News of the World

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USA

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DOJ Arrests Chinese Guy Over Shipping Weapons & Ammo

DOJ Arrests Chinese National over Shipping Weapons, Ammo from California to North Korea

A Chinese national was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly shipping weapons and ammunition from Long Beach, California, to North Korea.

Shenghua Wen, 41, who had been “illegally residing in the United States,” was charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. The press release described Wen as being a Chinese nation who had overstayed his student visa in the U.S. and who was “therefore prohibited from possessing any firearms or ammunition.”

Violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act is described as a “felony that carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison,” according to the press release.

Wen reportedly “exported to North Korea shipments of firearms, ammunition and other military items” that had been “concealed inside shipping containers” from Long Beach. The containers were then shipped from Long Beach to Hong Kong and from Hong Kong to North Korea.

“It is essential that we protect our country from hostile foreign states that have adverse interests to our nation,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. “We have arrested a defendant who allegedly acted at the direction of the North Korean government by conspiring to illegally ship firearms, ammunition, and other military equipment to North Korea.”

The press release noted that “an affidavit filed on November 26 with the complaint” claimed that Wen had “obtained firearms, ammunition, and export-controlled technology with the intention of shipping them to North Korea”:

According to an affidavit filed on November 26 with the complaint, Wen obtained firearms, ammunition, and export-controlled technology with the intention of shipping them to North Korea — a violation of federal law and United States sanctions against that nation. Wen and his co-conspirators allegedly exported shipments of firearms and ammunition to North Korea by concealing the items inside shipping containers that were shipped from Long Beach through Hong Kong to North Korea.

Wen’s arrest comes months after law enforcement officials “seized” from Wen’s residence on August 14, “two devices that he intended to send to North Korea for military use.” One was reportedly a “chemical threat identification device” and another was a “hand-held broadband receiver that detects eavesdropping devices.”

Newsom Against Trump's Tariffs

California Gov. Gavin Newsom Visits Southern Border to Trash Trump’s Tariffs, Mass Deportations

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) visited the United States-Mexico border on Thursday to repeat big business talking points about tariffs and President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to deport millions of illegal aliens with no legal right to be in the U.S.

In recent weeks, Trump has threatened 25 percent tariffs on Mexico for refusing to get a handle on the drug cartels’ billion-dollar illicit drug and human smuggling business at the southern border.

“This tariff will remain in effect until such time as drugs, in particular fentanyl, and all illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last month.

Newsom, repeating big business talking points ripped from the pages of the Wall Street Journal, claimed such tariffs would spur inflation, eliminate American jobs, cause food shortages, and crush small businesses.

“[These tariffs] would lead to, an example … upwards of you having to spend $3,000 more to purchase a car coming from Mexico,” Newsom claimed, repeatedly calling such tariffs a “25 percent tax increase.”

Likewise, Newsom trashed Trump’s plans to carry out the largest mass deportation program in American history, claiming such plans will drive up food prices and increase housing costs.

Weird Contest Held in NYC

UnitedHealthcare CEO Assassin Lookalike Competition Held in New York

A competition for the person who most looked like the assassin behind the death of Brian Thompson, the slain CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was held in New York City on Saturday.

The look-alike competition involved eight contestants, who were all seen wearing jackets or sweatshirts with hoods, with some wearing facial masks, according to the New York Post. The competition, which was held in Washington Square Park, comes days after Thompson was shot and killed outside of the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday as he was heading to a conference.

“I got no looks until I got over here and now everyone wants a picture with me,” the winner of the contest, who was dressed in a hooded green jacket and a facial mask, told the outlet.

One of the contestants in the competition “had a handwritten sign draped over their black clothing” with the words “Deny Defend Depose,” according to the outlet. The suspect behind Thompson’s killing has been reported to have “left a message on shell casings” with the words “Defend,” “Deny,” and “Depose.”

As Breitbart News’s AWR Hawkins previously reported, the New York Police Department (NYPD) released photos of the suspected killer on Thursday, showing him wearing a green hooded jacket, but no mask.

The photos released by the NYPD on Thursday came after the NYPD released photos on Wednesday showing the suspect wearing a black mask over his face.

White House Lawyers Trying to Pardon Gen. Milley

Report: White House Lawyers Studying Preemptive Pardon for Mark Milley

White House lawyers are studying preemptive pardons that President Joe Biden has discussed with senior aides, according to multiple establishment media reports.

Democrat and media allies have urged Biden in the last several weeks to pardon many of his comrades, including Mark Milley, Christopher Wray, Justice Department lawyers, Joe Biden himself, the whole Biden family, Liz Cheney, Mark Milley, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, and Adam Kinzinger, among others.

Receiving a preemptive pardon would indicate an admission of guilt, although some Democrats claim a preemptive pardon would only be intended to block President-elect Donald Trump from cleaning up Washington.

The Associated Press reported Thursday on the White House deliberations:

The deliberations so far are largely at the level of White House lawyers. But Biden himself has discussed the topic with some senior aides, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday to discuss the sensitive subject. No decisions have been made, the people said, and it is possible Biden opts to do nothing at all.

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Recipients could include infectious-disease specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was instrumental in combating the coronavirus pandemic and who has become a pariah to conservatives angry about mask mandates and vaccines. Others include witnesses in Trump’s criminal or civil trials and Biden administration officials who have drawn the ire of the incoming president and his allies.

Some fearful former officials have reached out to the Biden White House preemptively seeking some sort of protection from the future Trump administration, one of the people said.

CANADA

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More Guns Get Banned

Canada Bans More Guns, Suggests Sending Them to Ukraine

Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced on Thursday that 324 more “assault-style firearms” have been added to Canada’s list of banned guns.

Defense Minister Bill Blair suggested the legally purchased but now-banned weapons could be confiscated and shipped to Ukraine for use against Russian invaders.

“We’ve been working very closely with our friends in Ukraine to ensure that weapons that were intended to be used in combat, could be made available to them,” Blair said.

“The Department of National Defense will begin working with the Canadian companies that have weapons that Ukraine needs and which are already eligible for the assault-style firearm compensation program, in order to get these weapons out of Canada, and into the hands of the Ukrainians,” he said.

Blair said Canada’s ruling Liberal Party checked with the Ukrainians in October, and they “confirmed that indeed some of the weapons that are part of the program would be suitable” for their purposes.

The guns added to the ban list are all semi-automatic weapons with “sustained rapid-fire capability.” Owners will be required to surrender them before the end of an amnesty window on October 30, 2025.

“The best thing we can do to honour the memories of those we lost in mass shootings, is to act on gun control and to restrict access to the very weapons used to commit these horrible crimes,” said LeBlanc.

“Our goal is to ensure that no community, no family, is devastated by mass shootings in Canada again,” he said.

LeBlanc was alluding to the Ecole Polytechnique massacre, a 1989 mass shooting whose 35th anniversary was on Friday. The killer ordered all of the men to leave a classroom and then fatally shot the 14 women who remained.

Canadian gun rights groups criticized the expanded ban list as a theatrical gesture that would do nothing to improve public safety.

Wes Winkel of the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association told CTV News the government’s move could be “devastating for our industry.”

“Anger and disappointment would be definitely the two emotions, I would say, are the most fitting for this. We very rarely see these types of firearms used in crimes at all,” Winkel said.

EUROPE

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Explosion in The Hague

Large Explosion Collapses Building in The Hague, Five Bodies Recovered From Rubble, Multiple Hospitalized

A large explosion in The Hague on Saturday morning saw a building partially collapse and multiple victims sent to hospital.

UPDATE 2100: A fifth body has been found as rescue workers continue their search for victims. Hague Mayor Jan van Zanen said that the search for victims will continue throughout the night. There still has yet to be any official statement on the cause of the blast.

Following a meeting with local residents, Mayor Van Zanen said: “It was an emotional meeting, because neighbors and friends are missed. There is still uncertainty.”

“I have told the people that everyone is doing their best to remove the uncertainty and provide clarity as quickly as possible and in the most careful way. People have the right to that.”

UPDATE 1900: Rescue workers have recovered the body of a fourth victim of the blast. Some 12 hours after the explosion, another person was found alive under the rubble and sent to hospital, however, their condition is unclear.

UPDATE 1600: Three bodies have now been recovered from the rubble of the explosion. It is unclear how many more potential victims may have been caught in the blast. However, initial reports claimed that up to 20 people were missing. Mayor Van Zanen said the public should prepare for the “darkest scenario”, saying that “the reality is that there is only a small chance of survival” for other victims.

UPDATE 1445: Hague Mayor Jan van Zanen has confirmed that at least one dead body has been recovered from the scene of the explosion. The identity of the victim has not been made public.

The original story continues as follows…

Police said that a car was seen speeding away from the explosion in the Tarwekamp area of The Hague, broadcaster NOS reports. However, Dutch authorities have not confirmed the explosion is terror-related.

The police have called for witnesses to come forward, specifically regarding the car seen driving away “at very high speed at 6:15 a.m.”

The force also called on the public to submit any footage of the explosion or aftermath to help determine the cause.

At least four victims have been taken to hospital so far, but at the time of this reporting, searches in the rubble are ongoing for further victims. The partially collapsed building was comprised of apartments with a bridal fashion store at the ground level.

Macron Passing the Buck

Passing the Buck: Macron Refuses Responsibility for Fall of Government, Rejects Calls to Resign

In a national address following the historic collapse of his government, President Emmanuel Macron attempted to shirk responsibility for the political chaos in Paris and vowed to stay on until the end of his term despite growing calls for his resignation.

Speaking from the Élysée Palace on Thursday evening, President Macron declared that he will “never take responsibility” for the actions of others and that the true culprits of the instability facing France is an “anti-republican” alliance between the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition and Marine Le Pen’s populist National Rally (RN) after they joined together to censure the government of Michel Barnier over an attempt to pass effective cuts to social security payments to seniors without a vote in the National Assembly.

Macron chastised National Rally MPs for siding with the “extreme left” — ignoring that he sided with the far-left just months ago in the legislative elections — and said that “disorder is the only project which unites them with the extreme left, and this with the complicity of the rest of the New Popular Front.”

“The extreme right and the extreme left have united, in an anti-republican front, and because forces which until yesterday governed France have chosen to ally themselves. I would never take responsibility for others,” Macron said.

The president also attempted to deny responsibility for choosing former EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as his prime minister following the snap legislative elections in July. Macron claimed that he only selected Barnier as a compromise candidate to ensure that the incoming prime minister would not be “censored upon his appointment”. In the end, Barnier lasted just 91 days in office, the shortest tenure for any prime minister in modern French history.

After trying to shift blame away from his office, the president sought to put a positive spin on the situation facing France — a country currently without a government and no budget for next year — comparing it to the Cathedral of Notre Dame, which will have its reopening ceremony held on Saturday in an event to be attended by incoming U.S. President Donald Trump.

“This project was thought to impossible but we did it,” he said. “Because there was a clear direction, a will. Everyone had an essential role for a cause above all of us. This is the same thing we need to do for the nation”. The president also said that he will seek pass a budget before the end of the year, however, it is unclear how he will manage to do so given the divisions in the National Assembly.

It is also unclear how Macron will attempt to rescue his own political future from the flames surrounding it. Contrary to early indications, he chose not to name a new prime minister on Thursday, perhaps suggesting that he has not found a worthy candidate willing to take up the job. However, the president repeated his vow to continue serving until the end of his term, saying: “The mandate that you democratically entrusted to me is a five-year mandate and I will exercise it fully until its end.”

Trump Visits Notre Dame

Trump Joins World Leaders and Dignitaries for Grand Reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

President-Elect Donald J. Trump joined dozens of world leaders and dignitaries on Saturday for the grand reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, five years after the famed Gothic cathedral was tragically ravaged by fire.

On April 15, 2019, a fire broke out in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, severely damaging much of its medieval roof and famed spire. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of hundreds of brave firefighters and emergency services, much of the 861-year-old structure, including its two bell towers, was saved from destruction.

The tragic damage to the 12th-century Catholic church sparked an outpouring of support worldwide, with 340,000 people donating €900 million to the reconstruction effort.

The reconstruction was completed in just five years after a monumental effort involving some 2,000 people, including architects, artists, blacksmiths, carpenters, roofers, sculptors, and stone masons. French President Emmanuel Macron branded the project as an “insane challenge” and the “construction project of the century”.

On Saturday, tens of thousands poured into central Paris to attend the cathedral’s reopening. The monumental event also drew world leaders and dignitaries, including U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump, First Lady Jill Biden, Britain’s Prince William, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, among others who flocked to Paris to celebrate the icon of Christian heritage.

Mr Trump announced Monday that he would be attending the ceremony, writing on Truth Social: “It is an honor to announce that I will be traveling to Paris, France, on Saturday to attend the re-opening of the Magnificent and Historic Notre Dame Cathedral, which has been fully restored after a devastating fire five years ago.

“President Emmanuel Macron has done a wonderful job ensuring that Notre Dame has been restored to its full level of glory, and even more so. It will be a very special day for all!”

Poland: Russia Trying to Rebuild Empire

Moscow Trying to Rebuild ‘Empire’ Says Poland as European Leaders Walk Out of Russian Foreign Minister Meeting

Poland’s Foreign Minister said Russia should be kicked out of a Cold War-era body created to de-escalate nuclear tensions because it is trying to rebuild its former empire, as several European delegations protested a Russian speech by leaving the room.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made his first trip to a European Union member state on Thursday since the renewed invasion of Ukraine to attend the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) meeting in Malta. A group of the European states who feel most keenly threatened by Russian expansionism — all of them controlled by Soviet Russia to greater or lesser extents in the 20th century — signalled their displeasure at Lavrov’s presence by walking out of the conference as he rose to speak.

Apparently leading the dissenting faction was Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, a political veteran and husband of American journalist Anne Applebaum, who said before the meeting he would not stand for the Russian’s presence. Polish state television reported him as having said in the morning: “Mr Lavrov is coming here to lie about the Russian invasion and what Russia is doing in Ukraine and I’m not going to listen to those lies.”

Mr Sikorski later stated of the meeting: “I told the Russian delegation that we will not succumb to this cascade of lies, which we have heard again from its representatives. We know what they are doing – trying to rebuild the Russian empire. There is no consent to this, as in the past, we will oppose it”.

The OSCE walkout was by the delegations from Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, and Czechia.

Sikorski said because of Russia’s actions against Ukraine, the nation should be suspended from the OSCE until they end the war, stating the Organisation had been “paralysed” by having Russia as a member.

Yet the demand would undermine the purpose of the OSCE existing in the first place. Created during the Cold War as a means to provide a forum for discussion between otherwise isolated nuclear powers to prevent escalation, conflict, and crises, it essentially serves no purpose whatsoever if the United States and Russia are not both members and talking to each other. The United State’s Secretary of State Anthony Blinken remained in the room while the central European states walked out, but broadly speaking dialogue between Washington and Moscow appears to have been suspended for many months, although that may be on the verge of change.

Romania: Elections Cancelled, Possible Russian Interference

Romanian Constitutional Court Cancels Presidential Election

The Romanian Constitutional Court on Friday annulled the first round of the presidential election after declassified intelligence documents suggested Russian influence operations gave nationalist candidate Calin Georgescu his surprising victory.

The Romanian president is an influential political leader but has limited power compared to the country’s prime minister. Romanians nonetheless vote for a president to work in tandem with the prime minister and other political leaders.

Georgescu, 62, is a former soil scientist who worked for the Romanian environmental ministry and later represented Romania for the United Nations Environment Program. He entered politics as a member of the nationalist Alliance for the United of Romanians (AUR) party, but quit during party squabbles and became an independent candidate.

Georgescu is an admirer of President-elect Donald Trump and has expressed agreement with him on numerous issues, including climate change and pushing back against LGBTQ propaganda. He has also expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, deep skepticism of Western support for Ukraine, and very harsh criticism of left-wing billionaire George Soros.

This week, Georgescu said he intended to ban Ukrainian grain exports through Russia – a major pipeline for Ukrainian grain to avoid Russian blockades – and would discontinue further military aid to Kyiv.

“It is unimaginable that there be a war next to us in the middle of Europe, so a priority will definitely be that this war in Ukraine must immediately be stopped,” he said.

One area where Georgescu strongly disagrees with Trump is NATO spending. Trump has insisted NATO members should meet their obligation to spend two percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on defense, while Georgescu said he is “not even interested” in increasing military outlays.

“The concern of the Romanian people is to be happy. They cannot be happy spending money on other things. If NATO is defensive, then it should remain defensive. I believe one thing – Romania has an obligation to no one,” he said.

Georgescu is also an economic nationalist, running on a platform of giving Romanian companies majority control over joint investments with foreign entities, opposing the privatization of state assets, and challenging European Union funding programs that have failed to lift Romania out of poverty.

Europe & Russian Oil

Russian Oil Flows Into Europe Again After Unexplained Stoppage

Oil delivery to the Czech Republic from Russia through the Druhzba pipeline has resumed after it was interrupted two days ago, the state Mero company that operates the pipeline network in the country said on Friday.

It was still not clear why the delivery was halted on Wednesday morning. The Czech refiner Orlen Unipetrol said Friday its operations have not been affected.

The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary are the only European Union member states receiving oil from Russia. Other EU countries stopped buying Russian oil following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 as part of the EU sanctions to punish Russia for the aggression.

The Czechs have invested some 1.6 billion Czech koruna or crowns ($67 million) to double the capacity of the Italian TAL pipeline to eight million metric tons a year which continues as IKL through Germany and to the Czech Republic, or Czechia. That amount would cover the country´s need.

The project is expected to be operational in early 2025.

ASIA

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S. Korean Police Open Treason Case Against Yoon Suk-yeol

South Korean Police Open Treason Case Against President over Martial Law

Police in South Korea formally began an investigation into President Yoon Suk-yeol after receiving two complaints accusing him of treason.

Yoon imposed a brief state of martial law on Tuesday night that shocked an alarmed the country, stating in a nationally televised address that military rule was necessary to combat the nefarious influence of North Korean communist sympathizers. At press time, Yoon has not named any of those alleged sympathizers or offered the public specifics on the threats that he claimed required the imposition of martial law.

The state of martial law only briefly stood, as members of the National Assembly flooded the legislative floor and voted unanimously to overturn it, exercising their constitutional power. To get to the voting floor, however, they had to barrel through a wave of soldiers deployed to enforce the ban on political activity that martial law requires, meeting minimal resistance from the heavily armed fighters. No reports of major injuries or death were reported during the martial law phase.

By the early morning hours of Wednesday, Yoon had announced that the martial law order was rescinded. He has since held a meeting with senior members of his People Power Party (PPP), who loudly protested the martial law order along with the rest of the nation’s major minority parties, but has not addressed the South Korean people.

The Democratic Party, the largest opposition party, began an impeachment process against Yoon on Wednesday. Yoon is also facing criminal proceedings however on the grounds that he may have committed insurrection or treason against his own government. The National Assembly is expected to vote on Yoon’s impeachment on Saturday.

The South Korean newswire agency Yonhap reported that the opposition Rebuilding Korea Party and a coalition of dozens of activists filed two separate complaints against Yoon for the martial law declaration, which opens a formal criminal process.

“The complaints accused not only Yoon but also former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Park An-su and Interior Minister Lee Sang-min of treason,” Yonhap reported, “and other related charges for their roles in the declaration and subsequent lifting of martial law on Tuesday.”

The head of the Rebuilding Korea Party, Hwang Un-ha, was among the first to publicly accuse Yoon of treason.

“The president committed an act tantamount to treason by mobilizing the military,” Hwang said on Wednesday. “It is clear that he cannot remain in office even for a moment longer. Therefore, we must urgently pass an impeachment motion.”

MIDDLE EAST

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Israel's Branch of Amnesty Int'l Rejects Genocide Claim

Amnesty International’s Israel Branch Rejects ‘Genocide’ Claim, Accuses Org of Bias

Amnesty International, the global human rights organization, accused Israel of “genocide” in a report Thursday — but the Israeli branch of the group disagreed, saying it was never consulted and accusing the main organization of bias.

Amnesty International has long been considered anti-Israel, and lived down to that reputation, blaring on the organization’s website: “Israel Is Committing Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza.” The report says that “during its military offensive launched in the wake of the deadly Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on 7 October 2023, Israel has unleashed hell and destruction on Palestinians in Gaza brazenly, continuously and with total impunity.”

But the organization’s own branch in Israel, while critical of the war effort, said Thursday that Israel is not committing “genocide,” and pointed out that the Palestinian terror group Hamas, in fact, had begun the war with genocidal intent. It added that Amnesty International had never consulted its local members about its inquiry, which appeared to have been conducted to reach a predetermined conclusion, unlike investigations elsewhere in the world.

The Times of Israel reported:

The Israeli branch of the international rights group says in a statement that it was not involved in the research, funding, or writing of the report released today, and that it “does not accept the claim that genocide has been proven to be taking place in the Gaza Strip and does not accept the operative findings of the report.”
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In a separate statement obtained by the Haaretz newspaper, several members of Amnesty Israel and Jewish members of Amnesty International go one step further and accuse the report of producing an “artificial analysis” of the situation in the Gaza Strip.
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Accusing the report of having been “motivated by a desire to support a popular narrative among Amnesty International’s target audience,” the joint statement calls for the organization to “critically reconsider the working procedures and methodologies that led to the publication of this flawed report.”

Bashar Al Assad Fled? Is Assad Dead Now?

Report: Syrian Regime Falls; Assad Flees; Possible Plane Crash

Reports from the Middle East indicate that the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad has fallen, with the dictator fleeing the country as rebel forces entered the capital city of Damascus.

Unconfirmed social media reports also suggest that Assad’s plane crashed.

The sudden collapse of the Assad regime, dating back over half a century to the rule of Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, has rocked the Middle East and could mean the Iranian regime, a Syrian ally, is in danger.

Assad was one of the most notorious tyrants in the world, one who used chemical weapons against his own people. His regime nearly fell in the civil war that erupted during the Arab Spring in 2011, but he was shored up by Russian and Iranian forces.

President Vladimir Putin used Syria to restore Russia’s presence in the Middle East for the first time since the Cold War, while Iran used Syria as a conduit to Hezbollah in Lebanon, sending weapons and advisers.

Assad had bombed rebel-held cities with no regard for civilian life, and torturing suspected rebels and dissidents. President Barack Obama drew a “red line” in 2012 when he said the U.S. would intervene militarily if Assad used chemical weapons, but then failed to act.

President Donald Trump launched airstrikes against the regime in 2017 after a chemical weapons attack, firing nearly 60 cruise missiles at Syrian air bases, which had the intended effect.

Trump reduced the U.S. troop presence in Syria, though small forces remained to counter threats from the so-called “Islamic State,” or ISIS, which still operated in the country. Turkey also had an interest in Syria, targeting Kurdish militias operating in Syrian territory.

But Assad remained in power, thanks to Russia and Iran. Iran used Hezbollah forces from Lebanon to defend the regime, and they were accused of carrying out atrocities against Sunni regions.

The Syrian rebels — including radical Islamist forces affiliated with Al Qaeda — remained relatively weak. But the Third Lebanon War, which Hezbollah started by firing at Israeli cities after the Hamas terror attack of October 7, 2023, saw Hezbollah weakened and its supply lines disrupted.

In the wake of the ceasefire in Lebanon, the Syrian rebels, emboldened by Hezbollah’s apparent defeat, began making rapid advances, meeting with little resistance.

Russia, tied down by the war in Ukraine, was apparently unable (or unwilling) to intervene. Iran reportedly sent new military advisers, but also evacuated Iranian militias and personnel from the country.

Assad was reported to have pulled his forces back to Damascus for a last stand, but there were reports of defections from his army as the rebels approached. The rebels appear to have used social media successfully to project strength and encourage surrender.

There were concerns about the fate of Assad’s chemical weapons stockpile, which a deal brokered by Obama was supposed to have eliminated (but did not). There were unconfirmed reports that Israel had recently attacked a chemical weapons depot in Syria in an attempt to prevent the materials from falling into rebel hands. The rebels, according to social media reports, have claimed they will not use such weapons; their credibility is uncertain at best.

IDF Moves Tanks into Demilitarized Zone Between Israel & Syria

IDF Moves Tanks into Demilitarized Zone to Deter Syrian Rebels

Israel’s Army Radio reported on Sunday morning local time that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had moved tanks into the demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria to deter Syrian rebels after the apparent fall of the Assad regime.

As Breitbart News reported, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was reported to have fled the capital city of Damascus on Sunday. Unconfirmed social media reports suggested that he had been aboard a plane that appeared to have crashed.

On Friday, the IDF said that it had reinforced Israeli positions on the Golan Heights, the plateau seized by Israel from Syria during the Six-Day War of 1967. (Syrian forces had used the Heights to shell the Israeli villages below for years.)

On Sunday, Israel’s Army Radio reported that the IDF had moved tanks into the demilitarized zone between Syria and Israel, an area that is supposed to be free of any military presence under the disengagement agreement that ended the Yom Kippur War in 1973. In that war, Syria and Egypt conducted a surprise attack on Israel during the holiest day on the Jewish calendar; Syria nearly overran the Golan Heights before IDF reservists pushed it back.

Army Radio also said that the IDF had set up checkpoints throughout the Golan Heights — i.e. within Israel itself — to prevent infiltrations by Syrian rebels, lest they attempt to cross the border. The rebels control the Quneitra province, which borders Israel.

Several years ago, the presence of the so-called “Islamic State” (ISIS) in the same region also caused Israel to take precautions, though none as active as those that are unfolding with the Assad regime’s collapse.