The United States closes three of its eight operational bases in northeast Syria. A total of 600 troops will be withdrawn from the country. The Mission Support Site Green Village, MSS Euphrates, and a third, much smaller facility are closing. American commanders will evaluate further cuts in 60 days. Syrian sources, however, report that US troops are not leaving Syria but are strengthening their presence in al-Hassakah and Raqqa.
Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said Russian military personnel remain in their posts in Syria. “You know that our special envoy visited Syria. Our president spoke with the transitional leader. Our military is where they were,” Nebenzya told reporters.
The issue of the ceasefire petition initiated by the military is becoming increasingly thorny for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to Haaretz, a reserve military doctor said: “Doctors who signed petitions calling for an end to the war were summoned to meetings with their officers. The officers asked the doctors who signed the petitions to withdraw their signatures, considering them illegal. I am not afraid of being fired, what is happening are attempts by politicians to push the army to take a stand against us. The news reveals a clear division within the Israeli military establishment, even among military doctors, which reflects the extent of internal erosion on the Israeli side. Here is an analytical formula that supports the resistance.”
Channel 13, quoting an Israeli official on the release of prisoners: “The negotiations have not stopped and we have not received any official response from Hamas to the proposed agreement.” The head of the negotiating delegation and head of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, Khalil Al-Hayya: “We welcome the position of Adam Boehler, special envoy of US President Trump, aimed at ending the issue of prisoners and the war together. This position intersects with that of the movement, which is ready to reach a comprehensive agreement on a single prisoner exchange package, in exchange for the cessation of the war, the withdrawal of the occupation from the Gaza Strip and reconstruction”. In the late afternoon, Hamas decides its position: “no partial agreements, no ceasefire, no prisoners”.
Third landing of a C-17 at the Nevatim air base in the last 24 hours. Israeli media reported that it was carrying bombs, including bunker-buster bombs, for a possible attack on Iran. Israeli press sources report: Israel blocks Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from traveling to Syria to meet with al-Julani and refuses to allow two Jordanian helicopters to reach the Muqata’a headquarters in Ramallah. Mahmoud Abbas was forced to travel by land through the Karameh crossing to Jordan and from there by plane to Damascus.
Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem gave a speech on defense strategy and the general situation on Friday, April 18, 2025, at 8:30 p.m. on Al-Manar TV. Defense strategy and the future of Hezbollah’s weapons.
And now a look at the military scenarios updated at 5:00 p.m. on April 18. US airstrikes on the oil port of Ras Issa in Hodeidah, western Yemen. At least 74 people were killed and 171 were injured, according to a preliminary assessment provided by the Yemeni Ministry of Health.
The Houthis announced that they shot down an American MQ-9 “Reaper” drone that was operating in the skies of Sana’a governorate, in Yemen. No visual evidence has yet been published, however, if true, it would be the 19th drone of this type to be shot down in Yemen, the fifth since Trump took office and the fourth since the start of the new large-scale bombing campaign in Yemen. The Houthis also announced that they targeted the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and again the Truman and its warships with cruise missiles and drones. If true, this would be the first time it has been targeted since it arrived in the area. Also in a statement the Houthis: “The missile force of the Yemeni armed forces conducted a military operation targeting a military target near Ben Gurion airport, in the occupied Jaffa region, using a ballistic missile “Zulfiqar”.
On the night of April 17 and April 18: New Israeli attack targeted a service station and a prefabricated house in Aita al-Shaab; An Israeli Apache helicopter fired two missiles at Aita al-Shaab, targeting a prefabricated room and a service station that had previously been hit by an airstrike. On April 18, an Israeli strike targeted a car on the Ghazieh highway, near the entrance to Maghdosha. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health: One person was killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit a vehicle on the Saida-Ghazieh road in southern Lebanon.
An Israeli drone strike again targeted prefabricated rooms in Mhaibib, southern Lebanon. Intense enemy Israeli drone flights over southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.
Subsequent explosions were heard in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Israeli ambulances confirmed injuries among settlers as they rushed to shelters after hearing the sirens of a Yemeni missile.
The IDF opened fire in areas northeast of Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip.
Two statements from the Al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas’ armed wing): “Upon their return from the battle lines, our mujahideen confirmed that an Israeli force was lured near an underground spring with booby traps. As soon as members of the force arrived at the site and several soldiers descended inside, the underground spring was detonated with several explosive devices, killing and wounding several members of the force on Wednesday afternoon in the “Qizan al-Najjar” area south of Khan Yunis city in the southern Gaza Strip.” And again: “Upon their return from the battle lines, our fighters confirmed the detonation of three high-explosive devices in two Zionist military D9 bulldozers on Wednesday afternoon in the Qizan al-Najjar area, south of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.” The IDF and launched a raid in the town of Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.
A video shows the IDF attack on Jabalia al-Balad, in the Gaza Strip. On April 18, the Al-Qassam Brigades: “we detonated 3 high-explosive devices in two Israeli army D9 bulldozers in the Qizan al-Najjar area, south of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.”
Soldiers and settlers expel citizens from the Al-Hamar area in the southern West Bank and seize their lands. The IDF set up a checkpoint during the raid in the village of Salem, east of Nablus.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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