ISIS Attacks on Syria Truffle Hunters are Deadliest in a Year

File photo: Fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces secure the Iraqi-Syrian border in al-Qaim in Anbar province in Iraq | AFP
File photo: Fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces secure the Iraqi-Syrian border in al-Qaim in Anbar province in Iraq | AFP
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ISIS Attacks on Syria Truffle Hunters are Deadliest in a Year

File photo: Fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces secure the Iraqi-Syrian border in al-Qaim in Anbar province in Iraq | AFP
File photo: Fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces secure the Iraqi-Syrian border in al-Qaim in Anbar province in Iraq | AFP

The ISIS group has carried out its deadliest attacks in more than a year, killing dozens of civilians and security officers in the deserts of central Syria, even as people of northern Syria have been digging out of the wreckage from the region’s devastating earthquake.

The bloodshed was a reminder of the persistent threat from ISIS, whose sleeper cells still terrorize populations nearly four years after the group was defeated in Syria, The Associated Press said.

The attacks also underscored the extremists’ limitations. ISIS militants have found refuge in the remote deserts of Syria’s interior and along the Iraqi-Syrian border. From there, they lash out against civilians and security forces in both countries. But they are also hemmed in by opponents on all sides: Syrian government troops as well as Kurdish-led fighters who control eastern Syria and are backed by US forces. American raids with their Kurdish-led allies have repeatedly killed or caught ISIS leaders and, earlier this month, killed two senior ISIS figures.

The ISIS attacks this month were largely against a very vulnerable target: Syrians hunting truffles in the desert.

The truffles are a seasonal delicacy that can be sold for a high price. Since the truffle hunters work in large groups in remote areas, ISIS militants in previous years have repeatedly preyed on them, emerging from the desert to abduct them, kill some and ransom others for money.

On Feb. 11, ISIS fighters kidnapped about 75 truffle hunters outside the town of Palmyra. At least 16 were killed, including a woman and security officers, 25 were released and the rest remain missing.

Six days later, on Friday, they attacked a group of truffle hunters outside the desert town of Sukhna, just up the highway from Palmyra, and fought with troops at a security checkpoint close by. At least 61 civilians and seven soldiers were killed. Many of the truffle hunters in the group work for three local businessmen close to the Syrian military and pro-government militias, which may have prompted ISIS to target them, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, and the Palmyra News Network, an activist collective that covers developments in the desert areas.
Smaller attacks around the area killed 12 other people, including soldiers, pro-government fighters and civilians.

The area is far from the northern regions devastated by the Feb. 6 earthquake that killed more than 46,000 people in Türkiye and Syria. Still, ISIS fighters “took advantage of the earthquake to send a message that the organization is still present,” said Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Observatory.

Friday’s attack in Sukhna was the group’s deadliest since January 2022, when ISIS gunmen stormed a prison in the northeastern city of Hassakeh that held some 3,000 militants and juveniles. Ten days of battles between the militants and US-backed fighters left nearly 500 dead.

The prison attack raised fears ISIS was staging a comeback. But it was followed by a series of blows against the group, which reverted to its drumbeat of smaller-scale shootings and bombings.

It’s too early to say if the new spate of attacks marks a new resurgence, said Aaron Y. Zelin, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

“It’s the biggest attack in a while. So the question is if it’s just a one-off attack or if they are reactivating capabilities,” said Zelin, who closely follows militant groups.

He said ISIS fighters have been less active every year since 2019 and noted that the recent attacks hit civilians, not tougher security targets.

In 2014, ISIS overran large swaths of Syria and Iraq and declared the entire territory a “caliphate,” where it imposed a radically brutal rule. The US and its allies in Syria and Iraq, as well as Syria's Russian-backed government troops, fought against it for years, eventually rolling it back but also leaving tens of thousands dead and cities in ruins. The group was declared defeated in Iraq in 2017, then in Syria two years later.

In 2019, many thought that ISIS was finished after it lost the last sliver of land it controlled, its founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a US raid and an international crackdown on social media pages linked to the extremists limited its propaganda and recruitment campaigns.

Another US raid about a year ago killed al-Baghdadi’s successor, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi. His replacement was killed in battle with rebels in southern Syria in October.

The newest ISIS leader, Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi, may be trying to show his strength with the latest attacks, said Abdullah Suleiman Ali, a Syrian researcher. The leaders' names are pseudonyms and don't refer to a family relation.

“The new leader has to take measures to prove himself within the organization … (to show) that the group under the new leadership is capable and strong,” Ali said.

American troops and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces eliminated a series of senior ISIS figures this month, according to the US military. On Feb, 10, they killed Ibrahim Al Qahtani, suspected of planning last year’s prison attack, then eight days later they captured an ISIS official allegedly involved in planning attacks and manufacturing bombs. Last week, a senior ISIS commander, Hamza al-Homsi, was killed in a raid that also left four American service-members wounded.

But ISIS remains a threat, according to UN, US and Kurdish officials.

It is estimated to have 5,000 to 7,000 members and supporters – around half of them fighters -- in Iraq and Syria, according to a UN report this month. ISIS uses desert hideouts “for remobilization and training purposes” and has spread cells of 15 to 30 people each to other parts of the country, particularly the southern province of Daraa.

SDF spokesman Siamand Ali said ISIS persistently plots attacks in Kurdish-run eastern Syria.
He pointed to an attempted attack by ISIS fighters on SDF security headquarters in the city of Raqqa in December. SDF sweeps since then have captured ISIS operatives and weapons caches, he said. This is a sign the group was close to carrying out large operations, he said.

ISIS in particular aims to storm SDF-run prisons to free militants, he said. Some 10,000 ISIS fighters, including about 2,000 foreigners, are held in the more than two dozen Kurdish-run detention facilities.

Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, commander of the US Central Command or CENTCOM, said in a statement this month that ISIS “continues to represent a threat to not only Iraq and Syria, but to the stability and security of the region.”



Netanyahu Meets Trump at White House as Israel, Hamas Discuss Ceasefire

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, is greeted by President Donald Trump as he arrives at the West Wing of the White House in Washington, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, is greeted by President Donald Trump as he arrives at the West Wing of the White House in Washington, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
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Netanyahu Meets Trump at White House as Israel, Hamas Discuss Ceasefire

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, is greeted by President Donald Trump as he arrives at the West Wing of the White House in Washington, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, is greeted by President Donald Trump as he arrives at the West Wing of the White House in Washington, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

President Donald Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for White House talks on Monday, while Israeli officials held indirect negotiations with Hamas aimed at securing a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal.

Netanyahu's visit follows Trump's prediction, on the eve of their meeting, that such an agreement could be reached this week. Before heading to Washington, the right-wing Israeli leader said his discussions with Trump could help advance negotiations under way in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian group.

It was Trump's third face-to-face encounter with Netanyahu since returning to office in January, and came just over two weeks after the president ordered the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites in support of Israeli air strikes. Trump then helped arrange a ceasefire in the 12-day Israel-Iran war.

Trump and his aides appeared to be trying to seize on any momentum created by the weakening of Iran, which backs Hamas, to push both sides for a breakthrough in the 21-month Gaza war.

He said he also wants to discuss with Netanyahu the prospects for a "permanent deal" with Iran, Israel's regional arch-foe.

The two leaders were scheduled to have a private dinner instead of formal talks in the Oval Office, where the president usually greets visiting dignitaries. It was not immediately clear why Trump was taking a lower-key approach with Netanyahu this time.

After arriving overnight in Washington, Netanyahu met earlier on Monday with Trump’s Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in preparation for his talks with the president. He planned to visit the US Capitol on Tuesday to see congressional leaders.

Ahead of the visit, Netanyahu told reporters he would thank Trump for the US air strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, and said Israeli negotiators were driving for a deal on Gaza in Doha, Qatar's capital.

Israeli officials also hope the outcome of the conflict with Iran will pave the way for normalization of relations with more of its neighbors such as Lebanon and Syria, another issue expected to be on the agenda with Trump.

SECOND DAY OF QATAR TALKS

Witkoff, who played a major role in crafting the 60-day ceasefire proposal at the center of the Qatar negotiations, will travel to Doha this week to join discussions there, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday.

In a sign of continued gaps between the two sides, Palestinian sources said Israel's refusal to allow the free and safe entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza remains the main obstacle to progress in the indirect talks. Israel insists it is taking steps to get food into Gaza but seeks to prevent Hamas from diverting supplies.

On the second day of negotiations, mediators hosted one round and talks were expected to resume in the evening, the Palestinian sources told Reuters.

The US-backed proposal envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza and discussions on ending the war entirely.

Hamas has long demanded a final end to the war before it would free remaining hostages; Israel has insisted it would not agree to halt fighting until all hostages are released and Hamas dismantled.

Trump told reporters last week that he would be “very firm” with Netanyahu on the need for a speedy Gaza deal and that the Israeli leader also wanted to end the war.

Some of Netanyahu's hardline coalition partners oppose halting military operations but, with Israelis having become increasingly weary of the Gaza war, his government is expected to back a ceasefire if he can secure acceptable terms.

A ceasefire at the start of this year collapsed in March, and talks to revive it have so far been fruitless. Meanwhile, Israel has intensified its military campaign in Gaza and sharply restricted food distribution.

Gazans were watching closely for any sign of a breakthrough. “I ask God almighty that the negotiating delegation or the mediators pressure with all their strength to solve this issue, because it has totally became unbearable,” said Abu Suleiman Qadoum, a displaced resident of Gaza city.

The Gaza war erupted when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.

Israel's retaliatory war in Gaza has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave's health ministry. Most of Gaza's population has been displaced by the war and nearly half a million people are facing famine within months, according to United Nations estimates.

Trump has been strongly supportive of Netanyahu, even wading into domestic Israeli politics last month by lashing out at prosecutors over a corruption trial against the Israeli leader on bribery, fraud and breach-of-trust charges that Netanyahu denies.