In the past couple of days, there have been a number of diplomatic developments regarding the ongoing situation in Syria. Yesterday, both the Turkish and Qatari intelligence chiefs, Ibrahim Kalin and Khalfan Al-Kaabi, visited Damascus to discuss next steps and the future of the Turkish-Syrian diplomatic relationship. Most notably, in a move reminiscent of Putin’s visit to North Korea, Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham’s (HTS) leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa (al-Jolani), picked up both intelligence chiefs in his car. Additionally, after 12 years of severed diplomatic relations, Turkey has appointed a new charge d'affaires, Burhan Koroglu, to run its embassy in Damascus.

Yesterday, amidst ongoing clashes between the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Ankara and met with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan. The SDF has been on the back foot since the fall of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime due to a significant SNA offensive backed by Turkish artillery and drone strikes. 

After last week’s imposition of martial law, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has now been impeached by South Korea’s parliament. While Yoon will still remain in office, his powers will be suspended. His prime minister, Han Duck-soo, will take on the role of acting president and the powers that Yoon lost. 

Iran’s Tehran Revolutionary Court has sentenced Iranian-American Reza Valizadeh to 10 years in prison for “collaborating with the hostile U.S. government.” Valizadeh, a former journalist for VOA News and Radio Free Europe, came back to Iran back in March of this year but was not arrested until six months into his stay, his lawyer Mohammad Hossein Aghasi told The Associated Press. Valizadeh’s arrest and subsequent sentencing is the latest development against the backdrop of rising U.S.-Iranian tensions in the past year. 

During their Withdrawal this week from the City of Deir ez-Zor in Eastern Syria, the U.S-Backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were seen transporting several 2K12 "Kub" Surface-to-Air Missile Batteries that they had captured from what used to be the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).

Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the Former Leader of Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and now Leader of the Syrian Transitional Government, says earlier today in a Message to the Kurds; that the Kurdish People are part of the Syrian Homeland, and that he and the incoming Government will do everything they can to return the Afrin and other Areas in the North under the control of Turkish Forces, back to the Kurds.

Traders on Polymarket currently believe there is only a 20% Chance that Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad makes a Public Appearance by the end of December; with everything that has happened, some have stated that he is being kept hidden in Moscow by Russian President Putin.

The Israeli Air Force carried out a New Wave of several Dozen Airstrikes tonight on Former Sites and Weapons Depots of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), around the Capital of Damascus and in the Homs and Hama Governorates.

President-Elect Donald J. Trump announced earlier today that he would be nominating Troy Edgar, the Former Mayor of Los Alamitos, U.S. Navy Veteran, and Executive at IBM, to be his Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.

Hezbollah’s leader, Naim Qassem, has now admitted that key supply routes from Syria to Lebanon have been closed since the fall of Syria’s former president, Bashar al-Assad. The Hezbollah leader also posited that “a new regime could come and [the] route could return to normal,” and/or that the current regime, led by Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, could stabilize and open a path for alignment.

However, given ongoing divisions and clashes in northern Syria, recent reports of pro-regime insurgent activity, and the nascent government still being formed, it’s highly unlikely that Hezbollah will be able to quickly reestablish these supply routes.

General Michael E. Kurilla, the Commander of U.S. Central Command, held a Security Assessment on Friday with Israeli Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Michael Kurilla, as well as other Senior Israeli Military Leaders; with the Assessment focusing on “Security-Strategic Issues as part of the Response to Threats in the Middle East, with an emphasis on the Northern Arena and Iran.”

South Korean Prosecutors are seeking an Arrest Warrant for Lieutenant General Lee Jin-woo, the Head of Capital Defense Command, for his involvement in the Martial Law Plot led by Impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol. Lee has been detained since Friday, with him being Questioned on Saturday by Investigators.