Hezbollah leader says Assad and allies will triumph over 'terrorist forces supported by US and Israel'; Jordanian official says truce reached in Daraa province
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Friday evening the Syrian regime and its allies were nearing a “big victory” over “terrorist forces supported by the US and Israel,” amid unconfirmed reports that a ceasefire had been reached in the country’s south between rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar Assad.
A Jordanian official told Reuters a ceasefire had been reached in Daraa province, though there was no official confirmation.
State media and a monitor said earlier that rebels controlling several towns in southern Syria were considering a deal for a regime takeover in exchange for an end to fierce bombing
Since June 19, Russian-backed government forces have been battering opposition-held parts of Daraa province with air strikes and barrel bombs, simultaneously calling on rebels to surrender.
Syrian state news agency SANA reported that rebels in three towns in Daraa’s eastern countryside had already agreed to a regime takeover in the last two days. On Friday, it carried preliminary reports that rebels in four more towns had “agreed to hand over their weapons… and reconcile.”
Nasrallah — whose Hezbollah terror group, along with Russia and Iran, has supported Assad in the seven-year civil war — said rebel groups in the area were “collapsing” and he expected wide parts of southern Syria would be under government control “within days.”
Two Palestinians were killed Friday in violent demonstrations along the Gaza Strip’s border with Israel, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said.
A 13-year-old was fatally shot in the head and a 24-year-old man died of gunshot wounds to his leg and abdomen, the ministry said.
According to some reports, the boy was shot while sabotaging the border fence. A paramedic told AP the teenager was throwing stones “very close to the fence” before he was shot.
Around 5,000 Palestinians demonstrated at five points along the border. Rioters burned tires and attacked Israeli forces with rocks and Molotov cocktails. At one point a bomb was hurled at troops.
Over 100 people were reported wounded during the protests from tear gas and Israeli fire. Several Palestinian medics were also said hurt from smoke inhalation.
The army said that throughout the afternoon, “thousands of Palestinians participated in extremely violent riots and committed various acts of terror in several locations along the Gaza Strip security fence.”
Israeli forces responded with “large amounts of riot dispersal means and in specific cases where these means did not succeeded in negating the threat, resorted to live fire in accordance with the standard operating procedures,” it said.
Fifteen fires broke out in Israel due to incendiary balloons and kites launched from the Gaza Strip. Firefighters doused the blazes.
Police said multiple balloons with writing on them were found in communities near Gaza. They urged residents to avoid touching the balloons and to call law enforcement.
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