President Joe Biden is pledging undefined retaliation after three US troops were killed and dozens more injured in a drone strike Jan. 28, being blamed on one of the Iran-backed militias that have been harassing US-led coalition forces in Iraq and Syria since eruption of the new Gaza conflict. It is widely reported that the target was a site in Jordan known as Tower 22, which provides logistical support for the US outpost across the border at al-Tanf, Syria—near where the borders of Jordan, Syria and Iraq intersect. However, a communique that day from the umbrella group for Iran-backed factions known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq did not mention Tower 22, but claimed responsibility for drone strikes on three sites within Syria. These are al-Tanf, the nearby border outpost of Rukban, and Shaddadi—over 200 kilometers away in Hasakah governorate, in the northeastern corner of Syria, near oil fields that are under the control of US-backed Kurdish forces. (See map) (AP, LWJ)

At least 10 people, including children, were reported killed in Jordanian air-strikes in Syria's  southwest Jan. 16. Several homes were destroyed in Arman, Suweida province, near the border with Jordan, according to the Syrian Observatory For Human Rights. The monitoring group has noted several Jordanian strikes and border raids in recent weeks targeting Iran-backed militias believed to be behind a surge in smuggling into the kingdom, particularly of the amphetamine Captagon. On Jan. 7, SOHR reported that five presumed smugglers were killed and 15 others arrested by Jordanian forces after clashes on the border. During the operation, large amounts of Captagon and hashish were confiscated. (SOHR, BBC News)

In a report issued Dec. 11, Human Rights Watch (HRW) charged that both the Houthis and government forces have violated residents' right to water in the ongoing siege of Taizz, Yemen. For the past eight years, the besieging Houthi forces have cut off the flow from watersheds under their control to the Taizz Local Water & Sanitation Corporation (TLWSC), which manages and maintains the city's water supply and sewage treatment system. These watersheds previously provided 77% of the city's supply. The government troops that control the city have meanwhile sold the public water from wells within the urban area for their own profit. HRW called upon both parties to "allow Taizz's local water agency to access, repair, and operate water infrastructure on the front lines and in Houthi-controlled territory." (Jurist)

Senior Houthi official Mohammed Al-Bukaiti issued a statement Dec. 19 saying the Yemeni armed movement would not stop its military operations in the Red Sea unless Israel stops what he referred to as "genocide crimes" in Gaza and allows humanitarian aid to enter the Strip. The move comes despite the US announcement of a new naval coalition to counter the attacks.

The National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary & Opposition Forces, which maintains an Istanbul-based government-in-exile, issued a press release Nov. 25 with details of the latest aerial attack in rebel-held Iblid province by forces of the Bashar Assad regime. At the village of Qaqfin, regime warplanes "specifically targeted a family engaged in the olive harvest, resulting in the tragic loss of nine innocent lives, including women and children," according to the statement. "This appalling crime underscores the urgent need for a resolute international response to strengthen accountability for the ongoing war crimes perpetrated by the Assad regime against the Syrian people."

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague issued an interim order on Nov. 16 directing the Syrian government to "take all measures within its powers" to prevent torture. This development stems from a case brought by the Netherlands and Canada, accusing Syria of engaging in a prolonged campaign of torture of its own citizens. The court's order seeks to safeguard potential victims as the case proceeds. Syria is accused of breaching the Convention against Torture & Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

France issued arrest warrants on Nov. 15 for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher al-Assad, de facto chief of the regime's elite 4th Armored division, as well as two high-ranking military generals. The warrants stem from an investigation into two chemical weapons attacks that occurred in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta in August 2013, resulting in the death of over 1,000 people. French officials launched the investigation in 2021 after the Syrian Center for Media & Freedom of Expression (SCM) and other nongovernmental organizations filed a complaint with the Specialized Unit for Crimes against Humanity & War Crimes of the Paris Judicial Court. The SCM argued that the use of chemical weapons is a jus cogens crime, implying an absolute prohibition with no immunity based on state sovereignty.

A group of Turkish mothers whose sons and daughters were forcibly disappeared in the 1980s and '90s held a public vigil in Istanbul without police interference Nov. 11. This marked the first time the "Saturday Mothers" group has been allowed to proceed with such an event since police dispersed their last gathering in August 2018. The group's vigils had persisted for nearly three decades. The vigil was resumed after Turkey's Constitutional Court ruled earlier this year that suppression of the event violated participants' rights.