His military career was marred by allegations of involvement in crimes and massacres in areas such as Daraa.
General Ghassan Tarraf, the newly appointed Commander of the Republican Guard, has a complex and controversial history within the Syrian conflict.
Sunday saw Israeli airstrikes rendering Damascus airport non-operational, leading to the redirection of incoming flights, according to both the Syrian army and a pro-government newspaper. Simultaneously, Syrian government forces shelled a northwestern village on Saturday, resulting in the tragic death of at least 10 people, including seven children who were picking olives. Additionally, the Fourth Division of the Syrian government forces dispatched military reinforcements to its posts in the town of al-Boukamal in the eastern countryside of Deir-ez-Zor on Saturday.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel killing at least 1,200 people and kidnapping at least 240 men, women, and children. In response, Israel declared war on Hamas and launched a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders watched the attack unfold from Haniyeh’s office in Doha, Qatar. Qatar joined with Saudi Arabia and Iran in blaming Israel for the October 7 Hamas attack. According to a Qatari government statement, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs held Israel “solely responsible for the ongoing escalation due to its ongoing violations of the rights of the Palestinian people, the latest of which was the repeated incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of the Israeli police.” That night, Qatari officials claimed they had begun mediation talks to convince Hamas to release captive women and children for Palestinian security prisoners in Israel. Israel denied negotiations were underway. On October 20, Hamas freed two hostages—an American mother and daughter pair—after Qatari intervention. Hamas said it released the hostages for “humanitarian reasons.” On October 24, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani accused Israel of receiving an “unconditional green light and free license to kill” in Gaza. As of November 14, Hamas had released four hostages—two Americans and two Israelis—because of Qatari mediation. That day, the Qatari government renewed its call on Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement on releasing hostages, but Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Majed bin Mohammed al-Ansari also blamed the “deteriorating” situation in Gaza for hindering mediation efforts. (Sources: Hamas Telegram Channel, Associated Press, Reuters, Daily Mail, Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hill, Reuters, Al Jazeera, Associated Press, NPR, NPR, Agence France-Presse)
On November 21, 2023, the pro-Hizbullah Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar published an article titled, “Sanaa Warns the Enemy And Allies: The Price Of Escalation Is a Complete Blockade of Navigation.” According to the article, the Defense Ministry threatened that any action against Yemen as a result of the November 19 takeover of the shipping vessel, Galaxy Leader, in the Red Sea would lead to a complete blockade of the Red Sea and the Bab Al-Mandab Strait shipping lane.[1]
Al-Manar TV (Hizbullah-Lebanon) aired a news report on November 26, 2023 from the Galaxy Leader, a commercial ship which was hijacked by Yemeni-Houthi forces, who claimed it was an Israeli ship. Al-Manar TV’s correspondent boarded the ship and spoke to the Yemeni citizens who had boarded the ship to celebrate the hijacking. The citizens chanted: “Allah Akbar! Death to America! Death to Israel! Curses upon the Jews! Victory to Islam!” Yemeni Navy Captain Shawqi Qabati said that any Israeli ship sailing in the Red Sea will be hauled to the Yemeni shore. The Galaxy Leader was sailing under a Bahama flag and is owned by Ray Shipping, an Israeli-owned shipping company.
The global systemic transition’s impending evolution towards tri-multipolarity could see the US-led West’s Golden Billion, the Sino-Russo Entente, and the de facto Indian-led Global South becoming the most prominent poles in International Relations, below which would be rising powers and regional groups. All actors would balance one another by multi-aligning within and between their respective levels, which might result in stabilizing global affairs much more than the prior unipolar and bi-multipolar orders did.
Military juntas from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have recently met to strengthen the newly formed Alliance of Sahel States (AES), pledging security and political collaborations, which some analysts describe as an attempt to legitimize their grip on power.
Le gouvernement burkinabè a dévoilé mercredi la création d’une nouvelle unité d’élite antiterroriste de la police nationale afin de lutter contre le terrorisme. Le Groupe spécial d’intervention de la police nationale (GSIPN) a été officiellement instauré, représentant une unité d’élite chargée de gérer opérationnellement des crises sécuritaires complexes et d’autres opérations d’intérêt stratégique, comme l’a annoncé le gouvernement à l’issue de la réunion hebdomadaire du Conseil des ministres.
Au Mali, la prise de Kidal par l’armée nationale, sous le commandement du Président de la Transition malienne, le Colonel Assimi GOITA, a suscité des réactions positives du gouvernement, des partis politiques et de la population. Les messages de félicitations se sont multipliés à travers des communiqués officiels, des publications sur les réseaux sociaux et des manifestations spontanées.
Le groupe des pays d’Afrique de l’Est, l’Igad (The Intergovernmental Authority on Development in Eastern Afric), a exprimé son optimisme mercredi quant à la reprise de nouveaux pourparlers entre le gouvernement éthiopien et l’Armée de libération oromo (OLA), suite à l’échec des discussions visant à mettre fin à cinq ans d’insurrection en Oromia, l’État régional le plus vaste et peuplé d’Éthiopie.