#5
I had three great aunts who worked for Sennet and other such personalities. The pictures they had were quite good, very cute, and showed them in their 20's. They wouldn't tell us until we were in our 20's. Seemed like wild times.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
08/19/2026 13:02 Comments ||
Top||
#6
NN2N1, I get what you mean. However, I'm thinking zero out 9 are dateable as all have passed on to the Pearly Gates.
[ShabelleMedia] An unnamed fat merchantman has been seized by armed pirates off the coast of Somalia, international monitors said on Monday.
UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and EU Maritime Security Center Indian Ocean (MSCIO) both issued alerts that the vessel had been boarded by eight armed individuals near the Horn of Africa.
WHAT ELSE DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE APPARENT PIRACY INCIDENT OFF THE HORN OF AFRICA?
The UKMTO post advised vessels to "transit with caution and report any suspicious activity."
MSCIO said, "The crew is reported safe at this time."
Piracy on the Horn had fallen after raging through the 2000s and peaking around 2011; but 2026 has seen an uptick in activity, with several ships seized by pirates.
Three tankers carrying fertilizer and oil were taken in April and May, and a chemical tanker was commandeered off the coast of Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... in July. All four are being held off the Somali coast.
The return of pirates to the Horn of Africa adds to the grief that international shippers face in the Middle East these days as they seek to avoid the contested Strait of Hormuz and as well as Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... attacks in the Red Sea.
[GaroweOnline] Preliminary reports from the coast of Puntland’s Nugaal region say a small skiff carrying four people was destroyed in an attack near the coastal district of Eyl. All four people aboard are feared dead.
Some accounts suggest the skiff was heading towards the MV Sward, a commercial vessel hijacked by pirates on April 26, 2026. However, local residents have disputed that claim, saying the boat was not travelling to the captured ship.
Local sources also report that foreign naval vessels and unmanned aircraft have been observed in the area in recent days. Unverified reports have linked the attack to Turkish forces operating off Somalia’s coast.
Neither the Puntland Government nor the Turkish Government has issued an official statement. International maritime-security organisations have also yet to confirm that the attack occurred, the reported death toll or the identity of those responsible.
BACKGROUND: THE MV SWARD
The MV Sward is a St Kitts and Nevis-flagged cargo vessel that was transporting cement from Egypt to the Kenyan port of Mombasa when pirates seized it near the coast of Garacad.
Maritime-security reports indicate that the vessel was carrying a crew of approximately 16 or 17 people. It has remained under pirate control off Puntland since its hijacking.
The pirates are also reported to have used the Sward as a “mother ship” from which they could organise and launch attacks against vessels travelling through international waters.
The Sward is among several commercial vessels hijacked off Somalia this year. The incidents have heightened concerns about the resurgence of piracy and the threat it poses to international shipping and communities along Puntland’s coastline.
This is a developing story and will be updated when official or independently verified information becomes available.
📍#Mali | FAMa strikes hit several positions of the JNIM/FLA coalition in Sikasso and Ménaka ⏳
The FAMa, supported by their partners, conducted several airstrikes on August 18 as part of Operation Dougoukoloko.
East of Sikasso, several gatherings of armed groups belonging to the JNIM/FLA coalition, equipped with war materials and armed vehicles, were detected and then struck.
In the Sounsan forest, a terrorist base was also targeted. The General Staff confirms that numerous terrorists were neutralized and that the war materials stored on site were completely destroyed.
Northeast of Andéramboukane, in the Ménaka region, other gathering points of the same coalition were also successfully addressed.
Surveillance operations continue to assess the effects of the strikes and detect any new suspicious movement.
The second loss, in less than two months, for the Islamic State organization, Sahel Province branch"
After the killing of the previous leader "Said Fadi," the commander of the northern Burkina Faso region, "Abu Zaid the Burkinabe,"
was killed during an ambush by fighters of the Support Group for Islam and Muslims"
With this strike and the one that preceded it, JNIM has compensated for its losses in Mayo and Inatou, in northern Burkina Faso and the Tillabéri region in western Niger"
➡️ These fighters are designated as "khawarij," referring to the first politico-religious dissidence within Islam in the 7th century.
🔴 Several EIS fighters were reportedly killed, including the commander Abou Zeid Al-Burkinabi, known as the emir of the Islamic State in Burkina Faso (📷 below).
🚨 Previously, on August 15, JNIM took control of a base of the Burkina Faso Armed Forces in Tawori, in Fada N’Gourma Province (📸 below).
Dozens of soldiers were reportedly killed by JNIM, which also seized light weapons and several military vehicles, including a Chinese-origin MRAP 🇨🇳.
[IsraelTimes] Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have targeted an oil refinery on Saudi Arabia’s southern Red Sea coast, rebel media reports, as the rebels ramp up attacks on the kingdom.
The Houthis “targeted the Aramco refinery in Jazan with a number of drones… in response to airspace violations over the governorates of Saada and Hajjah” in Yemen, Houthi news agency Saba says, citing a military source.
[IsraelTimes] A cargo vessel was struck by multiple unknown projectiles 40 nautical miles southeast of Yemen’s Mocha yesterday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) says.
The vessel, which was unmanned at the time of the incident, suffered “complete constructive loss,” the UKMTO says.
[Rudaw] The United Arab Emirates said Tuesday its air defenses detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran, in what marked the second such attack in just over a month - the first having occurred in mid-July, weeks after Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... and the United States signed a ceasefire memorandum of understanding in June.
"The UAE's air defence systems detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran towards the country," the Emirati defense ministry said, adding that "the first fell outside the country's territorial waters, while the second fell within its territorial waters."
In a separate follow-up statement late Tuesday, the Emirati defense ministry said the two ballistic missiles detected - launched from Iran - "were targeting maritime navigation and fell into the sea."
The last such incident was recorded in mid-July, when the Emirati National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) - affiliated with the Supreme Council for National Security - reported that "air defense systems are currently responding to a missile threat," urging residents to "remain in a safe location."
The Emirati defense ministry later said the missile threats "were outside the country's borders," adding that "national monitoring and tracking systems are operating ... at the highest levels of readiness."
The Tuesday attack comes as repercussions from the Iran war continue to reverberate across the region since the conflict's outbreak in late February, when the US and Israel launched its aerial campaign across Iran.
A mild de-escalation has since taken hold. However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... a US naval blockade on Iranian ports remains in effect, as Iran continues to claim illusory sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting commercial shipping and requiring vessels to obtain authorization for passage.
The attack comes as the 60-day negotiating period for a final agreement - set by the Islamabad MoU - passed its deadline on Monday.
The incident also comes days after the UAE on Friday deplored the "Iranian attack" on two vessels belonging to its state-owned energy company as they transited the Strait of Hormuz, adding that no injuries were reported. The assault brought the total number of attacks on Abu Dhabi's commercial fleet since the outbreak of the Iran war to at least 17.
Of note, the UAE has been targeted by 2,265 one-way attack drones, 551 ballistic missiles, and 29 cruise missiles since the outbreak of the Iran war, according to Emirati official statements as of Sunday.
[IsraelTimes] The United Arab Emirates has suspended all trade activities, exchanges and financial transactions with Iran until further notice, the foreign ministry says in a statement, citing regional escalation that it says undermines regional and international peace and security.
[Rudaw] The Kurdistan Region's security agency (Asayish) on Tuesday announced the arrest of seven Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) members wanted by Baghdad under the federal anti-terrorism law.
The suspects were described as "active members" of ISIS who "were hiding in [the Region’s eastern] Sulaimani province and its surrounding areas," the Asayish said in a statement, citing "precise intelligence" for the arrests.
The detainees were handed over to federal authorities on Tuesday, "based on territorial jurisdiction to complete investigative procedures," the statement added.
ISIS suspects are charged under Article 4 of Iraq's anti-terrorism law, which covers punishments for committing, supporting, or concealing acts of terrorism.
The first clause of the Article imposes a death sentence ...the barbaric practice of sentencing a murderer to be punished for as long as his/her/its victim is dead... on any "principal actor or an accomplice" who "instigates, plans, finances, or enables" terrorist acts, while the second prescribes life imprisonment for anyone who "intentionally conceals any terrorist act or harbors a terrorist individual with the intent of shielding them."
In late July, Sulaimani's Asayish arrested four ISIS suspects in two separate operations.
Security forces in the province had also arrested three suspects in June and nine in May.
Moreover, the Sulaimani Asayish said it carried out 298 anti-terror operations in 2025, resulting in 716 arrests.
[IsraelTimes] Abdullah Gergawi, 20, allegedly procured machine guns and assault rifles and was in contact with purported Palestinian terror operative in preparation to blow up Forum nightspot
Prosecutors on Tuesday charged a 20-year-old from a southern Bedouin town with plotting a car-kaboom on a popular Beersheba nightclub, after he contacted Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... enthusiasts and a person "who presented himself as a Paleostinian terror operative," police and the Shin Bet said.
The Southern District Attorney’s Office indicted Abdullah Gergawi at the Beersheba District Court on charges of security offenses and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, the joint statement said.
Gergawi was arrested on July 19 in his hometown of Segev Shalom, according to the statement.
Gergawi "carried out actions" to produce an bomb as part of his plan to attack Beersheba’s Forum nightclub, police and the Shin Bet said.
The statement did not specify the time of the preparations or when Gergawi allegedly planned to carry out the attack.
It also did not say how far along the plan was.
According to the statement, Gergawi had been "exposed for an extended period" to Islamic State propaganda on social media, and he "identified with the organization’s ideology and consumed terrorist content."
In addition to contacting the purported Paleostinian terror operative, Gergawi also "participated in a Telegram group chat where materials were exchanged relating to Islamic State and terrorist activity," the statement said.
Investigators who interrogated him discovered that in 2025, Gergawi "held many weapons in his home," including MAG and Negev machine guns and Kalashnikov and M16 assault rifles, the statement said.
In March and April of this year, Gergawi also allegedly possessed an illegal M-16 knockoff and fired it in an open area.
Dozens of Arab citizens have been arrested in recent years on suspicion of plotting attacks on behalf of Islamic State, including five residents of Taybe who allegedly plotted to set off a boom-mobile at Tel Aviv’s Azrieli mall in 2024.
Islamic State, which at one point ruled over large swaths of Iraq and Syria, in 2022 called on its supporters in Israel to carry out attacks
.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/19/2026 2026-08-19 01:40 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[132 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[IsraelTimes] Military says targets included Nukhba Force company commander, three platoon commanders and several other terror operatives; Hamas-run civil defense says a minor among the dead
The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday struck what it said was a meeting of Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... commanders and elite operatives in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... City, in an attack that the Hamas-run civil defense agency killed six and maimed 14.
The military said the strike, near the city’s port, targeted commanders and members of Hamas’s Nukhba Force, which led the October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel that started the war in Gaza.
One of the forces of Evil targeted on Tuesday had himself invaded Israel during the onslaught, according to the IDF.
The military said the targets included a Nukhba company commander, three platoon commanders and several other terror operatives who were planning attacks against Israeli troops operating in the Strip.
The results of the strike would be released once they were verified, the IDF said.
Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defense agency, which operates under Hamas authority, told AFP that at least six were killed, "including a child, and a large number were maimed, as a result of an Israeli raid on tents of displaced people in Gaza port."
Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said it had received five bodies and 13 injured, one of whom died later in the evening.
Eyewitness Mohammed Alghoul told AFP: "Israeli warplanes fired two missiles at the ’Sweet and Bitter’ cafe on the fishermen’s port west of Gaza City."
[IsraelTimes] Meanwhile, the Israeli military announced Tuesday that a strike in the southern Gaza Strip earlier this week killed a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist who invaded Israel during the October 7, 2023, onslaught and abducted an Israeli hostage.
The strike in Khan Younis on Sunday killed Tareq Anwar Khamis Ra’i, identified by the army as a company commander in Islamic Jihad’s supply unit.
On October 7, Ra’i invaded Kibbutz Be’eri “and took part in the abduction of an Israeli civilian,” the IDF said, without detailing who the hostage was.
The military justified the strike amid the ceasefire by saying that Ra’i had recently been advancing attacks on troops and civilians.
He was “eliminated to remove a threat,” the IDF added, though the army has acknowledged that it is engaged in a campaign to kill all those who took part in the October 7 attacks.
[IsraelTimes] Officials tell ToI that Trump aide also took issue with Netanyahu’s refusal to let police recruits leave Gaza for training, as Board of Peace needs them for Hamas weapons handovers
The main dispute during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting on Monday with US special envoy Jared Kushner was over the premier’s insistence that Israel continue carrying out strikes on title='Hamas'>Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... operatives who allegedly took part in the terror group’s October 7 onslaught, an official present at the sit-down told The Times of Israel.
Earlier this month, Israel acknowledged having established a special operation to hunt down and kill every single Paleostinian terrorist involved in the October 7, 2023, invasion and atrocities.
The mission has resulted in countless apparent violations of the ceasefire that Israel and Hamas inked in October 2025, but the US-controlled Board of Peace has not adamantly objected, as the Israel Defense Forces in most cases has claimed those targeted posed an imminent threat to troops.
For months, the Board of Peace prioritized coaxing Hamas to accept its disarmament proposal, which it finally did on July 30.
Once in place, the plan envisions both sides immediately halting all military operations, though Netanyahu has come out against the proposal and raised that specific issue during his meeting with Kushner, according to the official present.
While Kushner assured Netanyahu that he would not oppose Israeli strikes against those who genuinely pose an "imminent threat," US President Donald Trump ...His ancestors didn't own any slaves... ’s son-in-law and senior aide told the premier that the rationale should not be widely interpreted, the official said.
To the frustration of the Board of Peace delegation, Netanyahu insisted the strikes against participants in the October 7 attack would continue, according to the official, who added that no agreement was reached on the matter.
A second source briefed on the meeting confirmed the official’s account.
Hours after Kushner left Israel, the IDF carried out one of its deadliest strikes in months, targeting what it said was a gathering of senior Hamas operatives.
Even while theoretically understanding Israel’s desire to pursue October 7 terrorists, the continued harm to civilians in those strikes has been an increasing cause of concern for the Board of Peace, the official said.
No civilians would be harmed if they weren’t being used by Hamas as human shields, forbidden by the Geneva Conventions. So complain to Hamas about that, not Israel.
In addition to violating the Board of Peace’s stalled disarmament plan, the policy laid out by Netanyahu could well go against Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... war, which the premier accepted in September of last year.
Accepted with reservations. Existential reservations. And even the Israeli left demands the same. So Bibi can’t compromise there if he wants to survive the coming election.
That proposal stated that Hamas members who "commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty."
Hamas members is not the same as those who participated in 10/7 or involved with the holding of hostages. Some things are not forgivable.
The official present at the Monday meeting said Kushner also took issue with Netanyahu’s refusal to allow recruits for the new Paleostinian police force to leave the Strip for training in Egypt.
The Board of Peace disarmament plan envisions Hamas handing over its weapons to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza’s new police force, in a process facilitated by the International Stabilization Force.
Kushner said Monday that he wants Hamas to begin handing over its weapons within a month, but without a sufficient number of already trained police recruits, there may not be anyone for Hamas to give its weapons to.
[IsraelTimes] Syria’s state-owned Syrian Petroleum Company says an explosion occurred at dawn on Tuesday at a gas export pipeline at Al-Jabsah gas plant in the country’s northeast, the Syrian state news agency reports.
The company says the explosion was a result of a “deliberate act of sabotage” based on initial investigations, adding that no injuries were reported among workers.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] Wassim al-Assad, the cousin of former Syrian Presidentwas sentenced to death for war crimes. This was reported on August 18 by Al Jazeera.
The Fourth Criminal Court of Damascus found him guilty of crimes including premeditated murder and torture. Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan declared that Wasim al-Assad's actions constituted a crime against humanity, the channel clarified.
Earlier, a Syrian court convicted Bashar al-Assad and his younger brother Maher al-Assad in absentia of war crimes.
Wassim al-Assad was detained last June near the Syrian-Lebanese border while attempting to leave the country. The new Syrian authorities accused him of organizing pro-government paramilitary groups since early 2011. He participated in military operations in Eastern Ghouta, including the town of Al-Mleiha. The Syrian authorities held him responsible for the deaths of civilians.
[North Press] Syria’s Internal Security Forces arrested former regime Major General Suhail Nadim Abbas on Tuesday after investigations established his involvement in several military operations and violations against Syrians in several governorates, the Interior Ministry said.
The ministry said in statements published through its official channels that investigations showed Abbas took part in battles in the Talul al-Safa area of Suwayda in 2018 as the commander of an assault group. It added that he also participated in military operations in Daraa, Homs and Idlib.
The ministry said investigations also found that Abbas had issued orders to open fire and use artillery and rocket launchers during several of those operations.
The ministry added that the arrested man was referred to the competent judiciary to complete legal proceedings against him.
🚨 SYRIA: EXPLOSIONS CONTINUE HOURS AFTER REPORTED ISRAELI STRIKES
The Abu al-Duhur military airbase in Idlib is reportedly still burning, with secondary explosions heard hours after the attack.
Syrian state media says eight strikes hit the airbase’s runway and caused material damage, with no casualties reported. Israel has not officially commented on the strike.
The reports of continuing secondary explosions have not yet been independently confirmed.
We wondered why the IDF went off on them, and here is the answer — the Turks!
[Rudaw] Syria on Tuesday accused Israel of trying to undermine its defensive capabilities since the interim government took power in late 2024, as Damascus's foreign ministry condemned fresh Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s on an airbase in northwestern Syria that coincided with reports of rehabilitation efforts at the site, purportedly backed by The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... "The Syrian Arab Republic condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli airstrikes targeting Abu al-Duhur Military Airbase in Idlib province," the ministry said in a statement, calling the strikes an "unjustified act of aggression" that constitutes "a flagrant violation of Syria's illusory sovereignty and territorial integrity, and a dangerous escalation that threatens security and stability in the region."
The statement said "the continuation of these Israeli attacks" since the late December 2024 ouster of longtime Syrian president Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... aims to "undermine" Syria's efforts to "consolidate stability and avoid escalation," accusing Israel of attempting to "drag the region towards further tension and instability."
Syria further urged the international community and the UN Security Council to "clearly condemn this aggression and take a firm position against Israel's repeated violations of Syrian illusory sovereignty," while affirming it will "continue to defend its rights and national interests through legitimate means."
Earlier in the day, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which relies on a network of sources inside Syria, reported that the strikes came amid "ongoing Ottoman Turkish rehabilitation work inside the facility," pointing to a recent visit by "a Ottoman Turkish military delegation" to "inspect the ongoing rehabilitation work."
Citing its sources, SOHR also reported that "non-Syrian fighters" had been deployed to the base, describing the activity as part of "synchronized Ottoman Turkish military and technical moves involving multiple sites," after Ottoman Turkish forces deployed radars across northern and western Syria.
Meanwhile,
...back at the hanging, Butch continued with his last words, trying not to repeat himself too often...... Tom Barrack, the US special presidential envoy for Syria and Iraq, said Washington was "deeply concerned that the confirmed Israeli airstrikes on Abu al-Duhur Airbase constitute an unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability."
He added that the government of Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa had "repeatedly indicated a preference for de-escalation with Israel," and that the US "will continue to host discussions to encourage diplomatic cadence over kinetic frustration for both nations."
In the immediate aftermath of Assad's fall, Israel launched an unprecedented campaign of airstrikes across Syria, carrying out over 350 strikes in the first 48 hours to destroy strategic military assets, naval vessels, and air defense systems.
Despite a UN-brokered disengagement agreement dating to 1974, Israeli forces also entered buffer zones east of the Golan Heights in southern Syria and pushed into Quneitra province after Sharaa and his allied forces took power, citing concerns that security vacuums could be exploited by elements linked to the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS), al-Qaeda, and Iran-aligned gangs.
By December 2025, monitoring groups documented more than 600 Israeli strikes inside Syria since the fall of the Assad regime, averaging nearly two attacks per day, concentrated heavily in Quneitra, Daraa, and Rif Dimashq provinces.
Military operations continued throughout 2026, expanding beyond airstrikes to include non-kinetic measures such as aerial herbicide spraying over farmland in Quneitra in late January 2026 to clear border zones. Cross-border festivities and strikes escalated into mid-2026, including a deadly raid near Hodr in late June.
The two sides have held several rounds of rare talks, mediated by Washington, aimed at de-escalating tensions and reactivating the 1974 Disengagement Agreement in the Golan Heights.
Syrian interim President Sharaa, in late July, addressed the Israeli presence in Syrian territory, affirming that Damascus is seeking a negotiated arrangement rather than confrontation. "Israel also has ambitions in the region. We shouldn't just overlook this aspect. We try to engage with them through reaching a security agreement," he said, adding that Damascus avoids "getting into festivities" with Israel.
Israel confirmed late Tuesday that it was behind overnight airstrikes against a Syrian military airport, where it claimed Turkey was planning to deploy forces.
“Israel and Syria agreed to a status quo in security matters, which Syria was on the verge of breaching by permitting Turkish troops to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in an English-language statement.
The Prime Minister’s Office said Israel “repeatedly warned Syria that such a deployment would pose a threat to Israel’s security.”
“Syria chose to ignore these warnings,” Netanyahu’s office said, adding that Israel “will not tolerate threats to its security, and would welcome a return to the status quo.”
In response, Ankara decried “the frivolous allegations put forward by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office,” according to a Turkish government statement quoted by the Anadolu state news agency, saying they “aim to legitimize Israel’s unlawful airstrikes targeting Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
An unnamed Turkish official also denied to Axios that Ankara was seeking to establish a military presence at the Abu Duhur air base in Idlib province.
“There was no Turkish presence at the airbase. Israel is inventing pretexts to bomb neighboring countries and destabilize the region,” the official asserted.
DECONFLICTION MECHANISM
The attack marked extraordinary defiance by Israel of the United States, which has sought to support Syria’s new government led by a former jihadist allied with Turkey. US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack criticized the strikes as an “unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability.”
An Israeli security source cited by the Kan public broadcaster said Israel had intelligence it shared with the US on Turkish efforts to deploy troops at the base, and that the strikes were only carried out after attempts to dialogue with Syria failed. The report did not specify how the US responded to the Israeli intelligence.
Barrack, a business friend of US President Donald Trump who is also ambassador to Turkey, later said the United States was working to establish a deconfliction mechanism among Israel, Turkey and Syria.
According to Barrack, Turkey was not warned about the Israeli strikes, “and consequently observed the aircraft heading north toward its territory and therefore could have reasonably prepared its own response,” referring to possible Turkish military reaction.
“Thankfully, calm heads were able to prevent the situation from deteriorating further,” Barrack told Reuters in a phone interview.
Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army and signed a mutual defense pact this month with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, has become one of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s main allies.
Ankara has been training Syria’s army, helping it rebuild state institutions and infrastructure and providing military and diplomatic support.
Israel’s strikes on the Syrian airbase “reflected a perception — whether accurate or misplaced — that Türkiye might in the near future increase its presence at that base,” Barrack said, using the Turkish name for Turkey.
“This underscores the need for a deconfliction mechanism involving Israel, Syria and Türkiye. That is something we are actively working on to establish in order to prevent future miscommunication,” he said. “The priority now is to lower tensions and allow space for a more measured approach.”
The airbase, about 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) east of the Turkish border, has been out of service as a dedicated military airfield since 2013 and changed hands several times during Syria’s 14-year civil war between forces loyal to former president Bashar al-Assad and opposition factions.
Syria’s state-run Ekhbariya television, citing a military source, said on Tuesday that Israel carried out eight airstrikes on the base’s runway and storage facilities. A separate military source and a civilian who lives near the base said there were no casualties.
Senior Israeli official to Fox News when asked about the reported Israeli strikes in Syria overnight:
“Highly sensitive intelligence was shared with the United States in advance, at the most senior levels of the various agencies and bodies," the official said. “Al-Sharaa…
[North Press] Syrian security forces, in cooperation with international partners, arrested a senior military leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) during a security operation in the countryside of Manbij in Aleppo Governorate, northern Syria, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.
The ministry identified the suspect as Hamza Abdullah Mohammed, also known as “Abu Jihad al-Muhajir,” and said he was classified as one of ISIS’ prominent military leaders.
According to the ministry, Mohammed served as the group’s general military commander for its “Wilayat al-Sham” and previously worked as deputy to the former military commander, known as “al-Harthi.”
He had also previously been responsible for ISIS’ “Idlib Governorate,” using the same alias, the ministry said.
The operation is part of ongoing security efforts to pursue ISIS cells and leaders and dismantle the group’s networks, according to the ministry.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the 
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
..always the voice of sweet reason...
...
