▲ Remains of buildings in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, on the outskirts of Damascus.Photo Ap
Reuters, AFP and The Independent
La Jornada Newspaper
Sunday, December 15, 2024, p. 20
Tartus. The leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, Ahmad al Sharaa, assured yesterday that Israel you have no more excuses to continue airstrikes in Syria and stated that under his leadership Tel Aviv will not be attacked. Furthermore, he asserted that reconstruction and stability are the main priorities.
In an interview with the Syrian television news channel, Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohamed Al-Jolani, stated that the recent attacks by the Israel Defense Forces in that territory threaten an escalation of tensions in the region, he told know the Israeli environment The Times Of Israel.
The pro-Turkish leader also called on the international community to assume its responsibility to prevent confrontations from escalating, and also asked that respect for Syrian sovereignty be guaranteed.
Without speaking directly about Israel, he explained that the diplomatic solutions are the only way to guarantee security and stability, these being the best option instead of thoughtless military adventures.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in the United Kingdom, recorded 61 bombings of Tel Aviv in less than five hours in that nation, and reported other attacks hours before a scientific institute and other military positions were destroyed in Barzeh, in the extreme northeast of the State.
For his part, the Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, in turn ordered the army to prepare to stay all winter in the containment zone between Israel and Syria, on the Golan Heights plateau, largely annexed by Israel.
At the same time, Russia is withdrawing its military from the front lines in northern Syria and from its posts in the Alawite mountains, but has not abandoned its two main bases in the country after the fall of President Bashar al Assad, four said. Damascus officials told the Reuters agency.
Following Tel Aviv’s seizure of the buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem warned that it was a proof that Syria faces a dangerous expansionist enemyreported the Al Jazeera news outlet.
The overthrow of Assad, who along with his late father, former president Hafez Al Assad, forged a close alliance with Moscow, calls into question the future of Russian airfields: the Hmeimim air base in Latakia and the Tartus naval facility.
Some teams are already being sent back to Russian territory, as are high-ranking officers in Assad’s army, but the objective at this stage is to regroup and redeploy as events on the ground dictate, a senior army officer said. Syrians in contact with the Moscow army.
Meanwhile, the United States established direct contact with HTS despite considering it as terroristdeclared Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who also explained that this action was due in part to the search for Austin Tice, an American journalist kidnapped in 2012, shortly after the start of the civil war in Syria.
After participating in discussions on Syria in Aqaba, on the shores of the Red Sea in Jordan, Blinken explained: we agree that the transition process must be led and controlled by the Syrians themselves, which will lead to an inclusive and representative government.
Establish a transitional government
The foreign ministers of Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar called for an end to all Israeli military actions in Damascus territory and also demanded the establishment of a comprehensive transitional government, in addition to dialogue in Syria be sponsored by the United Nations and the Arab League.
Meanwhile, the Turkish flag was raised yesterday at the embassy in the Syrian capital, when the diplomatic mission resumed its operations after 12 years and officially reopened under the charge of Burhan Koroglu, Ankara’s ambassador to Mauritania, as interim chargé d’affaires. , Anadolu Agency indicated on its website.
