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Türkiye Intensifies Steps to Establish Air Base East of Homs

Turkish-made Hisar air defense system (Turkish Defense Industries website). 
Turkish-made Hisar air defense system (Turkish Defense Industries website). 
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Türkiye Intensifies Steps to Establish Air Base East of Homs

Turkish-made Hisar air defense system (Turkish Defense Industries website). 
Turkish-made Hisar air defense system (Turkish Defense Industries website). 

Türkiye is accelerating preparations to establish an airbase in the city of Palmyra, east of Homs, following an announcement by its Ministry of Defense last week that it is considering a request from the Syrian administration in Damascus to set up a base for training purposes.

Reports indicate that Turkish military convoys carrying equipment entered northern Syria overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, likely transporting logistical supplies and gear to the “T4” airbase in Palmyra.

The pro-government Turkish newspaper “Türkiye” reported on Wednesday that the country has taken official steps to take control of the Tiyas Military Airbase—also known as Tiyas Airport, T4 Airbase —located near the village of Tiyas, about 60 kilometers east of Palmyra in Homs province.

According to the report, Türkiye plans to establish a multi-layered air defense system at the base, incorporating domestically produced weapons. Additionally, Ankara intends to deploy reconnaissance drones and armed UAVs with advanced strike capabilities. The goal is to enhance the country’s counterterrorism efforts against ISIS while also deterring potential Israeli airstrikes in the region.

Some sources suggest that Türkiye may also consider deploying the Russian S-400 air defense system, which it acquired in the summer of 2019.

Retired Turkish Brigadier General Fahri Erenel stated that Ankara plans to take significant steps in Syria in April. He mentioned that after the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, a defense agreement was negotiated with the Syrian interim government. Under this agreement, Türkiye would provide air support and military protection to the new Syrian administration.

Israeli Concerns

Israel is deeply concerned about Türkiye’s growing cooperation with Damascus and its efforts to expand its military presence in Syria.

An Israeli security official, speaking to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, described the potential establishment of a Turkish military base in Syria as a “possible threat” to Israel. The official, whose name was not disclosed, warned that a Turkish airbase in Syria would undermine Israel’s operational freedom and was therefore something Tel Aviv opposed.

On Friday, the Israeli military announced that it had targeted what it described as “strategic military capabilities” at Syrian army bases in Palmyra and the T4 airbase. The Israeli official indicated that the strike on T4 was a message that Israel would not tolerate any obstacles to its air operations in Syria.

 

 

 

 

 

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Arab World

Portugal Says Israel Undermining Palestinian State Through Settlement Expansion

Palestinian Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister Varsin Aghabekian Shahin (L) and Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel (R) attend a press conference after a meeting at Necessidades Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, 14 September 2026. (EPA)
Palestinian Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister Varsin Aghabekian Shahin (L) and Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel (R) attend a press conference after a meeting at Necessidades Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, 14 September 2026. (EPA)
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Portugal Says Israel Undermining Palestinian State Through Settlement Expansion

Palestinian Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister Varsin Aghabekian Shahin (L) and Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel (R) attend a press conference after a meeting at Necessidades Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, 14 September 2026. (EPA)
Palestinian Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister Varsin Aghabekian Shahin (L) and Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel (R) attend a press conference after a meeting at Necessidades Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, 14 September 2026. (EPA)

Portugal's ‌foreign minister said on Monday that Israeli settlement expansion and economic pressure in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem were undermining prospects for a viable Palestinian state.

Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said Israel's E1 settlement plan was "extremely pernicious" because ‌it would ‌divide the West Bank, ‌isolate ⁠East Jerusalem and ⁠was incompatible with a two-state solution.

Israel's withholding of Palestinian tax revenues amounted to a "brutal strangulation" of the Palestinian Authority's finances, preventing the economy from ⁠functioning, he said after meeting ‌Palestinian Foreign ‌Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin in Lisbon.

‌Rangel also cited the closure ‌of Christian schools in East Jerusalem as evidence of worsening conditions there.

Portugal recognized the State ‌of Palestine a year ago.

Rangel said the two-state ⁠solution ⁠was the only way to guarantee peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians.

Israel said last week it was closing Britain's consulate in East Jerusalem in response to plans by the UK, France and Canada to block imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Arab World

UN Warns Key Humanitarian Network in Sudan Could ‘Collapse within Weeks’

A Sudanese woman, who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, talks to her relative through a fence next to makeshift shelters, in Adre, Chad August 5, 2023. (Reuters)
A Sudanese woman, who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, talks to her relative through a fence next to makeshift shelters, in Adre, Chad August 5, 2023. (Reuters)
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UN Warns Key Humanitarian Network in Sudan Could ‘Collapse within Weeks’

A Sudanese woman, who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, talks to her relative through a fence next to makeshift shelters, in Adre, Chad August 5, 2023. (Reuters)
A Sudanese woman, who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, talks to her relative through a fence next to makeshift shelters, in Adre, Chad August 5, 2023. (Reuters)

The United Nations warned on Monday that a key system for bringing aid into conflict-torn Sudan risked collapsing completely unless it receives more funding immediately.

"The entire humanitarian system could collapse within weeks if we don't act now," said Amy Pope, head of the International Organization for Migration.

"Without new funding, we won't be able to get help where it's needed most."

The war between Sudan's regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that erupted in April 2023 has killed more than 200,000 people, aid workers estimate, and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crisis.

The IOM stressed that the Common Humanitarian Pipeline logistics system it runs allows a network of more than 100 national and international NGOs to bring desperately needed shelter and other non-food aid into the African country.

Since the start of the war, it said, the system had reached 2.84 million people.

But it warned that the reach had been shrinking due to falling funds, even as the needs remain at an all-time high.

While the pipeline helped get aid to more than one million people in 2024, only 330,000 had received assistance like shelter and emergency support kits through the system so far in 2026, the IOM said.

"Without immediate donor support, current shelter, sanitation and emergency household relief items are expected to be depleted by the end of September," the UN's migration agency said in a statement.

"The warehousing and operational capacity that keeps the pipeline functioning can only be sustained until December 2026," it stressed.

The IOM said it would need $15 million just to maintain the pipeline at its 2026 minimum capacity for the next 12 months, while it would require $42 million to return to its 2024 level.

It said cutting off access to shelter assistance carried far wider risks.

"Prolonged exposure to weather, disease and insecurity can heighten risks of gender-based violence, family separation and eviction in overcrowded sites," it pointed out.

"Shelter is the foundation from which protection, health and recovery can begin," Pope insisted.

"When the pipeline stops, it is not simply warehouses that become empty. The entire humanitarian response becomes harder to deliver."

Arab World

Lebanon’s Divide Over Israel Talks Reaches Religious Leaders

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and an accompanying delegation tour the southern city of Nabatieh on Saturday (EPA)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and an accompanying delegation tour the southern city of Nabatieh on Saturday (EPA)
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Lebanon’s Divide Over Israel Talks Reaches Religious Leaders

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and an accompanying delegation tour the southern city of Nabatieh on Saturday (EPA)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and an accompanying delegation tour the southern city of Nabatieh on Saturday (EPA)

Lebanon’s divisions over negotiations with Israel have reached its religious leadership, with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi backing state efforts to establish a monopoly on arms and pursue talks, and Jaafari Mufti Sheikh Ahmed Qabalan accusing the state of colluding against South Lebanon.

The split turns political disagreements over the government’s policies into a sectarian dispute as talks stall - with an eighth round of negotiations with Israel in Rome postponed until early next month - and the Israeli army continues strikes in the south.

Lebanon’s Shiite religious establishment, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement have long opposed direct negotiations, but Qabalan’s attack was the strongest since the talks began.

President Joseph Aoun has repeatedly pledged to protect Lebanon’s sovereignty, secure an Israeli withdrawal and return residents to occupied areas in the south through negotiations, which he sees as the only available alternative to war.

On Sunday, on the anniversary of the assassination of President-elect Bachir Gemayel, Aoun renewed his pledge to build “a strong and just state,” capable of safeguarding its independent decision-making, sovereignty and citizens’ dignity.

Christian Support for Official Position

Al-Rahi said in his Sunday sermon that placing all weapons under state control “is not the triumph of one side over another, nor a confrontation with a sect or group, but the affirmation of a single national authority.”

“The state cannot function with two decision-making authorities, nor can sovereignty be complete when there are multiple authorities,” he added.

Backing the presidency’s approach, al-Rahi called for negotiations and mediation to produce tangible results, including an end to attacks, Israeli withdrawal and stability under credible guarantees protecting Lebanon’s rights and sovereignty. Negotiations, he said, should not become “an open-ended process with no horizon.”

Qabalan Attacks the State

Qabalan took the opposite position after Aoun visited Nabatieh and pledged state support for the south, saying Israeli withdrawal, the return of prisoners and displaced residents, and reconstruction were national priorities.

In a message published by the state-run National News Agency (NNA), Qabalan accused the executive branch of “strangling and besieging” the south and “colluding against it.”

He warned of what he called government-driven “sedition,” accusing the executive branch of threatening national partnership and seeking to abandon the southern front, which he described as central to Lebanon’s sovereignty and existence.

“The issue today is not that the executive authority does not want to defend the south,” Qabalan said, “but rather the totality of policies that strangle the south, besiege it, drain it and deprive it of every means of life.”

He added that Lebanon’s security was indivisible and called for national action to prevent what he described as “the worst internal strife,” accusing the authorities of giving Israel enough time to continue destroying the south.