Israel strikes at Iranian terrorist infrastructure in Syria

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that Israel’s military destroyed Iranian supply routes running through Syria to Hezbollah-controlled territory in Lebanon. The Israeli attacks, which took place in recent days, were so effective that Hezbollah’s Secretary General Naim Kassem even publicly acknowledged on the Telegraph messaging platform that its Syrian supply lines were entirely destroyed.

The strikes on infrastructure in Syria, were meant to fulfill a promise Netanyahu made a year ago to make the Middle East a safer place for Israel, he said. They were also an effort to prevent Hezbollah from rearming itself, per a ceasefire agreement the terrorist group entered with Israel last month, Netanyahu said.

Didn’t Israel carry out airstrikes in Syria already? The Israeli military last week confirmed it had destroyed dozens of weapons depots across Syria that could have fallen into the hands of terrorists hostile to Israel. The U.S. military also carried out several dozen strikes against targets affiliated with the terrorist Islamic State group earlier this month.

Speaking of Israel, what’s the status of its war in Gaza? The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry on Monday said that more than 45,000 people had died in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023. Israel has carried out military operations in Gaza since Palestinian militants surged across the border on that day and killed roughly 1,200 Israelis. Israel insists that its military tries to minimize civilian casualties—and published a list of the measures it takes to warn civilians of impending attacks in their areas.

Netanyahu said on Sunday that he spoke with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump about ways to bring home about 100 hostages who remain trapped in Gaza. The hostages have been in Gaza for 437 days as of Monday, according to the advocacy group Bring Them Home Now. It remains unclear how many of the hostages are still alive.

Dig deeper: Read Antonio Graceffo’s report in WORLD Magazine about how the recent regime change in Syria has left many minority groups—Christians included—with an uncertain future.