Syrians celebrate as Sharaa agrees truce with SDF's Abdi

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Syria's Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that about 120 Islamic State detainees escaped from Shaddadi prison, after the Kurdish website Rudaw reported that a spokesperson for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Farhad Shami, said around 1,500 Islamic State members had escaped.

The Syrian ministry said Syrian army units and ministry special forces entered Shaddadi following the breakout. It said security forces had recaptured 81 of the escapees after search and sweep operations in the town and surrounding areas, with efforts continuing to arrest the remaining fugitives.

Earlier, the Syrian army said "a number of" Islamic State militants had escaped a prison that had been under SDF control in the eastern city of Shaddadi, accusing the SDF of releasing them.

After days of fighting with government forces, the SDF agreed on Sunday to withdraw from both Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, two Arab-majority provinces they had controlled for years and the location of Syria's main oil fields.

The UAE's defense ministry denied on Tuesday a statement by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government that the Gulf country was running "secret prisons" in the eastern Yemeni province of Hadramout.

The Yemeni government accused the United Arab Emirates on Monday of running a secret prison at an airbase near the south Yemeni port city of Mukalla, fueling tensions in a row between the two Gulf oil states.

The Kurdish website Rudaw reported that a spokesperson for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Farhad Shami, said around 1500 Islamic State members escaped from Syria's Shaddadi prison.

Earlier, the Syrian army said "a number of" Islamic State militants had escaped a prison that had been under SDF control in the eastern city of Shaddadi, accusing the SDF of releasing them. The army did not say how many escaped. 

Germany's Lufthansa airline will not operate flights "from and to Tehran up to and including March 29", a spokeswoman for the company told AFP Monday.

The spokeswoman said that Austrian, which is also part of the Lufthansa group, would not run flights to Tehran until at least February 16.

On Wednesday the group said it would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace but the spokeswoman said that "a corridor of Iraqi airspace will be used" beginning Tuesday, January 20.

"Iranian airspace will continue to be avoided," the spokeswoman said.

Israeli forces carried out multiple raids across the occupied West Bank on Monday evening, according to local media.

Israeli soldiers stormed the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan, west of Salfit, and Bir Nabala, northwest of Jerusalem, where they fired tear gas canisters around the bridge area.

Israeli forces also raided an area in Jenin, firing sound bombs and tear gas canisters, and deploying soldiers throughout its streets, with no detentions reported.

Earlier today, Israeli forces raided the town of Ya’bad, south of Jenin, and drove their military vehicles through its neighbourhoods and streets.

A French journalist was one of 10 people arrested by police in Istanbul late Monday at a protest over a Syrian government offensive targeting Kurdish fighters, the pro-Kurdish DEM party told AFP.

Raphael Boukandoura, who works for various French publications including Ouest France and Courrier International, was arrested outside DEM's Sancaktepe Istanbul offices, the party said, with his arrest also confirmed by Reporters Without Borders.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and US President Donald Trump discussed developments in Syria in a phone call on Monday, the Syrian presidency said.

The two urged preserving the rights of Kurdish people within the Syrian state and agreed to continue cooperation to combat the Islamic State, the presidency added.

On Sunday, the Syrian government signed a sweeping integration deal with the Kurdish led Syrian Democratic forces, though tensions persisted the following day. 

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Monday said "all military activities must cease immediately" in Syria after a deal struck between Syrian and Kurdish-led forces which includes a ceasefire.

"The ceasefire between Syrian interim authorities and SDF are vital steps to prevent the country from sliding back into turmoil," she said. "De-escalation commitments must be fully respected, and civilians must be protected," she added.

"The EU goal remains a genuinely inclusive political transition in Syria. For this to happen, the integration of military, security, and civilian institutions into unified state structures, alongside meaningful political and local participation, is essential. The full protection of Kurdish rights is also crucial," Kallas said in a statement.

Morocco's King Mohammed VI has accepted US President Donald Trump's invitation to join his "Board of Peace" as a founding member, the Moroccan foreign ministry said on Monday.

"Welcoming President Donald Trump's commitment and vision to promoting peace," the monarch "has graciously accepted this invitation", the ministry said in a statement published by MAP news agency, adding the country would "ratify the charter establishing this board".

Shelling heard near north Syria's Raqqa city despite ceasefire, AFP said on Monday.

 The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Monday that Turkish drones struck Syria's far northeastern city of Hasaka, but Turkish security sources said the report was not true.

The region continues to grapple with unrest amid tensions between the Syrian government and the autonomy-minded SDF.

Turkey, the strongest foreign backer of Damascus, has since 2016 repeatedly sent forces into northern Syria to curb the gains of the SDF, which over the course of Syria's 2011–24 civil war took control of more than a quarter of the country while fighting Islamic State militants with strong US support. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Monday there would be no place for Turkish or Qatari soldiers in post-war Gaza and reiterated Israel's objection to the composition of a US-backed advisory panel for the Palestinian territory.

Netanyahu has previously expressed objections to the makeup of the "Gaza executive board".

"In the Gaza Strip, we are on the eve of phase two of the Trump plan. Phase two means one simple thing: Hamas will be disarmed, and Gaza will be demilitarised," Netanyahu said in parliament.

"There will be no Turkish or Qatari soldiers in the Gaza Strip," he added, in an apparent reference to the International Stabilisation Force (ISF) for the territory set out under the Trump plan.

Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 71,550 Palestinians and wounded a further 171,365 since 7 October 2023.

Hospitals in the enaclabe recieved one fatality and 12 injuries over the past 24 hours. 

The toll does not include the thousands missing or trapped beneath the rubble presumed dead.

A deal under which Kurdish forces abandoned long-held territory in Syria to the Syrian government could pave the way for Turkey to advance its stalled effort to end its decades-long conflict with the PKK, Turkish politicians and officials said on Monday.

After days of fighting, the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed on Sunday to bring Kurdish authorities under the control of Damascus. By Monday, SDF fighters had pulled out of swathes of territory which were now under the control of the Syrian military.

Neighbour Turkey has long considered the SDF in Syria to be an offshoot of the banned PKK, or Kurdistan Workers Party, which decided in May last year to disarm, disband and end its decades-long war against the Turkish state.

Turkish officials have long said that as long as the SDF controlled a swathe of territory across the border, it was difficult to end the war with the PKK. But now, with the SDF pulling out of two Syrian provinces, Turkish leaders see progress resuming.

Israel has received an invitation from the United States to join President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" initiative aimed at resolving global conflicts, two sources briefed on the matter told Reuters.

It was not immediately clear if Israel had accepted the invitation. The prime minister's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump originally proposed establishing the Board of Peace when he announced last September his plan to end the war in Gaza. But an invitation sent to world leaders last week, seen by Reuters, outlines a broad role ending conflicts globally.

Iran's national police chief said on Monday that people who were "deceived" into joining demonstrations the authorities have deemed "riots" would receive lighter punishment if they turned themselves in within three days.

"Young people who became unwittingly involved in the riots are considered to be deceived individuals, not enemy soldiers", and "will be treated with leniency by the Islamic Republic system", Ahmad-Reza Radan told state television, adding they had "a maximum of three days" to surrender.

Iran's foreign minister will not be attending the Davos summit in Switzerland this week, the organisers said Monday, stressing it would not be "right" after the recent deadly crackdown on protesters in Iran.

Abbas Araghchi had been scheduled to speak on Tuesday during the annual gathering of the global elite at the upscale Swiss ski resort town.

But activists have been calling on the World Economic Forum organisers to disinvite him amid what rights groups have called a "massacre" in his country.

"The Iranian Foreign Minister will not be attending Davos," the World Economic Forum said on X.

"Although he was invited last fall, the tragic loss of lives of civilians in Iran over the past few weeks means that it is not right for the Iranian government to be represented at Davos this year," it added.

The Iranian Foreign Minister will not be attending Davos.
Although he was invited last fall, the tragic loss of lives of civilians in Iran over the past few weeks means that it is not right for the Iranian government to be represented at Davos this year. pic.twitter.com/NRjbqAoqe9

— World Economic Forum (@wef) January 19, 2026

Iran appears to be using executions "as a tool of state intimidation", the United Nations said Monday, as it denounced a jump in capital punishment globally in 2025.

The Islamic Republic reportedly executed 1,500 people last year, UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.

"The scale and pace of executions suggest a systematic use of capital punishment as a tool of state intimidation, with disproportionate impact on ethnic minorities and migrants," he warned.

The spike in executions in Iran, which, according to rights groups, is the world's most prolific executioner after China, had contributed to "an alarming increase" in the use of capital punishment worldwide last year, Turk said.

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Polish President Karol Nawrocki has been invited to join the Gaza Board of Peace by United States President Donald Trump, news website Onet reported on Monday, citing two independent sources.

Reuters was unable to immediately reach the president's spokesperson and foreign policy adviser for comment.

Internet access in Iran will "gradually" return to normal this week, a senior Iranian official said Monday on the 11th day of an unprecedented shutdown.

Iran earlier this month imposed a nationwide communications blackout amid huge anti-government protests.

"The internet will gradually return to normal operations this week," Hossein Afshin, Iran's vice president for science, technology and the knowledge economy, said Monday on state television.

On Sunday, limited internet access briefly returned for some foreign websites such as Google, but as of Monday it was still impossible to open links from search results.

The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is set to get much worse in 2026 as food insecurity increases and international aid evaporates, the United Nations warned on Monday.

Julien Harneis, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said he feared the calamitous situation would go under the radar until the death toll mounts.

The picture in Yemen is "very, very concerning", he told reporters in Geneva.

Last year, 19.5 million people in the country needed humanitarian aid -- and the UN's response plan for the country was only 28-percent financed, at $688 million.

"We are expecting things to be much worse in 2026," said Harneis, pointing out that 21 million Yemenis were in need and aid was drying up.

The far-right and extremist Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to shut a US-led multinational coordinating centre that supports US President Donald Trump's plan to end the Gaza war.

Washington established the Civil Military Coordination Centre (CMCC) last October as a centre for civilian and military personnel from other countries to work alongside US and Israeli officials on post-war Gaza planning.

"The time has come to dismantle the headquarters in Kiryat Gat," said Smotrich, in remarks shared by his office to the media, referring to the Israeli city northeast of Gaza where the centre is based.

The Israeli prime minister's office, the US State Department, and the US military's Central Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the remarks.

Smotrich also said that Britain, Egypt, and other countries that are "hostile to Israel and undermine its security" should be removed from the CMCC. The British and Egyptian foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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The Israeli army carried out several strikes in southern Lebanon on Monday, despite Lebanon this month announcing progress in disarming the group.

"A short while ago, the (Israeli military) struck terror infrastructure in several areas of southern Lebanon... used by Hezbollah to conduct drills and training for terrorists" to attack Israeli forces and civilians, the military said in a statement without providing any evidence to back up their claim.

It did not specify the exact locations, but Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported "a series of Israeli strikes" on at least five villages, Ansar, Zarariyeh, Kfar Melki, Nahr al-Shita and Buslaya.

Israel has continued to launch regular strikes in the area even after a ceasefire was agreed with Hezbollah in November 2024 to end more than a year of hostilities.

Syria's army said three soldiers were killed on Monday in attacks by Kurdish fighters, while the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces accused the government of launching attacks despite a ceasefire announced a day earlier.

In a statement to state news agency SANA, the army said three soldiers were killed and others wounded in two attacks, without saying where, adding that "some terrorist groups... are attempting to disrupt the implementation" of the ceasefire deal.

The SDF in a statement accused government forces of attacks on its fighters in several locations in north and northeast Syria, adding that "violent clashes are taking place... in the vicinity" of a prison in Raqa that holds detainees from the Islamic State group.

Turkish security sources said on Monday that an integration deal between Syria's government and Kurdish forces marked an "historic turning point", ahead of which Turkey's intelligence agency played an intensive role to ensure restraint by parties on the ground.

The fight against Islamic State in Syria would continue uninterrupted, the sources said, adding that establishing stability and security in Syria was critically important for Turkey's goal of eliminating terrorism at home.

Turkey's intelligence agency had been in dialogue with the United States and the Syrian government ahead of the deal, they added.

Syria's army on Monday deployed its forces in parts of the eastern Deir az-Zour province formerly controlled by Kurdish forces following their withdrawal from the area.

In Deir az-Zour, an AFP correspondent saw dozens of military vehicles heading to the east of the Euphrates River, which once separated Damascus-controlled areas to the west from the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to the east.

Lines of cars, trucks and motorcycles formed in front of a small bridge leading to the eastern bank.

Britain has signalled its willingness to play a role in the second phase of a ceasefire in Gaza, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday, when asked about the US-led "Board of Peace".

Speaking at a press conference, Starmer said Britain was in discussions with its allies on the terms.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to join US President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace," which is meant to oversee governance and reconstruction in postwar Gaza, the Kremlin said Monday.

"President Putin also received an invitation to join this Board of Peace," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, including AFP, adding that Russia was seeking to "clarify all the nuances" of the offer with Washington.

France on Monday welcomed a ceasefire between the Syrian government and Kurdish-led forces and stressed it remained loyal to the latter, who spearheaded the battle against the Islamic State group.

"France is faithful to its allies," the foreign ministry said, urging all sides to respect the ceasefire deal, which will also see the Kurdish administration and forces integrate into the state after months of stalled negotiations.

Saudi Arabia has welcomed the ceasefire and the integration of the Syrian Democratic Forces into the Syrian state.

"The Kingdom hopes that this agreement will contribute to reinforcing security and stability, building state institutions, and applying the law to meet the aspirations of the Syrian people for development and prosperity," Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The state added it hopes the truce "will contribute to reestablishing security and stability".

Hackers disrupted Iranian state television satellite transmissions to air footage supporting the country's exiled crown prince and calling on security forces to not "point your weapons at the people," footage online showed early Monday, the latest disruption to follow nationwide protests in the country.

The footage aired Sunday night across multiple channels broadcast by satellite from Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the country's state broadcaster, which has a monopoly on television and radio broadcasting.

The video aired two clips of exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, then included footage of security forces and others in what appeared to be Iranian police uniforms. It claimed without offering evidence that others had "laid down their weapons and swore an oath of allegiance to the people."

"This is a message to the army and security forces," one graphic read. "Don't point your weapons at the people. Join the nation for the freedom of Iran."

The hacking comes as the death toll in a crackdown by authorities that smothered the demonstrations reached at least 3,919 people killed, activists said. They fear the number will grow far higher as information leaks out of a country still gripped by the government's decision to shut down the internet.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has been invited to join the Gaza "Board of Peace" proposed by US President Donald Trump, and Tokayev has agreed, Tengri news outlet reported on Monday, quoting the Kazakh president's press secretary.

The board would be chaired for life by Trump and would start by addressing the Gaza conflict, then expand to deal with other conflicts, according to a copy of the letter and draft charter seen by Reuters.

Tokayev's spokesman, Ruslan Zheldibay, said that Kazakhstan had been invited to become one of the founding states of the Board of Peace.

"The head of state sent a letter to the president of the United States expressing sincere gratitude and confirming his agreement to join this new association," Zheldibay was quoted as saying by Tengri.