Geological developments in Deir ez-Zor and Al-Hasakah, a military escalation in Gaza, and Hezbollah’s denial of its connection to a cell in Syria

Specialized teams from the Ministries of Energy, Emergency and Disaster Management carried out a geological and geophysical survey in the “Jahfat Al-Baghouz” area in Deir ez-Zor on the “Syrian-Iraqi” border, after cracks and fissures appeared in the body of the mountain, in order to take gypsum and clay samples, and find out the causes of the cracks.

Deir ez-Zor Governorate explained, through its official accounts, on Wednesday, that the aim of the survey is to determine the causes of the apparent cracks and evaluate the safety of the site. The governorate indicated that the geological and geophysical survey was carried out with the participation of the National Centers for Seismology and the Department of Hazardous Materials.

Mount Baghouz in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor witnessed severe cracks and a major rock slide in 2021, which led to the collapse of parts of the rocky highland and cut off the public road leading to the town.

Geological expert, Dr. Muhammad Issam Sweida, explained in a statement to SANA that the “Baghuz Jahfat” area has a geological situation “of Neogene deposits, with a thickness of gypsum of 20 metres, interspersed with some clay levels,” pointing out that this region suffered lateral subsidence, cracks, and deposits, while the distance of the opening in the main fissure ranged between half a meter and a meter, and the spacing in the first subsidence reached about two metres.

Sweida pointed out that samples were taken from the thick, blocky plaster deposits to measure their degree of purity, and from the clay deposits to analyze their chronological age, noting that the area is the only one in the place that has been subjected to sliding processes, as a result of the presence of clay deposits within the plaster deposits.

Sweida stated that electrical measurements of the area were carried out to determine the thickness of these deposits, and the result of the study was the presence of plaster deposits of up to 20 metres, with high resistance, followed by the cartilage levels, with low resistance.

The General Foundation for Geology and Mineral Resources in Syria stated a few days ago that it is monitoring, through its teams, the phenomena recently recorded in the Jabal Kawkab area in Al-Hasakah Governorate, represented by the rise of fumes from some sites and the appearance of a number of subsidences and cracks in the surface of the earth.

Preliminary data indicate that Jabal Kawkab is located within the scope of the volcanic field in northeastern Syria, an area characterized by volcanic formations and overlapping geological and tectonic structures, which requires studying the phenomenon according to an integrated scientific methodology, and not limiting its causes to a single geological factor before completing the measurement and analysis work.

The preliminary study attributed the possibility of the rise of vapors being linked to the movement of ground or surface water, and its leakage through cracks and faults into the depths of the earth. It can interact with rocks and geological formations, which may lead to high temperatures, the formation of vapors or gases, and their rise to the surface through natural paths and cracks.

Also, the nature of some geological formations in the region may allow, in certain circumstances, the occurrence of dissolution or weathering processes under the Earth’s surface, which may lead to the formation of voids or areas of weakness, which may be linked to the appearance of some subsidences. However, determining the direct relationship between these factors requires the completion of field and geophysical studies.

The Foundation stressed that what was recorded represents preliminary data under study, and a final interpretation of the phenomenon cannot be adopted before the necessary technical measurements and analyzes are completed.

Regarding subsidences and ground cracks, specialized teams are working to study the nature of the soil, rocks and formations located under the surface of the earth, and to verify the presence of any voids or weak areas that could be related to this phenomenon. The development of subsidence and crack sites will also be monitored, and any new changes in their dimensions or nature will be monitored, allowing for an assessment of the possibility of their expansion or the emergence of additional sites.

In this context, other specialists expressed their opinions on this phenomenon, as Dr. Abdel Moneim Issa Hassan, a teacher in the Department of Geology at the Faculty of Science at the University of Homs and a resident of the city of Al-Hasakah, considered that “based on the data currently available, there is not sufficient evidence to allow the observed emissions in the Jabal Kawkab region to be linked to recent volcanic activity.”

Hassan explained, “Jabal Kawkab represents an ancient basalt volcanic center, and the approved global volcanic databases have not recorded any known Holocene activity or recent volcanic disturbance.”

On the other hand, and in the context of ensuring public safety, the General Corporation for Geology and Mineral Resources recommended staying away from the sites of subsidences and cracks, avoiding approaching their edges, and not allowing people or vehicles to pass inside sites where there are signs of instability of the Earth’s surface.

12 Palestinians were killed, and at least 42 were injured in escalating Israeli attacks that continued between Tuesday and Wednesday, inside various areas of the Gaza Strip, at a time when official statistics showed that 70 percent of deaths in the Strip during the year 2025 were the result of Israeli targeting.

Official medical sources announced, on Wednesday afternoon, that 4 Palestinians were killed in a raid carried out by an Israeli drone on a vehicle carrying a small vehicle carrying additional passengers, while it was passing on a public road in the vicinity of the former Palestinian Council of Ministers headquarters in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood, southwest of Gaza City, while 14 others were injured in the incident, with varying injuries, who reached the Shifa Medical Complex and the Jerusalem Hospital of the Red Crescent.

Video clips taken by citizens at the site showed that the missile that was fired at the vehicle and the towed vehicle separated them and directly hit the vehicle, which led to the bodies being turned into pieces, while Palestinians suffered amputations, while the main vehicle was burned.

Previously, 4 Palestinians were injured in a raid that targeted them in the vicinity of the Asdaa area in Mawasi Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, and the condition of two of them was described as critical.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian woman was killed as a result of an Israeli helicopter launching a missile at approximately three o’clock in the morning local time at a residential apartment near the Shifa Medical Complex, while other citizens, including the woman’s husband, were injured in the same attack, and his condition was described as serious.

At midnight, 3 Palestinian women were injured with varying degrees of shrapnel that struck tents inhabited in the west of the Shujaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, as a result of an air strike carried out by Israeli warplanes with about 4 missiles on targets at the intersection of the neighborhood. While Asharq Al-Awsat learned from a field source that the aircraft destroyed a residential building consisting of several floors, and attacked targets in its vicinity.

The area was subjected to violent artillery shelling that continued for hours, amidst gunfire from Israeli vehicles and marches, which created a state of fear and panic among residents of nearby displacement camps.

On Tuesday evening, 4 Palestinians were killed in a raid that targeted several people near the Halawa camp, east of Jabalia al-Balad, north of the Gaza Strip, while another was killed at the same time in a raid that targeted the roof of his family’s house west of the Al-Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City. This was preceded by a series of raids, one of which led at dawn to assassinate Izz al-Din al-Bik, commander of the Northern Brigade of the “Al-Qassam Brigades,” the armed wing of the Hamas movement, and his companion, Muhannad Abu Foul.

In a related context, an official report issued by the Health Information Unit of the Ministry of Health in Gaza showed that 24,650 deaths were recorded during the year 2025, and that 70.1 percent of the causes of death were the result of direct targeting by the occupation, followed by heart disease at 7.7 percent. Males accounted for the largest proportion of deaths, at 73.4 percent, compared to 26.6 percent for females.

In terms of geographical distribution, Gaza Governorate recorded the highest percentage of deaths at 37.3 percent, followed by North Gaza (20.2 percent), Khan Yunis (19.5 percent), Central (12.3 percent), and Rafah (10.7 percent). The report highlighted a significant increase in the mortality rate of children under the age of 5 years, rising to 33.4 per 1,000 live births during the year 2025.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah denied any connection to a group that the Syrian authorities announced overnight its arrest near the Israeli-occupied Golan, and said it was planning to “carry out operations” without additional details.

The party stated in a statement: “Hezbollah’s media relations categorically denies any relationship or association of (Hezbollah) with the alleged cell,” reiterating its assertion that “it has no presence in Syrian territory, and has no connection to any security or military activity there,” according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.

The Internal Security Forces announced in a statement on Tuesday night that the intelligence service, in cooperation with its units, foiled “a sabotage plan in the Yarmouk Basin in Daraa, and arrested a cell belonging to the (Hezbollah) militia, consisting of three people.”

It stated that the arrest came after “careful monitoring of the cell’s attempt to prepare missile launchers with the aim of launching attacks to destabilize security and stability.”

The Yarmouk Basin area, located in the western countryside of Daraa, is one of the areas that Israeli forces penetrate from time to time.

In its statement on Wednesday, the party called on the Syrian authorities to “be alert” to what it described as “attempts aimed at using the name (Hezbollah) in order to raise tension and sow discord between Lebanon and Syria... and to search for the real beneficiary of fueling tension between the two countries, which is the Israeli enemy, which is continuing its attacks on Syria and Lebanon.”

Hours before Syria announced the group's arrest, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that there were indications that Israel's enemies were trying to attack it before the elections scheduled for October 27.

After the outbreak of the conflict in Syria in 2011, Hezbollah publicly announced in April 2013 to fight alongside Assad, whose country formed a major supply route to the party from Iran, its main supporter.

After the overthrow of Assad, the new authorities took a position against the party, and repeatedly announced the arrest of groups they said were linked to it in Syria, and the seizure of arms shipments heading to it, while the party denied any presence inside Syrian territory and any activity there.

The party's Secretary-General, Naeem Qassem, confirmed in early August that there was no objection to holding a "public meeting" with the new Syrian leadership.

This came after President Ahmed Al-Sharaa said during a television interview in June, in response to a question about the possibility of sitting with Hezbollah at one table, “If this matter is in the interest of Lebanon and secures Syrian interests, then why not?”