heavy

Agreement will see government takeover of SDF-controlled areas, and SDF integration into the Syrian military.

The Syrian government has announced a ceasefire has been agreed with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that will involve the withdrawal of the latter’s forces from areas west of the Euphrates River, according to Syrian state media.

Sunday’s deal will also see SDF forces integrate into the Syrian military.

The agreement comes after days of fighting between the Syrian government and the SDF in northeastern Syria. The army and the SDF had been clashing over strategic posts and oilfields along the Euphrates River.

Speaking in Damascus, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said that the agreement will see Syrian state institutions move into three eastern and northern governorates – al-Hasakah, Deir Az Zor, and Raqqa – previously controlled by the SDF.

“We advise our Arab tribes to remain calm and allow for the implementation of the agreement’s terms,” al-Sharaa said.

The agreement stipulates that the SDF administration in charge of ISIL (ISIS) detainees and camps, and the forces guarding the facilities, will be integrated into the country’s state structure, now giving the government full legal and security responsibility.

Additionally, the SDF will propose a list of leaders to fill senior military, security, and civilian posts within the central government, ensuring national partnership.

Al-Sharaa made the announcement after he met United States Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack in Damascus. SDF chief Mazloum Abdi was supposed to be at the meeting, but al-Sharaa said that weather conditions meant that his trip would be postponed until Monday.

‘Victory’

Al Jazeera’s Ayman Oghanna, reporting from the Syrian capital, said that the agreement “can be seen as a victory” for the Syrian government.

Syrian state media says that the agreement will see the military handover of the SDF-controlled governorates and the takeover of civilian institutions.

The Syrian government will also take over “all border crossings and oil and gas fields”.

A previous agreement in March that included the integration of SDF forces into the Syrian military was not implemented, and fighting has periodically broken out between the two sides in recent months, increasing in ferocity this month.

But on Saturday, the Syrian army continued its advance into towns in the SDF-held territory.

According to state media, the army had taken the northern city of Tabqa and its adjacent dam, as well as the major Freedom dam, formerly known as the Baath, west of Raqqa.

Moreover, the army seized the Omar oilfield, the country’s largest, and the Conoco gas field in Deir Az Zor, in a major blow to the SDF. Last week, al-Sharaa said it was unacceptable for the SDF to control a quarter of the country and hold its main oil and other commodity resources.

According to Gamal Mansour, a lecturer in political science at the University of Toronto, the SDF had become isolated politically, explaining their rapid retreat.

“Sometimes you have arms, but your political situation, the lack of backing, the strategic and regional background in which you’re operating … therein lies the problem that SDF has,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Iraqi Kurdistan read the regional image and the strategic posture of the SDF in a way that had them go to the SDF and tell them ‘you need to … [cooperate] with the Americans so that you can have a peaceful relationship with the Syrian government’”, he said, adding that the US has also told the SDF as much.

Mansour explained that the success of the Syrian government’s rapid advance was also driven largely by Arab tribes in SDF-controlled areas, whose loyalty to the SDF was already fragile amid discontent with their rule, Kurdish nationalist dominance and a lack of economic investment.

The ceasefire agreement also outlined that the SDF had committed to the removal of all non-Syrian Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leaders and members from the territory to ensure sovereignty and regional stability.

MORE European airports have temporarily closed due to icy weather conditions.

Three major travel hubs were forced to shut earlier today, while a fourth operated “restricted” services.

“Adverse weather conditions” led to the brief closure of airports in Vienna, Austria, Budapest in Hungary, and Bratislava in Slovakia.

Runways in Vienna closed temporarily due to a thick layer of ice, which reportedly kept refreezing.

“Due to current weather conditions, disruptions to flights to and from Vienna are expected on January 13, 2026,” a statement on the airport’s website read.

Meanwhile, Budapest Airport revealed in a post on X that there were “increased safety risks caused by black ice and extreme icing”.

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“Due to the adverse weather conditions, and similarly to several airports in Central Europe, a temporary airport closure has been implemented at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport,” the update read.

After a brief closure, Bratislava reopened at 11.15am local time this morning, advising passengers that delays would continue as a result.

Meanwhile, Václav Havel Airport in Prague continued to operate in a “restricted mode” despite “intense freezing rain”.

“As of 11:00, the number of permitted arrivals has been increased from 2 to 6 per hour due to de-icing operations and to ensure the operational readiness of runways and other airside areas,” a statement read.

“Safety of flight operations, passengers, and employees remains the top priority.

Air passengers travelling to or from any of the above hubs have been advised to follow the latest updates from their airport and airline.

The disruptions are the latest caused by harsh weather conditions, with British tourists stranded in Finland’s Lapland after flights were cancelled due to the severe cold on Monday, 12 January.

Flights to London, Manchester, Paris, and Amsterdam were axed as temperatures at Kittila Airport plummeted to nearly -40C.

ALMOST 200 flights have been cancelled and delayed across the UK today as seven weather warnings remain in place.

A total of 41 flights have been grounded today as a result of the snow and ice, with a further 152 routes experiencing delays.

Nine major airports across the UK have grounded flights due to the current weather conditions.

On Monday, Liverpool John Lennon Airport was forced to close due to a snow-covered runway.

While the Liverpool Airport has since re-opened, cancellations and disruptions continue to plague passengers across the UK after temperatures plummeted as low as minus 12.5C overnight.

Yesterday’s severe weather also led to cancellations and disruptions to flights out of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

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Scots airline Loganair cancelled two flights from Aberdeen, with routes to Kirkwall and Norwich scrapped as an amber warning was issued for heavy snow across north-east and northern Scotland until 7pm.

Meanwhile, air passengers across England are also experiencing disruptions, with London Heathrow currently experiencing departure delays an average of 39 minutes.

The airport has also topped today’s list of cancellations at eight, with a further 87 delays, according to FlightAware.

Aberdeen and London City follow with six cancellations each, and five and two flight delays respectively.

And its not just outbound flights that have been affected, with Edinburgh reporting arrival delays for airborne aircraft at an average of 28 minutes.

These wait times are expected to increase as the Arctic Blast continues into the evening.

Anyone planning to travel is advised to check with their flight’s status with their airline before heading to the airport.

With certain areas of England hit with heavy snow, disruptions have not been limited to air travel.

Rail passengers are also experiencing chaos as National Rail confirmed that disruptions are expected on the Wirral and Northern line services, as well as to trains across Scotland.

Meanwhile, Aberdeen – Dundee railway has partially reopened following closure yesterday due to heavy snow.

Those travelling between Edinburgh and Aberdeen have been issued a “Do Not Travel” warning until at least 2pm today.

The Glasgow subway was also closed this morning due to harsh weather conditions.

Select rail services across England have also been suspended due to snow, with passengers advised to verify their route is still operating before arriving at their station.

And motorists can also expect delays as breakdown companies including the AA and RAC are experiencing high demand.

A spokesman for the Met Office said milder temperatures are expected towards the end of the week, though further snow is possible on Sunday as the warmer air meets cold air.

As the full-time whistle went at Anfield, a goalless draw against Leeds United prompted some boos from sections of the home support.

It was the first time Liverpool had drawn 0-0 under Arne Slot, and the first result of that scoreline in 117 matches in all competitions, since December 2023 against Manchester United.

Liverpool had not lost and Slot’s side had extended their unbeaten run to eight games. But after a largely dull display, it showed a fanbase sharing their frustrations.

Far too often this season, Liverpool have been a tough football team to watch.

It is not an overstatement to say that the Anfield crowd has been spoiled over the past decade from the Jurgen Klopp era to Slot winning the title in his first year at the club.

The standards are immensely high and rightly so for a club of this magnitude, but against a Leeds side who got promoted to the Premier League last season, Liverpool looked one-dimensional and lacked the quality to break through the visitors and their 5-4-1 setup.

Bar Jeremie Frimpong, who had the pace to move past some of the Leeds players with ease but perhaps lacked that final delivery, there were few moments which got the fans off their seats.

It was hardly the start to the New Year that Liverpool, Slot or the Anfield faithful would have desired.

One BBC Sport reader summed up the feelings of the fanbase in our live text.

“Liverpool still look as though there’s a piece missing,” said Jan from Rye.

“Heavy metal football this is not – it’s not even aluminium foil football.”

Over the past week or so, U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones have been spotted carrying increasingly greater numbers of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles on sorties from Puerto Rico. This includes at least one Reaper seen armed with 10 Hellfires, a loadout that does not previously appear to have been disclosed as being an option for these drones. This all now comes amid reports that it was the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that recently carried out a first-of-its-kind covert strike on a target in Venezuela using an unspecified drone.

The unusually large Hellfire loads are the latest in a series of changes in U.S. force posture in the region that go well beyond simply bolstering support to the U.S. military’s ostensibly expanded counter-drug operations. Readers can first get up to speed on this and other recent developments in the Caribbean in our recent reporting here.

CNN was first to report yesterday that a CIA-directed drone strike targeted what has been described as a “port facility” and a “dock” somewhere along Venezuela’s coast sometime earlier this month, citing anonymous sources. The site is said to have been used by the Tren de Aragua criminal organization, which the U.S. government designated as a terrorist organization earlier this year, to smuggle drugs. The New York Times has also now reported that the CIA led this operation, per its own unnamed sources. TWZ has previously highlighted ports and other logistical nodes as among the likely first rungs in a kinetic escalation ladder for operations inside Venezuela.

President Donald Trump had first mentioned the strike publicly in a phone call with WABC radio in New York last Friday. He brought it up again while speaking to the press yesterday alongside visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The President did not say in either case who had carried out the mission. Back in October, Trump said he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela.

When it comes to U.S. MQ-9s in the region, Reapers have been operating from Rafael Hernandez Airport in Aguadilla in Puerto Rico since September. They have generally been seen carrying between two and four AGM-114 Hellfire missiles at a time, as well as range-extending fuel tanks and pods, the latter of which we will come back to later on. This is a very typical combat loadout that has been seen on Reapers operating globally in the past.

However, between December 21 and December 24, MQ-9s started being seen flying from Aguadilla armed with six, eight, and then a whopping 10 AGM-114s. Local spotter Michael Bonet has shared some images of Reapers operating from the airport with larger Hellfire loadouts, seen earlier in this story and below, directly with TWZ.

At least as of 2021, the Air Force had said its Reapers could carry no more than eight Hellfires at once. The MQ-9 can also carry a variety of other munitions, including 500-pound-class Paveway and Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) series precision-guided bombs. Only Hellfires have been seen so far on Reapers in Puerto Rico.

The growing loadouts seen on Puerto Rico-based Reapers have also necessitated the use of four-rail launchers. TWZ has so far been unable to find any past imagery of U.S. MQ-9s flying with these quad-launchers. They are commonly seen on U.S. Army AH-64 Apache and U.S. Marine Corps’ AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters, as well as the U.S. Navy’s MH-60R and MH-60S Seahawks. It is worth noting that General Atomics, the MQ-9’s manufacturer, has touted the ability of its Mojave drone to carry loads of up to 16 Hellfires using the four-rail launchers.

Many of the MQ-9s with the larger AGM-114 loads have also been seen carrying a still-unidentified pod. The pod first emerged following the loss of two U.S. Reapers in what was said to have been a mid-air collision over Syria in 2020.

The mysterious pod has since been observed on MQ-9s operating in Romania, Japan, and South Korea. It is typically seen on Reapers that are also fitted with a very large ventral blade antenna under the rear of the fuselage. The pod’s exact purpose remains unconfirmed, but it is assumed to contain additional sensors and/or communications relay and data-sharing capabilities, as you can read more about here.

Why Reapers have begun flying more heavily armed missions from Aguadilla recently is unknown, but the loadouts are at odds with the scope and scale of the existing campaign of strikes on small boats in the region. Between September 2 and December 29, the U.S. military is known to have attacked 31 vessels in the Caribbean Sea, as well as the Eastern Pacific Ocean. This averages out to one strike every four days, a general tempo that does not point to an immediate need for more ordnance per sortie. At least a portion of these missions have been carried out by AC-130J gunships, as well. Questions about the legality of these operations and the underlying intelligence behind them also continue to be very hot topics of debate.

On Dec. 29, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known… pic.twitter.com/69ywxXk30N

— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) December 29, 2025

For weeks now, TWZ has already been highlighting an influx of additional U.S. forces into the Caribbean that do not simply align with a bolstering of capacity to support counter-drug operations, or even more recent efforts to seize oil tankers as part of the maximum pressure campaign against the dictatorial regime in Venezuela. This includes the recent arrival of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) CV-22 Osprey tiltrotors and MC-130J Commando II special operations tanker-transports at Aguadilla to join the MQ-9s. A host of other American air, naval, and ground assets have been flowing into the region for months now, as you can read more about here.

There is also now Trump’s disclosure of at least one covert action against a target inside Venezuela proper. To be clear, much about that operation, including exactly what the target was and what type of drone may have been used to strike it, remains murky.

The CIA is understood to operate a fleet of MQ-9s capable of flying armed missions. Earlier this year, reports said that the Agency’s Reapers had also been flying unarmed sorties over Mexico to snoop on drug cartels. At the same time, Reapers are not the only drones that the CIA has access to. Depending on the exact location and nature of the target, the attack could have been more localized and involved shorter-range armed uncrewed aerial systems, including ones under the control of individuals operating covertly inside the country, but this seems less likely to have been the case.

The aforementioned descriptions of the target in Venezuela as being a “port facility” and a “dock” would seem to point to something of substantial size. This, in turn, could well have necessitated the employment of a relatively large amount of ordnance, such as what we’ve recently been seeing on Puerto Rico-based MQ-9s, to ensure adequate destruction.

It is also worth noting here that there have long been strong indications of some form of overlap in both ownership and operational control of drones, including MQ-9s, between the CIA and the U.S. military’s secretive Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), as well as the U.S. Air Force. JSOC has been directly involved in at least some of the strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean since September. In response to CNN‘s report, U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), to which JSOC is technically assigned, did notably send that outlet an on-the-record statement denying any involvement in the recent strike in Venezuela.

More clandestine assets could still have been used instead, but there also would have been no real need to do so if something like a Reaper could have accomplished the job with a reasonable level of survivability. The strike on the target in Venezuela, which did not prompt any kind of immediate response on the part of Venezuelan authorities, at least that we know of, raises additional questions about the effectiveness of the country’s air defenses. Whether or not any standoff electronic warfare support, of which there is plenty in the region currently in the form of Navy EA-18 Growler jets and at least one Air Force EC-130H Compass Call plane, was utilized during the operation is unknown, but this seems likely to have been the case. As TWZ has explored in detail in the past, Venezuela’s air defense capabilities are limited, but could certainly present real threats.

A video posted to social media yesterday (20 Dec) shows the arrival of a USAF EC-130H at Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport (SJU/TJSJ) in Puerto Rico.

There are only a few EC-130Hs left in USAF inventory.

Credit/permission: pinchito.avgeek (IG). pic.twitter.com/IxqBaKSBtE

— LatAmMilMovements (@LatAmMilMVMTs) December 22, 2025

As already noted, it is not otherwise clear what new mission requirements and/or intelligence streams may have fueled the decision to begin arming MQ-9s flying from Puerto Rico with the significantly larger loads of Hellfires. The need to respond to drug cartels sending out larger waves of boats in order to survive, or to provide armed overwatch due to concerns about surface threats from small boats, are possibilities, but there are no indications so far of either of these being the case.

As a general point, taking direct action against a target in Venezuela does mark another significant escalation, regardless of how it was carried out. The full extent of plans now for this covert campaign, and whether it might be intended as a prelude to overt action, remain to be seen.

At the same time, the expanding Hellfire loads on Air Force MQ-9s flying from Puerto Rico add to the growing evidence that U.S. operations in the region, and with respect to Venezuela, specifically, are entering a major new phase.

Special thanks again to Michael Bonet for sharing his pictures of MQ-9 Reapers operating recently from Rafael Hernandez Airport with us.

Howard Altman contributed to this story.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Severe weather conditions are bringing further misery to displaced Palestinians in Gaza, who have already suffered relentless bombardment, siege and loss in Israel’s genocidal war for more than two years, as Israel continues to block critical shelter and aid supplies into the territory.

Flimsy tents were flooded and makeshift camps engulfed in mud on Monday following heavy winter rains lashing the enclave in recent days.

The harsh conditions have added to the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, most of whom are reduced to sheltering in tents and other makeshift structures since Israel’s war destroyed an estimated 80 percent of the buildings there.

Officials are warning that severe conditions also bring new dangers, with the threat of disease and illness as overwhelmed and damaged sewage systems contaminate floodwaters, and the risk that damaged buildings could collapse amid heavy rainfall.

On Sunday, a 30-year-old woman was killed when a partially destroyed wall collapsed onto her tent in the Remal neighbourhood to the west of Gaza City amid fierce winds, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

Officials have warned people not to shelter in damaged buildings, but the tents offer limited protection from the heavy rain and no real protection against flooding.

At least 15 people, including three babies, have died this month from hypothermia following the rains and plunging temperatures, according to the authorities in Gaza.

Two-month-old baby Arkan Firas Musleh was the latest infant to die as a result of the extreme cold.

Contaminated floodwater

Reporting from Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood, where most of the buildings have been reduced to rubble by Israeli attacks, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said the heavy rains had created deep puddles and thick mud that was difficult to pass in places.

“People are struggling to walk in those mud puddles,” she said. “These are not only water, but it’s also sewage, rubbish.”

A team of municipal workers were trying to pump sewage from the overwhelmed network, amid reports of flooded tents from residents.

“Families are saying that sewage water has been coming into their tents,” she said.

Calls for aid deliveries

Aid groups have called for the international community to pressure Israel to lift restrictions on life-saving aid deliveries into the territory, which they say are falling far short of the amount called for under the US-brokered ceasefire.

“More rain. More human misery, despair and death,” Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of UNRWA, the top United Nations group overseeing aid in Gaza, wrote on social media on Sunday.

“Harsh winter weather is compounding more than two years of suffering. People in Gaza are surviving in flimsy, waterlogged tents and among ruins.”

There was “nothing inevitable about this”, he added. “Aid supplies are not being allowed in at the scale required.”

More Israeli attacks

Meanwhile, despite the ceasefire that came into effect on October 10, Israeli attacks on Palestinians have continued in Gaza.

Three Palestinians were injured on Monday when Israeli forces targeted the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza, a medical source told Al Jazeera Arabic.

Witnesses said the attack happened in an area from which Israeli forces had withdrawn under the ceasefire agreement.

Witnesses also reported an Israeli air raid on the eastern areas of the Bureij camp in central Gaza, artillery shelling east of Rafah and further Israeli attacks east of Gaza City, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

A 20-point plan proposed by United States President Donald Trump in September called for an initial truce followed by steps towards a wider peace. So far, as part of the first phase, there has been the exchange of captives held in Gaza and prisoners in Israeli jails, and a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave. However, it still occupies almost half of the territory.

However, Israeli attacks have not stopped, while humanitarian aid flows into the territory have not been what was promised.

Since the truce went into effect, more than 414 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,100 wounded in ceasefire violations, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.