Israel's Outgoing Defense Minister Says Iran Starting to Withdraw from Syria

Israeli soldiers at an army base in the Israeli-annexed Syrian Golan Heights look out across the southwestern Syrian province of Quneitra, visible across the border on July 7, 2018. (AFP)
Israeli soldiers at an army base in the Israeli-annexed Syrian Golan Heights look out across the southwestern Syrian province of Quneitra, visible across the border on July 7, 2018. (AFP)
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Israel's Outgoing Defense Minister Says Iran Starting to Withdraw from Syria

Israeli soldiers at an army base in the Israeli-annexed Syrian Golan Heights look out across the southwestern Syrian province of Quneitra, visible across the border on July 7, 2018. (AFP)
Israeli soldiers at an army base in the Israeli-annexed Syrian Golan Heights look out across the southwestern Syrian province of Quneitra, visible across the border on July 7, 2018. (AFP)

Iran has started to withdraw its forces from Syria, Israel's outgoing defense minister said on Monday, without offering any evidence to support his assertion.

Naftali Bennett also urged his successor, Benny Gantz, to maintain pressure on Iran, adding that the trend might otherwise reverse.

Iran has been a key supporter, along with Russia, of Bashar Assad’s regime during Syria's war, sending military advisers as well as material and regional militias that it backs.

Israel, which monitors neighboring Syria intensively, has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria targeting suspected arms and troop movements by Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah party it sponsors.

"Iran is significantly reducing the scope of its forces in Syria and even evacuating a number of bases," said Bennett in his valedictory address.

"Though Iran has begun the withdrawal process from Syria, we need to complete the work. It's in reach."

Israeli officials have suggested in the past that Israel's military operations were showing signs of success.

Iran, which is struggling economically under the burden of US sanctions and has also been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, has repeatedly said its military presence in Syria is at the invitation of Assad's regime and that it will remain in Syria as long as its help is needed.

A senior aide to Iran's foreign minister, Ali-Ashgar Khaji, reiterated on Saturday that Tehran would continue working closely with the regime and Russia to combat terrorism and find a political solution to the Syrian crisis, Iran's ISNA news agency reported.

Bennett held the position of Israeli defense minister for about half a year.

His successor, Gantz, a former armed forces chief and leader of the centrist Blue and White Party, has formed a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which took office on Sunday.



Iraq to Resume Flights to Lebanon on Monday, Transport Minister Says

A view from the window of a Lebanese Middle East Airlines (MEA) airplane shows an Iraqi Airways airplane docked after resuming flights to Lebanon, after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, at Beirut-Rafik Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon, December 4, 2024. (Reuters)
A view from the window of a Lebanese Middle East Airlines (MEA) airplane shows an Iraqi Airways airplane docked after resuming flights to Lebanon, after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, at Beirut-Rafik Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon, December 4, 2024. (Reuters)
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Iraq to Resume Flights to Lebanon on Monday, Transport Minister Says

A view from the window of a Lebanese Middle East Airlines (MEA) airplane shows an Iraqi Airways airplane docked after resuming flights to Lebanon, after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, at Beirut-Rafik Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon, December 4, 2024. (Reuters)
A view from the window of a Lebanese Middle East Airlines (MEA) airplane shows an Iraqi Airways airplane docked after resuming flights to Lebanon, after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, at Beirut-Rafik Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon, December 4, 2024. (Reuters)

Iraq will allow the national carrier to resume flights to Lebanon on Monday following their suspension earlier this month, the transport minister was quoted as saying by state media on Saturday.

Iraqi Airways halted flights to Lebanon on Dec. 8 due to security concerns about the situation in neighboring Syria.

Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing President Bashar al-Assad to flee to Russia after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family's decades-long rule.