#16 (12/16/2024-12/23/2024) US initiation to normalize the new Syria

This week, the US started to connect to the Syrian emerging authority. These are all headlines related to the US foreign policy in the Middle East.

US fighter jet shot down in 'friendly fire' incident over Red Sea

The developments came hours after a rocket from Yemen struck Tel Aviv, prompting US air strikes in Houthi-controlled territory, which it claims were in response to attacks on US Navy ships and commercial vessels. Two US Navy pilots ejected safely after their F/A-18 fighter jet was downed (Read more at TRTWorld).

22

December

US Oks More Than $5B in Military Sales to Egypt

The equipment includes for 555 US-made M1A1 Abrams tanks operated by Egypt, $630 million in 2,183 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles, and $30 million in precision-guided munitions. Egypt, which has become an increasingly close partner in mediating the Gaza crisis despite serious human rights concerns. US President Joe Biden took office in 2021 vowing a harder line on Egypt over human rights concerns under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, but his administration has repeatedly gone ahead with arms deals with Egypt. The US Congress can still block the sales, but such attempts are usually unsuccessful. Cairo is one of the largest recipients of US security aid since its peace treaty with Israel in 1979 (Read more at Defense Post).

21

December

US charges Russian-Israeli dual national tied to Lockbit ransomware group

Rostislav Panev, 51, was arrested in Israel in August and is awaiting extradition to the United States. Panev was a developer at Lockbit from its inception some time in 2019 through to at least February 2024, during which time the group grew into "what was, at times, the most active and destructive ransomware group in the world," the U.S. Department of Justice said (Read more at Reuters).

21

December

US, Israeli officials deny approving sale of Israeli spyware firm to US investors

Over the past week, Israeli news outlets reported that Paragon, which was founded by former Israeli intelligence officers and backed by ex-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, had been bought by AE, an investment group focused on national security-related businesses (Read more at Reuters).

21

December

US senators seek Turkey sanctions, citing military action in Syria

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham introduced the "Countering Turkish Aggression Act of 2024" in the hope the sanctions threat would move the parties toward a ceasefire. But they said Washington should work with Turkey diplomatically to facilitate a sustained ceasefire and demilitarized zone between Turkey and Syria (Read more at Reuters).

21

December

US judge finds Israel's NSO Group liable for hacking in WhatsApp lawsuit

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Oakland, California, ruled on Friday in favor of Meta Platforms' (META.O), opens new tab WhatsApp in a lawsuit accusing Israel's NSO Group of exploiting a bug in the messaging app to install spy software allowing unauthorized surveillance (Read more at Reuters).

21

December

American Strike Killed Islamic State Group Leader in Syria

Washington has stepped up military action against the jihadist group since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government earlier this month, hitting areas that were shielded by Syrian and Russian air defenses before a lightning offensive by rebels who now control the country. The strike took place Thursday in Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria, killing IS leader “Abu Yusif” and another operative (Read more at Defense Post).

21

December

US State Department Approves $86M Sale of Small Diameter Bombs to Morocco

Morocco is set to acquire 500 GBU-39B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB-I) from the United States, marking another significant step in the country’s military modernization efforts. The package also includes two GBU-39 (T-1)/B inert practice bombs with fuze, along with tactical training rounds, support equipment, spare parts, technical data, and personnel training (Read more at Morocco World News).

21

December

US Strikes Houthi Targets in Yemen, Hours After Rebels Hit Israel

During the operation, American forces also shot down multiple Houthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile over the Red Sea. The US attack on Sanaa came the same day that a Houthi missile struck Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv, wounding 16 people in the second such strike in days (Read more at Defense Post).

20

December

Houthis shouldn’t be surprised by Israeli response, Pentagon says

Given that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned this week the Houthis that they would pay a heavy price, a reporter asked the Pentagon if it assesses that Israel might target the Yemen-based group next, after Hezbollah and Hamas. “I won’t speak for Israel in terms of its operations. They certainly have a right to defend themselves, and as you know, the Houthis have launched missiles and drones toward Israel,” Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the U.S. Defense Department press secretary, told a reporter at the Pentagon’s Dec. 19 press briefing (Read more at JNS).

20

December

US disagrees with HRW ‘genocide’ accusation against Israel

US official: ‘When it comes to a determination of something like genocide, the legal standard is just incredibly high, and so the finding in this scenario we just disagree with ... That does not take away from the fact that there is a dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza’. (Read more at Arab News)

20

December

US exempts Turkey from Russian Gazprombank sanctions

Last month, the US Treasury said Gazprombank and its six foreign subsidiaries were subject to sanctions due to their involvement in the Ukraine war. US officials accuse the bank of facilitating payments to Russian soldiers. Turkey, which imported more than 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia last year, paid billions of dollars for these imports through the bank (Read more at Middle East Eye).

20

December

FBI arrests university student over alleged plot to attack Israeli consulate

The FBI has arrested an 18-year-old student from George Mason University (GMU), accusing him of being involved in a plot to attack the Israeli consulate in New York, in a case involving an undercover informant or agent who helped the teenager come up with the plan. Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassan, a first-year student and an Egyptian national, has been charged with one count of distributing information related to explosives that could be used to murder internationally protected persons (Read more at Middle East Eye).

20

December

US has twice as many troops in Syria than previously declared

The Pentagon claimed it had over 2,000 military personnel in Syria to target Islamist rebels before the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Washington has for years said it has some 900 military personnel in Syria as part of international efforts against Islamist groups, which seized swathes of territory there and in neighbouring Iraq before being defeated by local forces backed by a US-led air campaign (Read more at New Arab).

20

December

US to ‘hand over’ Saudi-Israel normalisation to Trump administration

“Now the opportunity is there, and I know this is something that the president (Trump) will be focused on, to broaden that out with the Saudis,” Blinken said (Read more at Arab Weekly).

20

December

US drops $10m reward for arrest of Syria’s new leader after Damascus talks

The US, however, had designated HTS a “terrorist” organisation in 2018. Al-Sharaa — also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani — is the group’s leader and was once aligned with al-Qaeda. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf said “Based on our discussion, I told him we would not be pursuing the Rewards for Justice reward offer that has been in effect for some years” (Read more at Aljazeera).

20

December

US charges IRGC officer with killing of American citizen in Iraq

The United States has charged an alleged officer of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) with “terrorism and murder” over the killing of a US citizen in Iraq in 2022 (Read more at Aljazeera).

20

December

UAE Promises Not to Arm Sudan Paramilitaries as US Warns of Arms Export Ban

Two lawmakers said the United Arab Emirates made the promise to address their concerns and that as a result, they would drop their attempt to block $1.2 billion in arms sales to the Gulf power (Read more at Defense Post).

20

December

U.S. diplomats meet Syrian opposition leader in Damascus

They met with the leader of the opposition group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Ahmad al-Sharaa. A U.S. official said the meeting with al-Sharaa was "good and productive." U.S. assistant secretary of state for near east affairs Barbara Leaf said al-Sharaa committed to not allowing terror groups to operate in Syria and threaten the U.S. or neighboring countries. Leaf said that as a result, the U.S. made clear it won't pursue the $10 million "reward for justice" on al-Sharaa (Read more at Axios).

19

December

Defense secretary had little scheduled access to Biden amid Israel’s war with Hamas

In the beginning of the current administration’s tenure, Lloyd Austin, the U.S. defense secretary, had regular access to U.S. President Joe Biden. But over the past two years, “a period when the wars in Ukraine and Gaza demanded the president’s attention,” Austin was rarely invited for scheduled briefings (Read more at JNS).

19

December

Assad's downfall is a big win for Trump, but if it could be fatal

When, in January, Donald Trump is sworn in for his second, and final, term as president of the United States, he will find a Middle East undergoing tectonic geopolitical shifts that his Israel-firsters and neocon supporters could not have imagined, even in their wildest dreams. Trump must seize this opportunity and accept that lasting peace in the Middle East can only be achieved through a comprehensive approach that leaves nobody behind (Read more at Middle East Eye).

19

December

What Trump's plans to 'finish the job' could mean for Gaza, Iran and beyond

If he is urging Israel to “finish the job” meaning the continued killing of Palestinians and raze what is left of Gaza to the ground, then Israel is definitely complying. Could "finish the job" also mean crossing borders into Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah, Iran's key paramilitary ally in the region? Well, a fragile ceasefire is in place in Lebanon with Hezbollah, and Iran is considerably weakened. In comments made to Israeli media in November, Trump advisor and evangelical leader Mike Evans said the directive to "finish the job" included instructions for Israel to attack Iran's oil facilities and strategic interests (Read more at TRTWorld).

18

December

Israel isn't bombing area where Austin Tice may be located

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised the mother of U.S. journalist Austin Tice that the IDF isn't conducting airstrikes in areas in Syria where he might be located (Read more at Axios).

18

December

CIA chief heads to Qatar amid renewed Gaza ceasefire hopes

Burns is due to meet Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in Doha (Read more at Dohanews).

18

December

US warns of imminent Turkish offensive in Syria

Unnamed US officials have warned that Washington is increasingly concerned that Turkiye and its allied militias in northern Syria – predominantly under the umbrella of the Syrian National Army (SNA) – are preparing for a large-scale military incursion into Syrian territory controlled by US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Citing a reported significant Turkish military build-up and presence – including the deployment of uniformed Turkish commandos, artillery units and allied militias to strategic positions along the border – near the town of Kobani, or Ayn Al-Arab, the officials told the paper that the movements resembled those seen ahead of Turkiye’s 2019 incursion into northern Syria, with one warning that “a cross-border operation could be imminent” yet again (Read more at Middle East Monitor).

18

December

Palestinian families sue State Department over US support for Israeli military

The lawsuit, opens new tab filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleged that the State Department under Secretary of State Antony Blinken has deliberately circumvented a U.S. human rights law to continue funding and supporting Israeli military units accused of atrocities in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank (Read more at Rueters).

18

December

US lawmakers urge Biden to withhold offensive weapons to Israel

Letter comes after Biden administration concluded Israel made efforts to improve humanitarian situation in Gaza, despite record low aid deliveries. A group of 20 US members of Congress led by Congressman Greg Casar signed the letter (Read more Middle East Eye).

18

December

A US state department worker resigned over Israel-Gaza policy

Mike Casey, one of only two people explicitly focused on Gaza, left over inaction and doing ‘what the Israelis want’. Mike Casey arrived in Jerusalem in 2020. “The more informed you become on this issue, you can’t avoid realizing how bad it is,” Casey said. Casey resigned in July after four years at the job, discreetly leaving the post unlike other recent high-profile government departures. Now Casey reflected on how, as one of only two people in the entire US government explicitly focused on Gaza, he became an unwilling chronicler of a humanitarian catastrophe (Read more at Guardian).

17

December

US expresses cautious optimism on Gaza ceasefire

However, Matthew Miller, the department's spokesperson, in Washington acknowledged that previous hopes for a ceasefire had ultimately been dashed, making the current outlook more tentative (Read more at Middle East Monitor).

17

December

US strikes Houthi command center in Yemen

Group used facility to coordinate its operations, including recent attacks on US Navy warships and merchant vessels, says CENTCOM (Read more at Anadolu Ajans?).

17

December

At his final presidential Chanukah party, Biden renews pledge to bring hostages home

"I know this year's Hanukkah falls on the hearts that are still very heavy. It's the second Hanukkah since the horrors of Oct. 7. Over 1,000 slaughtered, hundreds taken hostage, unspeakable sexual violence and so much more. The trauma of that day and its aftermath is still raw and ongoing," Biden said (Read more at ABCNews).

17

December

Netanyahu meets with Trump’s special envoy for hostage affairs

Adam Boehler is visiting Israel this week amid ongoing negotiations to secure the release of the remaining Hamas captives in Gaza. He also discreetly met with Defense Minister Israel Katz, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana. Trump said Monday he is working to secure the release of the hostages in Gaza, who number 100, according to the latest Israeli estimates. Thirty-six have been declared dead (Read more at New York Post).

17

December

US engaging with UN to ensure Syrians get answers for mass graves

An international war crimes prosecutor said on Tuesday that evidence emerging from mass grave sites in Syria has exposed a state-run "machinery of death" under toppled leader Bashar al-Assad in which he estimated more than 100,000 people were tortured and murdered since 2013 (Read more at Reuters).

17

December

Ceasefire between Turkey and US-backed rebels extended

The ceasefire around the northern Syrian city of Manbij has been extended until the end of this week. Washington brokered an initial ceasefire last week after fighting that broke out earlier this month. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, "We continue to engage with the SDF, with Turkey about a path forward." (read more at Reuters)

16

December

Trump says Turkey is behind collapse of Assad

He added Turkey wanted control of Syria 'for thousands of years' and now they have it. "He's a very smart guy and he's very tough. But Turkey did an unfriendly takeover without a lot of lives being lost. I can say Assad was a butcher, what he did to children," Trump said during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, adding that he didn't know what the outcome of Assad's collapse would be (Read more at Middle East Eye).

16

December

Netanyahu says he held ‘friendly’ talks with Trump over Syria and Gaza

He said they discussed the need to complete Israel’s victory. A Trump spokesperson on Sunday declined to give further details about the call (Read more at Guradian).

16

December

US seeks stronger UN powers to intercept Red Sea shipments to Yemen’s Houthis

Pentagon also considering redesignating Iranian-backed Houthis as terrorist group. Tim Lenderking, the US special envoy for Yemen, last week visited Djibouti where the UN Verification and Inspection Mission for Yemen (UNVIM) is based on the opposite side of the Red Sea. UNVIM’s chief focus is on inspecting ships for armaments entering Houthi-controlled Red Sea ports (Read more at Guardian).