Nascent Yemen

Intense fighting has erupted in Syria’s southern province of Sweida between members of a Druze group and armed elements affiliated with Jolani’s Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies, leaving several individuals wounded, report say.

The clashes broke out between so-called Druze National Guard forces led by Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, a Druze religious leader, and HTS forces affiliated with former al-Qaeda commander and the Arab country’s de facto president Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, al-Marsad news website reported.

The report, citing local sources in Sweida, added that several people from both sides sustained injuries during the fighting.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed fierce confrontations between Druze and Jolani’s forces across Sweida province, with Syrian sources reporting that the clashes erupted in the early hours of Thursday, with both sides using heavy weapons and mortars.

The most intense fighting was reported in towns of al-Majdal and al-Mazra’a in the western parts of Sweida.

The clashes reportedly began after Jolani’s forces and their allies carried out drone attacks, triggering heavy fighting in the area.

Additional heavy fighting was reported in the town of Tal Hadid in the Sweida countryside and the village of al-Mansoura in the al-Naql area northwest of the city of Sweida.

Sources also reported extensive military movements by both sides and efforts to reinforce their positions.

Tensions in southern Syria have been escalating since July 13, when clashes broke out between Druze fighters and armed Bedouin tribes over land and resources in the province.The violence worsened significantly after the HTS military was deployed to the province on July 14 and entered Sweida city itself on July 15, according to residents, two war monitors and reporters on the ground.

Claiming to support the Druze, the Israeli regime carried out airstrikes on July 16 targeting key strategic sites in Damascus, including the Syrian army headquarters, and hours later HTS announced the complete withdrawal of its forces from Sweida under a ceasefire agreement.

Sweida experienced some of the deadliest violence, with a week of bloody clashes starting on July 13 leaving an estimated 814 to 1,653 people dead, most of them Druze.

PressTV report

Lebanese Parliament held a general legislative session chaired by Speaker Nabih Berri to continue reviewing draft laws and proposals that were on the agenda for the session of September 29, 2025.

Parliament approved a draft law for a $250 million loan agreement with the World Bank for the reconstruction of infrastructure in southern Lebanon.

It also approved the law regulating the judiciary, taking into account the observations made by the President Joseph Aoun.

The Parliament convened despite calls to boycott the session by the Lebanese Forces over Speaker Berri’s refusal to timetable discussion on a contentious election law.

Sixty-seven MPs attended the session, just above the threshold required to proceed.

The Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb party abstained in protest among a handful of others.

Lebanese political powers are in disagreement over the diaspora vote, which is part of the electoral law. There have been calls to amend the electoral law in a bid to allow Lebanese abroad to vote for all 128 parliamentary seats (current law allows expatriates to vote for seven seats).

Amal Movement and Hezbollah, among other parties oppose amending the diaspora vote, stressing that such move contradicts with the principle of equal opportunities, especially that Hezbollah resistance party is banned and does not enjoy the campaigning freedom that the other parties have abroad, especially in Western countries.

Source: Al-Manar English Website

z¿onist enemy launched on Thursday a series of air raids on large areas in southern Lebanon and Bekaa in the east of the country, in a new escalation that targeted mountainous areas, valleys and the outskirts of several towns.

Al-Manar correspondent reported that the zionist airstrikes targeted the outskirts of Al-Rihan in Iqlim Al-Tuffah, as well as the area between the towns of Deir Siryan and Qusayr in the south.

The strikes also hit the Litani River between Zawtar and Deir Siryan in the Nabatieh region, in addition to the Al-Jabbour and Al-Qatrani heights in Western Bekaa, according to our reporter.

The strike took place as a truck belonging to Electricity of Lebanon public company was present nearby, our correspondent in south Lebanon noted.

“A number of workers were injured as the Israeli strike torched the Rapid vehicle and the Electricity of Lebanon truck,” Al-Manar reporter said.Israeli aircraft later renewed their raids, targeting the Mahmoudiya area in southern Lebanon, while other airstrikes hit the Zaghrin heights in the Hermel mountains of the eastern Bekaa, Al-Manar correspondents reported

Meanwhile, an Israeli drone strike targeted a Rapid vehicle near the road linking the border town to Deir Siryan.Commenting on the zionist strikes, Lebanese Speaker said the zionist strikes were a “message” to Paris Conference dedicated for supporting the Lebanese Army.

The strikes “are a zionist message to Paris Conference and sustained bombardment in honor of the Mechanism,” Speaker Berri was quoted as saying, referring to the committee overseeing the ceasefire between Lebanon and the Zionist entity.

Source: Al-Manar English Website

US President Donald Trump has ordered a “total and complete blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, directly targeting Caracas’ main source of revenue.

Announcing the move on Tuesday, Trump said Venezuela’s leadership had been designated a “foreign terrorist organization,” accusing it of, what he called, asset theft, terrorism, drug smuggling, and human trafficking.

Writing on his Truth Social media platform, the US chief executive said the designation justified a full blockade of sanctioned vessels transporting Venezuelan crude.

The announcement immediately reverberated through energy markets, with US crude futures climbing more than 1% in Asian trading.

Oil prices had earlier settled at their lowest level since February 2021, underscoring the sensitivity of markets to potential disruptions in Venezuelan supply.

While the White House has not detailed how the blockade would be enforced, the order follows last week’s seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast.

Since then, an effective embargo has already taken shape, with loaded tankers remaining in Venezuelan waters rather than risk interception.

The Trump administration has also moved thousands of troops and nearly a dozen warships, including an aircraft carrier, into the region.

Venezuela’s government swiftly rejected Trump’s “grotesque threat.”

President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly condemned Washington for seeking to overthrow his government and seize control of the OPEC member’s vast oil reserves, the largest proven crude reserves in the world.

Legal and political questions have emerged as far back as in Washington, itself.

International law experts have noted that blockades are traditionally considered acts associated with war and subject to strict legal conditions.

US Representative Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat, called the move “unquestionably an act of war,” arguing it lacked congressional authorization.

The impact on Venezuela’s oil sector has already been severe. Exports have fallen sharply since the tanker seizure, a decline compounded this week by a cyberattack that disrupted the administrative systems of state-run oil company PDVSA.

Industry data have shown that more than 30 of the roughly 80 vessels recently in Venezuelan waters or approaching its ports are currently sanctioned.

The blockade order, meanwhile, comes amid heightened military tensions stoked by Washington.

Trump’s campaign against Maduro has included a growing US military presence and dozens of strikes on vessels near Venezuela in recent months.

The Venezuelan head of state, speaking earlier on Tuesday, had warned that “imperialism and the fascist right” were seeking to colonize Venezuela and exploit its natural wealth, vowing that the country would defend itself and that peace would prevail.

Al Masirah report

zion¿st occupation forces carried out a series of attacks and incursions across several regions on Tuesday, escalating tensions along the border and placing civilian lives at risk.

Al-Manar correspondent reported that an zionist drone struck a minivan-type vehicle on the Adaisseh–Markaba road in southern Lebanon. The Ministry of Public Health later confirmed that the strike resulted in the martyrdom of one individual.

Earlier in the evening, reports also confirmed the martyrdom of one person in an airstrike that targeted a vehicle in the town of Siblin, in the Iqlim Al-Kharroub region in Mount Lebanon.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health confirmed one person martyred and five others injured in an Israeli enemy airstrike targeting a vehicle in Siblin.

zionist drone targeted a vehicle in the town of Siblin, in the Iqlim Al-Kharroub region in Mount Lebanon (Dec. 16, 2025).
Later on Tuesday, Al-Manar correspondent reported that zionist occupation forces fired a flare towards the Al-Mahafir area on the outskirts of the town of Aitaroun.

Additionally, the zionist artillery targeted the outskirts of the town of Marwahin.

In a separate and serious escalation, an Israeli occupation force infiltrated the town of Al-Dhahira, advancing approximately 750 meters north of the Blue Line. The force transported ammunition boxes rigged with explosives and hand grenades, placing them near a residential home in an apparent attempt to harm civilians who regularly return to their town despite repeated exposure to gunfire and stun grenades by the occupation. The infiltrating unit also planted zionist flags at the site.

Following the discovery of the booby-trapped devices, the Lebanese Army swiftly imposed a security cordon around the area and safely detonated the explosives.

Meanwhile, Israeli artillery shelled the outskirts of the town of Marwahin, while enemy forces fired an illumination flare toward the Al-Mahafir area on the outskirts of Aitaroun, continuing a pattern of military pressure on southern border communities.

Source: Al-Manar Website

A 26-year-old Palestinian abductee has died in a z¿onist prison, marking the fourth death of a Palestinian prisoner in recent days and prompting renewed calls for international intervention.

Sakhr Ahmad Khalil Zaoul, an “administrative detainee” from the town of Husan, west of the city of Beit Lahm in the south-central part of the occupied West Bank, died while being held at the nearby Israeli-run Ofer prison, the Palestine Chronicle online news outlet reported.

His death was confirmed on Sunday by several Palestinian bodies, including the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS).

Zaoul had been held under administrative detention since June 11. The regime uses the self-described method to jail victims indefinitely without evidence, charge, or trial.

His family said he did not suffer from any known chronic illnesses. His brother, Khalil Zaoul, remains incarcerated in Israeli detention facilities.

The Prisoners’ Media Office attributed Zaoul’s death to a systematic policy of “slow execution” against Palestinian detainees.

In a statement, the office said prisoners were subject to harsh detention conditions, including deprivation of basic necessities, torture, starvation, medical neglect, and prolonged physical and psychological abuse, which have led to a growing number of deaths inside Israeli prisons.

Holding Israeli authorities fully responsible for Zaoul’s death, the office called for an independent international investigation into crimes inside the detention facilities.

It also demanded immediate deployment of international monitoring teams to Israeli prisons, disclosure of the fate of forcibly disappeared detainees, return of the bodies of those who have died in custody, and accountability for Israeli officials through international sanctions.

The death came just four days after the death of Abdel Rahman al-Sabateen, a 21-year-old detainee from the same town, who died on Monday night at the Shaare Tzedek medical center in the occupied territories.

According to Palestinian prisoner institutions, the recent deaths represented the deadliest period in the history of the Palestinian Captives Movement, a national campaign championing the prisoners’ rights.

They brought to 323 the total number of confirmed Palestinian detainee deaths since 1967, when the regime occupied the West Bank during a heavily Western-backed war.

The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the PPS said the pace of the deaths had accelerated since Itamar Ben-Gvir, a notorious extremist figure, assumed office, becoming the regime’s “police minister.”

They noted that Israeli sources had also acknowledged an increase in deaths inside Israeli prisons and detention camps during his tenure.

The two bodies said Ben-Gvir has overseen an escalation in punitive measures against Palestinian detainees and has promoted legislation introducing the death penalty.

Human rights organizations, including groups based inside the occupied territories, have documented widespread abuse, neglect, and systemic mistreatment in detention facilities.

According to the Commission and the PPS, conditions inside Israeli prisons have exceeded legal and humanitarian limits.

They noted that since October 2023, when the regime launched a war of genocide on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli prison system, judicial bodies, and policing agencies had been tasked with operating a detention apparatus that inflicted sustained physical and psychological harm.

They cited reports of torture, starvation, medical neglect, sexual violence, and denial of basic rights, as well as the spread of infectious diseases such as scabies.

More than 9,300 Palestinians are currently held in zionist prisons, along with hundreds more in military detention camps. Among them are over 50 women and around 350 children, according to prisoner advocacy groups.

PressTV report