Russia Launches 560 Strikes Against ISIS Positions in Central Syria during November

 A displaced girl in the countryside of Idlib, northwest Syria, on Saturday, November 27, 2021. (AFP)
A displaced girl in the countryside of Idlib, northwest Syria, on Saturday, November 27, 2021. (AFP)
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Russia Launches 560 Strikes Against ISIS Positions in Central Syria during November

 A displaced girl in the countryside of Idlib, northwest Syria, on Saturday, November 27, 2021. (AFP)
A displaced girl in the countryside of Idlib, northwest Syria, on Saturday, November 27, 2021. (AFP)

Russian fighter jets conducted more than 560 strikes on different ISIS positions in Central Syria during November, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

Since March 24, 2019, SOHR documented the killing of at least 1,597 regime soldiers and pro-regime forces, including at least three Russians, and 153 Iranian-backed militiamen.

All were killed in ISIS attacks, bombings and ambushes west of the Euphrates in the deserts of Deir Ezzor, al-Raqqah, Homs, al-Suwaidaa, Hama and Aleppo.

Also, Syria regime forces carried out 490 violations in the de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria during November, said Ahmed al-Omar, the official in charge of documenting the violations in Idlib.

The violations included bombardments (artillery and missile) and airstrikes by Russian fighter jets, which killed 16 civilians, including five children, and injured more than 40 others.

According to opposition-led monitor group and a follow-up unit, the regime forces launched intense artillery and missile shelling targeting several areas in the southern countryside of Idlib.

Three civilians who were seriously injured in the attacks were transferred to hospitals in northern Idlib.

Meanwhile, ISIS carried out an unexpected attack on three Syrian regime and Iranian military sites in the vicinity of Khanasir area, south of Aleppo, activists reported.

The terrorist group used machine guns and mortars, killing six soldiers and wounding several others.

The attack was followed by intense airstrikes carried out by Russian fighter jets, which extended from the Hama desert to the Al-Raqqa and Deir Ezzor deserts in eastern Syria, targeting ISIS-affiliated sites. At least 20 militants were killed and injured during the attacks, according to activists.



Former Iraq President Named UN Refugee Chief, Document Shows

Former Iraqi President Barham Salih. (Reuters)
Former Iraqi President Barham Salih. (Reuters)
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Former Iraq President Named UN Refugee Chief, Document Shows

Former Iraqi President Barham Salih. (Reuters)
Former Iraqi President Barham Salih. (Reuters)

Iraq's former president Barham Salih has been chosen as the next High Commissioner for Refugees for the United Nations, a letter showed on Friday, breaking with a tradition of appointing leaders from major donor countries.

The letter, signed by UN Chief Antonio Guterres and dated December 11, says Salih has been appointed for a five-year term beginning January 1.

He replaces Italy's Filippo Grandi, a veteran UN official, who has held the position since 2016. The appointment is provisional and needs to be approved by UNHCR's Executive Committee, the document showed.

Salih, a British-educated engineer from Iraq's Kurdish region, faces major challenges with global displacement at record highs and about double the levels it was when Grandi first began.

In parallel, funding has fallen this year as key donors like the United States have cut back and other Western donors have shifted funds to defense.

About a dozen candidates were competing for the role, including several politicians as well as an IKEA executive, an ER doctor and a TV personality. More than half of them were from Europe, in keeping with a tradition of the Geneva-based agency's chief coming from top donor states.

 


Trump: ‘We Actually Do Have a Real Peace in the Middle East’

US President Donald Trump delivers remarks during the Congressional Ball in the Grand Foyer of the White House in Washington, DC, on December 11, 2025. (Photo by Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP)
US President Donald Trump delivers remarks during the Congressional Ball in the Grand Foyer of the White House in Washington, DC, on December 11, 2025. (Photo by Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP)
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Trump: ‘We Actually Do Have a Real Peace in the Middle East’

US President Donald Trump delivers remarks during the Congressional Ball in the Grand Foyer of the White House in Washington, DC, on December 11, 2025. (Photo by Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP)
US President Donald Trump delivers remarks during the Congressional Ball in the Grand Foyer of the White House in Washington, DC, on December 11, 2025. (Photo by Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP)

US President Donald Trump has said that there are prospects for “a real peace in the Middle East.”

When asked by a reporter at the White House about reports that he was planning to appoint an American two-star general to command the International Stabilization Force (ISF) in Gaza, Trump said Thursday: “We actually do have a real peace in the Middle East ... it’s never happened before and I think it’s very strong actually.”

The ceasefire, in effect since October 10, halted the war but it remains fragile as Israel and Hamas accuse each other almost daily of violations.

The agreement is composed of three phases. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently indicated that he expected the second phase to begin soon.

That phase involves the Israeli army pulling farther back, the ISF deploying to Gaza, and a new governing structure coming into force, including the Trump-led Board of Peace.

Trump told reporters Wednesday that he's planning to announce the Gaza Board of Peace in early 2026.

Gaza’s population of around 2 million is almost entirely displaced, and most people live in vast tent camps stretching along the coast, or set up among the shells of damaged buildings.


Series of Israeli Strikes Hit Lebanon

A convoy of Lebanese army vehicles drives near the border with Israel in the village of Alma al-Shaab during a Lebanese army media tour in south Lebanon, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A convoy of Lebanese army vehicles drives near the border with Israel in the village of Alma al-Shaab during a Lebanese army media tour in south Lebanon, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
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Series of Israeli Strikes Hit Lebanon

A convoy of Lebanese army vehicles drives near the border with Israel in the village of Alma al-Shaab during a Lebanese army media tour in south Lebanon, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A convoy of Lebanese army vehicles drives near the border with Israel in the village of Alma al-Shaab during a Lebanese army media tour in south Lebanon, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A series of Israeli strikes hit south and east Lebanon on Friday, state media reported, as Israel's army said it was targeting Hezbollah sites, the latest such raids despite a year-old ceasefire.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported strikes in around a dozen locations, including up to around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, citing at times "heavy raids".

Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire that was supposed to end more than a year of hostilities with the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, and has also kept troops in five areas it deems strategic, reported AFP.

The Israeli military said in a statement that its forces "struck a training and qualification compound" used by Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force where operatives "underwent shooting exercises and additional training on the use of various types of weapons".

The army also "struck additional Hezbollah military infrastructure in several areas in southern Lebanon", it said.

According to the ceasefire, Hezbollah was required to pull its forces north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometers from the border with Israel, and have its military infrastructure there dismantled.

Under a government-approved plan, Lebanon's army is to dismantle Hezbollah's military infrastructure south of the Litani by the end of the year, before tackling the rest of the country.

The sites struck on Friday were generally north of the river.

Earlier this week, Israel launched a series of strikes on southern Lebanon, also saying it hit a Hezbollah training center and other targets.