Israel Strikes Syria, Targeting Russian Weapons Shipment. Israeli warplanes have attacked a shipment of Russian missiles inside a Syrian government stronghold, the Guardian reports, saying the strike “threatened to add another volatile layer to regional tensions from the Syrian civil war.” The Wall Street Journal says Israeli warplanes struck a military base near the Syrian city of Latakia in a bid to prevent weapons transfers to the regime’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah.
“Israel suspected the Syrian regime was preparing to transfer missiles or other weapons stored at the base to Hezbollah,” the Journal reports, citing a U.S. official.
Israel is believed to have struck Syria on three other occasions this year – targeting anti-aircraft missiles in January and a Syrian military installation in May. In each case the apparent target was weapons installations that were deemed a threat to Israeli security.
U.N. Renews Calls for Peace Talks, Hopes They’ll Happen This Year. The U.N.-Arab League’s Joint Syria Envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, said he still hopes to hold negotiations this year between the Assad regime and opposition leaders. The peace conference, known as Geneva II, was reportedly set for November 23. As of this week, discord and disarray within the opposition camp threatens to delay the process; AFP reports that Syria’s main opposition political body, the Syrian National Coalition, will meet on November 9 to decide whether to attend the talks.
The main point of contention: the opposition says it doesn’t want to negotiate for anything less than the end of President Bashar al Assad’s rule, a new era of political leadership in Syria. The regime says that option is not on the table.
Assad Regime Breaks its Word on Evacuation Deal, Activists Say. Reuters reports that Syrian intelligence agents have arrested at least 230 men out of a group of civilians who were evacuated this week from Mouadamiya, a rebel-held suburb of Damascus that has been besieged by regime fire.
Earlier this week, a deal negotiated between rebels and the regime had enabled 1,800 civilians to flee Mouadamiya; the BBC captured images of starving residents fleeing for safety. But once they left the embattled town most males aged between 14 and 45 among them were arrested and taken to an air force intelligence compound and a school turned into a makeshift detention center, activists told Reuters.
“The regime’s forces violated the deal as soon as it was executed. They separated the males when they arrived at the entrance of the town and arrested them,” said Ahmad al-Mouadamani, an activist in Mouadamiya who spoke to the news wire.
Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team:
The Atlantic: What KFC’s Exit From Syria Says About the Country’s Horrifying Food Crisis
HuffPost: Can Syria Rebuild Its Devastated Health Structure?
Time: Syria Could Turn Into Somalia if Peace Talks Fails, Says UN
Foreign Policy Exclusive: Syria Pushes to Keep Its Chemical Weapons Factories
Atlantic Council: Ambassador Fred Hof’s Testimony on Syria Before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee
War on The Rocks: ISIS’ Plan To Govern Syria – And What The US Should Do About It