BEIRUT: Nearly 100 combatants were killed on Friday in clashes between fighters loyal to Syria’s government, rebels and militants in northwestern Syria, a war monitor said.
Starting at dawn on Friday morning — and after bombing by the regime — fighting in northern Hama province killed 51 government loyalists and allied militiamen, and 45 among the rebels and militants, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The clashes continued in the afternoon, the Britain-based Observatory said.
Backed by its ally Moscow, Damascus has since late April intensified bombardment of much of Idlib province and the parts of neighboring Hama, Aleppo and Latakia where Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) holds sway.
Fighting has meanwhile taken place on the ground in parts of these anti-regime areas, particularly in northern Hama.
Syria’s official SANA news agency also reported bombardment on Friday.
“Units of the army today carried out massive bombing at dawn.... on positions of the terrorist Al-Nusra Front in (and) around the villages of Jibine and Tal Maleh,” SANA said, referring to positions held by HTS.
The bombardment led to “the destruction of the terrorists’ fortifications and their lines of defense,” it added.
They took place in response to attacks against the villages and cities in Hama, the news agency said.
Idlib and parts of neighboring Hama, Aleppo and Latakia provinces were supposed to be protected by a buffer zone under an September agreement between Russia and Turkey.
But the region has come under increased bombardment by the regime and its Russian ally since HTS seized most of Idlib at the start of the year.
The Turkish defense ministry said Friday a Turkish soldier was killed and three others were wounded the day before by fire from Syrian government forces against a Turkish observation post in Idlib province.
Since late April, air strikes have killed 490 civilians, according to the Observatory, while fighting has killed 682 pro-regime forces and 821 rebels and militants.
The flare-up has also displaced 330,000 others, according to the United Nations, sparking fears of one of the worst humanitarian disasters in Syria’s eight-year war.
The conflict in Syria has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it erupted in 2011 with the brutal repression of protests against President Bashar Assad.
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Nearly 100 dead in northwest Syria fighting: monitor
Nearly 100 dead in northwest Syria fighting: monitor
- Damascus has since late April intensified bombardment of much of Idlib and the parts of neighboring Hama, Aleppo and Latakia
- Fighting has taken place on the ground in parts of these anti-regime areas, particularly in northern Hama
Palestinian women describe ‘journey of horror’ crossing back into Gaza
CAIRO/GAZA: Palestinian women among the few people let back into Gaza after Israel’s delayed reopening of the Rafah crossing under last year’s ceasefire have described being blindfolded, handcuffed and interrogated by Israeli forces as they tried to get home.
Their journey from Egypt on Monday through the frontier post and across the “yellow line” zone controlled by Israel and an allied Palestinian militia group, involved lengthy delays and the confiscation of gifts including toys, one of the women said.
“It was a journey of horror, humiliation and oppression,” said 56-year-old Huda Abu Abed by phone from the tent her family is living in at Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Her account was supported by that of another woman Reuters interviewed, and by comments from a third woman interviewed on Arab television.
In response to a Reuters request for comment, Israel’s military denied its forces had acted inappropriately or mistreated Palestinians crossing into Gaza, without addressing the specific allegations made by the two women interviewed.
Interrogation
About 50 Palestinians had been expected to enter the enclave on Monday but by nightfall only three women and nine children had been let through, Palestinian and Egyptian sources said, with another 38 stuck waiting to clear security.
Of the 50 people waiting to leave Gaza, mostly for medical treatment, only five patients with seven relatives escorting them managed to cross into Egypt on Monday.
Abu Abed said the returnees, who were restricted to a single suitcase each, first encountered problems at the crossing where European border monitors confiscated toys they were taking home as gifts, she said.
She spent a year in Egypt for heart treatment but returned before it was finished because she missed her family. An adult daughter had also traveled to Egypt for medical treatment. An adult son was killed in December 2024 and she was not able to say goodbye to him, she said. Two other children are in Gaza.
Once through the crossing and on the Gaza side of the border, the 12 returnees boarded a bus for their journey through the Israeli-controlled zone and across the “yellow line” demarcating Israeli and Hamas-held zones.
A second woman, Sabah Al-Raqeb, 41, said the bus, escorted by two four-wheel-drive vehicles, was stopped at a checkpoint manned by Israel-backed Palestinian gunmen who identified themselves as belonging to the Popular Forces, commonly known as the Abu Shabab militia.
The women’s family names were read out over a loudspeaker and each was led by two men and a woman from Abu Shabab militia to a security point where Israeli forces were waiting. They were then blindfolded and handcuffed, she and Abu Abed said.
They were asked about their knowledge of Hamas, about the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war, and other issues relating to militancy, the two women said. The Palestinian anti-Hamas gunmen also said they could remain in the Israeli-held zone, Raqeb said.
“The officer asked me why I came back to Gaza. He said it was destroyed. I told him I came back for my children and family,” said Raqeb, who has returned to her seven children living in a tent after leaving Gaza two years ago for what she had expected to be a short trip for medical treatment.
Abu Abed said the questioning lasted more than two hours.
In a statement denying any wrongdoing, Israel’s military said there were no known incidents of inappropriate conduct, mistreatment, apprehensions or confiscation of property by the Israeli security establishment.
It said there was an “identification and screening process at the ‘Regavim’ screening facility, which is managed by the security establishment in an area under (Israeli military) control.” It said that process followed screening by European personnel as part of a mechanism agreed upon by all parties.
Armed militia
The Rafah crossing, the sole route in or out for nearly all Gaza’s more than 2 million inhabitants, has been shut for most of the war. It was meant to be reopened in the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas agreed in October.
Rafah, a city of a quarter of a million people, was almost entirely depopulated during the war as Israel told all residents to leave before conducting extensive demolitions that have left it a wasteland of rubble.
The city lies in a security cordon retained by Israel after its troops pulled back to the yellow line in October, and where the Popular Forces are also operating.
Since the forces’ leader, Yasser Abu Shabab, was killed last year they have been led by his deputy, Ghassan Dahine. “The Fifth Unit under my command will play an important security role regarding entry and exit through the Rafah crossing,” Israel’s Ynet news website quoted Dahine as saying.
Some 20,000 Gazans are hoping to leave for treatment abroad. Despite the slow reopening, many of them said the step brought relief. On Tuesday, 50 Palestinians were expected to cross into Gaza from Egypt, according to an Egyptian source.
Their journey from Egypt on Monday through the frontier post and across the “yellow line” zone controlled by Israel and an allied Palestinian militia group, involved lengthy delays and the confiscation of gifts including toys, one of the women said.
“It was a journey of horror, humiliation and oppression,” said 56-year-old Huda Abu Abed by phone from the tent her family is living in at Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Her account was supported by that of another woman Reuters interviewed, and by comments from a third woman interviewed on Arab television.
In response to a Reuters request for comment, Israel’s military denied its forces had acted inappropriately or mistreated Palestinians crossing into Gaza, without addressing the specific allegations made by the two women interviewed.
Interrogation
About 50 Palestinians had been expected to enter the enclave on Monday but by nightfall only three women and nine children had been let through, Palestinian and Egyptian sources said, with another 38 stuck waiting to clear security.
Of the 50 people waiting to leave Gaza, mostly for medical treatment, only five patients with seven relatives escorting them managed to cross into Egypt on Monday.
Abu Abed said the returnees, who were restricted to a single suitcase each, first encountered problems at the crossing where European border monitors confiscated toys they were taking home as gifts, she said.
She spent a year in Egypt for heart treatment but returned before it was finished because she missed her family. An adult daughter had also traveled to Egypt for medical treatment. An adult son was killed in December 2024 and she was not able to say goodbye to him, she said. Two other children are in Gaza.
Once through the crossing and on the Gaza side of the border, the 12 returnees boarded a bus for their journey through the Israeli-controlled zone and across the “yellow line” demarcating Israeli and Hamas-held zones.
A second woman, Sabah Al-Raqeb, 41, said the bus, escorted by two four-wheel-drive vehicles, was stopped at a checkpoint manned by Israel-backed Palestinian gunmen who identified themselves as belonging to the Popular Forces, commonly known as the Abu Shabab militia.
The women’s family names were read out over a loudspeaker and each was led by two men and a woman from Abu Shabab militia to a security point where Israeli forces were waiting. They were then blindfolded and handcuffed, she and Abu Abed said.
They were asked about their knowledge of Hamas, about the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war, and other issues relating to militancy, the two women said. The Palestinian anti-Hamas gunmen also said they could remain in the Israeli-held zone, Raqeb said.
“The officer asked me why I came back to Gaza. He said it was destroyed. I told him I came back for my children and family,” said Raqeb, who has returned to her seven children living in a tent after leaving Gaza two years ago for what she had expected to be a short trip for medical treatment.
Abu Abed said the questioning lasted more than two hours.
In a statement denying any wrongdoing, Israel’s military said there were no known incidents of inappropriate conduct, mistreatment, apprehensions or confiscation of property by the Israeli security establishment.
It said there was an “identification and screening process at the ‘Regavim’ screening facility, which is managed by the security establishment in an area under (Israeli military) control.” It said that process followed screening by European personnel as part of a mechanism agreed upon by all parties.
Armed militia
The Rafah crossing, the sole route in or out for nearly all Gaza’s more than 2 million inhabitants, has been shut for most of the war. It was meant to be reopened in the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas agreed in October.
Rafah, a city of a quarter of a million people, was almost entirely depopulated during the war as Israel told all residents to leave before conducting extensive demolitions that have left it a wasteland of rubble.
The city lies in a security cordon retained by Israel after its troops pulled back to the yellow line in October, and where the Popular Forces are also operating.
Since the forces’ leader, Yasser Abu Shabab, was killed last year they have been led by his deputy, Ghassan Dahine. “The Fifth Unit under my command will play an important security role regarding entry and exit through the Rafah crossing,” Israel’s Ynet news website quoted Dahine as saying.
Some 20,000 Gazans are hoping to leave for treatment abroad. Despite the slow reopening, many of them said the step brought relief. On Tuesday, 50 Palestinians were expected to cross into Gaza from Egypt, according to an Egyptian source.
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