Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar denounced the attacks in Aleppo[xvi] and urged Western countries that care about the Kurdish people “not to remain silent”, without threatening Israeli action to intervene. Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz did not address the fighting in northeastern Syria. Amid a tense four-day ceasefire between government forces and the SDF, Russian forces fortified their military presence at the airport of Qamishli. They described the action as a “calculated redeployment rather than a withdrawal”[xviii] and said the troops were moved from Hmeimim airfield, Russia’s biggest military facility in Syria. [xix]The window of opportunity Iran’s internal turmoil has provided hastened al-Sharaa’s preparations to launch an offensive against Rojava since it removed the threat from Tehran potentially trying to prevent the unification of Syria.

Source: Washington Post January 31, 2026 11:10 UTC