Iranian Proxy Militias in Syria Open Recruitment to Support Hamas

Iranian proxy militias in Deir Ezzor
Iranian proxy militias in Deir Ezzor
TT

Iranian Proxy Militias in Syria Open Recruitment to Support Hamas

Iranian proxy militias in Deir Ezzor
Iranian proxy militias in Deir Ezzor

Iranian proxy militias in Syria kicked off a campaign to support and aid the Hamas movement that launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in Israel, local sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday.

They said Iranian Revolutionary Guards militia commanders launched the campaign from cultural centers in the Deir Ezzor province to gather support for Hamas.

Also, public meetings were held to discuss the unprecedented escalation in Palestine. The militias launched donation campaigns and started accepting all those willing to engage in the fight against Israel on the southern Syrian front.

The director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) Rami Abdul Rahman told Asharq Al-Awsat that Iranian proxy militias, including the Lebanese Hezbollah and the “Syrian Resistance for the Liberation of the Golan,” have ordered their fighters to stay on high alert within their positions in the western countryside of Damascus, at the borders with Lebanon and in the occupied Golan.

At the southern front on the border with the occupied Golan, several sources confirmed that government forces, allied militias affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah members were placed on high alert in anticipation of an Israeli attack inside Syrian territory.

Meanwhile, the military leadership in Damascus called on officers, non-commissioned officers, and individuals working at airports and military institutions to join their work, and they also suspended leaves.

Sources reported frenzy movements by Iranian proxy militias near the Syria-Lebanon border in the Damascus countryside and areas near the border with the occupied Syrian Golan and Al-Qunaitrah countryside.

They brought in military and logistical reinforcement to fortify these positions, moved weapons to safer places and put on high alert to deal with any possible Israeli attacks, in light of the current situation in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Local sources said that weapons and military equipment had been transferred from warehouses belonging to Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in the Damascus countryside and the vicinity of the Damascus International Airport, to the southern front.

Meanwhile, security sources told Syria’s Voice of the Capital website that special units from Hezbollah deployed along the border in southern Syria with the Syrian territories occupied by Israel.

The site also reported that Iranian Revolutionary Guard officer, Hajj Muhammad Assadullah, and fighters from the Revolutionary Guards, left the town of Sayyida Zeinab, south of Damascus, and headed to the Al-Quneitra governorate.

Assadullah and his group had supervised the transfer of drones from the headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards in Daraa Governorate to military sites close to the Golan Heights and the occupied Palestinian territories.

Meanwhile, Sada Al-Sharqiya website said the leadership of the Iranian militias in the city of Al Bukamal, located within areas of Iranian influence in Deir Ezzor governorate, held a meeting with their local fighters and called on them to donate in support of the resistance.

The site also reported that the security official in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Al Bukamal announced that the Guard’s leadership would move its members from Deir Ezzor to the Damascus countryside and Al-Quneitra.

Also, Naher Media website confirmed reports saying a convoy of 12 vehicles had entered on Sunday from Iraq to Syria from the border point controlled by Iran, east of Deir Ezzor.

The vehicles were moved in small batches for fear of being targeted by coalition or Israeli aircrafts. Al Bukamal residents were advised not to approach the main street where the convoy will pass, under penalty of punishment, adding that the final destination of the convoy was unknown.



UNRWA Says ‘Growing Concerns’ Annexation behind Israeli West Bank Operation

An Israeli military vehicle is seen during a military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 04 March 2025. (EPA)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen during a military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 04 March 2025. (EPA)
TT

UNRWA Says ‘Growing Concerns’ Annexation behind Israeli West Bank Operation

An Israeli military vehicle is seen during a military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 04 March 2025. (EPA)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen during a military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 04 March 2025. (EPA)

A major offensive in the occupied West Bank which over several weeks has displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians and ravaged refugee camps increasingly appears to be part of Israel's "vision of annexation", a UN official told AFP.

Israeli forces carry out regular raids targeting gunmen in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, but the ongoing operation since late January is already the longest in two decades, with dire effects on Palestinians.

"It's an unprecedented situation, both from a humanitarian and wider political perspective," said Roland Friedrich, director of West Bank affairs for UNRWA, the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees.

"We talk about 40,000 people that have been forcibly displaced from their homes" in the northern West Bank, mainly from three refugee camps where the operation had begun, said Friedrich.

"These camps are now largely empty," their residents unable to return and struggling to find shelter elsewhere, he said.

Inside the camps, the level of destruction to "electricity, sewage and water, but also private houses" was "very concerning", Friedrich added.

The Israeli operation, which the military says targets gunmen in the northern West Bank, was launched shortly after a truce took hold in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, a separate Palestinian territory.

The operation initially focused on Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps, where UNRWA operates, but has since expanded to more areas of the West Bank's north.

Friedrich warned that as the offensive drags on, there are increasing signs -- some backed by official Israeli statements -- that it could morph into permanent military presence in Palestinian cities.

"There are growing concerns that the reality being created on the ground aligns with the vision of annexation of the West Bank," he said.

- 'Political operation' -

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has said troops would remain for many months in the evacuated camps to "prevent the return of residents and the resurgence of terrorism".

And Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right politician who lives in one of dozens of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, has said that Israel would be "applying sovereignty" over parts of the territory in 2025.

According to Friedrich, "the statements we are hearing indicate that this is a political operation. It is clearly being said that people will not be allowed to return."

Last year the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion saying that Israel's prolonged presence in the West Bank was unlawful.

Away from home, the displaced Palestinian residents also grapple with a worsening financial burden.

"There is an increasing demand now, especially in Jenin, for public shelter, because people can't pay these amounts for rent anymore," said Friedrich.

"Everyone wants to go back to the camps."

The UN official provided examples he said pointed to plans for long-term Israeli presence inside Palestinian cities, which should be under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

"In Tulkarem you have more and more reports about the army just walking around... asking shop owners to keep the shops open, going out and issuing traffic tickets to cars, so almost as if there is no Palestinian Authority," said Friedrich.

"It is very worrying, including for the future of the PA as such and the investments made by the international community into building Palestinian institutions."

The Ramallah-based PA was created in the 1990s as a temporary government that would pave the way to a future sovereign state.

- 'Radicalization' -

UNRWA is the main humanitarian agency for Palestinians, but a recent law bars the agency from working with the Israeli authorities, hindering its badly needed operations.

"It's much more complicated for us now because we can't speak directly to the military anymore," said Friedrich.

"But at the same time, we continue to do our work," he said, assessing needs and coordinating "the actual emergency response on the ground".

Israeli lawmakers had passed the legislation against UNRWA's work over accusations that it had provided cover for Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip -- claims the UN and many donor governments dispute.

The prolonged Israeli operation could have long-term consequences for residents, particularly children traumatized by the experience of displacement, Friedrich warned.

"If people can't go back to the camp and we can't reopen the schools... clearly, that will lead to more radicalization going forward."

He said the situation could compound a legitimacy crisis for the PA, often criticized by armed Palestinian factions for coordinating security matters with Israel.

Displaced Palestinians "feel that they are kicked out of their homes and that nobody is supporting them", said Friedrich.

A "stronger international response" was needed, he added, "both to provide humanitarian aid on the ground, and secondly, to ensure that the situation in the West Bank doesn't spin out of control".