Opponents and supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad traded heavy machine gun fire and mortar shells in the Lebanese port city of Tripoli, leaving five people dead in what was described as some of the heaviest fighting there in years, officials said Thursday.
The United States and Israel raised hopes Thursday for a restart of the Middle East peace process, despite little tangible progress so far from U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry's 2-month-old effort to get Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table.
The United States and several key allies sought Wednesday a strategy to end Syria's civil war, their united efforts unable at the moment to stem the Assad regime's military gains and Washington still unwilling to join those providing the rebels with lethal military aid.
America should end its intervention in Syria or shift its support to President Bashir Assad. Iraq-based al Qaeda militants now control the rebellion. A shadowy terrorist named Baghdadi has moved from Iraq to northern Syria to control al Qaeda's operations there. He is a grotesque savage, determined to compel acceptance of radical Islam through religious courts and executions.
Israeli's military on Tuesday shot a Tamuz missile into Syria, destroying a post in retaliation for what it said was three consecutive nights of firing from Syria.
President Obama faces mounting bipartisan pressure for the U.S. to become more deeply involved in Syria's civil war, with a key Senate panel pushing through legislation Tuesday that would clear the way for the administration to supply weapons to rebels fighters in the Mideast nation.
Israeli's military warned on Tuesday that more strikes on Syria could be coming if the nation doesn't stand down its missile attacks.
Syria's President Bashar Assad emerged from the shadows to announce in a publicly televised interview that he's not stepping down, and he's not caving to "terrorists" who were tearing apart his country.
Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a newspaper interview Saturday he won't step down and will instead "face the storm," raising new doubts about a U.S-Russian effort to get Assad and his opponents to negotiate an end to the country's civil war.
