Meeting at the Farnesina on the Syria emergency with the Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani. In connection, according to what ANSA has learned, there will be the Ambassadors in Damascus, Doha, Tel Aviv, Amman, Beirut, Tehran, Baghdad, Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Riyadh, Ankara, Moscow and the Holy See. According to what is still learned, the political and diplomatic initiatives underway in these days will be discussed to bring about a cessation of military operations as quickly as possible, and also of the evacuation of religious people and Italians from Syria.
Syrian opposition officials said the regular army began withdrawing this morning from the Quneitra district on the border with Israel and Russian military forces also began evacuating their positions on the border. The rebels announced their conquest of the area immediately afterwards and posted videos in front of the central police station.
Syrian Presidency: “Assad is in Damascus”
“Some foreign media are spreading rumors and false news about President Bashar Assad leaving Damascus,” the statement reads. «The Presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic denies all these rumours. They are only attempts to mislead and influence the state and society of Syria,” it adds, pointing out that the activities and situations related to President Assad are disseminated by the platforms of the Presidency and the Syrian national media.
Syrian rebels 20 km from Damascus
Syrian rebels announced they had taken control of the town of Sanmin in the Daraa countryside, located about 20 kilometers south of the capital Damascus. The insurgents also advance east of Homs and take the key location of Qaryatayn, 160 km north-east of the capital, along the road that connects Homs with the Badiya, the steppe area where Palmyra is located in central Syria. Hezbollah has sent around 2 thousand men to the Homs area, near the border with Lebanon, to resist the insurgents’ offensive.
Meanwhile, Syrian opposition sources, cited by the Israeli broadcaster, have released videos showing the regular army retreating from Jabba’s village in Quneitra. This morning the Syrian army admitted that it had withdrawn from the districts of Daraa and al-Sawidaa in the mountains inhabited by the Druze, in southern Syria, following the advance of the Sunni rebels. In the area, dozens of government soldiers decided to desert and surrender to the local Druze authorities. “We prefer to surrender here than try to escape”, says a deserter interviewed by a local web TV.
According to Arab media, Syrian government forces have also begun to withdraw from the T-4 air base near the ancient city of Palmyra in Homs governorate. T-4, also known as Tiyas, is one of two main airports (the other is Damascus International Airport) where Iranian cargo airlines carrying weapons destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon often land. According to Israeli intelligence, the weapons are kept in warehouses in the area before being transported to Lebanon. In recent years, Israel has attacked the T-4 air base several times.
Meanwhile, Iran has begun evacuating high-ranking military commanders and other officials from Syria, including heads of the Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, diplomats and their families and civilians. The evacuations began Friday morning, the New York Times reported, citing regional and Iranian officials. The US newspaper reported that some officials left Syria by plane, while others left by land for Lebanon, Iraq and the Syrian port city of Latakia.
Jordan also urges its citizens to leave Syria “as soon as possible” and Washington calls on its fellow citizens to leave the country immediately “while commercial flight options are still available.” The State Department warns that “the security situation continues to be unstable and unpredictable with active clashes between armed groups across the country” and urges “US citizens to leave Syria now.”
Israel prepares, “it is possible that Assad’s army will collapse”
The IDF has announced that it will further strengthen the Golan Heights, near the Syrian border, where Sunni rebels are advancing. The government – reports the public broadcaster Kan – is expected to meet this evening and also on Sunday, as the security establishment fears that the rebels will reach southern Syria, on Israel’s border in the Golan Heights. An Israeli source added: “The chances of Assad’s army collapsing have increased.”