Thousands of people fled the central Syrian city of Homs overnight and into Friday morning, a war monitoring group and residents said, as rebel forces sought to push their lightning offensive against government forces further south.
“Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions have reached five kilometres from the outskirts of Homs city after controlling the towns of Rastan and Talbisseh,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, adding that controlling Homs would allow the rebels to “cut off the main road leading to the Syrian coast”, the stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite minority.
Rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) “entered the cities of Rastan and Talbisseh” on the main road from the strategic central city of Hama to Homs, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reporting “the total absence of regime forces” in those areas.
In northern Gaza, Israeli forces raided the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, detaining many patients and forcing medical staff and patients to leave.
This comes amid Israel’s relentless bombing of northern Gaza, killing dozens.
