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Syrian Shi’ites and Other Minorities Flee to Lebanon, Fearing Islamist Rule

A drone view shows people walking near a statue in Damascus, after Syrian rebels ousted President Bashar al-Assad, Syria, Dec. 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Hassano

Tens of thousands of Syrians, mostly Shi’ite Muslims, have fled to Lebanon since Sunni Muslim Islamists toppled Bashar al-Assad, fearing persecution despite assurances from the new rulers in Damascus that they will be safe, a Lebanese official said.

At the border with Lebanon, where thousands of people were trying to leave Syria on Thursday, a dozen Shi’ite Muslims interviewed by Reuters described threats made against them, sometimes in person but mostly on social media.

Their accounts reflect fears of persecution despite promises of protection by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – the Sunni Islamist group which has emerged as the dominant force in the new Syria but is far from being the only armed faction on the ground.

Shi’ite communities have often been on the frontline of Syria’s 13-year civil war, which took on sectarian dimensions as Assad, from the minority Alawite faith, mobilised regional Shi’ite allies, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, to help fight Sunni rebels.

The senior Lebanese security official said more than 100,000 people, largely members of minority faiths, had crossed into Lebanon since Sunday, but could not give an exact number because most of them had used illegal crossings along the porous border.

At the main border crossing between Syria and Lebanon, Samira Baba said she had been waiting for three days to enter Lebanon with her children.

“We don’t know who sent these threats, on WhatsApp and Facebook,” she said. “The rebels in charge haven’t openly threatened us, so it could be other factions, or individuals. We just don’t know. But we know it’s time to leave,” she said.

The new Syria holds uncertainty for many, especially minorities. Shi’ites are thought to number around a tenth of the population, which stood at 23 million before the war began.

While HTS, which has cut its ties with the global jihadist network al Qaeda, is the most powerful of the constellation of factions that fought Assad, there are numerous other armed groups, many of which are Islamist.

Ayham Hamada, a 39-year-old Shi’ite who was serving in the army when Assad fell, said the regime’s collapse was so sudden that it left him and his brother, also a soldier, scrambling to decide whether to stay or go.

They fled to Damascus where they received threats, he said, without elaborating. “We are afraid of sectarian killings… this will be liquidation.”

Despite assurances voiced by HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, Hamada said minorities have been left without protection after Assad’s sudden flight. “Bashar took his money and fled and didn’t pay attention to us,” he said.

Many of the Shi’ites at the border were from Sayyeda Zeinab, a Damascus district home to a Shi’ite shrine where fighters from Hezbollah and other Shi’ite militias were based. Supported by Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards, the Shi’ite militias also came from Iraq and Afghanistan, and recruited some Syrian Shi’ites.

Elham, a 30-year-old nurse, said she had been waiting at the crossing for days without food or water with her 10-day-old niece and two-year-old son.

A Shi’ite from Damascus, she said she fled to rural areas when the regime fell. When she returned, she found her house looted and torched. She and others said that armed, masked men raided their homes and ordered them at gunpoint to leave, or be killed.

“They took our car because they said it’s theirs. You daren’t say a word. We left everything and fled.”

Reuters could not immediately reach HTS officials for comment on threats received by minorities.

‘WE ARE ALL ONE PEOPLE’

In parts of Syria’s north, however, some residents who fled when HTS went on the offensive in late November said they now felt confident to return.

“My wife is Sunni. We are all one people and one nation,” Hussein Al-Saman, 48, a Shi’ite father of three told Reuters, next to the main mosque in the Shi’ite town of Nubl, where Hezbollah once stationed fighters.

He praised HTS leader Sharaa for his efforts to protect the community, saying he “enabled us to come to our houses”.

“We were a minority and didn’t have a choice but to stand with (Assad). But now that the war is over we are free… I hope for my children to just live comfortably under the new government.”

Bassam Abdulwahab, an official overseeing the returns, said essential services had been restored. “Security was provided to protect the minorities,” he said, adding that this “is the approach of the commanding leadership”.

“We carry the responsibility of protecting the minorities in Syria. What happens to us happens to them,” he said.

At the entrance to Nubl, a statue of Assad lay toppled. Further into the town, residents cleaned stores and repaired damaged buildings, while officials in military fatigues coordinated the return of those who had fled.

“The (Assad) regime forced the minorities here to live in a situation where they had to be enemies of their neighbours,” said Muhyie Al-Dien, who works in mining. “The regime played its game so it could divide us and our Sunni brothers.”

While some in Nubl spoke hopefully of the future, one 41-year-old man, who gave his name as Hami and declined to speak on camera, was more cautious. “We are Shi’ite and the new leadership is Sunni. We don’t know what will happen,” he said.

The post Syrian Shi’ites and Other Minorities Flee to Lebanon, Fearing Islamist Rule first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.

Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.

“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”

GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’

Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.

“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.

“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.

“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.

After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”

RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL

Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”

Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.

“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”

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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco

Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.

People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.

“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”

Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.

On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.

Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.

On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.

“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.

Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.

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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.

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