Ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad says he had no plans to leave the country after the fall of Damascus a week ago but the Russian military evacuated him from their base in western Syria after it came under attack.
“I did not leave the country as part of a plan as it was reported earlier,” Assad said. The comments are the first by Assad since he was overthrown on Dec. 8 by jihadi-led Syrian rebels, who are now working to establish security and start a political transition.
Israel has been pounding what it says are military sites in Syria after the dramatic collapse of Assad’s rule, wiping out air defenses and most of the arsenal of the Syrian army. Israeli troops have also seized a border buffer zone, sparking condemnation, with critics accusing Israel of violating the 1974 ceasefire and possibly exploiting the chaos in Syria for a land grab.
Here is the latest:
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not testify Tuesday in his ongoing corruption trial, after his lawyers requested his testimony be cancelled.
He testified in court Sunday and he is expected to return on Wednesday. Netanyahu took the stand for the first time in his long-running corruption trial last week, becoming the only sitting Israeli leader to take the stand as a criminal defendant.
Netanyahu will answer to charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases. Netanyahu, 75, denies wrongdoing, saying the charges are a witch hunt orchestrated by a hostile media and a biased legal system out to topple his lengthy rule.
The testimony is set to take place six hours a day, three days a week for several weeks, and will take up a significant chunk of Netanyahu’s working hours as he faces Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza as well as developments in Syria and Lebanon.
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said a projectile launched from Yemen triggered sirens across the Tel Aviv metropolitan area on Monday afternoon.
The projectile was intercepted outside of Israel’s borders, the military said, without providing details on what type of projectile was intercepted.
There were no reports of casualties or major damage, according to Israel’s emergency services.
The Iranian-backed Yemeni rebels, known as the Houthis, have repeatedly fired drones and missiles toward Israel since the start of the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, but nearly all of those weapons have been intercepted.
In July, an Iranian-made drone launched by the Houthis struck Tel Aviv, killing one person and wounding 10 others. Israel responded with a wave of airstrikes on Houthi-held areas of Yemen, including the port city of Hodeidah.
The Houthis have also been attacking shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden — attacks they say won’t stop until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.
DAMASCUS, Syria — Ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad says he had no plans to leave the country after the fall of Damascus a week ago but the Russian military evacuated him after their base in western Syria came under attack.
The comments are the first by Assad since he was overthrown by insurgent groups.
Assad said in a statement on his Facebook page that he left Damascus on the morning of Dec. 8, hours after insurgents stormed the capital. He said he left in coordination with Russian allies to the Russian base in the coastal province of Latakia, where he planned to keep fighting.
Assad said that after the Russian base came under attack by drones, the Russians decided to move him on the night of Dec. 8 to Russia. “I did not leave the country as part of a plan as it was reported earlier,” Assad said.
“At no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge nor was such proposal made by any individual or party,” Assad said in the English text of his statement. “The only course of action was to continue fighting against the terrorist onslaught.”
Health officials in the Gaza Strip say the death toll from the 14-month war between Israel and Hamas militants has reached 45,028 people.
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