Ukraine will renew diplomatic ties with Syria as part of an international effort to help stabilize the country following the collapse last month of the Russian-backed regime of former Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced plans to establish Syria as one of Ukraine’s key strategic partners in 2024. In his January 2 address, Zelenskyy shared updates from the Ukrainian delegation’s official visit to Damascus and outlined plans to restore diplomatic ties.

The Israel Defense Forces says it sent more than 100 troops into Syria under the cover of darkness, as the "flagship" Iranian-backed facility began to pose an "imminent threat" to Israel.

Israel's military said on Thursday its special forces had raided an underground missile production site in Syria in September that it said was primed to produce hundreds of precision missiles for use against Israel by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

The Israeli military confirmed on Thursday that dozens of its troops were flown into Syria in September to destroy an underground missile factory funded by Iran.Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told journalists in an online briefing that "this precision-guided missile factory was dug in the side of a mountain underground in the area of Masyaf.