Hikmat al-Hijri, the spiritual leader of Syria’s Druze community, said that since the fall of the previous regime and the flight of its president “under international arrangements,” as he put it, it has been replaced by “a system of politicized factions alongside takfiri gangs.” He argued that the transitional phase …

The Iranian regime announced new Artesh appointments on December 17 as part of a broader reshuffling of senior Iranian military leadership following the Israel-Iran War.[i] Artesh Commander Major General Amir Hatami appointed Brigadier General Alireza Sabahi Fard as his assistant for air defense affairs.[ii] Alireza Sabahi Fard most recently served …

Toplines Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly and explicitly outlined his continued commitment to his maximalist war aims in Ukraine — the same aims for which Putin launched his full-scale invasion in 2022. Putin spoke on December 17 to an expanded meeting of the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) board, where …

Individuals and organisations linked to violence against civilians throughout Syria are today sanctioned by the UK as it continues to pursue those responsible for violence against the Syrian people. Foreign Secretary announces sanctions against organisations and individuals involved in violence against civilians. UK Government targets individuals involved in the coastal …

The most potentially consequential diplomatic peace talks of the past 80 years have lurched forward at an agonisingly slow pace. But Ukraine’s latest offer to drop its bid to join NATO in exchange for Western security guarantees could change that. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, still refuses to accept the …

The Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, in an interview on Wednesday, said any peace deal struck with Russia over Ukraine must not be “a repeat of Minsk II” – which aimed at ending Russia’s limited invasion of Ukraine in 2015 but instead laid the groundwork for the full-scale Russian …

The new Czech PM Andrej Babis joined his two Central European counterparts Robert Fico of Slovakia and Viktor Orban of Hungary in deciding not to take part in a 90-billion-euro loan to Ukraine, which will secure the embattled country’s funding for next year to continue its defence against Russia’s invasion. …

For Syrians on both sides of the divide, life has changed immeasurably since Israel began expanding its occupation of the Golan Heights Majdal Shams/Beit Jinn – There are no Syrian flags anymore in the main square of Majdal Shams, a Druze village in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, nor were there …

A year on from the ceasefire, displaced civilians in south Lebanon continue to live under near-daily Israeli airstrikes, drones, and military occupation South Lebanon – Ali Hammoud looked worn out, staring blankly at the little fire and the pot of boiling vegetables that would soon be his dinner. There is …

Reuters reported that Syrian, Kurdish, and American officials are racing against time to show progress, even if limited, on the March 10 agreement before the end of the year. The agency quoted several Syrian, Kurdish, and Western sources, involved in or briefed on the talks, as saying that negotiations had …