Lebanon Considers Closing Border with Syria

The Daily Star reports that Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas said Monday that his country is considering closing its border with Syria. There are more than 1 million Syrian refugees currently in Lebanon, a number the government says must be reduced.

“The Lebanese government sees no objection in taking any decisions or actions that will protect Lebanese territory and Lebanese people and guests [residing] in its territories,” the paper quotes Derbas as telling reporters following a meeting of the committee dealing with the refugee crisis. He also said that moving refugees into regulated settlements was also discussed. Unlike neighboring Jordan and Turkey, Lebanon has no official refugee camps.

Derbas later told the Star that “serious proposals,” including the potential border closure, would be discussed in a meeting on Thursday.

ISIS Beheads and Crucifies in Push to Dominate Eastern Syria

Reuters reports that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) “crushed a pocket of resistance to its control in eastern Syria, crucifying two people and executing 23 others in the past five days.

“The insurgents, who are also making rapid advances in Iraq, are tightening their grip in Syria, of which they now control roughly a third, mostly rural areas in the north and east. Fighters from the al-Sheitaat tribe in eastern Deir al-Zor had tried to resist Islamic State’s advance this month, according to residents near the area and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.”

The wire adds that “in al-Shaafa, a town on the banks of the Euphrates, ISIS beheaded two al-Sheitaat men on Sunday and gave residents a 12-hour deadline on Monday to hand over members of the tribe.”

Family Among Those Killed in Aleppo Air Raid

A government air siege of Aleppo continues, with AFP reporting that an entire family was among 10 people killed by barrel bombs in the Bab al-Nairab neighborhood, in the old district.

“The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five barrel bombs were dropped on the district killing 10 civilians, including a man, his wife and their two children, as well as three other children and a woman,” the wire says. “The raids inflicted heavy damage to buildings in Bab al-Nairab where volunteers were sifting through mounds of blood-stained debris to search for survivors.

“We are hearing voices but we cannot locate them because of the destruction,” a rescuer told the wire, as bodies were pulled out of the rubble.

Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team

Washington Post: Would Arming Syria’s Rebels Have Stopped the Islamic State?

Al Jazeera: Syrian Children ‘Torn Apart’ by Barrel Bomb

Politico: Saving Syria is No Fantasy