In their coverage of Middle East events, international newspapers and websites focused on the continued advance of the Syrian opposition forces in various governorates, and also covered the talks aimed at stopping the war in the Gaza Strip.
In the British newspaper The Guardian, writer Jason Burke said, “The extraordinary rapid progress achieved by the Syrian opposition forces not only astonished observers and regional powers, but also astonished the regime of Bashar al-Assad.”
The writer quoted analysts who described the Syrian army as “empty due to weak morale, defections, and corruption.” The writer wondered: Can the Syrian opposition forces maintain their momentum and seize Damascus?
Bloomberg indicated that Russia has no plan to save the Syrian president’s authority, “as long as the army continues to abandon its positions, according to a person close to the Kremlin.” The website adds that the military resources of both Tehran and Moscow are currently exhausted, due to conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.
According to the same website, “So far, Assad is benefiting from Russian air strikes on opposition positions, and lukewarm promises from Iran to consider requests for forces, but not from real strong support that he can rely on to stop the attack.”
The New York Times quoted regional and Iranian officials as saying, “Iran has begun the process of evacuating its military leaders and personnel from Syria, indicating its inability to help Assad remain in power.”
The newspaper said that part of the evacuation operations are taking place by plane to Tehran, while others left via land routes to Lebanon and Iraq, as well as via the Syrian port of Latakia, including two senior generals from the Iranian Quds Force, who were previously sent to advise the Syrian army.
Regarding the Israeli war on Gaza, the Financial Times reported that “the talks held by Steven Witkoff, US President-elect Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, with senior Israeli and Qatari officials confirm” the necessity of pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza and releasing Israeli prisoners before Trump returns. To the White House.”
As for the Haaretz editorial, it focused on the appearance of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next Tuesday before the Tel Aviv court, and said that he will escalate the threats directed at public employees, heads of the defense establishment, and the media, “but they should not be afraid, because the only defendant here, his name is Netanyahu.” “.
Haaretz added that Netanyahu is currently fighting two battles: the first is his trial, which he repeatedly tried to postpone, and the second is the narrative of the October 7 failure and evading responsibility.
