Damascus is studying providing military assistance to Saudi Arabia in its confrontation with the Houthis in Yemen, according to Reuters, citing a US official and a Syrian military official. The options under consideration include defensive aid or the deployment of Syrian forces in offensive missions alongside Yemeni forces backed by Riyadh. The sources indicated that talks held by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman addressed the possibility of providing this assistance, while a Syrian diplomat said Syria stands with Saudi Arabia but its government's focus is on internal priorities.
In a separate context, the city of Sweida on Wednesday witnessed a march in which dozens of people participated to commemorate the October 7 attack and show solidarity with its victims, during which Israeli flags and images of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, were raised, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority. Local Syrian media said the move toured the city's streets and ended with a gathering in Karama Square in central Sweida, where participants carried banners reading 'We will not forget, we will not forgive', and 'Katibat al-Sumud' organized the march. A video published by the Hebrew website Thawrat al-Khulafa al-Ibri also showed Druze of Sweida in southern Syria thanking Israel and sympathizing with its pain during a march held today in the Druze city of Sweida on the occasion of the October 7 massacre.
On the security front, the Syrian Ministry of Defense announced that units of the border guard forces in the Syrian Arab Army thwarted a smuggling attempt on the Syrian-Lebanese border in the Jurd al-Ma'ra area in Yabroud, in the Damascus countryside. The ministry said the smugglers opened fire on the patrol, leading to a clash that ended with the seizure of two cars and the cargo and the arrest of one smuggler, while the rest fled toward Lebanese territory.