Middle East Expert | Jihadist groups. Bylines @AFP @AJArabic @AlQudsAlarabi, @The_NewArab, @Syriawise, @Arabnews.
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At the outset, it must be emphasized that the #Biden administration has always stressed its rejection of escalation in the Middle East. Since the first day after the October 7 attack, American officials have worked intensively to prevent war in #Gaza and confirmed their support for a hostage exchange deal at the price of responding to some of Hamas’s demands. The American justification at the time was that the war against #Hamas could lead to a regional war in which Iran and its militias in the region would participate, and that ground battles in Gaza would be very costly militarily and humanly. 
Α security source confirmed to me that last Thursday evening, special forces from the |#IDF carried out a special operation against a military facility belonging to the #IRGC, six kilometers southwest of the Syrian city of Masyaf.
The speech carried many messages, the most important of which was #Nasrallah’s emphasis on continuing to support #Gaza until there is a ceasefire there, despite internal and international pressure led by the Americans and the French. 
Although one of the terms of this truce is that it will last for four days, during these four days both #Qatar and the #US will work to intensify negotiations between the two sides of the war to extend this truce in exchange for the release of more hostages. 
Since Oct. 7 attack, the Israeli admin. adopted the decision to evacuate many towns close to the Lebanese border. Gradually, the evacuation process began to expand until it included all the villages to a depth of 5 km, with talk of expanding to 8 or 10 km. 
As it is known, #Riyadh is the second largest oil exporter in the world with about 10 mbd and the second largest reserves. #SaudiArabia also leads the #OPEC, which includes a number of oil exporters, making it an important influence on global oil prices. 
This announcement was not surprising to me or to those familiar with the scene in #Syria in particular and the Middle East in general. In my opinion, #Moscow is able to mobilize more than double that number and has already started accepting recruitment requests.
In the humanitarian scene, electricity has been cut off from the city since the beginning of the siege as a result of the Russian army’s targeting of power supply stations, causing the heating stopping in a cold winter weather with temperatures of -10 in the evening.
This step was met with fear and anxiety by the #Pentagon in #Washington under the pretext that it does not want the #US or any of the #NATO countries to have a direct role in the ongoing war in #Ukraine.
The statement indicated that the attack was carried out from over the Al-Tanf area and confirmed the deaths and injuries among the fighters of these militias. It also explicitly referred to an American role in this attack, and vowed to respond "very strong".2/6 
The first option, #Turkey may move towards exploiting what happened to carry out a media attack on the #YPG militia preparing for a military operation in another area less sensitive to #Russia (Ein al-Arab - Kobane city for example).2/6 
The Turkish Interior Ministry confirmed that the Kurdish #YPG militia was behind this attack, as it controls the Tal Rifat area, while a number of Turkish officials confirmed that #Turkey will not remain silent this time.2/7
At the outset, it must be clarified that this ban will mean, in one way or another, the cessation of the flow of aid from most of international organizations, whether governmental or non-governmental, which work under the cover of the United Nations in general.2/10 
This video carried many messages to us as researchers in the affairs of jihadist groups, which I will present in the form of points that may clarify the scene further to the reader on what is going on in #Iraq in particular and what may happen later.2/15