Syrien: Ein verdeckter Stellvertreter-Guerillakrieg der USA/UK/AL
Caught Between ISIS And Assad
Caught Between ISIS And Assad, A Palestinian Refugee Camp Is Starving To Death
The Islamic State militant group moved into Yarmouk, a refugee camp for Palestinians on the outskirts of the Syrian capital city of Damascus, last week. Since then, hundreds of the group's fighters have been battling rival armed groups for control of the camp. IS militants currently appear to hold most of Yarmouk, resisting bombardments by the Syrian army as well as attacks from militias.
The fighting has reduced Yarmouk into a ghost town, with its civilians trapped inside by constant sniper fire and bombardments. Video footage purportedly from Yarmouk residents, collected by Reuters and other media outlets this week, showed the streets near-deserted and bombed to pieces.
But while the utter devastation portrayed in recent images of the camp may come as a shock to many, Yarmouk's descent into ruin actually started years ago. The latest round of fighting brings an already disastrous humanitarian situation in the refugee camp one step closer to full collapse.
13 Palestinian fighters killed as Syria regime battles IS in Damascus
Thirteen Palestinian fighters were killed in Yarmouk refugee camp on Saturday as fighting ensued between the Syrian regime and IS in the battle to defend Damascus, local reporters said.
PLO envoy to Syria Ahmed Majdalani announced Saturday that the current situation in Yarmouk was out of the hands of the Palestinian leadership, and that the Syrian regime has officially engaged in a battle to defend Damascus against the Islamic state group.
The 13 reported dead by local news site Yarmouk Camp News were the first reported dead from the new stage of fighting, but among many to be killed since IS took over the camp on April 1.
Militants from the Islamic State group have lost ground to Palestinian fighters in Syria's Yarmouk camp, Palestinian officials and a resident said on Tuesday.
UN officials in Syria said, meanwhile, they were discussing ways of getting humanitarian aid into the camp and helping residents who have fled Yarmouk.
IS fighters have retreated from much of the territory they seized in the camp in southern Damascus, a resident calling himself Samer told AFP.
My missing family in Syria: Naming and shaming in Yarmouk
Members of my family in Syrias Yarmouk went missing many months ago. We have no idea who is dead and who is alive. Unlike my other uncle and his children in Libya, who fled the NATO war and turned up alive but hiding in some desert a few months later, my uncles family in Syria disappeared completely as if ingested by a black hole, to a whole different dimension.
I chose the black hole analogy, as opposed to the one used by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon - "the deepest circle of hell" - which he recently uttered in reference to the plight of Palestinians in Yarmouk following the advances made by the notorious Islamic State (IS) militias in early April. If there is any justice in the hereafter, no Palestinian refugee - even those who failed to pray five times a day or go to church every Sunday - deserves to be in any circle of hell, deep or shallow. The suffering they have endured in this world since the founding of Israel atop their towns and villages in Palestine some 66 years ago is enough to redeem their collective sins, past and present.
Israel Exposes Worlds First Facebook Espionage Ring
Israel Exposes Worlds First (Alleged) Facebook Espionage Ring, Claims Golan Druze Spied for Syria
This is a slightly expanded version of a report that ran in Middle East Eye this past Monday. I am seeking to translate this piece into both Arabic and Hebrew. If you can help, please be in touch:
In 2012, Israel released the longest-serving Arab security prisoner, Sedki al-Maket, from prison. He had served 27 years on charges of planning a terror attack. Al Maket, age 48, is a resident of Majdal Shams, the major town in Israeli-occupied Golan.
On gaining his freedom, he turned to fighting Israels 45-year Occupation of the Golan. Al Maket is an ardent supporter of the Assad regime and views Syria as his homeland. As such, he embraces Assads ally, Hezbollah and those supporting liberation of Israeli-occupied territory in Lebanon, the Golan or Palestine.
Since his release, he has not engaged in violence or armed struggle. He has made speeches, written articles in the Arab press, posted to social media, and blessed armed struggle without participating in it. In addition, the security services claim al Maket scouted IDF activities in the Golan, especially army aid offered to the Syrian Islamist rebels associated with al Nusra.
Secret CIA effort in Syria faces large funding cut
Key lawmakers have moved to slash funding of a secret CIA operation to train and arm rebels in Syria, a move that U.S. officials said reflects rising skepticism of the effectiveness of the agency program and the Obama administrations strategy in the Middle East.
The House Intelligence Committee recently voted unanimously to cut as much as 20 percent of the classified funds flowing into a CIA program that U.S. officials said has become one the agencys largest covert operations, with a budget approaching $1 billion a year.
There is a great deal of concern on a very bipartisan basis with our strategy in Syria, said Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the intelligence panel. He declined to comment on specific provisions of the committees bill but cited growing pessimism that the United States will be in a position to help shape the aftermath of Syrias civil war.
Planlose Außenpolitik der USA?: Bereits seit Monaten fliegt die US-Luftwaffe Angriffe auf Stellungen des Islamischen Staates in Syrien und ermöglichte es somit v.a. kurdischen Kämpfern am Boden, Städte gegen Angriffe des IS zu verteidigen und Gebiete zu erobern. Seit dem Anschlag auf ein Jugendcamp zum Wiederaufbau Kobanes in Suruç am 20. Juli 2015 beteiligt sich auch die Türkei an Angriffen auf syrisches Territorium, die jedoch überwiegend PKK-nahen Kämpfern gelten.
Islamic Jihad rejects Israeli blame for rocket attacks
The Islamic Jihad group in the Gaza Strip has denied Israeli reports claiming that the group took responsibility for rocket fire from Syria into northern Israel Thursday, a spokesperson said.
The Israel army said that rockets fired into northern Israel earlier in the day were fired from Syria by the Islamic Jihad group and held the Syrian government responsible for the attacks.
Islamic Jihad Spokesman Daoud Shibah in response told Ma'an: "We categorically deny that Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the rockets fired into the Galilee."
He added that such reports are "malignant" attempts to divert attention from Israeli crimes against prisoners and hunger striker Muhammad Allan.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767163
Emboldened UK government eyes ISIL strikes in Syria
As Britain's politicians return to parliamentary duty on September 7 after summer recess, they will face ever-present questions surrounding the UK's role in combating the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
In July, British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced that UK air strikes against ISIL fighters in Iraq - endorsed by parliament last year - would continue until 2017.
But fresh from the general election victory in May, the Conservative government of Prime Minister David Cameron has made no secret of its wish to extend its military sorties into Syria - putting it on a potential collision course with parliament, and raising questions about the limits of Britain's global ambitions.
Petraeus , US Coalition Can Use Al-Nusra to Battle ISIL
Former CIA chief and retired general David Petraeus said Tuesday that the US should consider luring individual fighters away from al Nusra Front, al Qaedas affiliate in Syria, to help in the fight against the Islamic State group.