MEZIESBLOG

Russia says Israeli strikes in Syria are a “matter for serious concern”.

Moscow’s foreign ministry said the attacks violated a 1974 treaty between Israel and Syria that ended the Yom Kippur war.

The Israeli military said a wave of its air strikes had destroyed most of Syria’s “strategic weapons stockpiles” over the past 48 hours (see 9.39 post).

Israel has also sent troops into a buffer zone on its border with Syria, which defence minister Israel Katz said was in order to impose a “sterile defence zone” in southern Syria.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said such actions “are unlikely to help stabilise the situation in an already destabilised Syria”.

Rebels claim capture of another city

The commander of rebel forces in Syria has said his fighters have complete control of another city.

Hassan Abdul Ghany said forces had taken Deir el Zour today. 

Much of Syria is controlled by different factions, which you can read about in our last post. 

Before we go, here’s a round-up of the key events today:

• The leader of the rebel group that has seized control in Damascus told Sky News the world does not need to fear a new Syrian government, in his first comments since Bashar al Assad fled;
• The family of missing journalist Austin Tice has said they have received proof of life in recent days; 
• The rebel HTS group ordered all its fighters to withdraw from Syrian cities;
• Israel continued heavy airstrikes across Syria, targeting naval and land assets of the now-toppled Assad regime;
• Shamima Begum’s hopes of returning to the UK have been boosted after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, according to her lawyer. 

Warring northern factions reach ceasefire deal over Manbij city

Two groups that continued to clash in the north of Syria after the overthrow of the Assad regime have reached a ceasefire, according to a commander.

The US-supported Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syria’s Turkey-backed rebels reached an agreement in the northern city of Manbij, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said.

“The fighters of the Manbij Military Council [an SDF coalition], who have been resisting the attacks since November 27, will withdraw from the area as soon as possible,” he added.

He said the deal was reached through US mediation “to ensure the safety and security of civilians”.

For context: The Syrian Democratic Forces was formed by an alliance between the Kurdish-led Peoples Protection Units (YPG) and other groups, backed by the US, to fight Islamic State in 2014.

The YPG had already been in control of large areas of northeast Syria since 2012.

Turkey, meanwhile, sees the YPG as inseparable from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long insurgency inside Turkey.

Turkey sent troops into Syria from 2016 to push Kurdish groups and Islamic State away from its borders

This led to the formation of the Syrian National Army which, backed by direct Turkish military power, held a stretch of territory along the Syrian-Turkish border.