IDF avoiding striking Syria where American Austin Tice may be

Following Assad's fall in Syria, the US government and non-governmental organizations have intensified their search for Tice.

By WALLA! DECEMBER 18, 2024 16:53

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar during a situational assessment on Mount Hermon. December 17, 2024. (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured the mother of American journalist Austin Tice, who has been missing in Syria for 12 years, that the IDF is not conducting airstrikes in areas of the country where he might be held, according to a copy of a letter obtained by Walla.

"Rest assured that Israel and its intelligence agencies are fully coordinated with the relevant US authorities on the matter and that the IDF is not active in the area where Austin may be," the letter, dated December 17, stated.An Israeli official noted ongoing cooperation and coordination between the US and Israeli governments regarding Tice’s case, including in recent weeks.

Debra Tice, Austin's mother, sent a letter to Netanyahu Monday, stressing that she has "reliable information" suggesting her son might be held in a prison near Damascus. She urged Netanyahu to halt the bombing campaign to allow rescuers to reach the site.

Since early December, Israel has launched a series of airstrikes across Syria to destroy advanced weapon systems and ammunition depots belonging to the Syrian military.

Debra Tice speaks about her son Austin Tice, the only American journalist held captive in Syria, during the unveiling of a new banner calling for his release at the Newseum in Washington, DC on November 2, 2016. (credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Search for Tice

Following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, the US government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have intensified their search for Tice.

The Biden administration has stated that it operates under the assumption that Tice is alive and that the Assad regime has held him in one of the numerous detention facilities across Syria.

After the Assad regime fell, thousands of detainees and prisoners were released, including at least one American citizen who had been held in a Syrian prison.

The Biden administration, Austin Tice's family, and NGOs assisting in the search for him hope that the opening of prisons and the exposure of numerous documents from Syrian intelligence archives will shed light on his whereabouts.

Nizar Zakka, founder and president of Hostage Aid Worldwide, who is closely connected to senior members of the Trump administration, recently arrived in Syria to search for Austin Tice.

---

---

He expressed his appreciation for Netanyahu's commitment to Tice's mother. Still, he highlighted that similar commitments were made to the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza who were killed in Israeli airstrikes.

Zakka stated that Israeli airstrikes complicate the efforts his team and others are making to locate Tice."Some of the places we visited around Damascus were bombed by the IDF the following day. This complicated our work here. It made the rebels much more suspicious and made it harder for us to get permission to conduct searches at military bases," he said.