IDF Gaza ops still on going , even with cease-fire talks going on, just like what happened in Lebanon…..
Iran has been taking a beat down across the Middle East…..
Trump people go back to talking about a strike against the Iran nuclear program effort…..
Strikes and fighting continued across the Gaza Strip on Friday, capping a week of cautious optimism among diplomats that a ceasefire that could pause or halt the 14-month war could be within reach.
In central Gaza, where much of the population is now squeezed, an Israeli strike overnight killed at least 37 Palestinians sheltering in a post office building in Nuseirat, civil defense spokesperson Nasser Ghareez told The Washington Post.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement it targeted a senior Islamic Jihad member “in a terror infrastructure site” and declined to provide specific details. “The reports regarding the number of casualties are being reviewed,” the IDF said.
In a statement, Hamas condemned the strike.
Abd Assar, 33, told The Post he lived about 200 meters away from site of the strike and heard a “large, terrifying explosion” that caused mirrors and glass inside his house to shake.
About half an hour later, he went to the site and found three destroyed buildings. “At first, I couldn’t tell which building was targeted,” he said in a phone call. “Residents of the area said the post office was targeted and displaced people were renting apartments in the two other buildings.”
He watched as emergency workers and residents pulled bodies from under the rubble. “I didn’t know any of the victims personally, but the scene was heartbreaking,” he said.
“This has become a daily reality across the Gaza Strip,” he said. “This senseless war must end.”
In North Gaza, the IDF continued its more than two-month-long operation in the border communities of Jabalya, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia. The IDF says it is attacking reemergent Hamas targets but has laid waste to much of the cities and ordered residents to evacuate….
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“Civilians are paying the price” of the “rapidly deteriorating security and humanitarian situation” in Gaza, Muhannad Hadi, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said in a statement Friday after a visit to the territory….
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Captive America found and returned by Syria rebels to US Military …
On Friday, the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is leading an interim governing structure after its successful military charge on Damascus, said they handed Timmerman to a U.S. military garrison in southeastern Syria….
Here’s what else to know:
- The Washington Post’s Louisa Loveluck went inside a Syrian detention facility in Aleppo on Dec. 13 and found Assad regime records and cell doors covered in tally marks. Watch here.
- U.N. Secretary General António Guterres called on Friday for “an inclusive political process” and “smooth transition of power in Syria,” and said Israel’s airstrikes across Syria in recent days were “extensive violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Israel has said that its attacks were designed to prevent weapons from ending up in the wrong hands.
- White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Friday to discuss efforts to secure the return of the estimated 100 hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas, Herzog’s office said.
- Defense Minister Israel Katz said Friday that the Israeli military would be deployed on Mount Hermon, which straddles the Lebanon-Syria border north of the Golan Heights, throughout the winter. Over the weekend, Israeli troops took control of the strategic mountain peak, which offers armies a significant vantage point, after Syrian forces fled…
Russia packs up it’s combat equipment to be flown out of the country…
Russia is dismantling equipment at an air base in Syria and loading it into cargo planes after the ouster of longtime Moscow client Bashar al-Assad, images show.
Captured by Maxar on Friday morning, the images reveal two An-124 cargo planes at Russia’s Hmeimim airfield with their nose cones opened to receive equipment, the commercial firm said….
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Russia used the base 15 miles south of Latakia to support the Assad regime in Syria’s 13-year civil war. The United States backed some forces against the regime.
Assad fled the country for Moscow this week as rebels took control of Damascus, ending the family’s rule of more than a half-century.
Given the volume of Russian materiel in the country, analysts said, a full pullout would take some time.
“It’s clear that a withdrawal is now underway,” said Dara Massicot, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. But “it’s unclear if they will fully evacuate or partially draw down at present.”
Russian forces, she said, appeared to have been given “safe passage to consolidate at their bases.”…
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Dec 13, 2024 – ISW Press
The Iranian regime is still coming to terms with the fall of the Assad regime and reflecting on its former Syria policy.
Trump Team Weighs Options, Including Airstrikes, to Stop Iran’s Nuclear Program
President-elect Donald Trump is weighing options for stopping Iran from being able to build a nuclear weapon, including the possibility of preventive airstrikes, a move that would break with the longstanding policy of containing Tehran with diplomacy and sanctions.
The military-strike option against nuclear facilities is now under more serious review by some members of his transition team, who are weighing the fall of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad—Tehran’s ally—in Syria, the future of U.S. troops in the region, and Israel’s decimation of regime proxy militias Hezbollah and Hamas.Iran’s weakened regional position and recent revelations of Tehran’s burgeoning nuclear work have turbochraged sentitive discussions ….
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