BEIRUT: Daesh militants have destroyed parts of the second-century Roman amphitheater and an iconic monument known as the Tetrapylon in Syria’s historic town of Palmyra, the government and experts said Friday.
It was the extremist group’s latest attack on world heritage, an act that the UN cultural agency called a “war crime.” A Syrian government official said he feared for the remaining antiquities in Palmyra, which IS recaptured last month.
Also on Friday, Turkey’s military said Daesh killed five Turkish soldiers and wounded nine in a bomb attack in northern Syria.
Turkey is leading Syrian opposition fighters in an offensive against the IS-held town of Al-Bab in the Aleppo province, a push that has been bogged down since mid-November. Since its military intervention, Turkey has lost 54 soldiers in Syria, most of them in the Al-Bab offensive.
After suffering several setbacks in Syria, Daesh has gone on the offensive— reclaiming ancient Palmyra in December and launching an attack on a government-held city and military air base in Deir el-Zour in eastern Syria.
On Friday, the state news agency SANA said seven civilians were killed when Daesh shelled a residential area in the city of Deir el-Zour.
However, Daesh remains under pressure in northern Syria from Turkey and US-backed Kurdish forces, as well as in neighboring Iraq where Iraqi troops backed by the US-led coalition is fighting to retake the city of Mosul from the militants.
Palmyra, a UNESCO world heritage site that once linked Persia, India, China with the Roman empire and the Mediterranean area, has already seen destruction at the hands of the Daesh group. The ancient town first fell to Daesh militants in May 2015, when they held it for 10 months. During that time, Daesh damaged a number of its relics and eventually emptied it of most of its residents, causing an international outcry.
Palmyra fell again to the group last month, only nine months after a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive was hailed as a significant victory for Damascus.
On Friday, Maamoun Abdulkarim, the head of Syria’s antiquities department, said reports of the recent destruction first trickled out of the Daesh-held town late in December. But satellite images of the damage only became available late Thursday, confirming the destruction.
Abdulkarim said militants have destroyed the facade of the second-century theater, along with the Roman-era Tetrapylon — a set of four monuments with four columns each standing at the center of the colonnaded road leading to the theater.
Satellite imagery obtained by the Boston-based American Schools of Oriental Research, or ASOR, show extensive damage to the Tetrapylon. DigitalGlobe satellite imagery also shows damage to the theater facade.
ASOR said the damage was likely caused by intentional destruction from Daesh, but the organization was unable to verify the exact cause.
Daesh extremists have destroyed ancient sites across their self-styled Islamic caliphate in Syria and Iraq, perceiving them as monuments to idolatry.
UNESCO’s director-general, Irina Bokova, said the new destruction in Palmyra amounted to a war crime.
“The Tetrapylon was an architectural symbol of the spirit of the encounter and openness of Palmyra — and this is also one of the reasons why it has been destroyed,” she said in a statement.
Abdulkarim told The Associated Press that only two of the 16 columns of the Tetrapylon remain standing.
The Palmyra Tetrapylon, characterized by its four plinths that are not connected overhead, had only one original ancient column, said Abdulkarim. The 15 other columns were modelled after the ancient one and installed by Palmyra’s 81-year old distinguished antiquities scholar Khaled Al-Asaad, who was killed by Daesh militants when they were controlling the town the last time. The militants hung his body from a Roman column.
It was not immediately clear if the original column survived the destruction, Abdulkarim said.
ASOR said new stone debris was scattered across the center stage from damage to the stage backdrop that is also the facade of the theater.
During their first stay in Palmyra, Daesh destroyed ancient temples — including the Temple of Bel, which dated back to A.D. 32, and the Temple of Baalshamin, a structure of stone blocks several stories high and fronted by six towering columns. The group also used the theater for public killings and posted chilling videos of the slayings.
The militants also blew up the Arch of Triumph, built between A.D. 193 and A.D. 211.
Spokesman for Russian President Dmitry Peskov said Syrian troops are continuing their efforts to take back Palmyra. Peskov called the new destruction “barbaric,” saying that it is a “real tragedy for the historic heritage.”
On Friday, Syria’s state news agency said government forces and allied troops have clashed with Daesh militants south of Palmyra, part of a new week-old offensive to reclaim the city.
Abdulkarim said he fears for what remains of the city’s ancient relics.
“When Palmyra fell for the second time, we shed tears because we expected this terror,” he said. “Now we are destined to see more terror if (IS control of Palmyra) continues.”
Palmyra, with its 2,000-year-old towering Roman colonnades and priceless artifacts, was affectionately referred to by Syrians as the “Bride of the Desert.”
A desert oasis surrounded by palm trees in central Syria, Palmyra is also a strategic crossroads linking the Syrian capital, Damascus, with the country’s east and neighboring Iraq. Located 215 kilometers (155 miles) east of Damascus, the city was once home to 65,000 people before the Syrian civil war began.
However, most Palmyra residents did not return after it was retaken by the government. Activists estimate the city is now home to a few hundred families. Many residents tried to flee as Daesh recaptured the city in December.
On Thursday, reports emerged that the militant group killed 12 captives it held in Palmyra, some of them beheaded in the Roman theater.
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Associated Press writer Lori Hinnant in Paris and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.
Daesh in Syria destroys part of Roman theater in Palmyra
Daesh in Syria destroys part of Roman theater in Palmyra
US says supports gas deals with Kurdistan region after Iraq lawsuit
- “We encourage Baghdad and Irbil to work together to expand domestic gas production as soon as possible
WASHINGTON: The United States said Tuesday it supported American energy companies’ contracts with Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region after the Iraqi government filed a lawsuit against them.
Regional prime minister Masrour Barzani announced the signing of the two deals valued at tens of billions of dollars during a visit to Washington, in which he met Friday with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio in his meeting “commended” the deals with US companies, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters.
“We encourage Baghdad and Irbil to work together to expand domestic gas production as soon as possible. These types of economic partnerships will benefit both the American and Iraqi peoples and help Iraq move toward energy independence,” she said.
“We also believe that US and Iraqi interests are best served by having a strong, resilient Iraqi Kurdistan region within a sovereign and prosperous federal Iraq
“As far as the nature of the lawsuits, obviously we are looking forward to continuing these kinds of deals. We expect these kinds of deals to flourish, and expect and would hope that they would be facilitated,” she said.
Israeli troops fire warning shots as Palestinians overwhelm new Gaza food center
- The UN and other humanitarian organizations have rejected the new system, saying it won’t be able to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million people
MUWASI, Gaza Strip: Chaos erupted on the second day of aid operations by a new US-backed group in Gaza as desperate Palestinians overwhelmed a center distributing food on Tuesday, breaking through fences. Nearby Israeli troops fired warning shots, sending people fleeing in panic.
An AP journalist heard Israeli tank and gunfire and saw a military helicopter firing flares. The Israeli military said its troops fired the warning shots in the area outside the center and that “control over the situation was established.”
At least three injured Palestinians were seen by The Associated Press being brought from the scene, one of them bleeding from his leg.
The distribution hub outside Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah had been opened the day before by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been slated by Israel to take over aid operations. The UN and other humanitarian organizations have rejected the new system, saying it won’t be able to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and allows Israel to use food as a weapon to control the population. They have also warned of the risk of friction between Israeli troops and people seeking supplies.
Palestinians have become desperate for food after nearly three months of Israeli blockade pushed Gaza to the brink of famine.
Palestinians walk miles for food, finding chaos
Palestinians at the scene told AP that small numbers of people made their way to the GHF center Tuesday morning and received food boxes. As word spread, large numbers of men, women and children walked for several miles from the sprawling tent camps along Gaza’s Mediterranean coast. To reach the hub, they had to pass through nearby Israeli military positions.
By the afternoon, hundreds of thousands were massed at the hub. Videos show the crowds funneled in long lines through chain-link fence passages. Two people said each person was searched and had their faces scanned for identification before being allowed to receive the boxes. Crowds swelled and turmoil erupted, with people tearing down fences and grabbing boxes. The staff at the site were forced to flee, they said.
The AP journalist positioned some distance away heard gunfire and rounds of tank fire. Smoke could be seen rising from where one round impacted. He saw a military helicopter overhead firing flares.
“There was no order, the people rushed to take, there was shooting, and we fled,” said Hosni Abu Amra, who had been waiting to receive aid. “We fled without taking anything that would help us get through this hunger.”
“It was chaos,” said Ahmed Abu Taha, who said he heard gunfire and saw Israeli military aircraft overhead. “People were panicked.”
Crowds were seen running from the site. A few managed to secure aid boxes — containing basic items like sugar, flour, pasta and tahini — but the vast majority left empty-handed.
US-backed group says they ‘fell back’ to ensure safety
In a statement, GHF said that because of the large number of Palestinians seeking aid, staff at the hub followed the group’s safety protocols and “fell back” to allow them to dissipate, then later resumed operations.
A spokesperson for the group told the AP that no shots were fired from GHF. Speaking on condition of anonymity in line with the group’s rules, the spokesperson said the protocols aim at “avoiding loss of life, which is exactly what happened.”
GHF uses armed private contractors to guard the hubs and the transportation of supplies. The hub is also close to Israeli military positions in the Morag Corridor, a band of territory across the breadth of Gaza that divides Rafah from the rest of the territory.
GHF has set up four hubs around Gaza to distribute food, two of which began operating on Monday — both of them in the Rafah area.
The UN and other humanitarian groups have refused to participate in GHF’s system, saying it violates humanitarian principles. They say it can be used by Israel to forcibly displace the population by requiring them to move near the few distribution hubs or else face starvation – a violation of international law. They have also opposed the use of facial recognition to vet recipients.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday commented on the turmoil at the Rafah center, saying, “There was some loss of control momentarily … happily we brought it under control.”
He repeated that Israel plans to move Gaza’s entire population to a “sterile zone” at the southern end of the territory while troops fight Hamas elsewhere.
UN says it has been struggling to transport aid
Israel has said the new system is necessary because it claims Hamas has been siphoning off supplies that reach Gaza. The UN has denied that any significant diversion takes place.
Throughout the war, the UN and other aid groups have conducted a massive operation distributing food, medicine and other supplies to wherever Palestinians are located. Israel says GHF will replace that network, but the past week has allowed a trickle of aid to enter Gaza for the UN to distribute.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency in charge of coordinating aid, said on Tuesday that 400 trucks of supplies, mainly food, was waiting on the Gaza side of the main crossing from Israel, but that the UN had not collected them. It said Israel has extended the times for collection and expanded the routes that the UN can use inside Gaza.
Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office OCHA, told reporters in Geneva that agencies have struggled to pick up the supplies “because of the insecure routes that are being assigned to us by the Israeli authorities to use.” He said the amount of aid allowed the past week was “vastly insufficient.”
Israeli strike on south Lebanon kills one: ministry
- The ministry said an “Israeli enemy strike” on a motorcycle killed one man in Yater
- The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike on south Lebanon killed one man on Tuesday, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.
In a statement, the ministry said an “Israeli enemy strike” on a motorcycle killed one man in Yater, in south Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil district.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack, which came after it said it killed a Hezbollah member in south Lebanon’s Majdal Zoun on Monday.
Israel has continued to launch strikes on its northern neighbor despite the November truce that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, including two months of full-blown war.
Under the terms of the ceasefire deal, only UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army should be deployed in southern Lebanon, though Israel has kept its forces in five areas it has declared strategic.
Lebanon has called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its attacks and withdraw all its troops.
UN says it has no information over Gaza aid group deliveries
GENEVA: The United Nations said on Tuesday it had no information on whether the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed aid group, had actually delivered any supplies inside the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
The little-known group, which has stirred controversy since surfacing in early May, announced on Monday it had begun distributing truckloads of food in the Gaza Strip.
But officials from the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, and UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said they were unaware whether any aid had actually been distributed.
The UN and international aid agencies have said they will not cooperate with the GHF, amid accusations it is working with Israel without any Palestinian involvement.
“It is a distraction from what is actually needed, which is a reopening of all the crossings in to Gaza; a secure environment within Gaza; and faster facilitation of permissions and final approvals of all the emergency supplies that we have just outside the border that need to get in,” OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke told a press briefing in Geneva.
UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma told journalists aid to Gaza was still “very, very far” from what was needed: a minimum of 500 to 600 trucks per day loaded with food, medical aid, fuel, water and other basic supplies, she said, speaking via video-link from Amman.
Israel, which recently stepped up its offensive against militant group Hamas, drew international condemnation after implementing a blockade on March 2 that has sparked severe food and medical shortages.
Humanitarian aid has begun trickling back into Gaza in recent days after Israel lifted the 11-week blockade.
Touma said no UNRWA supplies had gone in since March 2, while Laerke said he had no information on how many UN trucks had passed through the Kerem Shalom crossing in the last 24 hours, partly because Israel does not allow them to have a fixed presence there.
Israeli forces raid foreign exchange stores across West Bank
- One killed, eight other people were injured by Israeli forces during a raid in Nablus
RAMALLAH: Israeli forces raided foreign exchange stores in several West Bank cities including Ramallah and Nablus on Tuesday, accusing their parent company of “connections with terrorist organizations,” according to an army closure notice.
“Israeli forces are taking action against Al-Khaleej Exchange Company due to its connections with terrorist organizations,” a leaflet left at the company’s Ramallah location read.
An AFP journalist present at the scene reported several army vehicles at the store’s entrance while soldiers came out carrying items covered by a cloth.
Two army vehicles escorted one of the store’s employees away from the premises.
In the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Israeli forces raided a second foreign exchange store belonging to the Al-Khaleej company, as well as a gold store, according to another AFP journalist.
Some Palestinian residents of Nablus were seen clashing with the army during the raid, throwing objects at troops.
The Ramallah-based Ministry of Health said one man was killed and eight other people were injured by Israeli forces’ live ammunition during a raid in Nablus on Tuesday.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said it treated 20 people for tear gas inhalation and three others who were injured by rubber bullets.
The Palestinian movement Hamas condemned the raids on foreign exchange shops.
“These assaults on economic institutions, accompanied by the looting of large sums of money and the confiscation of property, are an extension of the piracy policies adopted by the (Israeli) government,” the group said in a statement, adding that the targeted companies were “operating within the law.”
