In Syria this week, a weeklong riot by 800 mostly political detainees in Hama’s central prison was put to an end on Monday after a deal, brokered by the Red Crescent, arranged for the release of more than 80 prisoners that were being held without charge.

A local cease-fire in Aleppo – brokered by Russia and the U.S. on May 4 with the aim of reviving a wider cessation of hostilities agreement that has broken down across much of western Syria – extended through much of the week, but was allowed to expire on Thursday.

And even though the localized cease-fire was in place in the city itself for much of the week, violence continued on the divided city’s outskirts. In the southern countryside, battles on Monday between Jaish al-Fatah, a coalition of Islamist factions including the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front, and pro-government Iranian militia killed at least 13 Iranian troops and wounded another 21. It was Iran’s bloodiest day since Tehran began deploying troops to Syria in 2012 to support President Bashar al-Assad.

On Tuesday, ISIS militants cut off a key road connecting the government-controlled city of Homs with the ancient city of Palmyra to its east, a little more than a month after pro-government forces recaptured the world heritage site. ISIS militants also shot down a Syrian army helicopter, attacked troops watching over the nearby Mahr and Jazal gas fields, and took over two government checkpoints and an abandoned military barracks in the area.

Government forces in Damascus on Thursday turned away an aid convoy headed for the besieged suburb of Daraya, leaving some 4,000 civilians without much-needed vaccines and medical supplies. Not one delivery of food aid has made it into the besieged suburb since government forces surrounded it in 2012.

And on Friday, human-rights watchdog Amnesty International accused rebels fighting under the Fatah Halab (Conquest of Aleppo) coalition in Aleppo of carrying out indiscriminate attacks on civilian homes, streets, markets and mosques in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhood of Shiekh Maqsoud, killing at least 83 civilians, including 30 children, between February and April 2016.

The Fatah Halab coalition includes two Islamist rebel factions – Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham – that Russia unsuccessfully tried to blacklist earlier in the week.

Hezbollah confirmed on Friday the death of its top military commander, Mustafa Badreddine, in a “major explosion” at the Damascus airport. While the cause of the explosion has not yet been confirmed, both Lebanese and Israeli media outlets quickly suggested the blast could have been caused by an Israeli airstrike. Badreddine is the third high-profile leader in the Lebanese Shiite militia to be assassinated in Syria in six months.

Stories of the Week:

Underbelly of the War: Trade in Human Organs

In Syria and its neighboring countries, an underground network of organ traders has sprung up, preying on the thousands affected by the five-year-long war and offering them desperately needed cash for nonessential organs.

One Fighter’s Recruitment – and Escape – from ISIS

As ISIS swept over large swathes of the eastern province, former FSA fighter Abu Khadija pledged his allegiance, believing the extremists were his best bet to topple the Assad government. Now, after escaping, he wishes he could take it all back.

In Rebel Areas, Journalists Complain of New Curbs

Reporting from Syria’s opposition-held areas is dangerous work, according to local journalists on the ground, who say they’ve been censored and intimidated by rebel factions across the country.

More Recent Stories to Look Out for at Syria Deeply:

• Those Who Remain in Aleppo, the World’s Most Dangerous City
• My Life Outside Syria: Diary Entry 67
• Op-Ed: Bourj Hammoud Opens Its Doors to Yet More Refugees
• Fear and Grief Follow Refugees to Idomeni
• Turkish Border Guards Kill and Injure Asylum Seekers

Find our new reporting and analysis every weekday at www.newsdeeply.com/syria.
You can reach our team with any comments or suggestions at info@newsdeeply.org.

Top image: A Syrian woman cooks at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, on May 10, 2016. AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris