Egypt to host ceasefire talks with Hamas and Israel, Trump’s ‘peace’ plan gets international and Arab seal of approval, Palestinian factions say US Gaza plan given to Arab leaders differs from their version, More killed in Israeli strikes on south Lebanon, Israel declares 600,000 in Gaza City military targets and cuts off lifeline from south, Ben Gvir pushes plan for new prison to detain Palestinians as ‘nationalistic’ inmates, Israeli army launches operation to seize Global Sumud Flotilla vessels, Syria selects members of first post-Assad parliament, Damascus orders troops to prepare for operations against SDF, Syria sends military delegation to Moscow amid warming relations, Moroccan police crack down on GenZ 212 protests, Rocket explodes near Joussieh school on border between Lebanon and Syria, Berri and Geagea divided on 2026 electoral reform, UN warns of ‘catastrophic’ humanitarian crisis in Sudan’s Darfur
An Israeli delegation heads to Sharm el-Sheikh to negotiate a ceasefire that is unlikely to last, while US President Donald Trump promises eternal peace against the backdrop of incessant bombing of the Gaza Strip. Think tanks produce maps for an evacuation that Benjamin Netanyahu swears will not happen. Squares around the world fill with demands for justice for the Palestinian people, while a flotilla of more than 50 boats carrying representatives from 44 different countries is illegally boarded in international waters on its futile journey to Gaza, and those on board are arrested. In Lebanon, the army’s first report on the disarmament of Hezbollah in the name of a United Nations resolution is awaited, while Israel violates the latest agreements on a daily basis by continuing to bomb the south and the Beqaa Valley, kill civilians, surveil and terrorize. Syria is approaching its first parliamentary elections since the fall of Assad at a time of understandable enthusiasm – but self-appointed, interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa reserves the right to appoint a third of the next representatives and excludes the tense Druze and Kurdish areas from the election-selection process for an indefinite period.
Never before had the law – or what was presumed to be the law – proved so useless, illusory and empty: yet never before had so much been expected of international resolutions, diplomatic delegations and yet another farce masquerading as democracy.
Meanwhile, as it seems that Hamas responded positively to President Donald Trump’s proposal for ceasefire in Gaza – though said more negotiations will be needed before a full agreement can be signed, stressing that all remaining hostages will be released if Israel withdraws from Gaza and “proper field conditions are met” – intense Israeli attacks continue in Gaza City , the largest urban area in the Gaza Strip, where at least 600,000 Palestinians are currently under siege the Israeli army’s ongoing bombardment, encirclement, and expulsion campaign.
What we heard described, amid widespread enthusiasm, as a great moment for peace in the region, seems instead to be taking on the characteristics of what writer Ghassan Kanafani defined in a famous interview as “a conversation between the sword and the neck”: a state, Israel, which continues to be recognized and supported, even militarily, by the great powers of the Western world – and individuals, the Palestinians, isolated so that they can be more easily oppressed. This shows the tragic paradox of a genocide in which the bodies for slaughter remains as such, in the Gaza concentration camp, while colonialism advances on yet another piece of land. Even if the negotiations are successful, the Palestinians will not be able to choose who will represent them – they can only be persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, exterminated.
In Lebanon
Hezbollah backs Hamas: On Sunday, the Lebanese Hezbollah voiced its support for Hamas’ stance regarding President Trump’s plan. In a statement, the party “expressed support and approval of the position adopted by Hamas, in consultation and coordination with other Palestinian resistance factions, regarding Donald Trump’s plan to end the Israeli war against Gaza.”
“Insofar as this position stems from a great concern to bring an end to the brutal Israeli aggression against the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, it also affirms adherence to the principles of the Palestinian cause and the refusal to relinquish the rights of the Palestinian people,” the statement said. “The Palestinian national consensus, based on legitimate national rights, is the framework upon which negotiations must be anchored, which must lead to the withdrawal of the enemy from the entire Gaza Strip, prevent the displacement of its population and allow the Palestinian people to manage their own political, security, and social affairs, rejecting any external guardianship, regardless of its form or reference,” it added.
Within this context, Hezbollah called on “all Arab and Islamic countries to stand by the Palestinian people, the position of Hamas, and all the forces of the Palestinian resistance, and to support them on all fronts to end the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, prevent the displacement of the population, rebuild the Gaza Strip, and restore all the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people.”
Qassem’s speech: In a speech delivered only the day before, on Saturday October 4, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem defined Trump’s plan for Gaza as “an ‘Israeli’ plan dressed in American clothing,” denouncing the amendments made by Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu for making it “fully suitable to Israel, serving Israel’s ‘Greater Israel’ project – a project it seeks to achieve politically after failing to accomplish it by aggression and massacres.”
Yet, at the end, he admitted that “we will await the final word from the Palestinians, because what was presented is a plan, not an agreement, and nothing can happen except by agreement.”
Then, talking about a danger that will probably extend to Lebanon, he stated that “we must all confront this danger; no one should say our country is far from the issue – everyone is targeted. The step now is in Gaza, and other steps may occur one day according to the Israeli perspective.” “We must confront Israel each from our position according to our capacity and plan, and at the very least be convinced to remove the danger from ourselves, because the project will reach us according to Israel’s stated targeting,” Qassem added.
“Through direct American intervention,” he continued, “they sought to build on the assumption that Hezbollah is weak and preoccupied with its situation and the destruction — therefore it would be possible to sideline us. But they were surprised that we participated in the state actively. They expected us to respond with overreactions and to reciprocate insults in ways that would allow them to escalate, so they could say we were the reason for expansion, but we prevented that step.”
Even acknowledging Israel’s military superiority, Qassem stated that the party will surpass them “because we are attached to our homeland, ready to sacrifice and wage jihad, and steadfast in the option of resistance. We have great and historic people who cannot be defeated, and we have created a state of parity that enables us to confront their bullets and projects.”
To do so, he concluded, “reconstruction must be done, and the government committed to this in its ministerial statement – this is a responsible commitment and clear programs must be put in place to implement it,” openly denouncing Israel’s latest attacks that killed two engineers on their car along the Jarmaq-Khardali highway, while they were on their way to Khiam to survey damage and assess infrastructure.
Ongoing attacks: Meanwhile, Israel is intensifying its attacks against Lebanon. In the afternoon of Monday, September 29, Mohammad Yassin and Mohammad Abbas Shaashou were killed in two Israeli strikes that targeted a water tanker in Nabatieh al-Faouqa and an excavator in Sohmor. Another person was wounded in a strike on Aitaroun, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. The Israeli army kept on escalating its attacks, shelling Yaroun with a flare and bombing a house in Houmine al-Faouqa.
On Tuesday evening, around 9 pm, a fire broke out east of Taybeh, along the border, after an Israeli drone dropped four flares on the area. An hour later, a powerful explosion was heard in villages of the Marjayoun district after the Israeli army blew up a building near homes in the Lebanese part of Ghajar.
On Wednesday, then, Israeli shelling targeted the outskirts of the southern town of Shihine. On the same day, an Israeli drone dropped an incendiary bomb on Breij, on the outskirts of Jbaa, in Iqlim al-Touffah, marking the first time the region has been targeted by this type of bomb, after having already been hit several times by Israeli air and drone strikes. Shortly before that, another Israeli drone strike hit a car in Kafra, in Bint Jbeil district, with two missiles, killing one person and injuring three.
And again on Thursday, October 2nd, Israeli forces assassinated Ahmad Saad and Mustafa Rizk in an airstrike on their car along the Jarmaq-Khardali highway, while the two engineers were on their way to Khiam to survey damage and assess infrastructure. Another person was injured, according to the Ministry of Public Health’s Emergency Operation Center. The Order of Engineers mourned the two, and affirmed that “field engineering will remain vital to resilience, reconstruction and rebuilding despite all risks and challenges.”
Following the assassination, Israeli drones flew heavily over several towns in Nabatieh and Marjayoun, dropping stun grenades on Houla and firing more toward Maroun al-Ras and Kfar Kila.
On Friday at dawn, Israeli warplanes bombed the Ali Taher area in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, with a belt of fire surrounding the area. Another Israeli strike hit Maroun al-Ras during the day, close to the UNIFIL patrol stationed in the area, that soon after published a statement denouncing the attack.
After a day of relative calm, on Sunday, October 5, new Israeli fire targeted civilians in the village of Dhayra, in the district of Sour, without causing any injuries. Last, on Monday, an Israeli army drone shot at a car on the road from Zibdin to Nabatieh, killing two: among the victims was Hassan Atwi, one of the victims of the pager attack in September 2024. His wife, Zeinab Raslan, also killed in the drone strike, had left the car to buy some things at a store. As soon as she got back into the car where her husband was waiting, the car was targeted by Israel, killing the couple.
Another strike on Monday hit the Hermel region, in the country’s north-east.
As Israel continues its violations of the cease-fire agreement in Lebanon, several MPs called last week for the government to file more complaints with international bodies. Lebanon has until now filed 66 complaints against Israel to the UN Security Council, all between October 2023 and November 2024 – while, since the November ceasefire came into effect, 103 civilians have been killed due to Israeli attacks. “We are still seeing the devastating consequences of airstrikes and drone attacks on residential areas and near UN peacekeeping forces in the South,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement.
Along the Lebanese-Syrian border: A rocket, believed to be from the recent war between Hezbollah and Israel, exploded near the school in Joussieh, on the Syrian side of the Lebanese-Syrian border, between the school and the village church.
A video shared by local correspondents, taken shortly after the incident, shows a column of smoke rising from the area. Syrian media report one death and several injuries. Their version of events refers to an explosion in a weapons “warehouse.”
Joussieh is located in the province of Homs, in an area that was under the control of the Assad regime and Hezbollah during the Syrian civil war and where deadly clashes took place between local Lebanese tribes and members of the new Syrian security forces in early 2025.
The diaspora vote’s issue: Lebanon’s ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs announced in a joint statement on Tuesday that registration for expatriates wishing to take part in the next parliamentary elections from their country of residence will be open from October 2 to November 20, 2025. The parliamentary elections are scheduled for spring 2026. This announcement comes as the debate over expatriate voting is still raging in Parliament: the current law stipulates that expatriates can vote for six independent MPs representing different continents, who are added to the 128 seats elected by local residents.
Yet for the second day in a row, on Tuesday, the Lebanese Parliament failed to reach a quorum, and the legislative session remained stalled due to disagreements on expatriate voting, a dispute that could jeopardize the upcoming elections.
Lebanese Forces’ leader Samir Geagea held Speaker Nabih Berri responsible for obstructing Tuesday’s parliamentary session, accusing him of ignoring a repeated urgent draft law submitted months ago by 67 MPs to amend the electoral law. Geagea said Berri’s refusal to place the proposal on the agenda violates parliamentary rules and customs, undermines the majority’s will, and risks obstructing elections by burying reforms in committees. He urged Berri to immediately call a legislative session with the draft law at the top of its agenda, warning that otherwise the Speaker would be directly responsible for hindering the elections.
Later on Sunday, Geagea responded in a statement to the latest speech by Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, regarding the diaspora vote in the 2026 parliamentary elections. The Lebanese Forces’ leader quoted Qassem saying that “there is already an electoral law, but they want to choose a tailor-made text that would allow them to win” – remarks that come as the debate over the electoral law continues to divide the political class.
“Sheikh Naim raised the issue of the electoral law, questioning equality and justice, and rejecting what he described as tailor-made laws. But since he is talking about equality, we ask him: where is the equality between the resident voter and the expatriate voter, when you cling to the 16th district?” the LF statement reads. “The Lebanese Constitution guarantees equality between Lebanese citizens, whether residents or expatriates. To uphold this equality, the current law must be amended to remove Article 112, so that every expatriate can vote in their town of origin. Don’t you want your own children, who were forced to emigrate due to your failed policies, to return to their country, even if only to vote?” the Christian party asked.
Hezbollah’s opponents are calling for an amendment to the 2017 law to allow expatriates to vote for all 128 MPs of the country. Hezbollah, instead, wants to keep Article 112 as is, which limits diaspora representation to only six MPs. Qassem also said Saturday that “the government must address the central issues, starting with the restoration of its sovereignty,” placing responsibility on Nawaf Salam’s government “to put reconstruction at the top of its priorities.”
It must be noted that expatriates had the opportunity to vote for the first time from their place of residence in the 2022 elections. That year, they were called to vote for the 128 seats according to their place of origin in Lebanon, but only for that one time, as was specified then.
In The Region
The amended plan: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his approval of Trump’s plan at a joint press conference with the US President at the White House on Monday. The plan – calling for Hamas to be disarmed, its infrastructure dismantled, and for Israel to gradually withdraw from Gaza which would then be governed by a body that excludes the Palestinian Authority – allegedly included major revisions sought by Netanyahu, angering Arab officials who took part in the negotiations, sources familiar with the matter told Axios.
On Sunday, US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner held a six-hour meeting with Netanyahu and his close adviser Ron Dermer. During the talks, Netanyahu secured several changes to the text, particularly regarding the conditions and timeline for Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza. The revised plan links Israel’s withdrawal to the disarmament of Hamas and grants Israel veto power over the process.
Even if all conditions are met and the three withdrawal phases are carried out, in fact, Israeli forces would still remain within a security perimeter inside Gaza “until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat” – a clause that could keep them there indefinitely.
Palestinian voices: Several Hamas sources told Asharq al-Awsat on Tuesday that the group is now seeking “consensus among the Palestinian factions” before accepting the “problematic” terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza 20-point-plan, including the “disarmament” clause. According to the newspaper, Hamas appeared confused and divided over the plan on Tuesday. While senior sources described it as “unjust and unfair” to Hamas, they stressed that the group would approach it with “absolute positivity.”
On this matter, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) released a statement on October 2nd calling for an urgent meeting aimed at reaching a unified Palestinian stance on the 20-point Gaza “peace plan” announced by US President Donald Trump. “The top priority at this stage is to halt the holocaust being inflicted on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, who have made and continue to make enormous sacrifices in defense of their land and identity and in loyalty to their national cause,” the PFLP stated.
“The Palestinian people face a historic responsibility that calls for a swift and unified stance from all national forces,” it added. The Front said it was consulting with several Palestinian factions on the idea of holding an urgent national meeting. The meeting would aim to issue “a collective and unified position, avoiding individualism or evasion of national responsibility.” The movement also called for a joint Palestinian, Arab, and international effort to stop the genocidal war.
However, Palestinian sources told Maan News that the US plan for Gaza presented to Arab leaders differs from the one the Palestinian factions received. The factions demanded clear guarantees that Israel would commit to stopping the war, and said they need specific timelines for its withdrawal.
The Wall Street Journal quoted Arab mediators as saying that Hamas indicated it was open to accepting the US plan for Gaza, but asked for more time to review its terms. Hamas informed mediators of its reservations over certain articles in the 20-point plan, including the clause calling for its disarmament and destruction. Hamas also said that releasing all 48 Israeli captives within 72 hours, as stipulated in Trump’s plan, would be difficult. It was also reported that Egypt, Qatar, and Turkiye made it clear to Hamas that if it rejected Trump’s plan, it would not receive their diplomatic support.
Nevertheless, it seems that Hamas responded positively to President Donald Trump’s proposal for ceasefire in Gaza, though said more negotiations will be needed before a full agreement can be signed. The Palestinian armed group said it will release all remaining hostages if Israel withdraws from Gaza and “proper field conditions are met.”
International reactions: Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, described Trump’s Gaza plan as a “great disappointment” filled with “mines,” adding that it is a “recipe for the continuation of the war, rather than ending it.” He said it disregards Palestinian self-determination and avoids confronting the central issue of Israeli occupation.
On the other side, eight Arab and Muslim foreign ministers – from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, and Egypt – lined up to praise Donald Trump’s so-called “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict,” voicing confidence in his ability to bring ‘peace’. The ministers’ statement doubled down on partnership with Washington, promising to engage “positively and constructively” with the US to secure an agreement and praised Trump’s “sincere efforts” to end the war.
The Palestinian Authority also chimed in, welcoming Trump’s “sincere and tireless efforts to end the war on Gaza” and affirming its “confidence in his ability to find a path to peace.” In a statement via Wafa news agency, the PA pledged to work with the US and “regional partners” on a comprehensive agreement.
The Kremlin, on its end, announced it hopes US President Donald Trump’s 20-point-plan for Gaza will be implemented and contribute to ‘peace’ in West Asia. Speaking to reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Russia always supports and welcomes any efforts by Trump aimed at ending the tragedy that is currently unfolding.” He added: “And, of course, we want this plan to be implemented and for it to help bring events in the Middle East to a peaceful conclusion.”
Also European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed support for US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal. Writing in a post on X: “I welcome President Donald Trump’s commitment to ending the war in Gaza. I encourage all parties to seize this opportunity now. The European Union is ready to contribute. Hostilities must end with the immediate provision of humanitarian relief to the people of Gaza, and the immediate release of all hostages,” she stated.
Fortifying the prisons’ apparatus: Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has announced a new plan to build a prison specifically for Palestinians from inside the Green Line who work without permits. The facility will categorize them as “prisoners on a nationalistic basis” rather than “criminal” inmates, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
Prison Service chief Kobi Yaakobi has already begun preparations for the headquarters, with operations expected to begin soon.
According to official figures, Israeli police have inspected over 665,000 vehicles since the start of the year, arresting 542 Palestinians without permits. Another 107 were shot while trying to reach workplaces and areas near the separation wall.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces have re-arrested Hanan al-Barghouti – freed earlier in a prisoner exchange deal – after storming her home in the town of Kobar, north of Ramallah. Barghouti was first detained during the genocide war on Gaza and released in the initial exchange. She is the sister of Nael al-Barghouti, the freed and exiled prisoner who spent 45 years in Israeli jails.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, the Israeli forces have escalated their campaign against those freed in the last exchange deal through arrests, field investigations, and interrogations. At least 40 released prisoners have been detained since January and February, with 16 still held, including three women. Most were placed under administrative detention, among them Wael al-Jaghoub of Nablus, who previously spent 23 years in Israeli prisons.
In Gaza: Meanwhile, in Gaza, Israel is deliberately targeting and destroying water tanks and solar panels in Gaza City, cutting off the last sources of life – while Israeli quadcopter drones have been dropping toxic gas canisters on tents and civilian homes near Al-Shifa Medical Complex in the city’s western sectors.
At least 600,000 Palestinians are currently under siege in Gaza City amid the Israeli army’s ongoing bombardment, encirclement, and expulsion campaign, after on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that all Palestinians remaining in the city must abandon their homes, pass Israeli checkpoints, and move to tent encampments in the south, stressing that anyone who stays will be considered a “terrorist” or “terrorist supporter” and targeted by invading Israeli forces. Now is the “last opportunity for Gaza residents” to move south, Katz said.
Israeli forces have currently blocked all travel northward on the Rashid coastal road, cutting off the city’s last surviving lifeline for humanitarian aid and preventing Palestinians who had moved south temporarily in search of food and shelter from returning.
Al-Akhbar reported on Thursday that Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of strikes on Gaza City, including in the neighborhoods of Al-Nasr, Sheikh Radwan, and Al-Shati in the city’s northwest, as well as Al-Daraj, Al-Tuffah, and Al-Nafaq in the northeast, and Al-Sabra in the south. Gaza’s Health Ministry continues to record an average of 100 Palestinians killed per day, Al-Akhbar added, not including the dozens missing whose bodies rescuers are not able to retrieve due to Israeli fire.
Meanwhile, the Quds Brigades of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) reported a major operation against an Israeli infantry unit in the Al-Nasr neighborhood. Fighters detonated a booby-trapped house packed with improvised explosive devices as soldiers entered to destroy it.
The journey of the Global Sumud Flotilla: On Wednesday, October 1st, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that the Israeli Navy had begun “the process of seizing the Global Sumud Flotilla,” noting that its personnel had boarded several vessels. In the evening, Israeli forces started intercepting the flotilla’s ships, demanding that some divert to the port of Ashdod. Activists, however, confirmed they would continue toward Gaza to deliver aid to the besieged Strip. The first boats were stopped on Wednesday in international waters about 70 nautical miles (130 km) off Gaza. Israel has been policing this area but does not have jurisdiction there.
The Sumud Flotilla confirmed that its ships were subjected to illegal interception and that their cameras were disabled. At least 45 civilian ships have departed from Turkiye towards Gaza in response to the Israeli interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla, as Israeli authorities arrested about 470 people and so far deported 170 of them. Those expelled are citizens of the UK, US, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Algeria, Mauritania, Malaysia, Bahrain, Morocco, Switzerland, Tunisia, and Turkey, the ministry said.
Previously on Monday, Egyptian authorities arrested three activists from Egypt’s Sumud Flotilla outside their Cairo headquarters. According to the flotilla’s spokesperson, two of those detained are members of the preparatory committee, and their whereabouts remain unknown. The flotilla’s general coordinator emphasized that efforts are ongoing to confirm that no other activists have been detained. The arrests resembled a kidnapping operation. Two activists disappeared after leaving the flotilla’s headquarters to buy coffee, and contact with them was lost before eyewitnesses confirmed that they had been detained and taken away in a minivan. Communication was lost with the third activist, also after he left the headquarters, despite his brother’s repeated attempts to reach him.
The Egyptian authorities recently tightened security around the Sumud Flotilla headquarters in Egypt in an effort to curb the group’s activities, which undermine the Sisi regime’s image and expose its complicity in the Gaza blockade. In June, Egyptian authorities deported dozens of foreign activists who had tried to participate in the Global March to Gaza.
Towards a new Syrian Parliament: Members of local committees in Syria began on Sunday selecting members of a transitional parliament, in a process criticized as undemocratic, with a third of the members appointed directly by self-appointed interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa.
The People’s Assembly has 210 seats, of which 140 were voted on by electoral colleges throughout the country, with the number of seats for each district distributed by population. The remaining 70 deputies will be appointed directly by al-Sharaa. A total of 7,000 electoral college members in 60 districts, chosen from a pool of applicants in each district by committees appointed for the purpose, were eligible to vote for the 140 seats.
The assembly’s formation seems set to consolidate the power of Sharaa, whose Islamist forces led a coalition that toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December after more than 13 years of civil war. However undemocratic, though, this is the first chance that the Syrian people is getting of a real taste of an election after nearly six decades of the Assad family’s rule.
According to the organising committee, more than 1,500 candidates – just 14 percent of them women – are running for the assembly, which will have a 30-month renewable mandate. During its term, the incoming parliament will be tasked with preparing the ground for a popular vote in the next elections.
In a speech after observing the votes being cast at the National Library Center in Damascus – formerly called the Assad National Library – al-Sharaa hailed the election as a key moment in rebuilding the country. He applauded the fact that the country was able “in just a few months, to engage in an electoral process suited for its current circumstances”. “This historic moment among Syrians is very important,” he added. “There are many pending laws that need to be voted on to advance the process of construction and prosperity.”
Nawar Najmeh, spokesperson for Syria’s Higher Election Committee, told the state-run SANA news agency that voting in Sunday’s elections had concluded in some electoral districts.
Meanwhile, elections in the Druze-majority province of Suwayda and in northeastern areas controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have been indefinitely postponed due to tensions between local authorities and the central government in Damascus.
Preparing against SDF: Syria’s government has asked factions within the military to prepare for operations against the Syrian Democratic Forces. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), Turkish-aligned factions in the Syrian army were asked to “prepare for operations” against the SDF in Deir Hafer and the Tishreen Dam area. The agency added that officials in Damascus have requested that a campaign against the SDF not take more than a week.
The potential campaign would aim to pressure the Kurdish group into accepting the integration deal reached in March.
A significant buildup of both Syrian army forces and SDF troops in eastern Aleppo was recorded early last week. On Monday, for example, SOHR reported escalating clashes in eastern Aleppo: more than 10 artillery shells struck areas around the Tishreen Dam following exchanges between the SDF and Turkish-backed Syrian factions. Earlier in the day, orders were issued to deploy “show-of-force” units with heavy vehicles, tanks, and artillery to the Deir Hafer frontline in anticipation of possible SDF operations.
There are also reports that the SDF has stationed kamikaze drones, rocket launchers, and long-range artillery near the local sugar factory.
Military reinforcements from Turkiye also arrived at Kuweires Airport, while the Aleppo-Raqqa Road in Deir Hafer remained closed for a third consecutive day. Additional forces from both the SDF and Turkish-backed Syrian units have gathered around the Tishreen Dam, heightening concerns over an escalation.
The Turkish army, which occupies Syria and has operated against the SDF in the past, may be gearing up for a new campaign, self-appointed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said earlier this month. Turkiye “may act militarily if full integration is not achieved by December,” Sharaa warned. In late May, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the SDF to “quit stalling” and integrate with the Syrian army.
A delegation to Moscow: Meanwhile, as relations develop between the HTS-led Syrian government and Russia, an official defense ministry delegation led by Chief of Staff Ali al-Naasan traveled to Moscow on Thursday, October 2nd. The Syrian delegation was received by Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-bek Yevkurov and discussed “the development of coordination mechanisms between the defense ministries of the two countries,” news agency SANA reported.
The talks will help prepare the way for self-appointed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s visit to Moscow later this month for the first Russian–Arab summit. However, in early September, Damascus hosted a bilateral meeting between Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak. Shaibani also visited Moscow in July for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Since the fall of Assad, who reportedly received refuge in Russia, the new government in Damascus has established warm ties with Moscow. Russia – a strong ally of former President Bashar al-Assad – wishes in fact to keep its air base at Hmeimim on the Syrian coast near Jableh, and its naval port in Tartous.
In February, Israel lobbied the US to allow Russia to maintain a presence on the Syrian coast, as part of a broader effort to keep Syria “weak and fragmented:” Turkiye, the US, and Israel also occupy territory in Syria, effectively dividing the country. Weeks later, Sharaa’s forces carried out the brutal massacre of at least 1,500 Alawite civilians in the coastal regions. Thousands took refuge in the Russian base at Hmeimim.
Morocco, GenZ protests: Police launched a wave of arrests across Moroccan cities to suppress the GenZ 212 movement, an online group that called for action since Saturday, September 27, against failing education, poor healthcare and rampant corruption. Authorities have not announced the number of detainees, but videos showed security forces in both uniform and plainclothes making arrests in Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech, Agadir and other cities.
Demonstrators have demanded urgent investment in public health and education and denounced what they see as misplaced national priorities.
Opposition parties have urged the government to engage in dialogue with protesters, while footage shared on the GenZ 212 Facebook account appeared to show police charging into crowds, seizing demonstrators and forcing a young woman into the back of a van.
Analysts say the protests are in response to years of neglect in public services and urgent reforms in the education and health sectors. Earlier this month, the deaths of eight pregnant women at a public hospital prompted widespread outrage.
“Today we came out to defend and demand the rights for my daughter,” one protester, whose name was not revealed, was heard saying in a social media video shared online. “Our time has passed without any improvement. As you can see, the oppressive police are here today to beat and arrest protesters,” he said, as reported by Al-Jazeera.
Many demonstrators have also criticized the government’s multibillion-dollar investment in football infrastructure as Morocco prepares to host the Africa Cup of Nations next year and co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
Humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur: The UN’s top humanitarian official in Sudan has warned of an impending catastrophe in Darfur, with civilians facing relentless violence, sexual abuse and starvation. All this, while aid convoys remain blocked from reaching hundreds of thousands trapped close to the frontlines and as the military government and their rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia battle for control of Sudan.
Speaking from Tawila, 50 kilometres from El Fasher in North Darfur, Humanitarian Coordinator Denise Brown described the immense obstacles to even reaching the area: “It took us five days, through three countries, three different airplanes and three days of driving. We had to go around because there are so many frontlines within Sudan. It becomes very, very difficult to get where we need to go.”
She called Tawila “one of the epicenters of a humanitarian catastrophe” and said it now hosts some 600,000 displaced people, mostly fleeing fighting around the besieged regional capital El Fasher since April. Across Sudan, nearly 12 million have been uprooted since the civil war erupted in 2023, making it the world’s largest displacement crisis.
What We’re Reading
Aoun’s dilemma: When President Joseph Aoun was inaugurated, he spoke with rare moral clarity. He promised that Lebanon would have one army, one authority, and one sovereignty, that the state would be the sole bearer of arms. It was the kind of statement the country had not heard in years, a reminder that leadership could still mean principle rather than survival. The comment of Ramzi Abou Ismail.
Toxic trade: Lebanon’s food sector has become a reflection of the country’s deep-rooted corruption, where fraud is no longer the exception but the norm in the food trade sector. The report of Rodayna Raydan.
Nailed to the floor, detached from the nation: In his weekly opinion peace for NOW Lebanon, editor in chief Makram Rabah wrote: “In Lebanese official ceremonies, protocol dictates that the chair of the President is placed ahead of those of the Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament. This symbolic precedence is meant to embody the ‘unity of the nation’ through the seniority of the presidency. Yet, this symbolism has rarely been innocent. It has often served as an arena of petty battles over form rather than substance, mirroring the Lebanese system itself—founded on sectarian quotas and hollow symbols.”
Behind the detention of Sheikh Yazbek: Shiite cleric Abbas Yazbek, a vocal Hezbollah critic, says General Security questioned him days after his Beirut Airport detention over his link to a Facebook group critical of the party and its allies. The article of Dana Hourany.
The fastest rising cancer rates: A recent report by the Daily Mail has sent shockwaves through Lebanon. Citing data from The Lancet Global Burden of Disease, the report ranked Lebanon first worldwide for the fastest increase in cancer-related deaths over the past 30 years, with a staggering rise of 80 per cent. The report of Rodayna Raydan.
Pretenders of freedom: “This morning,” wrote Makram Rabah in his latest opinion piece, “I was informed that my collaboration with Nidaa al-Watan daily, published by Michel al-Murr, had come to an end. The decision followed the newspaper’s decision to suppress a column I had written criticizing the presidency and the army command for their complacency toward Hezbollah, and for the symbolism of the now-iconic Rock of Raouché.”
