Thursday News Round-up from Hizb ut-Tahrir Radio, Wilayah Syria
08/28/2025
Headlines:
- Listening devices found near Jabal al-Mane' before the site was targeted by Jewish airstrikes, followed by an airborne landing on the outskirts of Al-Kiswah in the Damascus countryside.
- The trumpets of the defunct regime... promote federalism, secession, and sectarianism, and the Ministry of Interior insists on opening the Damascus-Suwayda road amidst joint exercises of the International Coalition forces and QSD in the Al-Hasakah countryside.
- Instead of boycotting it: Damascus discusses development and reconstruction files with the World Bank and the British "Gulf Sands" to rehabilitate oil fields.
- Ahead of the Beirut talks... simultaneous Syrian-Lebanese protests demand the closure of the detainees' file.
- Dozens of settlers storm the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of the occupation police, and four deaths, including two children, as a result of the starvation war in Gaza.
Details:
Sources reported that the occupation army carried out an airborne landing in the Al-Kiswah area in the Damascus countryside yesterday, Wednesday, preceded by airstrikes targeting a military site. According to the sources, the area witnessed intensive reconnaissance aircraft activity during the airborne landing operation. The wave of attacks is the second in 24 hours on the military site in Jabal al-Mane' near Al-Kiswah. The same sources indicated that the air strikes, on Tuesday (August 26), targeted a site containing listening devices that the Syrian army tried to dismantle, resulting in martyrs in its ranks. The sources confirmed that the occupation planes and drones prevented access to the area until late Wednesday evening. For its part, the "SANA" agency, quoting a government source, stated that elements of the Syrian army were subjected to raids while dealing with monitoring and listening devices that they found during a field tour in Jabal al-Mane', south of Damascus, which led to martyrs and injuries in their ranks and the destruction of vehicles. Later, according to the source, the planes launched several raids on the site on Wednesday evening, followed by an airborne landing, the details of which are not yet known.
The Syrian Ministry of Interior announced the completion of the final steps to secure the road linking the capital Damascus and the Suwayda governorate, in preparation for opening it to transportation and trade. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Ministry affirmed its firm commitment to meeting the needs of the people in Suwayda, ensuring their freedom of movement, and overcoming the effects of the crisis, expressing its appreciation for the "sacrifices made by the internal security forces units to accomplish this national task." This comes at a time when the advisor in the National Security Council of the Jewish entity, Anan Wahbi, said on Wednesday that “the stage of Suwayda’s separation from Syria has begun.” On Wednesday, residents of Suwayda, southern Syria, organized a protest in the city center, during which they demanded a return to their homes, and the accountability of government officials “for their involvement in the recent events in the city.”
(A formation active through social media called the "Political Council for Central and Western Syria") issued a video statement read by the sectarian journalist, a supporter of the defunct regime, "Kinan Waqaf", in which he demands federalism and the division of the country into regions, using the slogans of "civil peace" and "transitional justice", in a move that local activists described as a secessionist plan under a false political cover.
The International Coalition base in the countryside of the town of Tal Tamr, north of Al-Hasakah, witnessed joint military exercises between the International Coalition forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) yesterday evening, Wednesday. The sounds of drone aircraft and successive explosions were heard, along with heavy gunfire, in the vicinity of the "Qasrka" base of the International Coalition, north of Al-Hasakah, near the town of Tal Tamr. The same base had witnessed similar military exercises between the Coalition forces and the SDF last Monday evening. "Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve" said, through its official platforms this Thursday morning, that the recent exercises focused on close air support procedures, with the aim of enhancing operational coordination between the Coalition forces and the partner forces.
The Syrian Ministry of Interior announced yesterday, Wednesday, the participation of robots and modern reconnaissance aircraft in securing the Damascus International Fair in its sixty-second session, which is the first after the fall of the Assad regime. The Syrian Interior Ministry broadcast images of the work of the security reconnaissance unit of its forces in securing the Damascus International Fair using robots and modern reconnaissance aircraft. The activities of the sixty-second session of the Damascus International Fair kicked off on Wednesday evening on the grounds of the Exhibition City in the Damascus countryside, in the presence of Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, with the participation of about 800 local and international companies.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani met in Damascus with the World Bank Regional Director for Middle East Management, Jean-Christophe Carret. The Foreign Ministry stated on its "Facebook" page that the meeting discussed prospects for strengthening the partnership between Syria and the World Bank in the areas of reconstruction and economic development. This meeting comes after talks held by the Deputy Head of the Central Authority for Control and Inspection, on a problem, on July 31, with representatives of the World Bank on the implementation of the project to strengthen and manage public financial capabilities in Syria, and its repercussions on the financial sector and Syrian society. It is worth mentioning that the International Monetary Fund announced last May its readiness to support the international community's efforts to help Syria rehabilitate its economy, stressing its readiness to provide advice and technical assistance.
The families of Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons organized a protest on Wednesday at the Jousieh crossing in the Homs countryside, coinciding with another sit-in in front of Roumieh prison in Lebanon, to demand the closure of the detainees' file and end the suffering of their families that has continued for years. Dozens of families gathered at the Jousieh border crossing, raising banners demanding that the fate of their sons detained in Lebanon be revealed, amid chants calling on the Lebanese authorities to quickly release them. In parallel, the vicinity of Roumieh prison in Lebanon witnessed a sit-in at the invitation of the families of Syrian detainees there, under the slogan: "Release the Syrian revolution and its supporters", where the protesters demanded a radical solution to this file. These moves coincide with talk of an upcoming visit by a Syrian security-judicial delegation to Beirut to discuss the file of Syrian detainees with the Lebanese authorities, in a step that may open the door to settling this file that has been stalled for years.
Minister of Energy, Engineer Muhammad Al-Bashir, met on Wednesday with John Bell, Director of the British company Gulf Sands, to discuss ways of cooperation in the oil sector and the possibility of the company returning to work in Syria, within the framework of efforts to rehabilitate oil fields and strengthen partnerships with international companies. The Syrian Ministry of Energy conveyed through its official platforms the Minister Al-Bashir’s confirmation during the meeting of the importance of developing cooperation with oil companies in a way that contributes to supporting the national energy sector and meeting increasing needs, stressing that the Syrian government attaches utmost priority to the file of rehabilitating the fields. For his part, the director of Gulf Sands expressed interest in reactivating the company's activity and contributing to rehabilitation and production programs during the next stage, pointing out that restoring the operation of the fields in a safe and transparent manner can alleviate the economic crisis that the country is suffering from. The British company Gulf Sands Petroleum dates back to 2003, when it concluded, in partnership with the Chinese company SinoChem, a production sharing agreement with the Syrian government to develop "Block 26" in the northeast of the country, an oil field covering an area of 5,414 square kilometers. Production in the fields there reached about 25,000 barrels per day in 2011 before activity stopped with the imposition of sanctions and the declaration of "force majeure." Since 2017, the company has reported that entities affiliated with the "Autonomous Administration" have begun exploiting the fields illegally, causing huge economic losses, estimated by the company at more than $14 billion US dollars last year, at a time when Syrians are facing stifling economic and environmental crises as a result of this exploitation. In 2023, "Gulf Sands" launched an initiative called "Project Hope", which aims to invest oil resources in a legitimate and transparent manner in line with Security Council Resolution (2254), and to provide revenues of $15-20 billion annually that can be directed towards humanitarian projects and early reconstruction programs. According to the company's estimates, "Block 26" alone contains more than one billion barrels of recoverable resources, with production potential that may exceed 100,000 barrels per day if development is completed.
Dozens of settlers stormed the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque today, Thursday, under heavy protection from the occupation police. Local sources reported that dozens of settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in groups, carried out provocative tours in its courtyards, and performed Talmudic rituals, under the protection of the occupation forces. The sources added that the occupation police turned the Old City of occupied Jerusalem into a military barracks, and hundreds of its members were deployed at close distances, especially at the gates of Al-Aqsa. Al-Aqsa Mosque is subjected daily to a series of violations and raids by settlers, under the protection of the occupation police, in an attempt to impose full control over the mosque, and divide it temporally and spatially.
The Minister of National Security in the Jewish entity, Itamar Ben Gvir, said: "I am the only one in the Ministerial Cabinet who believes that humanitarian aid should not be brought into Gaza." The government media office in Gaza said: "The occupation continues to close all crossings and prevent the entry of 430 types of food into the Gaza Strip, where only 14% of the residents' needs have been allowed in during the past thirty days, resulting in a deficit of 86% in the required aid." The office continued: "The occupation also prevents the organization of aid distribution operations and refuses to secure them, but rather facilitates their theft, at a time when more than 95% of the population has no source of income or money to buy what is available in the markets." The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced today, Thursday, the death of 4 citizens, including two children, as a result of famine and malnutrition, recorded by hospitals in the Gaza Strip, during the past 24 hours. It reported that the total number of victims of famine and malnutrition has risen to 317 martyrs, including 121 children.
