US Ambassador to Turkey and Trump’s representative in Syria, Barrack: “Prime Minister Netanyahu and Syrian representative President Ahmed al-Sharaa accept the ceasefire with the support of the United States.” But the ceasefire never actually came into effect. The Druze, divided into three large groups, are not all in favor of Israel’s initiatives in Syria. In fact, two of these Muslim groups want Syrian control of the area, with 2,500 Syrian government security personnel arriving.
White House officials, including US Presidential Special Envoy Witkoff, are concerned about Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s “destructiveness” and regional policies, Axios reports: “There is growing skepticism in the Trump administration toward Netanyahu, people believing he is trigger-happy and too destructive.” As the portal reports, Trump has so far refrained from publicly criticizing Netanyahu, and it is unclear whether he shares his advisers’ disappointment. The US Embassy in Syria has urged its citizens to leave Syrian territory for Jordan by land. The US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier CVN 78 Gerald R. Ford entered the Mediterranean Sea yesterday, and it is highly likely its support will be in an anti-Houthi effort.
Palestinian Forces Alliance: “We reject Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ unilateral decision to reform the National Council on the basis of PLO law. This program recognizes Israel and adheres to the Oslo Accords, which ceded 78% of the territory of historic Palestine, and contradicts the national constants and inalienable rights of our people, among which are the right of return, liberation, and resistance to occupation.”
A Jerusalem court postponed Netanyahu’s testimony due to the Israeli Prime Minister’s illness, according to As reported by the Times of Israel. This time it’s food poisoning. In 2019, the state attorney general announced his decision to file charges against Netanyahu for corruption, fraud, and breach of public trust in three cases. Yair Golan, leader of the Democratic Party: “This government has turned hell into routine, made us indifferent to suffering, turned mourning into a daily occurrence, and accustomed us to the madness of the systems and corruption. The Democrats will not take a vacation: we will continue the fight.” The Mossad director visited Washington this week to ask for US help in convincing other countries to accept hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza.
From Lebanon, it is learned that the meeting between President Aoun and US envoy Thomas Barrak, in the presence of the US ambassador to Lebanon, did not bear fruit. American sources told MTV: “Tom Barrak brings with him a direct assessment from Trump regarding the Lebanese response to the US proposal to implement the plan for the delivery of weapons and the withdrawal of the Israeli army. Reports on this matter are contradictory, and some say he has no guarantees. Barak’s agenda is expected to be very busy in Lebanon.
The 99th IDF Division eliminates a Hamas platoon commander in the Beit Hanoun area. A doctor is missing in Gaza.
The Supreme Commander of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, said he welcomed the efforts of the United States and Damascus that led to a ceasefire to support civil peace in As-Suwayda, southern Syria.
The agreement signed between Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri and the security forces, which some sources believe to be indirectly sponsored by the United States and Israel, provided, in its first article, for the deployment of the General Security Forces outside the administrative borders of As-Suwayda to protect members of the Druze community from possible attacks. Now, according to reports on the ground, Hikmat-affiliated militias are not respecting the agreement and have even opened fire on security forces attempting to deploy in the city, in clear violation of the agreement and threatening the ceasefire. The agreement has been violated and resigned at least twice since this incident.
Mahmoud Mousavi, a senior official in Iran’s military operations department, said on July 21 that Iran has replaced all air defense systems damaged in the war with Israel. “We cannot hide the fact that some systems were damaged, but we have replaced them with new systems that have been preserved in safe places to ensure the continued protection of Iranian airspace,” Mousavi said. No nuclear talks are planned with the United States.
And now an update on the scenarios updated at 4:30 PM on July 21. Several Houthi attacks by Ansar Allah over the weekend. A ballistic missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen against Israel was intercepted by air defenses, the Israeli military said on Friday. No clashes or injuries were reported. Sirens sounded in several cities in central Israel and in Jerusalem. Since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis have launched 62 ballistic missiles and at least 15 drones at Israel. Several missiles missed air defenses.
On the afternoon of July 21, the Houthis claimed responsibility for attacks with Drones: “The Israeli Air Force carried out a high-level military operation with drones, hitting five vital military targets.” Targets included Ben Gurion Airport, the port of Eilat, Eilat-Ramon Airport, the Jaffa area, and a vital target in the Ashdod area.
Two Israeli engineer reservists were seriously injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion in the southern Gaza Strip on July 19. Among the injured were a reservist from the 710th Engineer Battalion and a reservist from the 749th Engineer Battalion. According to an IDF investigation, the soldiers were injured by an explosive device while aboard a Humvee. A security incident in the Gaza Strip also left one dead and at least two wounded in critical condition on July 21. Several casualties were reported following an Israeli airstrike on an island. Desalination plant in the Al-Remal neighborhood of Gaza City.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has issued a new evacuation advisory for Palestinian residents in southwest Deir el-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, in connection with the imminent start of a ground operation, the first of its kind in this area. “The IDF continues to operate actively, destroying enemy forces and Hamas infrastructure in this area, expanding its operations to areas where it has never operated before,” IDF Arabic-speaking spokesperson Colonel Avichai Adrai stated on X. The civilian population has been ordered to move south, to the coastal area of Mawasi. The airstrike began on the afternoon of July 21. A group of Palestinians were injured near the Al-Sawarka cemetery in the central Gaza Strip.
Israeli airstrike in the center of the city of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the correspondent of Al-Mayadeen: “Israeli airstrike near the Al-Katiba neighborhood northwest of the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.”
In Lebanon, “an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon killed another Hezbollah commander,” the IDF said. A drone strike on Yochmor killed Ahmad Mohammad Salah, who the army said was the head of Hezbollah forces in the city. Salah was involved in rebuilding Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the Yochmor area, and his actions “represent a serious violation of the agreements between Israel and Lebanon.”
On July 20, the Lebanese Army reported: “Israeli engineering and combat vehicles crossed the technical barrier and attempted to carry out excavation work on the outskirts of the city of Rmeish – Bint Jbeil, in violation of Resolution 1701 and the ceasefire agreement.” “As a result, the Lebanese Army has strengthened its presence.” in the area, and a UNIFIL patrol arrived to document the violations, forcing Israeli forces to retreat inland.
Israeli boats crossed the border into Lebanon and headed toward a Lebanese fisherman. Contact with the boat has been lost, and it is feared that the fisherman has been kidnapped or killed. Lebanese army boats are now heading toward the area. A few weeks ago, the Israeli army kidnapped a Lebanese fisherman. He is still being held in an Israeli prison. A brick and cement factory was blown up by the IDF between the towns of Maroun al-Ras and Yaroun, in southern Lebanon. A local account wrote: “The Jews are not fighting Hezbollah. They are fighting the existence of Shiites and Lebanese in the border area of southern Lebanon (…) The IDF dropped leaflets claiming that this factory was working for Hezbollah. They even told people to listen to their propaganda radio for such claims.”
Fighting has been and continues to be fought in Syria in al-Suwayda area. Syrian security forces seized air-to-air missiles from the Druze, apparently stolen from one of the former Syrian Air Force air bases. Tribal forces began moving from the Deir ez-Zor region to al-Suwayda. Militants rushed to take their seats on the bus. Syrian tribal and clan forces, who declared a mobilization against the Druze militia associated with the al-Hijri movement, took control of the settlement of as-Sawarah as-Sughra in al-Suwayda. Many settlements in the region were subsequently retaken from the al-Hijri militia. Tribal forces began executing Druze prisoners. According to another version, the Druze themselves carried out the executions. The Druze also executed tribal members. A ceasefire was declared again on July 19.
But it didn’t help much. Militias linked to pro-Israel figure Hikmat al-Hajri attacked Syrian Internal Security Forces deployed at the entrances to the town of As-Suwayda. Sheikh Ismail al-Khaldi, president of the Union of Bedouin Tribes in Syria, said in an interview with SYRIA TV: “We are not interested in war, only peace, but we will not give up a single inch of the territory we conquered in Suwayda until the security forces enter.”
According to him, “The militias loyal to Hikmat al-Jari commit atrocities, are liars, and violate all agreements, so we have no trust in them and will not retreat a single step until the security forces take full control of the region.”
Clashes continued throughout the day on the 19th, and an Israeli drone killed a Turkish citizen. On July 20, fighting intensified near the Al Omran roundabout in the center of As-Suwayda, with reports of heavy gunfire, rocket launchers, and moving armored vehicles. The Syrian Minister of Health stated: “Al-Hajari refuses to allow the official government delegation and the humanitarian convoy into Suwayda province.”
On July 20, intense clashes continued in the towns of Shahba and Al-Arika, where tribal fighters and Druze militants are engaged in direct combat. At least 79 women were abducted from their homes in As-Suwayda. Local Syrian media outlets reportedly arrested an Israeli soldier, believed to be an IDF sniper.
The IDF began targeting Syrian forces in the Quneitra area. During the fighting in As-Suwayda, Christians were also spotted fighting alongside Druze. US Ambassador to Ankara Tom Barrack: “We have no position on a potential security agreement between Turkey and Syria.” — Associated Press. Meanwhile, clashes have killed 940 people. On the afternoon of July 21, clashes resumed between al-Jawlani forces and the Druze. 2,500 troops close to the Syrian government are reportedly arriving to besiege the city.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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