The Israeli military on April 2 carried out air-strikes on several sites in Syria—including Tiyas airbase, also known as T4, and Palmyra airbase, both in Homs province. The interim government in Damascus called the strikes "a blatant violation of international law and Syrian sovereignty." Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz responded in a statement addressed to President Ahmed al-Sharaa: "If you allow forces hostile to Israel to enter Syria and endanger Israeli security interests—you will pay a very heavy price." This was a barely veiled reference to Turkey. Local media reports indicate that Turkish forces are preparing to deploy to the T4 and Palmyra bases. Ankara reportedly plans to install Hisar-O and Hisar-U air defense systems and potentially the long-range SIPER system at these locations. The deployment of a Russian-made S-400 system is also under consideration, pending Moscow's approval. 

Speaking at an International Conference on Combating Antisemitism held in Jerusalem last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned against "the fires of anti-Semitism" in Europe and blamed stateside campus protests against Israel's bombardment of Gaza on "a systemic alliance between the ultra-progressive left and radical Islam."

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine concluded March 19 that widespread enforced disappearances and torture committed by Russia during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine constitute "crimes against humanity." The announcement marks a significant development, as crimes against humanity constitute one of the most serious classifications of international crimes.

The New York Times reported March 17 that the United States is withdrawing from the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression (ICPA), created to hold Russia accountable for its invasion and seizure of territory in Ukraine. "The US authorities have informed me that they will conclude their involvement in the ICPA by the end of March," Michael Schmid, president of the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (EuroJust) told the Times.

The Helsinki District Court in Finland on March 14 sentenced a 38-year-old man to life for committing war crimes in Ukraine. Voislav Torden, 38, a Russian-Norwegian better known as Yan Petrovskiy, was deputy commander of a neo-Nazi paramilitary unit called Rusich, which participated in Russia's first incursions into Ukraine in 2014. According to prosecutors, Petrovskyi was responsible for leading an attack on Ukraine's eastern frontier, which left approximately 20 Ukrainian troops dead. Petrovskyi was accused of ordering his men to carve Rusich's emblem into the chest of a wounded Ukrainian soldier. He was also charged for posing with a dead soldier's body for photos, which were later uploaded to social media.

France 24 reports that negotiations are underway between the Qaeda-affiliated JNIM group (the main jihadist coalition in Mali) and the Tuareg-led secessionist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) over a possible alliance against the Malian army and its Russian mercenary allies. Mali's military government terminated a peace deal with the separatists last year after driving them out of their northern strongholds. The junta has consistently labelled secessionist groups as "terrorists'" and accused them of collusion with jihadists. Separatists deny this, though combatants from both groups share family and community ties, have allied opportunistically at times in the past, and operate in the same areas. According to France 24, current points of negotiation include JNIM softening its demands (perhaps mirroring the strategy of HTS in Syria), especially regarding the application of sharia law, and breaking ties to al-Qaeda. A sticking point may be the FLA's goal of an independent Azawad—the name they give to northern Mali. Intensified fighting in the north over the past year has had severe humanitarian consequences, driving tens of thousands of people to neighboring Mauritania.

In Episode 268 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg examines the continued fighting in Syria since the fall of the Bashar Assad dictatorship in December. The recent outburst of violence in the Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast made headlines, but this week also saw anti-regime protests by Druze in Syria's south. And fighting has never stopped between forces aligned with the new transition government and those of the Kurdish autonomous zone in the northeast. The situation is complicated by continuing military adventures on Syrian territory by foreign powers—Israel, Turkey, Russia and the US. Will Syrians be able to overcome these challenges and forge a democratic and multicultural order, in repudiation of sectarianism, ethno-nationalism and Great Power intrigues?

A UN report released on March 5 found that armed groups operating in the Haut Oubangui region of the Central African Republic (CAR) have been carrying out attacks against Muslim communities and Sudanese refugees, resulting in grave human rights violations. The report, prepared jointly by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), mainly attributes these attacks to Wagner Ti Azande (WTA), a militia affiliated with the national army.