and Musab and Firas Tawtah, claiming some were trained outside the country.
Tawtah is accused of using the Zakat Committee that he leads for funneling money to Hamas and collecting and distributing $8.6 million between 2007 and 2021.
The police claimed that Sabah had recently met with Khaled Atoun and Musa Ekry, Hamas top officials, who currently live and work in Turkey, and that they appointed Sabah in charge of "Hamas" funds in Jerusalem.
A sum of $250,000 was recently handed over to him for financing Hamas' activities during Ramadan, but he was unable to bring such a large sum across the border, and he started entering the money in small amounts.
The operators urged Sabah to find a way to enter the money, so he deposited it in a Turkish bank account and spent the amount from his Palestinian bank account.
Israeli authorities confiscated $246,000 in cash that was found in his home.
The indictment added that Sabah's two sons aided him as members of Hamas, and the money was transferred to Hamas activists and their families and persons convicted of offenses of terrorism and breach of public order.
The Shin Bet claimed Sabah met in Turkey with Hamas leaders, including Zakaria Najib, who was convicted of kidnapping the soldier Nahshon Waxman in 1994.
The indictment added that during his last month's visit to Turkey, Sabah's responsibilities were expanded, and he was appointed as the head of Hamas in Jerusalem to advance its military activity in the city.
Sabah was asked to form and move military and organizational infrastructure in Jerusalem and prepare for Ramadan month.
It claimed that Mosab helped his father and formed a link with Hamas's leadership in Turkey, and Munib helped relay messages between the officials in Turkey and collected money on his father's behalf.
In 2012-2022, Tawtah collected nearly $150,000 for the charity to be transferred to the families and orphans affiliated with Hamas.
The charity had a total income of $8.6 million between 2007 and 2020, the indictment read, which were transferred to the martyrs' families.
The association also transferred a large part of the money to orphans not affiliated with Hamas.
People celebrate and wave Syrian flags as they wait for a parade by the new Syrian army marking the first anniversary of the ousting of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Damascus, Syria, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP)
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Syria Marks One Year Since Assad Toppled
People celebrate and wave Syrian flags as they wait for a parade by the new Syrian army marking the first anniversary of the ousting of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Damascus, Syria, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP)
Syrians marked the first anniversary of the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad and his iron-fisted rule on Monday, as the fractured nation struggles to find stability and recover after years of war.
Official celebrations are planned for the central Umayyad Square in Damascus, which has been packed with jubilant gatherings ahead of December 8, and in other parts of the country. Military parades are also expected.
Assad fled Syria for Russia a year ago as opposition fighters commanded by Syria's new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, seized Damascus and ended his rule, more than 13 years into a war that spiraled out of an uprising against Assad.
Sharaa marked the occasion by performing dawn prayers at Damascus' Umayyad Mosque, according to the official SANA news agency. He was dressed in military fatigues like those he wore during the victorious campaign spearheaded by his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, the news agency reported.
Sharaa promised to build a just and strong Syria.
"From north to south and from east to west, God willing, we will rebuild a strong Syria with a structure befitting its present and past," he said, according to SANA.
SYRIANS URGED TO RALLY IN SHOW OF UNITY
Sharaa has ushered in big changes which have reshaped Syria's foreign ties. He has forged relations with the United States, won support from Gulf Arab states and Türkiye, and turned away from Assad's backers Iran and Russia. Crippling Western sanctions have largely been lifted.
Sharaa has promised to replace Assad's brutal police state with an inclusive and just order.
But hundreds of people have been killed in bouts of sectarian violence, causing new displacements and fueling mistrust among minorities towards Sharaa's government, as he struggles to bring all Syria back under Damascus' authority.
The Kurdish-led administration that runs the northeast banned gatherings or events on security grounds, citing increased activity by "terror cells" seeking to exploit the occasion. It congratulated Syrians on the anniversary.
The Kurdish-led administration has sought to safeguard its regional autonomy, while in the south, some Druze have been demanding independence in the southern province of Sweida since hundreds of people were killed there in July during deadly clashes with government forces.
FOUR MORE YEARS OF TRANSITION BEFORE ELECTIONS
Sharaa told attendees at a forum in Qatar over the weekend that "Syria today is living its best times," despite the bouts of violence that have taken place, promising accountability for those responsible.
He said a transitional period led by him would continue for four more years, to set up institutions, laws and a new constitution - to be put to a public vote - at which point the country would hold elections.
Sharaa wields broad powers under a temporary constitution approved in March. The authorities organized an indirect vote to form a parliament in October. But Sharaa has yet to select one third of the 210 members as per the constitution.
The Assad family, members of Syria's Alawite minority community, ruled Syria for 54 years.
The Syrian war killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions more since 2011, driving some five million into neighboring countries as refugees.
The UN refugee agency said on Monday that some 1.2 million refugees, in addition to 1.9 million internally displaced people, had gone home since Assad was toppled, but a decline in global funding could deter others.
Syria's central bank governor, speaking at a Reuters NEXT conference last week, said the return of some 1.5 million refugees was helping the economy grow.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says humanitarian needs across Syria are acute, with some 16.5 million people needing aid in 2025.
Syrian Refugee Returns Set to Slow as Donor Support Fadeshttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5217059-syrian-refugee-returns-set-slow-donor-support-fades
People sit after receiving bread from Ecir Kapici, Turkish humanitarian NGO at Al-Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, after Syria's Bashar Al-Assad was ousted, in Damascus, Syria, December 20 , 2024. (Reuters)
Syrian Refugee Returns Set to Slow as Donor Support Fades
People sit after receiving bread from Ecir Kapici, Turkish humanitarian NGO at Al-Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, after Syria's Bashar Al-Assad was ousted, in Damascus, Syria, December 20 , 2024. (Reuters)
More than 3 million Syrians have returned home since the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's rule a year ago but a decline in global funding could deter others, the UN refugee agency said on Monday.
Some 1.2 million refugees in addition to 1.9 million internally displaced people have gone back home following the civil war that ended with Assad's overthrow, but millions more are yet to return, according to UNHCR.
The agency said much more support was needed to ensure the trend continues.
"Syrians are ready to rebuild – the question is whether the world is ready to help them do it," said UNHCR head Filippo Grandi. Over 5 million refugees remain outside Syria's borders, mostly in neighboring countries like Jordan and Lebanon.
RISK OF REVERSALS
Grandi told donors in Geneva last week that there was a risk that those Syrians who are returning might even reverse their course and come back to host states.
"Returns continue in fairly large numbers but unless we step up broader efforts, the risk of (reversals) is very real," he said.
Overall, Syria's $3.19 billion humanitarian response is 29% funded this year, according to UN data, at a time when donors like the United States and others are making major cuts to foreign aid across the board.
The World Health Organization sees a gap emerging as aid money drops off before national systems can take over.
As of last month, only 58% of hospitals were fully functional and some are suffering power outages, affecting cold-chain storage for vaccines.
"Returnees are coming back to areas where medicines, staff and infrastructure are limited – adding pressure to already thin services," Christina Bethke, Acting WHO Representative in Syria, told reporters.
The slow pace of removing unexploded ordnance is also a major obstacle to recovery, said the aid group Humanity & Inclusion, which reported over 1,500 deaths and injuries in the last year. Such efforts are just 13% funded, it said.
Some aid officials say Syria is one of the first crises to be hit by aid funding cuts because the end of the war means it no longer counts as an emergency, eligible for priority funding.
Others may have held back as they wait to see if authorities under President Ahmed al-Sharaa make good on promises of reform and accountability.
On Anniversary of the Fall of Bashar Assad, Syrians and Their Country Struggle to Heal https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5217056-anniversary-fall-bashar-assad%C2%A0syrians%C2%A0and-their-country-struggle%C2%A0%C2%A0heal%C2%A0
Syrians shout slogans and wave flags outside the Umayyad Mosque before a prayer held ahead of celebrations marking the first anniversary of the ousting of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Damascus, Syria, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP)
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On Anniversary of the Fall of Bashar Assad, Syrians and Their Country Struggle to Heal
Syrians shout slogans and wave flags outside the Umayyad Mosque before a prayer held ahead of celebrations marking the first anniversary of the ousting of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Damascus, Syria, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP)
A year ago, Mohammad Marwan found himself stumbling, barefoot and dazed, out of Syria’s notorious Saydnaya prison on the outskirts of Damascus as opposition forces pushing toward the capital threw open its doors to release the prisoners.
Arrested in 2018 for fleeing compulsory military service, the father of three had cycled through four other lockups before landing in Saydnaya, a sprawling complex just north of Damascus that became synonymous with some of the worst atrocities committed under the rule of now ousted President Bashar al-Assad.
He recalled guards waiting to welcome new prisoners with a gauntlet of beatings and electric shocks. “They said, ‘You have no rights here, and we’re not calling an ambulance unless we have a dead body,’” Marwan said.
His Dec. 8, 2024 homecoming to a house full of relatives and friends in his village in Homs province was joyful.
But in the year since then, he has struggled to overcome the physical and psychological effects of his six-year imprisonment. He suffered from chest pain and difficulty breathing that turned out to be the result of tuberculosis. He was beset by crippling anxiety and difficulty sleeping.
He’s now undergoing treatment for tuberculosis and attending therapy sessions at a center in Homs focused on rehabilitating former prisoners, and Marwan said his physical and mental situations have gradually improved.
“We were in something like a state of death” in Saydnaya, he said. “Now we’ve come back to life.”
A country struggling to heal
Marwan's country is also struggling to heal a year after the Assad dynasty’s repressive 50-year reign came to an end following 14 years of civil war that left an estimated half a million people dead, millions more displaced, and the country battered and divided.
Assad's downfall came as a shock, even to the opposition factions who unseated him. In late November 2024, groups in the country’s northwest — led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an opposition group whose then-leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is now the country’s interim president — launched an offensive on the city of Aleppo, aiming to take it back from Assad’s forces.
They were startled when the Syrian army collapsed with little resistance, first in Aleppo, then the key cities of Hama and Homs, leaving the road to Damascus open. Meanwhile, opposition groups in the country’s south mobilized to make their own push toward the capital.
06 December 2025, Syria, Damascus: People walk through al-Hamedya market in Damascus, which is decorated by flags marking the first anniversary of the fall of Assad. (dpa)
The opposition took Damascus on Dec. 8 while Assad was whisked away by Russian forces and remains in exile in Moscow. But Russia, a longtime Assad ally, did not intervene militarily to defend him and has since established ties with the country's new rulers and maintained its bases on the Syrian coast.
Hassan Abdul Ghani, spokesperson for Syrian Ministry of Defense, said HTS and its allies had launched a major organizational overhaul after suffering heavy losses in 2019 and 2020, when Assad’s forces regained control of a number of formerly opposition-controlled areas.
The opposition offensive in November 2024 was not initially aimed at seizing Damascus but was meant to preempt an expected offensive by Assad’s forces in opposition-held Idlib, Abdul Ghani said.
“The defunct regime was preparing a very large campaign against the liberated areas, and it wanted to finish the Idlib file,” he said. Launching an attack on Aleppo “was a military solution to expand the radius of the battle and thus safeguard the liberated interior areas.”
In timing the attack, the opposition fighters also aimed to take advantage of the fact that Russia was distracted by its war in Ukraine and that the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, another Assad ally, was licking its wounds after a damaging war with Israel.
When the Syrian army’s defenses collapsed, the opposition pressed on, “taking advantage of every golden opportunity,” Abdul Ghani said.
Successes abroad, challenges at home
Since his sudden ascent to power, Sharaa has launched a diplomatic charm offensive, building ties with Western and Arab countries that shunned Assad and Sharaa.
A crowning moment of his success in the international arena: in November, he became the first Syrian president since the country’s independence in 1946 to visit Washington.
But the diplomatic successes have been offset by outbreaks of sectarian violence in which hundreds of civilians from the Alawite and Druze minorities were killed. Local Druze groups have now set up their own de facto government and military in the southern Sweida province.
There are ongoing tensions between the new government in Damascus and Kurdish-led forces controlling the country’s northeast, despite an agreement inked in March that was supposed to lead to a merger of their forces.
Israel is wary of Syria's new government even though Sharaa has said he wants no conflict with the country. Israel has seized a formerly UN-patrolled buffer zone in southern Syria and launched regular airstrikes and incursions since Assad’s fall. Negotiations for a security agreement have stalled.
Meanwhile, the country’s economy has remained sluggish, despite the lifting of most Western sanctions. The World Bank estimates that rebuilding the country’s war-damaged areas will cost $216 billion.
A Boy Scout band parades down a street during celebrations marking the first anniversary of the ousting of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP)
Rebuilding largely an individual effort
The rebuilding that has taken place so far has largely been on a small scale, with individual owners paying to fix their own damaged houses and businesses.
On the outskirts of Damascus, the once-vibrant Yarmouk Palestinian camp today largely resembles a moonscape. Taken over by a series of militant groups then bombarded by government planes, the camp was all but abandoned after 2018.
Since Assad’s fall, a steady stream of former residents have been coming back.
The most heavily damaged areas remain largely deserted but on the main street leading into the camp, bit by bit, blasted-out walls have been replaced in the buildings that remain structurally sound. Shops have reopened and families have come back to their apartments. But any sort of larger reconstruction initiative appears to still be far off.
“It’s been a year since the regime fell. I would hope they could remove the old destroyed houses and build towers,” said Maher al-Homsi, who is fixing his damaged home to move back to it even though the area doesn't even have a water connection.
His neighbor, Etab al-Hawari, was willing to cut the new authorities some slack.
“They inherited an empty country — the banks are empty, the infrastructure was robbed, the homes were robbed," she said.
Bassam Dimashqi, a dentist from Damascus, said of the country after Assad’s fall, “Of course it’s better, there’s freedom of some sort.”
But he remains anxious about the still-precarious security situation and its impact on the still-flagging economy.
“The job of the state is to impose security, and once you impose security, everything else will come,” he said. “The security situation is what encourages investors to come and do projects.”
Marwan, the former prisoner, says the post-Assad situation in Syria is “far better” than before. But he has also been struggling economically.
From time to time, he picks up labor that pays only 50,000 or 60,000 Syrian pounds daily, the equivalent of about $5.
Once he finishes his tuberculosis treatment, he said, he plans to leave to Lebanon in search of better-paid work.
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