The Lebanese militant group is grappling with a stunning reversal of fortune after its war with Israel and the ouster of its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad.

The Media Line's intrepid correspondents are in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan providing first-person reporting. [Damascus] The Justice Ministry in Syria’s transitional government has referred 87 judges from the country’s now-defunct Terrorism Court to the Judicial Inspection Department for investigation into potential disciplinary and legal violations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will not allow Syria’s new army or the insurgent group that led the ouster of former President Bashar Assad to “enter the area south of Damascus” as his government made clear Israeli forces would stay in parts of southern Syria for an indefinite period.

Katz said Israeli forces will be deployed in southern Syria indefinitely in order to reinforce defensive and offensive capabilities against any threats to Israel. Israel sent troops into the 235 sq km buffer zone to prevent Syrian rebels from approaching the border when the Turkish-backed Islamist rebels toppled the government of [former] President Bashar al-Assad late last year.