Union Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot appointed as Karnataka Governor ahead of Cabinet expansion

The Israeli regime sustains its heavy attacks against various areas across Syria as Western-backed militants, who ousted the country’s government earlier this month, strengthen their foothold.

On Monday, the regime’s warplanes struck vital facilities and military infrastructure along the country’s western coastline, including the cities of Tartus and Latakia, where they pounded missile bases and ammunition depots.

Massive explosions rang out across the cities during the attacks.

Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television network said Israeli occupation forces had also advanced as far as 15 kilometers (9 miles) in the western Syrian province of Quneitra.

'An earthquake'

Russia’s Sputnik news agency also reported Israeli assaults against military facilities in Hama and Homs, two other western provinces, adding that attacks against Hama and Aleppo, which is likewise situated in western Syria, shook the targeted areas like an “earthquake.”

Local sources, meanwhile, reported that the regime’s warplanes had also hit the Military Airport in the eastern province of Deir al-Zawr.

The agency cited sources as saying that Israeli warships had launched a number of missiles towards the Syrian coast, especially targeting the Tartus Province.

According to them, this was the first time that the Israeli military was deploying “such missiles” against Syria’s military sites.

The reports came a day after the regime attacked the positions that used to belong to the country’s Republican Guard and the Syrian military’s Fourth Armored Division in the Tal Mneen area and the town of Hafir, north of the capital Damascus.

Also on Sunday, Israeli forces occupied three new villages across the country, namely the Jamla village in the western Syrian province of Dara’a as well as the Mazraat Beit Jan and Mughr al-Mir رillages in Rif Dimashq Province.

Israeli aircraft also bombed an air defense site in the town of Muhajja in the eastern countryside of Dara’a’s capital and attacked the warehouses of the Syrian military’s 18th Armored Division in the eastern suburbs of Homs.

The regime has markedly intensified its deadly attacks against the country, especially targeting its military infrastructure, in the aftermath of its takeover by anti-Damascus militants, who are widely reported to have been receiving extensive military support and cooperation on the part of the Israeli regime and the West.

As part of its aggression, the regime has expanded its occupation of Syria’s Golan Heights, overrunning a buffer zone in the territory, and announced plans to ramp up the population of illegal settlers in the mountainous region.

Regional Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Iraq, have lashed out at Tel Aviv over the measures.

In a significant milestone, the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Higher Primary School in Newpadpu, Harekala, has introduced a bilingual Kannada-English medium this academic year, a move spearheaded by Padma Shri awardee Harekala Hajabba. The school has so far received 13 admissions for its Class 1 bilingual program.

This initiative is part of a broader effort by the state government, which approved 38 schools across the district to launch bilingual mediums. Expressing his delight, Hajabba shared that he had been advocating for a bilingual school for years. "The bilingual medium will greatly benefit students in this region who otherwise rely on private schools. However, we currently face a shortage of classrooms. Construction of two additional classrooms is underway, and once completed, we expect higher admissions," he said.

The school had previously been permitted to introduce LKG and UKG classes in the last academic year. According to the school’s headmistress, Rajeshwari, while the pre-primary sections have seen good enrolment, the bilingual Class 1 faced challenges, securing only 13 students. She attributed this to the late notification of permission, which arrived a month after the academic year began, leading many children to enroll elsewhere.

Rajeshwari remains optimistic about the future. "We expect better admissions next academic year as awareness about bilingual education at this government school grows," she said, adding that the classroom shortage will soon be addressed.

Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) Venkatesha Subraya Patagara noted that bilingual schools across Dakshina Kannada have generally received a positive response, with some schools enrolling more than 100 students. The effort to offer bilingual education in government schools marks a step forward in providing affordable, quality education to underserved regions.

The Israeli prime minister says the regime's troops will remain stationed at a so-called “buffer zone” inside the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, seized following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, until another arrangement is found that will "ensure the usurping regime’s security."

Benjamin Netanyahu made the comments on Tuesday from the summit of Mount Hermon, known as Jabal al-Shaykh in Arabic, the highest peak in the area — inside Syria, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border with the strategic Golan Heights.

He was joined by the Israeli minister for military affairs, Israel Katz, Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, head of the so-called internal security service Shin Bet, Ronen Bat, and Northern Command chief Major General Uri Gordin.

Netanyahu reiterated that Israel would remain in the area “until another arrangement can be found that guarantees Israel’s security.”

The prime minister said he had been on the same mountaintop 53 years ago as a soldier, but the summit’s importance to the Tel Aviv regime’s security has only increased given recent events.

It appeared to be the first time a sitting Israeli leader had set foot that far into Syrian territory.

For his part, Katz said Israeli forces would remain on the Syrian summit of Mount Hermon for “as long as necessary.”

He said, “We will stay here for as long as necessary,” asserting that deployment of Israeli troops to the strategically significant summit “strengthens security.”

“Mount Hermon's summit is Israel's eyes for identifying near and distant threats. From here, we can see Hezbollah positions in Lebanon to the right, and Damascus to the left,” Katz said.

Israeli military forces captured the UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights hours after armed groups took control of the Syrian capital of Damascus on December 8.

Israel has been widely and vehemently condemned over termination of the 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria, and exploiting the chaos in the Arab nation in the wake of Assad’s downfall to make a land grab.

The buffer zone in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights was created by the United Nations after the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.  A UN force of about 1,100 troops had patrolled the area since then.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, said on Tuesday that the presence of Israeli soldiers, however long it lasts, violates the deal that established the buffer zone.

That agreement “needs to be respected, and occupation is occupation, whether it lasts a week, a month or a year, it remains occupation,” Dujarric pointed out.