“I have just signed the order to stop supplying electricity immediately to the Gaza Strip,” Cohen said in a video statement. “We will use all the tools at our disposal to bring back the hostages and ensure that Hamas is no longer in Gaza the day after the war”

Reports suggest that former security officers loyal to Assad have regrouped in the mountains to resist the interim government. Ali, another resident of Banias, described the chaos that engulfed his neighbourhood, with armed factions looting homes and targeting Alawite families