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Signs Emerge of Turkish Decision to Freeze North Syria Operation

Mourners attend the funeral procession of a fighter of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), in Syria's northeastern Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli, on December 7, 2022. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
Mourners attend the funeral procession of a fighter of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), in Syria's northeastern Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli, on December 7, 2022. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
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Signs Emerge of Turkish Decision to Freeze North Syria Operation

Mourners attend the funeral procession of a fighter of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), in Syria's northeastern Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli, on December 7, 2022. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
Mourners attend the funeral procession of a fighter of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), in Syria's northeastern Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli, on December 7, 2022. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)

Türkiye has reaffirmed that it will not be asking anyone for permission to wage a ground military operation in neighboring Syria, but indicators for it launching the campaign remain absent at a time the country is facing Russian and US pressures to fall back on its planned operation against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that Türkiye doesn’t require any party’s approval to carry out military operations against what he labeled as terrorists.

Türkiye labels the People’s Defense Units (YPG), a mainly Kurdish militia in Syria and the primary component of the SDF, as terrorists and an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

“The terrorist organization targets Türkiye’s peace and security. For the protection of our country and borders, we use our right to self-defense arising from Article 51 of the UN Charter. In doing so, it is out of question to get permission from anyone,” Hulusi Akar told the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero.

“Recognized as a terrorist organization by the EU, NATO and the US, the PKK operates under different names to mislead the international community. The key point is that the PKK and its Syrian offshoot, the YPG, are one and the same organization,” stressed the defense chief.

Akar pointed out that Türkiye respects Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and hosts large numbers of Syrians fleeing the war.

In other news, Kurdish media reports mentioned US pressure prompting Türkiye to back down from the military operation it threatened to carry out after the terrorist bombing that took place on Istiklal Street in Taksim district in Istanbul on November 13.

Ankara blamed the attack, which left six dead and 81 injured, on the YPG and carried out Operation Claw-Sword in northern Syria and Iraq in retaliation.

Washington intends to deploy its forces again to areas it withdrew from in northeastern Syria three years ago, Kurdish media reported.

This comes at a time when the SDF has not yet shown approval of the Russian proposal to withdraw forces and weapons from Manbij and Ayn al-Arab (Kobani) and hand them over to Damascus.

Handing over control to the Syrian regime would achieve Türkiye’s demands of having Kurdish forces pushed 30 kilometers away from its southern border.

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Hezbollah Fires about 250 Rockets, Other Projectiles into Israel in Heaviest Barrage in Weeks

Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
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Hezbollah Fires about 250 Rockets, Other Projectiles into Israel in Heaviest Barrage in Weeks

Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)

Hezbollah fired about 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel on Sunday, wounding seven people in one of the group's heaviest barrages in months, in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut while negotiators pressed on with ceasefire efforts to halt the all-out war.

Some of the rockets reached the Tel Aviv area in the heart of Israel.

Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on an army center killed a Lebanese soldier and wounded 18 others in the southwest between Tyre and Naqoura, Lebanon's military said.  

The Israeli military expressed regret, saying that the strike occurred in an area of combat against Hezbollah and that the military's operations are directed solely against the fighters.

Israeli strikes have killed over 40 Lebanese troops since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, even as Lebanon's military has largely kept to the sidelines.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the latest strike as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.

Hezbollah fires rockets after strikes on Beirut  

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes at Hezbollah, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war as Israel launched waves of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several top commanders.

The Israeli military said about 250 projectiles were fired Sunday, with some intercepted.

Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said it treated seven people, including a 60-year old man in severe condition from rocket fire on northern Israel, a 23-year-old man who was lightly wounded by a blast in the central city of Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, and a 70-year-old woman who suffered smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire there.  

In Haifa, a rocket hit a residential building that police said was in danger of collapsing.

The Palestine Red Crescent reported 13 injuries it said were caused by an interceptor missile that struck several homes in Tulkarem in the West Bank. It was unclear whether the injuries and damage elsewhere were caused by rockets or interceptors.

Sirens wailed again in central and northern Israel hours later.

Israeli airstrikes without warning on Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 29 people and wounding 67, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.

Smoke billowed above Beirut again Sunday with new strikes. Israel's military said it targeted Hezbollah command centers in the southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, where the group has a strong presence.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,700 people in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardment in northern Israel and in battle following Israel's ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country's north.

EU envoy calls for pressure to reach a truce  

The Biden administration has spent months trying to broker a ceasefire, and US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region last week.

The European Union’s top diplomat called Sunday for more pressure on Israel and Hezbollah to reach a deal, saying one was "pending with a final agreement from the Israeli government.”

Josep Borrell spoke after meeting with Mikati and Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who has been mediating with the group.

Borrell said the EU is ready to allocate 200 million euros ($208 million) to assist the Lebanese military, which would deploy additional forces to the south.

The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution that ended the monthlong 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol with the presence of UN peacekeepers.