Syria – live: US man Travis Timmerman found alive after seven months in Syrian jail as Israel strikes ports
American Travis Timmerman was found by Syrian rebels, as Israel continues its bombardment around much of the country
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Your support makes all the difference.An American who was detained in Syria for seven months has been freed, as Syrian rebels scour areas once controlled by Bashar al-Assad’s now-deposed regime.
Travis Timmerman, from Missouri, was found when trying to find his own way out of Syria after being freed from a prison by Syrian rebels.
He was initially mistaken by some on social media to be American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria in 2012.
Mr Timmerman was detained when he entered Syria without permission for “spiritual purposes” seven months ago, he told CBS News. He was freed by two armed men with AK-47s on Monday after a stretch in prison which “wasn’t too bad”.
Meanwhile, Israel continues its bombardment of Syria, as the country looks to build its post-Assad future.
Israeli warplanes “continue to destroy what remains of Syria’s military arsenal for the fourth consecutive day”, UK-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
As of Wednesday, over 352 air strikes had been carried out in 13 Syrian provinces. This included attacks on warehouses, airports, and a naval fleet in a port on Latakia.
Israel says it is targeting military infrastructure to prevent it from falling into hostile hands.
Israeli forces seize buffer zone along occupied Golan Heights after Assad’s downfall
I asked Republicans about Tulsi Gabbard’s remarks on Syria. This is what they said
These Syrians watched their town be destroyed in war as Assad kept them away. Now they are vowing to rebuild
Syria doesn’t have to become a jihadi hellhole
Family of missing Austin Tice say they are ‘incredibly hopeful’ the US journalist will be found in Syria
The family of a US journalist who was captured in Syria more than a decade ago has said they are “incredibly hopeful” he will be returned.
Austin Tice was just 31 years old when he was captured close to Damascus in August 2012, while covering the Syrian civil war. It is believed he was taken by the Syrian government.
The complexity of the situation in Syria had made it difficult to know who had captured him or where he was being held, but after rebels ousted the Assad regime last week, the family had renewed hopes the journalist could be recovered.
Tom Watling reports:
Family of Austin Tice say they have new hope the journalist will be found in Syria
The brother of Austin Tice, Jacob, says they believe every effort is being made to find the journalist in Syria
Residents return to devastated Syrian village after 13 years
American found alive after seven months in Syrian prison
An American who spent seven months in Syrian prison has been found be rebels searching the country.
Travis Timmerman was trying to make his own way out of Syria after being freed from prison after the lightning offensive which ousted the Bashar al-Assad regime on the weekend, CBS News reported.
Mr Timmerman, of Missouri, told CBS that he had entered Syria without permission for “spirirual purposes” before he was detained. On Monday, he was freed by two armed men with AK-47s.
Explainer | What is the Golan Heights and why is the territory so important to Israel and Syria?
The Golan Heights, situated in the southwest corner of Syria and bordering Israel, Lebanon and Jordan, is a 1,000 square mile rocky plateau around 40 miles (60 kilometres) from Damascus, although it possesses a significance far beyond that and has been a political flashpoint for decades.
Israeli has occupied the Golan Heights since the 1980s and now its troops have seized the demilitarised buffer zone, in response to the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal dictatorship in Syria.
Troops have also been deployed beyond the demilitarised buffer zone and into Syrian territory, with Israeli defence minister Israel Katz saying Israeli forces had been ordered to create a “sterile defence zone” in southern Syria, adding that they would not retain a permanent presence. Israel had previously described reports from Syrian sources that it had breached the buffer zone as “false”.
But what is the Golan Heights and why does Israel consider it so important?
What is the Golan Heights and why is it so important to Israel and Syria?
Israel entered the buffer zone in the Golan Heights hours after Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime crumbled
Gaza death toll nears 45,000
The number of Palestinians killed in Israel’s invasion and bombardment of Gaza is now at 44,835 since October 7, the Gaza health ministry said on Thursday.
The military offensive has also wounded 106,356, the statement added.
Turkey-backed forces continue advances in northern Syria
Turkey-backed rebel forces are continuing their advances in northern Syria with an aim to “clear terrorism”, a Turkish defence ministry source said on Thursday.
The rebel forces are fighting a US-backed Kurdish militia in the region. Turkey has repeatedly told the US that “a terrorist organisation cannot be eliminated by using another terrorist organisation”, the source added.
The US is backing the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in its fight against Islamic State. The SDF is led by a Kurdish militia regarded by Ankara as a terrorist group.
Jordanian King supportive of political process, says Germany
Jordanian King Abdullah has agreed with German chancellor Olaf Scholz on the importance of an inclusive political process in Syria, a German government spokesperson said on Thursday.
The two leaders held a phone call on Thursday. "Both agreed that an inclusive political process in Syria was now very important and that the transition process needed to be supported. Both attached great importance to the protection of ethnic and religious minorities," the spokesperson said.
They also stressed the importance of Syria’s territorial integrity, he added.
Comment | After Assad, can the Kurds survive in Syria?
The US foreign policy establishment sees the return of Donald Trump to the White House as an imminent threat to the bipartisan consensus in foreign policy matters.
Joe Biden was understood to be the return to a “normal” foreign policy approach after the turbulence of Trump 1.0.
Biden has been staunchly critical of the Kremlin and four-square behind Israel. He has ramped up pressure on China and not relaxed it on North Korea.
Yet in one area – vital to the security, at least of those who live in it – the Biden administration has broken ranks with a US foreign policy tradition dating back to 1919. He now has less than six weeks left in the White House in which to abandon the Kurds.
Mark Almond writes:
After Assad, can the Kurds survive in Syria?
The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime has revealed a cruel reality – that the Syria marked on maps is a phantom, says Mark Almond
Bel Trew | ‘They used us as a testing ground for all kinds of weapons’: Syrians return to destroyed town
For miles, the bleached ribcages of bombed-out buildings on either side of the main highway north of Damascus flick past as you drive – a grim monument to some of the fiercest battles that took place between Bashar al-Assad’s forces and rebels at the start of the revolution more than a decade ago.
None of the residents of Jobar – once a revolutionary heartland – were able to return to or rebuild their homes as Syria’s civil war rolled on, even after the regime retook control.
Now, after Assad’s stunning defeat, families, some of whom returned from fleeing the country, pick through the dust-choked rubble of what was once their homes. They gather at Jobar’s chewed-up central graveyard to host the first funeral here in 13 years.
Our chief international correspondent Bel Trew reports:
‘They used us as a testing ground for weapons’: Syrians return to destroyed town
Bel Trew visits Jobar – north of Damascus – which was devastated by some of the fiercest battles of the civil war. She meets residents returning home for the first time in more than a decade. Both they, and Syria itself, face major challenges in starting anew
Thousands of ethnic minorities attempt to flee Syria
Thousands of Syrians are attempting to flee Syria at the Masnaa border point with Lebanon, the only operational crossing between the two countries.
But many of them remain stuck on the Syrian side of the crossing and remain unable to cross, after the border was overwhelmed by a huge influx of travellers - going in both directions - since the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Many are members of Syrian minority groups, are living in fear of what a new Syria led by Islamist factions may mean for minorities, including the Alawites and Christians, many of whom weren’t in favour of the uprising against the Assad regime in 2011.
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