Syrian rebels seize Aleppo and Hama

Since the early stages of Syria's bloody civil war that began in 2011, Iran has supported Syria's strongman president, Bashar Assad. Now with the loss of Syria's second city, Aleppo, to Assad's opponents, Tehran has vowed to continue this support — but it almost certainly has less to offer than a decade ago.

Syrian rebel forces spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militant group seized Aleppo in a shock offensive last week, surprising the world and returning the Syrian conflict to the headlines for the first time in years. The rebels advancing in the face of Russian and Syrian airstrikes, they overran Syria's fourth-largest city, Hama.

The latest offensive has prompted some outside intervention. Hundreds of militiamen in Iraq are entering Syria. Russia has carried out airstrikes to impede the opposition's advance.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah has paid out more than $50 million in cash gifts to families affected by war with Israel, its leader Naim Qassem said, as the group seeks to shore up its support base after a devastating conflict with Israel.

The payments of between $300 and $400 per person will total more than $77 million when paid out to all 233,500 families who registered, Qassem said in a recorded speech, thanking Iran for its financing of the effort alongside Hezbollah. So far, Hezbollah has distributed more than 50 million dollars to more than 170,000 families Qassem said.

Hezbollah will also provide a lump sum of $8,000 to those whose primary homes were destroyed in the war, plus $6,000 for a year of rent for those living in Beirut or its suburbs and $4,000 for those living outside the capital until they can move back home, he said. The payments would be financed mainly by Iran, he said.

Israeli strikes have flattened swathes of Shi'ite majority areas Hezbollah's support base call home in Beirut's southern suburbs and southern and eastern Lebanon.