The Times of Israel is liveblogging Sunday’s events as they unfold.
Hezbollah pulling forces out of Damascus outskirts, sending some to Latakia
Hezbollah is pulling its forces from the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus, a source close to the Lebanese group says, as rebel fighters move in on the capital.
The source also confirms that Hezbollah fighters have retreated from Homs, a central city taken by the rebels hours earlier, with some being redeployed in the coastal Latakia region, where many think the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad will make its last stand should the rebels continue making gains.
The group “has instructed its fighters in recent hours to withdraw from the Homs area, with some heading to Latakia and others to the Hermel area in Lebanon,” the source tells AFP.
Fighting reported inside Damascus in possible start of rebel assault on capital
Residents of Damascus report that rebels appear to have begun entering the city, seemingly marking the start of the most significant stage yet of the insurgents’ lightning blitz.
It was not immediately clear where was the source of the shooting, two residents who live in a residential area close to the center of the capital tell Reuters they heard intense sounds of shooting nearby.
In Barzeh, a neighborhood on Damascus’s north side, a resident tells CNN that fighting is already taking place between regime soldiers and rebel fighters.
“I saw rebel fighters moving through the inner alleys of Barzeh toward Police Club Street, and I can hear very loud sounds of clashes,” the resident is quoted saying.
A rebel source claims the city is all but fallen, and claims recon units ae already in the city searching for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Rebel fighters have been massing near Damascus over the past day after the opposition force ran through major cities in central Syria, cutting access between the capital and Assad’s power base on the coast, where Russia maintains a major naval base.
Hezbollah retreats from key city on Syria-Lebanon border, in major blow to group
Lebanon’s pro-Iranian Hezbollah terror group has withdrawn from the Syrian city of Qusayr along the border with Lebanon shortly, before rebel forces seized it, Syrian army sources say.
The city had been a key holding for Hezbollah, which relies on a nearby crossing to smuggle Iranian weapons into Lebanon and fighters in and out of Syria since the terror group seized Qusayr in 2013 at the early phase of the Syrian conflict.
The Syrian sources tell Reuters at least 150 armored vehicles carrying hundreds of Hezbollah fighters left Qusayr in phases.
عاجل | المعارضة السورية المسلحة: سيطرنا على مدينة القصير بريف #حمص على الحدود مع #لبنان pic.twitter.com/jesnk5nAZb
— الجزيرة سوريا (@AJA_Syria) December 7, 2024
Israel, which has repeatedly hit Hezbollah weapons depots and underground fortifications it had built in the city, hit one of the convoys that was leaving, one source says, without elaborating.
Earlier, the Hezbollah-linked al-Manar network reported that Israeli planes had carried out an attack in the area Qusayr.
The Israel Defense Forces said Friday it had bombed several roads in the Qusayr area as part of a concerted campaign to stymie attempts to smuggle Iranian weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Top Biden official says US will not jump into Syrian fighting
US President Joe Biden’s national security advisor says the country does not plan on getting involved in Syria’s civil war.
“The United States is not going to … militarily dive into the middle of a Syrian civil war,” Jake Sullivan tells an audience in California.
He adds that the US will keep acting as necessary to keep the Islamic State from exploiting openings presented by the fighting.
Sullivan points to rebels’ quick gains as proof of just how weak Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s patrons have become due to the recently concluded war in Lebanon and the invasion of Ukraine.
“Assad’s backers — Iran, Russia and Hezbollah — have all been weakened and distracted,” Sullivan tells the annual gathering of national security officials, defense companies and lawmakers at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.
“None of them are prepared to provide the kind of support to Assad that they provided in the past,” he adds.
Robert Wilkie, President-elect Donald Trump’s defense transition chief and a former secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, says during the same panel that the collapse of the “murderous Assad regime” would be a major blow to Iran’s power.
Loud explosions heard in several cities said to be from IDF operations in Gaza
Loud blasts reported across southern and central Israel were the result of military activity in northern Gaza, Hebrew media outlets report, citing the army.
The booms are reported as far away as the Jerusalem area and Tel Aviv, both of which are some 60 kilometers (38 miles) away.
Syrian rebels say Homs completely captured
Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul Ghany says insurgent forces have “fully liberated” Syria’s central city of Homs.
The announcement comes moments after Abu Mohammed al-Golani, leader of the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al Qaeda affiliate, said in a video message that the rebels were “in the final moments of liberating” Homs.
Homs is an important intersection between Damascus and Syria’s coastal provinces that are the Syrian leader’s base of support. In Damascus, residents have described a city on edge, with security forces on the streets and many shops running out of staple foods.
Rebels enter Homs as Syrian soldiers flee; Western officials say Assad could be ousted in days
Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul Ghany says that rebel forces have started entering the key city of Homs.
The rebels later say they have freed more than 3,500 inmates from the Homs military prison.
Security personnel from the main security headquarters in Homs are fleeing on motorcycles, residents tell Reuters.
The rebel advance suggests that Assad’s government could be on the verge of collapse, officials tell Reuters on condition of anonymity. One US official puts the potential timeframe at five to 10 days, while another says Assad could be ousted in the coming week. A Western official agreed with the latter assessment.