We will begin an assessment regarding the removal of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham from the terrorism list.

- Russian Foreign Ministry

Massive energy crisis in Iran: Tehran turns off highway lights to conserve energy.

Despite Armenia receiving most of its weapons from the West either for free or on credit, knowing that these debts will likely be written off, they will not be able to keep up with us in the arms race, Azerbaijan President Aliyev says.

Deputy Commander of IRGC:

Operation “True Promise 3” will definitely be carried out at the appropriate time and place.

Sudan Situation Map by Clash Report

Sudanese Army advances against RSF, capturing Al-Sharif Mukhtar and closing in within 35 km of Wad Madani.

Meanwhile, RSF pushes deeper into Gezira.

BREAKING: A Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet belonging to the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom landed at Mürted Air Base in Ankara for inspection by Turkey.

NEW: Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel, on HTS and the Israeli invasion in Syria:

Israel's deputy foreign minister said Syria's new leaders were "wolves in sheep's clothing" trying to convince the world they were not radical Islamists.

“We’re not fooled by many of the conversations and interviews of those rebel groups who are, in fact, terrorist groups,” Sharren Haskel said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday.

“We are very aware of what they are saying,” Haskel said. “But the fact is we are going to look at their actions, and that’s going to dictate how we react. We are not fooled by nice talk.” Haskel said Israel won’t make the same mistake it made with Hamas.

Since the HTS overthrew Assad, Israel has sent in troops and occupied several villages and strategic sites in the buffer zone between its northeastern border and Syria.

The move was described by Haskel as "temporary and obviously limited".

- Bloomberg

Syrian Revolutionary Leader Ahmad al-Sharaa gets a haircut in his childhood neighborhood in Damascus.

Map of JNIM attacks in Mali by Clash Report

JNIM carried out 64 attacks during November 2024, killing 123 people.

JNIM's attacks in 2024 have doubled compared to 2022.

Syrian people in Homs are still celebrating their victory.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov:

Dangers created by Western countries on our borders may lead to discussion of Moscow's use of nuclear weapons.

The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime has disrupted the Middle East’s largest drug network, exposing Syria’s role in industrial-scale Captagon production, a stimulant fueling a $10 billion global trade.

Assad’s regime relied on Captagon to sustain power, with the Fourth Armored Division, led by Maher al-Assad, managing production and distribution.

The New Lines Institute estimated regime earnings at $2.5 billion annually.

Hezbollah, Assad’s key ally, played a major role in facilitating Captagon trafficking, especially in southern Syria.

Source: WSJ

Republican Senator Graham and Democrat Senator Van Hollen spoke with YPG/PKK terror group’s leader Mazlum Abdi, threatening Türkiye with a sanctions bill.

“The temporary ceasefire between the Türkiye-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and the SDF has ended, and Türkiye refuses to extend it, including proposals for a demilitarized zone along the border near Kobani.

While Türkiye has some legitimate security concerns, these developments undermine regional security, and the U.S. cannot remain indifferent.”

If Türkiye does not meet our conditions immediately, we plan to introduce a bipartisan sanctions bill this week, similar to the one proposed in 2019.”

Turkish President Erdoğan:

The international community must maintain pressure on Israel to fully respect the ceasefire and compensate for the damage it has caused in Lebanon.

We will continue our contribution to the unity and internal peace of the Lebanese people. We oppose any attempt to target Lebanon's stability.

Erdoğan:

A new era has begun in Syria. We agree that as Syria's two neighbors we need to act together with Lebanon.

Poland signed a $310 million contract with American General Atomics for three MQ-9B SkyGuardian UAVs, with each UAV costing approximately $103.3 million.

Israel continues killing civilians in Gaza with impunity

Haaretz quoting an Israeli officer:

There is a race and challenge between military units in Gaza to kill the largest number of Palestinians.

We have orders to send photos of the bodies, and we have sent photos of 200 dead, and it turned out that only 10 of them were from Hamas.

There is unlimited authority granted to leaders in Gaza.

Lebanese Prime Minister Mikati:

We have realized that we must first trust in Allah, and then in Türkiye.

Deputy Commander of Iraqi Joint Operations:

Procedures are moving towards returning Syrian soldiers in Iraq back to their country.

Thousands of Assad regime soldiers fled to Iraq and sought refuge after the fall of the former regime.