Israel-Iran battle continues into fourth day with more civilian deaths on both sides

Update Israel-Iran battle continues into fourth day with more civilian deaths on both sides
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Smoke billows from a site in the city of Haifa on June 16, 2025, following a fresh barrage of Iranian missiles. (AFP)
Update Smoke billows from a site in the city of Haifa following a fresh barrage of Iranian missile attacks on June 15, 2025. (AFP)
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Smoke billows from a site in the city of Haifa following a fresh barrage of Iranian missile attacks on June 15, 2025. (AFP)
Update An injured man is helped to leave the scene after an explosion in downtown Tehran, amid Israel's two-day campaign of strikes against Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP)
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An injured man is helped to leave the scene after an explosion in downtown Tehran, amid Israel's two-day campaign of strikes against Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP)
Update Israel-Iran battle continues into fourth day with more civilian deaths on both sides
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Men walk near a damaged vehicle at an impact site following missile attack from Iran, in northern Israel on June 15, 2025. (Reuters)
Update Israel-Iran battle continues into fourth day with more civilian deaths on both sides
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Men walk after missiles fired from Iran impacted on a residential building in northern Israel on June 15, 2025. (Reuters)
Update Israel-Iran battle continues into fourth day with more civilian deaths on both sides
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Huge smoke rises up from an oil facility after a Saturday explosion in southern Tehran on June 15, 2025. (AP)
Update Israel-Iran battle continues into fourth day with more civilian deaths on both sides
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Fire and smoke rise from an oil warehouse in Tehran on June 15, 2024. (EPA)
Update Israel-Iran battle continues into fourth day with more civilian deaths on both sides
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Firefighters and rescue personnel work at an impact site following missile attack from Iran on Israel, in Haifa, Israel, on June 15, 2025. (REUTERS)
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Updated 16 June 2025

Israel-Iran battle continues into fourth day with more civilian deaths on both sides

Israel-Iran battle continues into fourth day with more civilian deaths on both sides
  • At least 5 killed and dozens more wounded in Israel as Iran fires new wave of missile attacks on Monday
  • American consulate in Tel Aviv suffers minor damage as Iranian missile lands nearby
  • Israel says Iranian missiles are “clearly targetting” civilian sites

DUBAI:Iran fired a new wave of missile attacks on Israel early Monday, triggering air raid sirens across the country as emergency services reported at least fivekilled and dozens more wounded in the fourth day of open warfare between the regional foes that showed no sign of slowing.

Iran announced it had launched some 100 missiles and vowed further retaliation for Israel’s sweeping attacks on its military and nuclear infrastructure, which have killed at least 224 people in the country since last Friday.

The attacks raised Israel’s total death toll to at least 18, and in response the Israeli military said fighter jets had struck 10 command centers in Tehran belonging to Iran’s Quds Force, an elite arm of its Revolutionary Guard that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran.




Smoke billows from a site in the city of Haifa on June 16, 2025, following a fresh barrage of Iranian missiles. (AFP)

Powerful explosions, likely from Israel’s defense systems intercepting Iranian missiles, rocked Tel Aviv shortly before dawn on Monday, sending plumes of black smoke into the sky over the coastal city.

Authorities in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva said Iranian missiles had hit a residential building there, charring concrete walls, shattering windows and ripping the walls off multiple apartments.

The Israeli Magen David Adom emergency service reported that two women and two men — all in their 70s — were killed in the wave of missile attacks that struck four sites in central Israel.

“We clearly see that our civilians are being targeted,” said Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne outside the bombed-out building in Petah Tikva. “And this is just one scene, we have other sites like this near the coast, in the south.”

The MDA added that paramedics had evacuated another 87 wounded people to hospitals, including a 30-year-old woman in serious condition, while rescuers were still searching for residents trapped beneath the rubble of their homes.

Iran tells Qatar, Oman it won't negotiate ceasefire with US while under Israeli attack

Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on Sunday, killing and wounding civilians and raising concerns of a broader regional conflict, with both militaries urging civilians on the opposing side to take precautions against further strikes.

Israel warned that the worse is to come. It targeted Iran's Defense Ministry headquarters in Tehran and sites it alleged were associated with Iran's nuclear program, while Iranian missiles evaded Israeli air defenses and slammed into buildings deep inside Israel.

An Iranian health ministry spokesperson, Hossein Kermanpour, said the toll since the start of Israeli strikes had risen to 224 dead and more than 1,200 injured, 90 percent of whom he said were civilians. Those killed included 60 on Saturday, half of them children, in a 14-story apartment block flattened in the Iranian capital.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he hoped a meeting of the Group of Seven leaders in Canada on Sunday would reach an agreement to help resolve the conflict and keep it from escalating.

Iran has told mediators Qatar and Oman that it is not open to negotiating a ceasefire with the US while it is under Israeli attack, an official briefed on the communications told Reuters on Sunday. The Israeli military, which launched the attacks on Friday with the stated aim of wiping out Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, warned Iranians living near weapons facilities to evacuate.

In Israel, at least 10 people were killed in Iranian strikes overnight and into Sunday, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service, bringing the country’s total death toll to 13. The country’s main international airport and airspace remained closed for a third day.

Explosions rattled Tel Aviv in the afternoon as Iran launched its first daylight missile raid since Israel attacked on Friday. Hours later, shortly after nightfall, Iran launched a second wave of missiles, which struck a residential street in Haifa, a mixed Jewish-Arab city in northern Israel.

The national emergency service reported nine people were injured in the strike, along with two others following a missile impact in the south. In Bat Yam on Sunday evening, shocked residents surveyed the damage of an overnight strike, while many across Israel braced for another sleepless night, unsure of what may come next.

“It’s very dreadful. It’s not fun. People are losing their lives and their homes,” said Shem, 29, whose home was shaken overnight when a missile struck a nearby apartment tower.

Images from Tehran showed the night sky lit up by a huge blaze at a fuel depot after Israel began strikes against Iran’s oil and gas sector — raising the stakes for the global economy and the functioning of the Iranian state.

“Iran will pay a heavy price for the murder of civilians, women and children,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said from a balcony overlooking blown-out apartments where six people were killed in Bat Yam, a town south of Tel Aviv.
Iran’s armed forces told residents of Israel to leave the vicinity of “vital areas” for their safety.

Opinion

This section contains relevant reference points, placed in (Opinion field)

The region braced for a drawn-out conflict after Israel’s strikes hit nuclear and military facilities, killing several senior generals and top nuclear scientists.

President Donald Trump said the UShad “nothing to do with the attack on Iran” and warned Tehran to expect “the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces” if it retaliates against the US.

Trump has expressed full support for Israel’s actions while warning Iran that it can only avoid further destruction by agreeing to a new nuclear deal.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that if the Israeli strikes on Iran stop, then “our responses will also stop.” He said the United States “is a partner in these attacks and must take responsibility.”

Trump vetoes plan to target Khamenei, US officials say
In Washington, two US officials told Reuters that US President Donald Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do we’re not even talking about going after the political leadership,” said one of the sources, a senior US administration official.
When asked about the Reuters report, Netanyahu told Fox News on Sunday: “There’s so many false reports of conversations that never happened, and I’m not going to get into that.”
“We do what we need to do,” he told Fox’s “Special Report With Bret Baier.” Regime change in Iran could be a result of Israel’s military attacks, Netanyahu said in the interview, adding that Israel would do what it takes to remove what he called the “existential threat” posed by Tehran.
Israel’s military spokesperson has said the current goal of the campaign is not regime change, but the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and removing its capabilities “to annihilate us.”
Israel launched a surprise attack on Friday morning that wiped out the top echelon of Iran’s military command and damaged its nuclear sites, and says the campaign will escalate in coming days.

Trump warns Iran not to attack
Trump has lauded Israel’s offensive while denying Iranian allegations that the US has taken part.
“If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before,” he said in a message on the Truth Social platform. “However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict.”
Trump had earlier said the US had no role in Israel’s attack and warned Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include US targets. The US military has helped shoot down Iranian missiles that were headed toward Israel, two US officials said on Friday.
The US president has repeatedly said Iran could end the war by agreeing to tough restrictions on its nuclear program, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes but Western countries say could be used to make an atomic bomb.
The latest round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the US, due on Sunday, was scrapped after Tehran said it would not negotiate while under Israeli attack.
Financial markets are holding their breath to see whether oil prices surge further when trading resumes on Monday, with potentially punishing consequences for the global economy, or settle down on hopes that Gulf exports will escape relatively unscathed.
Oil prices already shot up by 9 percent on Friday before Israel had struck any Iranian oil and gas targets.

Iran accuses Israel of ‘deliberate’ strike on foreign ministry building

Iran on Sunday accused Israel of deliberately targeting a foreign ministry building in Tehran, saying the “ruthless” strike wounded several civilians.

“The criminal regime of Israel launched a deliberate and ruthless strike on one of the buildings of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a post on X alongside a video showing blown-out windows and debris littering the floors.

“Several civilians were injured in the attack.”

Death of IRGC intelligence chief confirmed

An Israeli strike on Sunday killed the intelligence chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Mohammed Kazemi, along with two other officers, the official IRNA news agency reported.

“Three intelligence generals, Mohammad Kazemi, Hassan Mohaghegh and Mohsen Bagheri were assassinated and fell as martyrs,” the agency said, citing a Revolutionary Guards statement.

The deaths of Kazemi and his deputy were also announced by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said.

Kazemi was appointed as IRGC intelligence chief in mid-2022 to replace Hossein Taeb, who was dismissed as Turkiye arrested eight people working for an alleged Iranian terror cell that planned to murder Israeli tourists in Istanbul.

Military says several sites hit in Israel after Iran missile barrage

Israel’s military said several sites were hit by the latest Iranian missile barrage on Sunday, with firefighters reporting a residential building struck on the country’s Mediterranean coast.

“Homefront Command Search and Rescue teams have been dispatched to several hit sites in Israel, following the latest barrage from Iran,” the military said in a statement shortly after telling the public they could leave protected shelters.

The fire services, meanwhile, said rescuers were heading to building on the coast that sustained a “direct hit.”

Israel hits aerial refueling plane in Iran in ‘longest-range strike’

The Israeli military said it struck an aerial refueling aircraft at Mashhad Airport in eastern Iran on Sunday, describing it as its longest-range attack since launching operations against Iran last week.

Iran launches new wave of attacks on Israel: State media

Iran on Sunday launched a new wave of attacks on Israel, state television reported, as an intense exchange of fire raged between the two sides for a third day.

The official IRNA news agency also announced the beginning of “a new wave of missiles” launched toward Israel.

Israel air force struck‘more than 80’ positions in Tehran

Israel’s military said Sunday that its air force had targeted “more than 80” positions in Iran’s capital Tehran in the third day of the most intense confrontation yet between the two arch-foes.

The strikes were conducted “throughout the night”, the military said in a statement, and “targeted more than 80 objectives, including the headquarters of the Iranian Ministry of Defense, the headquarters of the nuclear project (SPND), and additional targets where the Iranian regime hid the nuclear archive”.

El Al cancels flights to and from many cities until June 23

Israel’s El Al Airlines has cancelled flights to and from many European cities as well as Tokyo and Moscow until June 23 owing to the conflict between Israel and Iran, it said on Sunday.
The Israeli flag carrier said that all flights have been cancelled up to and including June 17, with Israel’s airspace still closed.

Explosions in Tehran

New explosions echoed across Tehran and were reported elsewhere in the country early Sunday, but there was no update to a death toll released the day before by Iran’s UN ambassador, who said 78 people had been killed and more than 320 wounded.

In Israel, at least 10 people were killed in Iranian strikes overnight and into Sunday, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service, bringing the country’s total death toll to 13. The country’s main international airport and airspace remained closed for a third day.

Israeli strikes targeted Iran’s Defense Ministry early Sunday after hitting air defenses, military bases and sites associated with its nuclear program. The killing of several top generals and nuclear scientists in targeted strikes indicated that Israeli intelligence has penetrated Iran at the highest levels.

Death toll mounts in Israel

In Israel, at least six people, including a 10-year-old and a 9-year-old, were killed when a missile hit an apartment building in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv. Daniel Hadad, a local police commander, said 180 people were wounded and seven are still missing.

An Associated Press reporter saw streets lined with damaged and destroyed buildings, bombed out cars and shards of glass. Responders used a drone at points to look for survivors. Some people could be seen leaving the area with suitcases.

Another four people, including a 13-year-old, were killed and 24 wounded when a missile struck a building in the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel. A strike on the central city of Rehovot wounded 42.

The Weizmann Institute of Science, an important center for research in Rehovot, said “there were a number of hits to buildings on the campus.” It said no one was harmed.

Israel has sophisticated multi-tiered air defenses that are able to detect and intercept missiles fired at populated areas or key infrastructure, but officials acknowledge it is imperfect.

Israel attacks defense ministry facility in Isfahan

Iranian media said Sunday that Israel attacked a facility affiliated with the defense ministry in the central city of Isfahan, on the third consecutive day of Israeli strikes.

“One of the centers affiliated with the Ministry of Defense in Isfahan was attacked, and possible damages are under investigation,” ISNA news agency reported quoting deputy provincial governor Akbar Salehi.

Pipelines, transmission lines in Haifa damaged

Israel’s Oil Refineries said its pipelines and transmission lines in Haifa had been damaged by missile strikes by Iran, according to a regulatory filing to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

It said that no injuries or casualties were reported at the sites, with refining facilities continuing to operate despite a shutdown of some downstream operations.

It said it is examining the impact of the damage on its operations and implications on its financial results.

Israeli military issues evacuation warning to Iranians

Israel on Sunday issued an evacuation warning to Iranians residing near weapons facilities in Iran, an Israeli military spokesperson said in a post on X in Arabic and Farsi.

The spokesperson said the evacuation warning includes all weapons factories and supporting facilities.

Iran FM says has ‘solid proof’ US forces supported Israel in attacks

Araghchi said Sunday Tehran had evidence to show US forces supported the intense bombardment campaign Israel launched against the Islamis republic this week.

“We have solid proof of the support of the American forces and American bases in the region for the attacks of the Zionist regime military forces,” Araghchi told foreign diplomats in a meeting broadcast on state TV.

Araghchi also slammed the United Nations Security Council, accusing it of “indifference” over Israel’s deadly attacks on the Islamic republic.

Gas field attack

In the first apparent attack to hit Iran’s energy infrastructure, Tasnim news agency said Iran partially suspended production at South Pars, the world’s biggest gas field, after an Israeli strike caused a fire there on Saturday.

The South Pars field, offshore in Iran’s southern Bushehr province, is the source of most of the gas produced in Iran.

Fears about potential disruption to the region’s oil exports had already driven up oil prices 9 percent on Friday even though Israel spared Iran’s oil and gas on the first day of its attacks.

An Iranian general, Esmail Kosari, said on Saturday that Tehran was reviewing whether to close the Strait of Hormuz controlling access to the Gulf for tankers.

With Israel saying its operation could last weeks, and Netanyahu urging Iran’s people to rise up against their Islamic clerical rulers, fears have grown of a regional conflagration dragging in outside powers.

B’Tselem, a leading Israeli human rights organization, said on Saturday that instead of exhausting all possibilities for a diplomatic resolution, Israel’s government had chosen to start a war that puts the entire region in danger.

Tehran has warned Israel’s allies that their military bases in the region would come under fire too if they helped shoot down Iranian missiles.

However, 20 months of war in Gaza and a conflict in Lebanon last year have decimated Tehran’s strongest regional proxies, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, reducing its options for retaliation.

Israel sees Iran’s nuclear program as a threat to its existence, and said the bombardment was designed to avert the last steps to production of a nuclear weapon.

Tehran insists the program is entirely civilian and that it does not seek an atomic bomb. The UN nuclear watchdog, however, reported Iran this week as violating obligations under the global non-proliferation treaty.

Iran says scores killed

Iran said 78 people were killed on the first day of Israel’s campaign, and scores more on the second, including 60 when a missile brought down a 14-story apartment block in Tehran, where 29 of the dead were children.

Iran had launched its own retaliatory missile volley on Friday night, killing at least three people in Israel.

With Israel saying its operation could last weeks, and Netanyahu urging Iran’s people to rise up against their Islamic clerical rulers, fears have grown of a regional conflagration dragging in outside powers.

‘We will hit every site’

Israel said three people were killed and 76 wounded by Iran’s retaliatory drone and missile barrage overnight, which lit up the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to keep up Israel’s campaign.

“We will hit every site, every target of the ayatollah regime,” he said in a video statement, threatening greater action “in the coming days.”

He added that the Israeli campaign had dealt a “real blow” to Iran’s nuclear program and maintained it had the “clear support” of US President Donald Trump.

Netanyahu’s defense minister, Israel Katz, warned “Tehran will burn” if it kept targeting Israeli civilians.

Urgent calls to deescalate

World leaders made urgent calls to deescalate and avoid all-out war. The attack on nuclear sites set a “dangerous precedent,” China’s foreign minister said.

The region is already on edge as Israel makes a new push to eliminate the Iranian-backed militant group Hamas in Gaza after 20 months of fighting.

After decades of enmity and conflict by proxy, it is the first time the arch-enemies have traded fire with such intensity, triggering fears of a prolonged conflict that could engulf the Middle East.

Highlighting the unease, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned against a “devastating war” with regional consequences in a call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Ankara said.

Jordan reopens airspace

Jordan announced the reopening of its airspace Sunday morning after a night of attacks by arch-foes Israel and Iran.

The civil aviation authority in Jordan, which borders Israel, said in a statement that the country’s airspace had been reopened “for civilian flights following a careful risk assessment.”

Turkiye denies sharing information with Israel

At the United Nations, the Turkish mission dismissed as "black propaganda" reports that“information was shared with Israel from the radar base in Kürecik.”

In a statement, the mission said the Kürecik Radar Station, a NATO installation, was established in line with Türkiye's national security and interests and is intended to ensure the protection of the NATO allies.

"The data obtained from the Kürecik radar base is exclusively shared with NATO allies within a specific framework, in accordance with NATO procedures," said the statement. "Sharing radar base data with non-NATO allies, such as Israel, is absolutely out of the question."

It maintained that "Türkiye stands against Israel's operations to destabilize the Middle East and will never support Israel's actions in this regard."

Reports of alleged data transmission came a day after Israel, without any provocation, bombarded Iran's capital on Friday.

Iran calls nuclear talks ‘unjustifiable’

“We remain committed to talks and hope the Iranians will come to the table soon,” said a senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomacy.

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, and US intelligence agencies have assessed that Tehran was not actively pursuing the bomb. But its uranium enrichment has reached near weapons-grade levels, and on Thursday, the UN’s atomic watchdog censured Iran for not complying with obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

Iran’s top diplomat said Saturday the nuclear talks were “unjustifiable” after Israel’s strikes. Abbas Araghchi’s comments came during a call with Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat.

The Israeli airstrikes were the “result of the direct support by Washington,” Araghchi said in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. The US has said it isn’t part of the strikes.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump urged Iran to reach a deal with the US on its nuclear program, adding that “Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left.”

‘More than a few weeks’ to repair nuclear facilities

Israel attacked Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz. Satellite photos analyzed by AP show extensive damage there. The images shot Saturday by Planet Labs PBC show multiple buildings damaged or destroyed. The structures hit include buildings identified by experts as supplying power to the facility.

UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that the above-ground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to have been hit, but the loss of power could have damaged infrastructure there, he said.

Israel said it also struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan, including “infrastructure for enriched uranium conversion,” and said it destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran. Iran confirmed the strike at Isfahan.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said four “critical buildings” at the Isfahan site were damaged, including its uranium conversion facility. “As in Natanz, no increase in off-site radiation expected,” it added.

An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with official procedures, said that according to the army’s initial assessment “it will take much more than a few weeks” for Iran to repair the damage to the Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites. The official said the army had “concrete intelligence that production in Isfahan was for military purposes.”

Israel denied it had struck the nuclear enrichment facility in Fordo, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Tehran.

Among those killed were three of Iran’s top military leaders: one who oversaw the entire armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri; one who led the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami; and the head of the Guard’s aerospace division, which oversees its arsenal of ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajjizadeh. On Saturday, Khamenei named a new leader for the Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace division: Gen. Majid Mousavi.

Iran rallies citizens to unite, ‘rise up’ says Netanyahu

Iran called on its citizens to unite in the country’s defense, while Netanyahu urged them to rise up against against the government.

Iran’s Mehr news agency said Tehran had warned Britain, France and the United States it could retaliate if they came to Israel’s defense.

AFP images from the city of Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv showed blown-out buildings, destroyed vehicles and streets strewn with debris after Iran’s first wave of attacks.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had struck dozens of targets in Israel. One Iranian missile wounded seven Israeli soldiers, the military said.

Firefighters had worked for hours to free people trapped in a Tel Aviv high-rise building on Friday.

Chen Gabizon, a resident, said he ran to an underground shelter after receiving an alert.

“We just heard a very big explosion, everything was shaking, smoke, dust, everything was all over the place,” he said.

In Tehran, fire and heavy smoke billowed over Mehrabad airport on Saturday, an AFP journalist said.

The Israeli army said it had struck an underground military facility Saturday in western Iran’s Khorramabad that contained surface-to-surface and cruise missiles.

Iranian media also reported a “massive explosion” following an Israeli drone strike on an oil refinery in the southern city of Kangan.

The attacks prompted several countries to temporarily ground air traffic, though on Saturday Jordan, Lebanon and Syria reopened their airspace.

Iran’s airspace was closed until further notice, state media reported, as was Israel’s, according to authorities.


Can Hezbollah still dictate outcomes in Syria, or have battlefield losses curtailed its once formidable influence?

Can Hezbollah still dictate outcomes in Syria, or have battlefield losses curtailed its once formidable influence?
Updated 26 September 2025

Can Hezbollah still dictate outcomes in Syria, or have battlefield losses curtailed its once formidable influence?

Can Hezbollah still dictate outcomes in Syria, or have battlefield losses curtailed its once formidable influence?
  • Interim government claims to have arrested a Hezbollah-linked cell, but the group firmly denies any presence inside Syria
  • Analysts suggest Damascus may be signaling cooperation with Israel, with arrests announced days before Al-Sharaa’s UNGA visit

LONDON: Syria’s interim authorities announced earlier this month that they had dismantled a cell linked to Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The Iran-backed group, which fought alongside the ousted Bashar Assad regime during the civil war and more recently clashed with Israel, denies any presence in Syria.

If the allegations are true, the Sept. 11 arrests raise a pressing question: Why would Hezbollah, still nursing wounds from its mauling by Israel in 2024, seek to maintain a foothold in Syria now that its old regime allies have been removed from power?

Syria’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that specialized units, working with the general intelligence service, had arrested “a terrorist cell belonging to the Hezbollah militia” in the Damascus countryside.

The ministry shared photos on X, saying security forces seized “rocket launchers, anti-tank missiles, 19 Grad rockets, as well as small arms and large quantities of ammunition” during raids in the towns of Saasaa and Kanaker in western rural Damascus.

Weapons and ammunition allegedly seized by Syria's Internal Security Command during a security operation in the towns of Sa’sa and Kanaker in western rural Damascus. (Syria's Ministry of Interior photo)

In a separate post, the ministry shared images of five men it said were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the Hezbollah cell. The suspects, it added, were “referred to the competent authorities to continue the investigations.”

Hezbollah swiftly rejected the accusation.

“We categorically and completely deny what the Syrian Interior Ministry mentioned regarding the affiliation of those arrested in western Damascus countryside to Hezbollah,” the group’s media office said in a statement the same day.

The group reiterated what it called its longstanding position. “Hezbollah has no presence and conducts no activity on Syrian territory, and it is deeply committed to Syria’s stability and the security of its people.”

Fadi Nicholas Nassar, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, said Tehran likely views Hezbollah’s continued activity as of a piece with “Iran’s strategy to salvage what remains of its regional security infrastructure after the seismic setbacks it suffered in the Levant with the weakening of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the fall of Assad in Syria.

Supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah group take part in a gathering in Beirut on September 17, 2025, to mark the one year anniversary of the Israeli operation in Lebanon that detonated hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah. (AFP)

“For now, Tehran is still banking on Hezbollah to disrupt progress in the Levant and exploit spoiling opportunities as they emerge,” he told Arab News.  

“In Syria, the Gulf states are investing significant political, economic, and technical assistance to help ensure a functioning state emerges from the ashes of years of war. Iran’s leverage lies in threatening to disrupt that progress and in waiting to twist any shift in the Syrian landscape to its favor.”

Given its weakness and the perhaps more pressing challenges to its existence in Lebanon, the strength of Hezbollah’s appetite for intervening meaningfully in Syria remains up for debate.

Sam Heller, a Beirut-based fellow with the US think tank The Century Foundation, said the group “was hit hard by the fall of the Assad government in Syria, which came alongside Israel’s military escalation targeting the group inside Lebanon.

“The loss of strategic depth and supply lines through Syria is particularly significant now, as Hezbollah seeks to rebuild and reconstitute some of its capabilities,” Heller told Arab News.

“That said, the group has denied interfering in Syria, and it’s unclear whether it would now try to destabilize the country or reestablish itself there.”

Much of the Syrian Interior Ministry’s account of the Sept. 11 arrests remains unverified. Some analysts say the announcement was a message to a far more significant neighbor — Israel — that Damascus is prepared to cooperate on security.

FASTFACTS

• Hezbollah, backed by Iran, played a critical role in preserving Bashar Assad’s regime during Syria’s civil war.

• Syria’s interim government aims to seal US-mediated security and military deals with Israel by late 2025.

They consider the timing of the arrests significant, coming as they did just days before Syria’s interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa’s visit to New York for the UN General Assembly.

“We do not know much about the facts and much about this story remains speculative,” Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, told Arab News.

“It would not be surprising if Israel worked with Al-Sharaa’s military to have this ‘Hezbollah-linked cell’ arrested in the days leading up to Syria’s New York appearance.”

Syrians display the national flags as they gather at Umayyad Square in Damascus on September 24, 2025,  to watch a broadcast of Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa (right) delivering a speech at the United Nations.(REUTERS)

Landis added that the administration of US President Donald Trump is “putting great store in Al-Sharaa’s willingness to work with Israel on security along their mutual border.”

Ali Rizk, a Lebanese security and political analyst, noted that the announcement also coincided with Israel-Syria negotiations.

He told Arab News that “from the start, (Al-Sharaa’s government) has made clear it is not looking for trouble with Israel, and it continues to do so despite the Israeli military operations against Syria.”

Al-Sharaa delivered a historic speech at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday — the first by a Syrian leader since 1967 — declaring Syria’s return to the international community after decades of dictatorship and civil war.

He said Syria is “reclaiming its rightful place among the nations of the world,” outlined an agenda for reform, reconstruction, and transitional justice, and announced plans for new institutions, elections, and inclusive government.

Al-Sharaa condemned Israeli airstrikes on Syria, called for the complete lifting of remaining sanctions, and pledged accountability for war crimes, stressing Syria’s commitment to balanced diplomacy and dialogue for regional peace.

Since taking power in December 2024, Al-Sharaa has repeatedly stressed that Syria poses no threat to Israel or any other neighbor, describing his strategy in March as one of “patience and wisdom.”

Despite this, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes and incursions in Syria, destroying up to 80 percent of its strategic weapons and infrastructure within the first 48 hours of Assad’s overthrow, the BBC reported.

Israeli forces also occupied at least 460 sq. km of Syrian territory, including parts of the UN-monitored buffer zone, in violation of the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement.

In response, Washington initiated talks on a security deal. Syria hopes such an agreement will halt Israeli operations and prompt a troop withdrawal, while Israel is pressing for a demilitarized zone extending from southwest Damascus to the border.

On Sept. 17, Al-Sharaa said negotiations could yield results “in the coming days.” Speaking to reporters in Damascus, he said a potential UN-monitored security pact is a “necessity” that must respect Syria’s territorial integrity and airspace.

That same day in London, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer held US-brokered talks on a draft agreement to replace the 1974 deal.

According to Rizk, although the new government in Syria “poses a major threat” to Hezbollah, he does “not see Hezbollah being actively involved in such operations” as those allegedly taking place in the Damascus countryside.

“Post-Assad Syria has clamped down on the routes that were used to send weapons to Hezbollah,” he said, referring to the arc of territory previously used by Iran to channel materiel to its proxies across the region.

Despite this major strategic setback, which Hezbollah is likely keen to remedy, it is unlikely the group is “ready for such activity, especially if you look at how it hasn’t responded to the ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

“In other words, all indications show that Hezbollah is still rebuilding itself and is not currently in the process of getting involved in military operations — be it against Syria or Israel — unless of course it faces an offensive from either or both sides that could be an existential threat.”

That restraint stems in part from Hezbollah’s losses.

In October 2023, the group began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of its Hamas allies in Gaza. After months of cross-border exchanges, the conflict suddenly escalated in September 2024, with Israeli air attacks killing multiple Hezbollah leaders, including its longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Israel’s 2024 campaign crippled Hezbollah’s infrastructure and weakened its ability to mount an effective response, according to media reports.

Mourners surround the flag-draped coffins of Hezbollah fighters killed in Israeli strikes, during their funeral along in the southern Lebanese border village of Kfar Kila on March 9, 2025. (AFP)

This defanging came as a huge strategic blow for Iran, which was then left far more exposed to Israeli and US strikes against its nuclear facilities. Hezbollah’s weakening also likely played a role in the rapid implosion of the Assad regime.

Its vulnerability within Lebanon, too, has placed its future in some doubt.

Hezbollah “is under great pressure to cease its military operations, and the Lebanese government has promised to take a tough line on Hezbollah both to Western powers and Israel,” said Landis.

The US-brokered ceasefire deal reached in November 2024 requires Hezbollah to withdraw from the area between the border with Israel and the Litani River, and Israeli troops to withdraw from the same area and to cease all attacks.

Despite this, Israel continues to occupy at least five points inside Lebanese territory.

Moreover, Hezbollah’s disarmament remains a highly contested issue. Lebanon’s government faces domestic and international pressure to place all weapons under state control, while Hezbollah has warned such moves could trigger a new civil war.

Iran’s role complicates the picture. Landis says Tehran “is working overtime to push back against Western efforts to have Hezbollah permanently decommissioned.

“Syria’s border with Israel is the ideal ground for Iran to fish in troubled waters,” he said. “The Druze massacre in July, Israel’s bombing of Syrian military bases, and Al-Sharaa’s efforts to placate Israel make it ripe for disruption.”

Violent clashes between Druze and Bedouin armed groups in Syria’s southern region of Suweida began around July 12. The violence swiftly escalated into widespread fighting that also involved Syrian government forces.

Bedouin and tribal gunmen keep a position during clashes with Druze fighters in Syria's southern city of Sweida, despite an announcement by the Syrian interim president of an "immediate ceasefire" on July 19, 2025. (AFP file photo)

Israel soon intervened and bombed Syrian government forces deployed to Suweida and key targets in Damascus, claiming it sought to protect the Druze community. A ceasefire, thought fragile, was reached on July 19.

Hezbollah sent thousands of fighters to Syria during the civil war to help shore up the Assad regime, playing decisive roles in battles against opposition forces.

The intervention advanced Iran’s strategic aims but cost Hezbollah dearly. Between Sept. 2012 and Feb. 2016, at least 865 of its fighters were killed in Syria, according to the Washington Institute.

Lebanese political adviser Nadim Shehade says Hezbollah “lost many more men fighting in Syria than fighting Israel and all that for what now seems like nothing.

“If the object was to support the Assad regime, which eventually collapsed, then it was a useless and costly operation,” he told Arab News.

“Also, very bad optics that Hezbollah, who presents itself as a resistance, ends up being the occupier displacing people from their homes and conducting starvation sieges.

“I can imagine that this looks like Hezbollah’s Vietnam. A subject they would rather avoid and in which the objectives were immoral and disgraceful.”
 

 


Arab vision for Gaza is ‘clear,’ Egypt FM tells Arab News

Arab vision for Gaza is ‘clear,’ Egypt FM tells Arab News
Updated 26 September 2025

Arab vision for Gaza is ‘clear,’ Egypt FM tells Arab News

Arab vision for Gaza is ‘clear,’ Egypt FM tells Arab News
  • Includes neutral administrative committee to temporarily govern in coordination with Palestinian Authority
  • Badr Abdelatty calls for international conference to implement Arab-Islamic recovery, reconstruction plan

NEW YORK: Egypt’s foreign minister on Thursday laid out a “clear,” comprehensive Arab and Muslim vision to end the conflict in Gaza, calling for an immediate ceasefire followed by coordinated reconstruction and governance efforts.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, Badr Abdelatty emphasized the urgent need to halt Israeli military operations and begin rebuilding.

“The first step … is, of course, ending this unjust war. This is extremely important to stop the Israeli aggression,” he told Arab News.

Following a ceasefire, Abdelatty stressed the need “to move ahead with issues related to security arrangements, as well as the governance of Gaza.”

He added: “We in Egypt, in cooperation with Jordan, are providing training to Palestinians to be part of the security force to be deployed in Gaza, in full coordination with the Palestinian Authority.”

On the potential deployment of international forces, Abdelatty said: “We’re open to the idea ... but it should be mandated by the Security Council and, of course, with one objective: to help and support the Palestinian Authority to realize its own independent state.”

As a transitional step, Arab countries are proposing the establishment of a neutral, non-partisan administrative committee to temporarily govern Gaza in coordination with the PA before handing over full control.

“We have an administrative — not political, not affiliated with factions — specific committee to govern Gaza in full coordination with the Palestinian Authority for a specific period, and then to hand over,” Abdelatty said.

He also called for an international conference to be convened immediately after a ceasefire, aimed at implementing an Arab-Islamic recovery and reconstruction plan for Gaza.

“This is extremely important because it was endorsed by the EU, by Japan, by the international community. So all components, all ingredients are there,” he said.

Abdelatty identified the main obstacle to progress as “the lack of political will from the Israeli side. This is what’s extremely important — to end this aggression, this war, as soon as possible, and then to move forward with the other steps.”

He added: “We’re coordinating with Americans, with Qataris, of course, to continue our endeavors in order to reach a deal which will secure the release of all hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and to lift all impediments hindering the flow of humanitarian aid.”


Palestinian leader pledges to work with Trump, others on UN-backed Gaza plan

Palestinian leader pledges to work with Trump, others on UN-backed Gaza plan
Updated 26 September 2025

Palestinian leader pledges to work with Trump, others on UN-backed Gaza plan

Palestinian leader pledges to work with Trump, others on UN-backed Gaza plan
  • Abbas rejects Hamas actions, calls for disarmament and governance by Palestinian Authority
  • The US has put forward 21-point peace plan for Middle East and Gaza

UNITED NATIONS: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pledged at the United Nations on Thursday to work with US President Donald Trump, , France and the United Nations on a peace plan for Gaza overwhelmingly backed by the world body.
The 193-member UN General Assembly overwhelmingly endorsed this month a seven-page declaration that aims to advance a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians and end the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas militants.
The declaration emerged from an international conference at the UN in July — hosted by and France — on the decades-long conflict. The United States and Israel boycotted the event and have rejected the international efforts.

Trump offers 21-point peace plan
Separately, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Wednesday that Trump had presented a 21-point peace plan for the Middle East and Gaza during a meeting with leaders of several Muslim-majority countries on the sidelines of this week’s UN General Assembly.
Abbas addressed the annual gathering of world leaders on Thursday via video after the United States said it would not give him a visa to travel to New York.
“Despite all that our people have suffered, we reject what Hamas carried out on October 7th — acts that targeted Israeli civilians and took them as hostages — because such actions do not represent the Palestinian people nor their just struggle for freedom and independence,” Abbas said.

Abbas rules out Hamas role, but Hamas objects
“We have affirmed — and will continue to affirm — that Gaza is an integral part of the State of Palestine, and that we are ready to assume full responsibility for governance and security there. Hamas will have no role in governance, and it — along with other factions — must hand over its weapons to the Palestinian National Authority,” he said. “We reiterate that we do not want an armed state.”
The points he raised are included in the declaration endorsed by the General Assembly.
“We declare our readiness to work with President Donald Trump, with , France, the United Nations and all partners to implement the peace plan” backed by the General Assembly, Abbas said.

Palestinians and Hamas fighters attend a funeral procession for 40 militants and civilians killed during the war with Israel, at the Shati camp for Palestinian refugees north of Gaza City on February 28, 2025. (AFP file photo).

Hamas objects

Hamas rejected the remarks by Abbas.
“We consider the President of the Authority’s assertion that Hamas will have no role in governance an infringement on the inherent right of our Palestinian people to decide their own destiny and to choose who governs them, and a submission — unacceptable to us — to external dictates and schemes,” Hamas said in a statement.
The group also said that its weapons “cannot be compromised so long as the occupation remains entrenched on our land and oppressing our people,” adding: “We denounce the President of the Authority’s call to surrender them.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described Abbas’ speech as “nice words” to the West and accused the Palestinian leader of failing to fight terrorism.
Abbas “said that he is ready to receive the Gaza Strip, which he so easily lost to Hamas in 2007. How nice of him,” Saar posted on X.
An October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel triggered the war in Gaza. Hamas killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and about 251 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. More than 65,000 people, also mostly civilians, have since been killed during the war in Gaza, according to local health authorities. 


Israel-Palestine issues not insurmountable, Saudi FM tells Arab News

Israel-Palestine issues not insurmountable, Saudi FM tells Arab News
Updated 26 September 2025

Israel-Palestine issues not insurmountable, Saudi FM tells Arab News

Israel-Palestine issues not insurmountable, Saudi FM tells Arab News
  • Prince Faisal: ‘If there’s serious will … we could have a Palestinian state in relatively short order’
  • He warns that Gaza reconstruction must be part of long-term solution, not another short-term fix

NEW YORK: The issues between Israel and Palestine are not insurmountable and could be resolved through a negotiated process if there is serious political will, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told Arab News on Thursday.

“Obviously, there will have to be a negotiated process between Palestine and Israel to finalize all of the outstanding issues. We don’t see these issues as insurmountable,” he said.

“If there’s serious will — and we know from the Palestinian Authority that they’re ready and will come to address these issues in a reasonable and pragmatic way — we could have a Palestinian state in relatively short order, one that’s also very much sustainable and viable, and can live in harmony with its neighbors in Israel.”

He was speaking in New York on the sidelines of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, where the Gaza war has dominated world leaders’ discussions.  

It was preceded by the High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, which was co-chaired by and France.

It resulted in the adoption of the New York Declaration, a comprehensive roadmap outlining tangible, timebound steps toward the peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The declaration, endorsed by the UNGA with overwhelming support, sets out a multi-dimensional framework addressing political governance, security, humanitarian aid, economic recovery and legal accountability.

It also calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, its reunification with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority and the exclusion of Hamas, the establishment of a temporary UN-led stabilization mission, and a halt to Israeli settlement expansion.

Prince Faisal expressed hope that the two-state solution could be realized soon, describing it as the only viable path to lasting peace and stability in the region.

“Is it in the near future? I certainly hope it is because that’s the only pathway for hope, for all of us in the region to live in security and stability in a way that’s sustainable,” he said.

Prince Faisal noted that the foundations of a future Palestinian state are already established under international law, and that a sustainable peace would require final-status negotiations to move forward in good faith.

“The building blocks are there. It’s clear in the founding UN resolutions that established the State of Israel,” he said.

“There was also a clear understanding of the foundation of the State of Palestine. The 1967 borders are understood by international law to form the borders of the state of Palestine.

On the situation in Gaza, Prince Faisal emphasized the scale of the international response and humanitarian support, but warned that reconstruction must be part of a long-term solution, not another short-term fix.

“I think we’ve seen, just by the significant outpouring of aid just for the emergency relief of Gaza, that there’s a commitment to the rebuilding of Gaza,” he said.

“But what I do want to make clear is that it’s absolutely necessary that when we transition, hopefully soon, to a ceasefire, that this won’t be a temporary state of affairs.

“I think it’s unacceptable that we come to the international community to ask them to come together to rebuild Gaza when it was destroyed by Israel, only for the potential of the situation on the ground to exist where this could all happen again.”

He stressed the need for reconstruction efforts to be sustainable and tied directly to a political resolution.

“I think it’s absolutely critical, hand in hand with the immediate relief of the situation in Gaza, that that reconstruction be ensured to be sustainable, that we do it once and for all.

“And there again comes the need for a final agreement on the status of Palestine, through the Palestinian state.”

Prince Faisal also told reporters in New York that Arab and Muslim countries made clear to US President Donald Trump the dangers of Israeli annexation of the West Bank.

“Some countries made very clear to the president the danger of annexation of any type in the West Bank and the risk that poses not just to the potential of peace in Gaza, but also to any sustainable peace at all.

“And I feel confident that President Trump understood the position of the Arab and Muslim countries.”


Trump: ‘I will not allow Israel to annex West Bank’

Trump: ‘I will not allow Israel to annex West Bank’
Updated 56 min 24 sec ago

Trump: ‘I will not allow Israel to annex West Bank’

Trump: ‘I will not allow Israel to annex West Bank’
  • 'It’s time to stop now,' the US president said of calls from Israeli politicians to extend sovereignty over the Palestinian territory
  • Trump made the comments after speaking with Netanyahu about the Gaza war

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will not allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank, rejecting calls from some far-right politicians in Israel who want to extend sovereignty over the area.
Trump addressed the topic after what he described as a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss resolving the Gaza conflict.
“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. Nope, I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Netanyahu has faced some pressure from right-wing allies to annex the West Bank, prompting alarm among Arab leaders, some of whom met on Tuesday with Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“I’m not allowing Israel to annex the West Bank. There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now,” he said.
Israel captured the West Bank in a 1967 war. The Palestinians have long sought it for a future state, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
About 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in a move not recognized by most countries.
Israel refuses to cede control of the West Bank, a position it says has been reinforced since the Hamas-led militant attack on its territory, launched from Gaza October 7, 2023.