Tag Archives: Syria

Turkey and Syria race against time as death toll reaches 19,000

Matthew 24:7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places

Important Takeaways:

  • Death Toll in Turkey-Syria Earthquake Surges Past 19,000, Rescue Efforts Still Underway
  • More than 19,000 people have now died along the Turkey-Syria border from this week’s catastrophic earthquakes. Rescuers are working as quickly as they can as the “survival window” closes fast.
  • Time is running out to find survivors in the rubble, now that the first critical 72 hours have passed. But there have still been some miracles.
  • A little girl was found alive alongside her father who, as they were loaded into an ambulance, whispered “I love you all.”
  • And in the Turkish city of Malatya, a man was found alive who had been trapped under concrete for 65 hours.
  • But the losses are staggering. Many victims were refugees who fled the civil war in Syria.
  • The final death toll from Turkey and Syria will probably not be known for weeks because of the sheer amount of rubble.

Read the original article by clicking here.

In Turkey and Syria thousands of buildings have collapsed, death toll rising and bad weather is hampering rescue efforts after largest earthquake in 100 years

Matthew 24:7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

Important Takeaways:

  • Powerful quake leaves thousands dead in Turkey and Syria
  • More than 5,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands injured after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria
  • Thousands of buildings collapsed in both countries and aid agencies are particularly worried about northwestern Syria, where more than 4 million people were already relying on humanitarian assistance.
  • Freezing weather conditions are further endangering survivors and complicating rescue efforts, as more than 100 aftershocks have struck the region.
  • The quake, one of the strongest to hit the region in more than 100 years, struck 23 kilometers (14.2 miles) east of Nurdagi, in Turkey’s Gaziantep province, at a depth of 24.1 kilometers (14.9 miles), the United States Geological Survey said.
  • The WHO warned on Monday that the toll could hit 20,000, and on Tuesday said 23 million people – including 1.4 million children – could be affected.

Read the original article by clicking here.

The Border of Turkey and Syria was struck by a powerful 7.8 magnitude quake; rescuers continue their search

Syria Earthquake

Matthew 24:7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

Important Takeaways:

  • Huge earthquakes rock Turkey and Syria, at least 2,200 killed
  • Israel to send blankets, medicine to Syria, more aid to Turkey • US help underway, Antony Blinken says
  • This news follows a deadly earthquake in Turkey and Syria overnight in which at least 2,200 people were killed and thousands more were injured
  • “At the request of the Turkish government, I instructed all authorities to prepare immediately to provide medical assistance and to aid with searching and rescuing.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
  • The tremors and aftershocks of the quake were felt in Israel by people up and down the country from the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas to Beersheba and Beit She’an.
  • It was also felt in other locations across the region, with reports in both Lebanon and Cyprus of intense aftershocks.
  • In the Lebanese cities of Beirut and Tripoli, residents ran into the street and took their cars to get away from their buildings in case they collapsed, witnesses said.
  • AP reported – “Because the debris removal efforts are continuing in many buildings in the earthquake zone, we do not know how high the number of dead and injured will rise,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
  • The earthquake was felt as far away as Cairo

Read the original article by clicking here.

Kremlin condemns Israel for attacking Iranian targets in Syria calling it ‘Irresponsible’

Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

Important Takeaways:

  • Russia Demands Israel Unconditionally Stop ‘Unacceptable’ Airstrikes in Syria
  • Moscow on Monday demanded that Israel stop its “categorically unacceptable” airstrike campaign against Iranian-backed targets in Syria, signaling a further breakdown of ties between Jerusalem and the Kremlin.
  • “We strongly condemn such irresponsible actions that violate the sovereignty of Syria and the basic norms of international law, and we demand their unconditional cessation,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said following an alleged Israeli airstrike on Saturday near a Russian stronghold in Syria.
  • Syria accused Israel of launching an “air aggression” from the Mediterranean with several missiles hitting near the Syrian city of Tartus, where one of Russia’s main naval bases is located.
  • Last month, Russia condemned an alleged Israeli airstrike on June 10 targeting the Damascus International airport. Israel had accused Iran of smuggling weapons to its proxies in the region on civilian flights.

Read the original article by clicking here.

Israel targets Iranian forces in Syria: Russia response firing S-300 for the first time

Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

Important Takeaways:

  • In first, Russian military said to fire S-300 missiles at Israeli jets over Syria
  • The report said the Syrian military fired off dozens of anti-aircraft missiles, which have been largely ineffective at halting the hundreds of Israeli strikes on Syria in recent years.
  • However, this time the S-300 batteries also opened fire as the jets were departing the area, Channel 12 said. The report noted that Syria’s S-300 batteries are operated by the Russian military and cannot be fired without their approval.
  • The Masyaf area is thought to be used as a base for Iranian forces and pro-Iranian militias and has been repeatedly targeted in recent years in attacks attributed to Israel. Satellite imagery taken after the strike showed that an underground facility had been completely destroyed.
  • The report comes amid a deterioration in ties between Israel and Russia over the invasion of Ukraine. Israel has tried to walk a fine line between Moscow and Kyiv but has recently become more critical of Russia as evidence emerged of Russian atrocities and growing antisemitic rhetoric from Russian leaders.
  • Defense Minister Benny Gantz said “The State of Israel will continue to act against any enemy that threatens it, and prevent the transfer of advanced capabilities from Iran that endanger the citizens of Israel and harm the stability of the entire region”

Read the original article by clicking here.

Iran is supplying proxies in Syria, Iraq also stockpiling ballistic missiles

Revelations 6:3-4 “ when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

Important Takeaways:

  • Iran has 3,000 ballistic missiles, many that can reach Israel – US general
  • In Gen. Kenneth McKenzie’s written statement, he called Iran’s missile force the greatest threat to the region’s security.
  • “At a military level my concern is first of all that they do not have a nuclear weapon but I am also very concerned about the remarkable growth and efficiency of their ballistic missile program,” McKenzie told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
  • “They have over 3,000 missiles of various types, some of which can reach Tel Aviv,” McKenzie said in response to a query by the senate committee. “None of them can reach Europe yet.”
  • US CENTCOM assessed…Syria and Iraq will continue to be used as supply routes and hubs to forward its “campaign against Israel.”
  • This is in part to arm its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah. It was estimated last year that Hezbollah has 130,000-150,000 rockets that can reach deep into Israeli territory. This arms stockpile also includes Iranian ballistic missiles.
  • He said that the US remains steadfast in its commitment to Israel’s security and to support Israel’s right to defend itself

Read the original article by clicking here.

IDF response to Anti-Aircraft missile entering its air space

Zechariah 12:3 “ And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.

Important Takeaways:

  • IDF: Syrian anti-aircraft missile explodes over Israel, no interception needed
  • An anti-aircraft missile fired from Syria exploded in the air over northern Israel early Wednesday morning, setting off warning sirens in the town of Umm al-Fahm and communities in the northern West Bank, the army said.
  • Shrapnel landed near the Homesh outpost, causing a small fire, according to Rescuers Without Borders, a Jewish emergency service operating in the West Bank
  • The anti-aircraft missile had apparently been fired in response to an Israeli airstrike on sites near Damascus
  • The IDF said that in response to the Syrian anti-aircraft missile entering Israeli airspace, Israel struck several Syrian air defense batteries inside Syria, including the “Syrian radar and anti-aircraft batteries that launched missiles at IAF aircraft.”
  • “The IDF will continue to protect Israel’s airspace and security,” the military’s statement said.

Read the original article by clicking here.

ISIS leader blows self up before US Military capture

Zechariah 12:3 “ And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.

Important Takeaways:

  • ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi dies in US military raid in Syria
  • Al-Qurayshi detonated a bomb that killed himself and several other people, including his wife and children, as U.S. special operations forces approached with the intention of capturing him, Biden said.
  • U.S. forces landed in helicopters and assaulted a house in a rebel-held corner of northwest Syria, clashing for two hours with gunmen, witnesses said.
  • The commandos were aided by helicopter gunships, armed Reaper drones and attack jets.
  • Biden described al-Qurayshi’s decision to set off the bomb as U.S. forces approached as “a final act of desperate cowardice, with no regard to the lives of his own family or others.”

Read the original article by clicking here.

Syria denounces Israeli plans to double number of Golan settlers

BEIRUT (Reuters) -Syria on Monday condemned Israeli plans to double within five years the number of Jewish settlers in the Golan Heights captured from Syria in 1967 as a “dangerous and unprecedented escalation,” Syrian state media reported.

Israel’s cabinet approved a blueprint on Sunday to build some 7,300 additional housing units on the strategic plateau in a move that could tighten its hold on the territory.

“Syria strongly condemns the dangerous and unprecedented escalation by the Israeli occupation authorities” in the Golan, the state-run SANA news agency said, adding Damascus would seek to use all legally available means to retake the territory.

Speaking to Syrian TV station al-Ekhbariya, foreign minister Faisal Mekdad called Israel’s actions against Syria “criminal” and said they violated the 1981 U.N. Resolution 497 declaring Israel’s effective annexation of the Golan as “null and void.”

Israel has mounted frequent attacks against what it describes as Iranian targets in Syria, where Tehran-backed forces including Lebanon’s Hezbollah have deployed over the last decade to support President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s war.

Israel annexed the 1,200-square-kilometre (460-square-mile) Golan Heights in 1981, an action not recognized by the international community. Syria demands the return of the Golan, which also overlooks Lebanon and borders Jordan.

(Reporting by Omar FahmyAdditional reporting by Lilian Wagdy Writing by Ahmad Elhamy in Cairo and Timour Azhari in Beirut; Editing by Howard Goller)

U.S.-led troops end Iraq combat mission, as planned – military officials

BAGHDAD (Reuters) -U.S.-led forces have ended their combat mission in Iraq, a move that transfers all remaining troops into a training and advising role, Iraqi military commanders and officials from the coalition led by the United States said on Thursday.

Western security officials and diplomats say privately that this will make little difference to the number of troops stationed in the country – currently more than 2,000 – since those forces have had limited involvement in any combat operations for the last couple of years.

The U.S.-led coalition began its mission in 2014 to defeat Islamic State, after the militants took over vast areas of Iraq and neighboring Syria.

Since the group’s military defeat in 2017, Islamic State fighters have been unable to hold territory but are waging a continued low-level insurgency that regularly kills Iraqi soldiers and civilians in remote mountain and desert areas.

The coalition has also come under dozens of rocket and drone attacks by Iran-backed Shi’ite militias that helped defeat the Sunni extremist Islamic State and which say there is no longer a justification for Western forces to be in Iraq.

“As we complete our combat role, we will remain here to advise, assist, and enable the ISF (Iraqi security forces), at the invitation of Republic of Iraq,” coalition commander Major General John W. Brennan, Jr. said in a statement.

Iraqi commander Lieutenant General Abdul Amir al-Shammari said Iraqi forces were ready to handle the Islamic State threat.

“Today, we renew our partnership with the Coalition, who are now serving in a new capacity – with a mission to advise, assist, and enable our brave military warriors,” he said.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi sealed an agreement in July to formally end the U.S. combat mission in Iraq by the end of 2021.

Iraqi Shi’ite militants have vowed to wage new attacks against coalition forces in 2022.

Western security and diplomatic officials say that calling the shift a withdrawal, as it has sometimes been characterized by the Iraqi government, is misleading because it changes little in terms of the number of forces based in Iraq.

The U.S. has kept around 2,500 troops in Iraq since 2020. The Western officials say that most of those forces have been operating only in a training and advising role for some time.

(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad, John Davison in Erbil; additional reporting by Enas Alashray in Dubai; Writing by John Davison; Editing by Alex Richardson)