The Weekly Edition

December 8, 2024 to December 14, 2024

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian civil war

Turkish forces bombard positions in Syrian Democratic Forces-controlled areas in Al-Hasakah. (SOHR)

The Syrian opposition takes control of the city of Jableh in Latakia Governorate. (Al Jazeera)

The Federal Foreign Office of Germany announces an additional 8 million (US$8.4 million) in humanitarian aid to Syria following the fall of the Assad regime. (APA)

2024 Syrian opposition offensives

Fall of Damascus

Rebel forces take control of Sednaya Prison and begin releasing thousands of prisoners, including many political prisoners. (Barron's)

Thousands of Damascus residents gather in Umayyad Square to celebrate the collapse of the Assad regime. (BBC News)

A video posted to X shows Syrians tearing down posters of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qasem Soleimani at the Iranian embassy in Damascus. Statues of former president Hafez al-Assad are also toppled across the city. (Al Bawaba) (Madhyama Online)

Syrians abroad celebrate the collapse of the Assad regime, with rallies being held in cities across Europe. (France24) (The Guardian)

The White Helmets civil defense organization announces they have freed over 20,000 prisoners from Sednaya Prison, with over 10,000 others unaccounted for. They report that there are areas of the prison hidden underground that they do not have access codes to, but can see prisoners on security cameras. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)

Fall of the Assad regime

Russian state media reports that Bashar al-Assad is in Moscow, and that he and his family have been granted asylum by the Russian government. (Euronews) (Sky News)

Senior Syrian government officials are reportedly in talks with the Syrian opposition and are preparing to defect. (CNN)

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali says that he is not leaving Syria and will commit to a peaceful transition of power to the Syrian opposition. Al-Jalali also calls on rebel forces to not damage state institutions in Damascus or to harm civilians. (Axios)

The Syrian Army says that Bashar al-Assad's rule has ended and orders all of its troops to lay down arms and stop fighting. (Reuters)

Syrian rebels seize state television and announce to the nation that Bashar al-Assad has been toppled and that a new government will be formed. (Xinhua)

Rebel forces seize the Presidential Palace in Damascus, which is later looted by armed soldiers and civilians. (The Guardian) (Al Arabiya)

Lieutenant General Ali Mahmoud, Maher al-Assad's office manager and leader of several Syrian civil war campaigns, is found dead in his office in a suburb of Damascus. (SOHR) (Naharnet)

2024 Manbij offensive, Operation Dawn of Freedom

Turkish security sources claim that 80% of Kurdish-held positions in the city of Manbij in Aleppo Governorate have been taken by the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army. (Türkiye Today)

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan threatens "appropriate measures" against Kurdistan Workers' Party-aligned rebel groups, and states that Turkey will never allow these groups control over any part of Syria or its government. (Shafaq)

Deir ez-Zor offensive

Syrian regime forces reportedly surrender Deir ez-Zor to opposition forces, according to Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham. (BBC News)

Operation Dawn of Freedom

2024 Al-Mustariha massacre

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that a Turkish drone strike on the village of Al-Mustariha in Raqqa Governorate, Syria, kills eleven family members, including six children. (SOHR)

2024 Manbij offensive

The opposition Syrian National Army takes control of the city of Manbij, with 50 people killed in fighting between the Syrian National Army and the Syrian Democratic Forces. (LiveUA) (The Jerusalem Post) (SOHR)

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports that pro-Turkish factions have begun sectarian reprisal attacks killing at least three Kurdish civilians in Manbij, Aleppo Governorate, Syria, as well as burning and looting civilian homes. (SOHR)

Pro-Turkish factions impose a siege on several neighborhoods in Manbij, prompting humanitarian concerns of potential massacres and kidnappings. (SOHR)

The SOHR reports that the Free Syrian Army-affiliated Dawn of Freedom Brigades performed a field execution of dozens of injured pro-Kurdish Manbij Military Council soldiers who had been receiving hospital treatment. (SOHR)

Deir ez-Zor offensive

The Military Operations Command says that its forces have taken full control of Deir ez-Zor following days of clashes with the Syrian Democratic Forces. (Trend News Agency)

Israel and the Syrian civil war

2024 Israeli invasion of Syria

Regional security sources report that Israeli troops have reached the city of Qatana in Rif Dimashq Governorate, 10 km into Syrian territory and 25 km southwest of Damascus. (Reuters)

The Israeli Navy attacks and destroys most of the Syrian Navy's fleet at anchor in the Port of Latakia, including Osa-class missile boats and minesweepers. (MSN) (Naval News)

Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Saudi Arabia condemn Israel's actions in Syria and the United Nations special envoy for Syria calls on Israel to stop its military movements and bombardments inside Syria. (The Times of Israel)

Israel and the Syrian civil war

2024 Israeli invasion of Syria

Israeli tanks and troops enter Syria's Quneitra Governorate to reportedly establish a buffer zone, marking Israel's first crossing of the ceasefire line in 50 years. (The Times of Israel) (Al Jazeera)

Israeli forces take control of the towns of Madinat al-Baath and Khan Arnabah in Quneitra Governorate and also capture the Syrian side of Mount Hermon in Rif Dimashq Governorate. (Factjo) (The Times of Israel)

The Israeli Air Force launches targeted airstrikes on ammunition and equipment depots at Mezzeh Air Base in Damascus and Khalkhalah air base in Suwayda Governorate. An Israeli airstrike also targets the Scientific Research Center in Damascus's security zone, which oversees chemical weapons and ballistic missile programs. (Reuters) (Sada El-Balad) (Al Jazeera)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria has "collapsed" and orders the Israel Defense Forces to occupy the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. (New Arab)

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz orders the Israeli Defense Forces to quickly occupy the entire Syrian buffer zone and to establish a new security zone further into southern Syria free of all insurgent infrastructure and heavy weapons. (Israel Hayom)

The Israeli Air Force launches several airstrikes on the city of Daraa and also carries out a series of airstrikes on Syrian Air Force bases, destroying the Syrian Air Force's entire fleet of MiG-29 fighter jets. (Erem News) (VIN News)

Syrian residents of the villages of Hader, Hamidiya, and Umm Batna in Quneitra Governorate are displaced from their homes after Israeli military forces enter the villages with military vehicles. (SOHR)

Syrian sources report that Israeli forces met with village dignitaries in the Yarmouk Basin area of Daraa Governorate, instructing them to surrender all weapons in the villages and for villagers to comply with home searches. (Erem News) (Sada El-Balad)

US intervention in the Syrian civil war

U.S. President Joe Biden praises the end of the Ba'athist Syria regime and announces that the U.S. will support Syria and its neighbors during Syria's political transition. (CNBC)

The U.S. military evacuates American citizen Travis Timmerman out of Syria after Timmerman had previously been reported missing in the country. (NBC News)

War against the Islamic State

The United States launches airstrikes on ISIL targets in Syria following the collapse of the Assad regime. (The Telegraph)

Eastern Syria insurgency

Fall of the Assad regime

Armed men raid and set fire to the tomb of former president Hafez al-Assad and also conduct attacks on other tombs and graves in Qardaha District, Latakia Governorate, Syria. (SOHR)

At least six civilians are reported to have been killed by gunfire in celebration of the fall of the Assad regime. (SOHR)

Sectarianism and minorities in the Syrian civil war

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights urges Syria's military leadership to prevent ongoing sectarian riots, looting, and assaults on civilians from armed groups. (SOHR)

Operation Dawn of Freedom

2024 Kobani clashes

Turkish military forces and the pro-Turkish Dawn of Freedom Operations Room launch an attack with tanks and drones against the Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates river, which the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights warns could trigger a dam failure and a severe humanitarian crisis. (SOHR)

Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war

Satellite images and MarineTraffic data confirm that the Russian Navy has abandoned its naval base in the port city of Tartus. (The Telegraph)

Syrian peace process

The Syrian transitional government announces that the constitution and parliament will be suspended during the three-month transitional period. (Al Arabiya)

Israel–Hamas war

An Israeli boy is killed and three others are injured by a Palestinian gunman attack on a bus in Al-Khader, West Bank. (The Times of Israel)

Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip

At least 16 Palestinians are killed in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, including in Deir al-Balah and the Bureij refugee camp. (Al Jazeera)

Fifteen people are killed in Israeli airstrikes while guarding humanitarian aid convoys near Rafah and Khan Younis, Gaza. (Al Jazeera)

Siege of North Gaza

At least 29 people are killed in Israeli airstrikes on civilian areas in Beit Lahia, North Gaza Governorate, Gaza. (Al Jazeera)

December 2024 Nuseirat refugee camp attack

At least 33 Palestinians are killed and 50 others are injured in an Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. (AP) (Euronews)

Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, Blockade of the Gaza Strip

At least 50 Palestinians are killed and 84 others are injured in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, including ten at a flour distribution zone in Rafah. (Al Jazeera)

Israeli–Palestinian peace process

The Hamas delegation holds another round of ceasefire talks in Cairo, Egypt, with General Intelligence Service chief Hassan Mahmoud Rashad. (APA)

Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip

The United Nations reports that humanitarian aid has been blocked from entering the Gaza Strip for at least 66 days, leaving at least 65,000 Palestinians without food, water, electricity, and healthcare. (AP)

December 2024 Nuseirat refugee camp attack

The number of Palestinians killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp yesterday increases to 33, most of whom are from the same family. 84 others are reported to be either injured or missing. (Al Jazeera)

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Casualties of the Russo-Ukrainian War

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in action since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and that 370,000 soldiers have been injured, while estimating the number of Russian casualties at 198,000 soldiers killed and more than 550,000 soldiers injured. (Politico)

Southern front of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

A Russian missile strike on a private clinic in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, kills four civilians and injures 20 others. (Interfax Ukraine) (Al Arabiya)

Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Four police officers are injured in a drone attack on the barracks of a police regiment building in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia. (Kyiv Independent)

Moldova and the Russo-Ukrainian War

The Parliament of Moldova votes in favor of declaring a 60-day national state of emergency beginning on December 16 due to Ukraine not renewing its transit contract with Gazprom to deliver Russian gas to Moldova. (Reuters)

Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure

Russia launches one of its largest attacks on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure since the conflict began, with about 290 missiles fired and drones striking multiple regions. The Russian Defense Ministry claims that the attack was in response to a recent Ukrainian ATACMS attack on Taganrog-Central air base in Rostov Oblast, Russia. (The Kyiv Independent) (UNN)

Haitian crisis

At least 110 elderly people are killed in Cité Soleil, Haiti, following accusations by a gang leader that the people practiced witchcraft against the gang leader's child. (France24)

Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, reopens after it was closed in November when a Spirit Airlines aircraft was struck by gunfire. (DW)

Myanmar civil war

The Arakan Army announces their capture of Maungdaw, Rakhine State, giving them full control over the Bangladesh–Myanmar border. (AP News)

Sudanese civil war

Twenty-eight people are killed and 37 others are injured in a bombing on a petrol station in Mayo, Khartoum, Sudan. (The Peninsula) (Ommcom News)

Amnesty International reports that Sudan is currently facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, with over 30 million people at risk or in need of humanitarian aid. (DW)

Battle of Khartoum

At least 65 people are killed and hundreds of others are injured in Rapid Support Forces artillery shelling on a market in Karary District, Khartoum State, Sudan. (Anadolu Agency) (Sudan Tribune)

Darfur campaign

At least 100 people are killed and 37 others are injured in a Sudanese Air Force airstrike on Kabkabiya District, North Darfur, Sudan. (Business Recorder) (Sudan War Monitor) (BBC News)

Nine people are killed and 20 others are injured in a Rapid Support Forces airstrike on a hospital in Al-Fashir, North Darfur, Sudan. (Reuters)

Insurgency in Balochistan

One Pakistani soldier and 15 separatist militants are killed in an operation in Zhob District, Balochistan, Pakistan (Arab News)

Somali Civil War

Russo-Ukrainian War

Islamic State–Taliban conflict

Afghanistan's acting Minister of Refugee and Repatriation Khalil Haqqani and five other people are killed in a suicide bombing at the Ministry's headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Reuters)

The Islamic State – Khorasan Province claims responsibility for yesterday's suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, which killed acting Minister of Refugee and Repatriation Khalil Haqqani and several other people. (AP)

Israel–Hezbollah conflict

Five civilians are killed in Israeli airstrikes in Ainata, Bint Jbeil, and Beit Lif, Lebanon, despite the agreed ceasefire with Hezbollah. (Al Jazeera)