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Russia Resorts to Military Power to Enforce Syrian Regime Deployment in Idlib

A Turkish armed forces convoy is seen in Idlib province, Syria. AP file photo
A Turkish armed forces convoy is seen in Idlib province, Syria. AP file photo
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Russia Resorts to Military Power to Enforce Syrian Regime Deployment in Idlib

A Turkish armed forces convoy is seen in Idlib province, Syria. AP file photo
A Turkish armed forces convoy is seen in Idlib province, Syria. AP file photo

Russia began on Thursday to use its military power to “enforce” the deployment of Syrian regime forces in the northwestern province of Idlib, and to halt an attack by Turkish-backed Syrian factions, which plan to advance towards the town of Nerab.

The Russian Defense Ministry said pro-Ankara militants, backed by Turkish artillery fire, breached the defenses of the Syrian army near the villages of Qmenas and Nerab in Idlib.

“Russian Su-24 attack aircraft were fired at Turkey-backed militants, helping the army repel the advancing fighters to Nerab and the nearby town of Saraqeb,” the ministry said.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova expressed concerns “over such support for militants from the Turkish armed forces.”

She said the incident is seen as a violation of the Russian-Turkish agreements on separating the armed opposition from terrorists, and creating a demilitarized zone, and it may provoke a further escalation in the conflict in that part of Syria.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 27 fighters were killed in the Idlib fighting. The Observatory confirmed the pullout of opposition factions from Nerab.

For its part, the Turkish Defense Ministry said two Turkish soldiers were killed and five injured in an airstrike in Idlib, adding that over 50 Syrians died in a retaliatory fire.

On Thursday, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma (lower house) Defense Committee Andrei Krasov told the Russian Izvestia newspaper that Moscow is calling on Ankara to resolve the situation in Idlib by diplomatic means, stressing that a military scenario would only worsen things.

According to him, only the terrorists would benefit from a direct clash between the Syrian and Turkish armies.

The Kremlin announced on Thursday that arrangements were made to prepare for a summit between Turkey, Russia and Iran in Tehran next month to discuss the situation in Idlib.

In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to establish a de-escalation zone in the province. However, the two sides failed to respect the deal.

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Arab World

Lebanon Charges Four Accused of Kidnapping for Israel’s Mossad

A handout photo from Israeli television made available on July 13, 2008, shows a photograph of Ron Arad, an Israeli Air Force navigator who was captured after his fighter jet was shot down in Lebanon in 1986. (Handout / AFP)
A handout photo from Israeli television made available on July 13, 2008, shows a photograph of Ron Arad, an Israeli Air Force navigator who was captured after his fighter jet was shot down in Lebanon in 1986. (Handout / AFP)
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Lebanon Charges Four Accused of Kidnapping for Israel’s Mossad

A handout photo from Israeli television made available on July 13, 2008, shows a photograph of Ron Arad, an Israeli Air Force navigator who was captured after his fighter jet was shot down in Lebanon in 1986. (Handout / AFP)
A handout photo from Israeli television made available on July 13, 2008, shows a photograph of Ron Arad, an Israeli Air Force navigator who was captured after his fighter jet was shot down in Lebanon in 1986. (Handout / AFP)

Four people accused of a kidnapping in Lebanon for Israel's Mossad spy agency last month have been charged, a judicial official said on Thursday, after a retired security officer whose brother was linked to an Israeli airman's disappearance went missing.

Israel has apprehended suspects in Lebanon before and Mossad is accused of regularly attempting to contact Lebanese people to facilitate its operations, while Lebanon has arrested dozens of people on suspicion of collaborating with Israel over the years.

Lebanese authorities believe the agency known for espionage operations outside of Israel's borders was behind the disappearance of retired security officer Ahmad Shukr last month.

Shukr, whose brother Hassan is suspected of involvement in the 1986 capture of Israeli air force navigator Ron Arad, disappeared in the Bekaa region of eastern Lebanon.

Authorities have arrested and charged one Lebanese man and charged three more who remain at large.

The four were charged with "communicating with and working for Mossad within Lebanon in exchange for money, and carrying out the kidnapping of Ahmad Shukr", a judicial official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The three are "a Lebanese woman, a Lebanese-French man, and a Syrian-Swedish man," the official said.

The Israeli airman Ron Arad, whose plane went down in southern Lebanon during the country's civil war between 1975 and 1990, is now presumed dead and his remains were never returned.

Hassan Shukr was killed in 1988 in a battle between Israeli forces and local fighters, including from the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, a source close to the family told AFP last month, requesting anonymity.

Arab World

Israeli Strikes Kill Five in Gaza, Say Local Health Authorities

Makeshift tents shelter displaced Palestinians stand among buildings destroyed by Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza City Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP)
Makeshift tents shelter displaced Palestinians stand among buildings destroyed by Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza City Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP)
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Israeli Strikes Kill Five in Gaza, Say Local Health Authorities

Makeshift tents shelter displaced Palestinians stand among buildings destroyed by Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza City Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP)
Makeshift tents shelter displaced Palestinians stand among buildings destroyed by Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza City Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP)

Two Israeli airstrikes killed five people, including a 16-year-old, in Deir al-Balah on Thursday, said local health authorities.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the incident.

It was not immediately clear what triggered the attacks, which were in areas outside the control of Israeli forces in the strip.

More than 400 Palestinians ‌and three Israeli ‌soldiers have been reported ‌killed ⁠since a ‌fragile ceasefire took effect in October.

Israel has razed buildings and ordered residents out of more than half of Gaza where its troops remain. Nearly all of the territory's more than 2 million people now live in ⁠makeshift homes or damaged buildings in a sliver of ‌territory where Israeli troops have withdrawn ‍and Hamas has ‍reasserted control.

The United Nations children agency ‍said on Tuesday that over 100 children have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire, including victims of drone and quadcopter attacks.

Israel and Hamas have traded blame for violations of the ceasefire and remain far apart ⁠from each other on key issues, despite the United States announcing the second phase of the ceasefire on Wednesday.

Israel launched its operations in Gaza in the wake of an attack by Hamas-led fighters on October, 2023 which killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's assault has killed 71,000 people, according to health authorities in the strip, ‌and left much of Gaza in ruins.

Arab World

Türkiye Says Syrian Government Could Use Force Against Kurds

Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan answers questions from reporters during a news conference in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP)
Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan answers questions from reporters during a news conference in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP)
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Türkiye Says Syrian Government Could Use Force Against Kurds

Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan answers questions from reporters during a news conference in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP)
Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan answers questions from reporters during a news conference in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP)

The Syrian government army could use further force against Kurdish militants after a flare-up in violence in northern Syria, the foreign minister of neighboring Türkiye, a strong backer of the Syrian authorities, said on Thursday.

More than 150,000 people have fled from two Kurdish-run pockets of Syria's northern city of Aleppo during five days of fighting between government forces and ‌Kurdish fighters. ‌Syria's health ministry says at least 23 ‌people ⁠have died.

Türkiye has itself threatened a potential military operation against the Syrian Kurdish groups it calls terrorists.

It says the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) must integrate into the central government under a nearly year-old agreement that has stalled.

"I hope it doesn't come to ⁠that point ... but when problems are not solved through dialogue, unfortunately, I see from ‌here that the use of force is ‍also an option for the ‍Syrian government," Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a press conference in ‍Istanbul.

The violence in Aleppo has deepened one of the main faultlines in Syria, where President Ahmed al-Sharaa's promise to unify the country under one leadership after 14 years of war has faced resistance from Kurdish forces wary of his government.

Syria's military has declared a handful of Kurdish-held towns in the north as a "military zone" ⁠and said all non-state factions stationed there should leave the area.

On Wednesday and Thursday, it dispatched fighters and military equipment to the zone and opened a humanitarian corridor for people to flee.

Fidan said that the SDF must show good intentions and break out of a cycle of violence. Türkiye says the SDF is aligned with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party militant group, which is involved in a peace process with Ankara.

Fidan added that the peace process with the PKK should not become a missed opportunity, and Ankara hopes it ‌will continue.