GENEVA: More than a week of UN-sponsored peace talks ended in Geneva on Friday, the main opposition group said, calling the results “more positive” than previous rounds.
“We are closing this round without (a) clear result ... but I can say this time was more positive,” Nasr Al-Hariri, the chief negotiator of the High Negotiating Committee (HNC), told reporters.
“It was the first time we discussed in an acceptable depth the issues of the future of Syria and political transition,” he said after the talks, the fourth mediated by UN envoy Staffan de Mistura.
De Mistura handed all the delegations a paper with 12 principles that would be the basis for a second round of negotiations, said the head of the “Moscow Platform” political grouping at the talks.
Hamzi Menzer cited de Mistura, who gave the group a copy of the one-page document, as saying that the Geneva process would resume in the coming weeks.
The Syrian opposition provisionally accepted the 12 principles, chief negotiator Nasr Al-Hariri said.
The general principles on the future of Syria were derived from points set out by de Mistura last year, Hariri told reporters.
He said the round had ended without clear results but for the first time issues related to political transition had been discussed in acceptable depth.
His rival, Syrian regime negotiator Bashar Al-Jaafari, left the talks without commenting.
De Mistura said he plans to invite negotiators back to Geneva for another round of talks later this month, at the end of the latest discussions.
“I am planning to invite the Syrian parties back here in March for a fifth round.”
The talks, he said, had produced a “clear agenda” for the war-scarred country.
Meanwhile, the Russian military said its officers planned and directed the Syrian operation to recapture Palmyra.
Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the military’s General Staff said Friday Russian warplanes and special forces played a “decisive role” in driving out the Daesh militants.
Syria’s military announced the previous night that its forces have fully recaptured Palmyra, the third time the town famed for its ancient Roman ruins has changed hands in one year. Rudskoi said the Russian military spared Palmyra’s heritage sites which Daesh had sought to destroy. Rudskoi said over 1,000 Daesh militants were killed in the fight for Palmyra. He said the top-of-the line Ka-52 helicopter gunships proved their efficiency in combat.
He said that Russian explosives experts would soon join the Syrian Army in clearing mines in Palmyra.
Syria peace talks head to Geneva 5
Syria peace talks head to Geneva 5
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Israel airstrikes kill family of 5 in Gaza Strip
- Hamas said on Monday that talks over some core issues for a ceasefire deal in Gaza have made progress, an official in the Palestinian group said
CAIRO: At least 14 Palestinians, including a family of five people, were killed in three separate Israeli airstrikes on Monday in northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics said.
One strike hit a group of people in the Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City, killing at least seven people including two children, the Health Ministry’s emergency service said. Two more people were killed in Jabaliya Al-Balad area in northern Gaza, it said.
Another five people were wounded in the strike, it said.
A third strike hit Salaheddin school, which shelters displaced families in the western part of Gaza City.
The strike killed two parents and their three children, according to the Al-Ahly Hospital which received the casualties.
The Israeli military did not have an immediate comment on the strikes.
Hamas said on Monday that talks over some core issues for a ceasefire deal in Gaza have made progress, an official in the Palestinian group said.
“The negotiation over some core issues made progress and we are working to conclude what remains soon,” added the official.
The administration of President Joe Biden sees a possible truce as soon as this week, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told Bloomberg News on Monday, adding that there were no guarantees that the parties would agree to such a deal.
Sullivan, speaking to Bloomberg in an interview, added that Biden’s administration has been in contact with incoming President Donald Trump’s team and sought a united front on the issue ahead of Washington’s Jan. 20 transition of power.
“The pressure building here toward the end of President Biden’s term has been considerable,” Sullivan said. “It’s there for the taking.”
Biden leaves office next week after Democrats lost the White House in November’s election, handing back the US government to Trump and his fellow Republicans, who will control both chambers of Congress.
Envoys of both Biden and Trump attended weekend talks on the potential deal.
“The question is now: Can we all collectively seize the moment and make this happen,” Sullivan told Bloomberg, adding that Biden had directed him to work closely with the incoming team.
Israel army says intercepted projectile launched from Yemen
- Israeli military also intercepted a drone launched from Yemen on Monday
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said it intercepted a projectile fired from Yemen on Monday before it crossed into Israeli territory, in the latest in a series of ongoing attacks.
“One projectile launched from Yemen was intercepted by the IAF (Israeli air force) prior to crossing into Israeli territory,” the military said in a statement.
Earlier on Monday the military said it had also intercepted a drone in southern Israel that was launched from Yemen.
Since the war in the Gaza Strip broke out in October 2023, the Iran-backed Houthi militants who control swathes of Yemen have repeatedly fired missiles and drones at Israel in what they say is a show of solidarity with the Palestinians.
In retaliation, Israel has struck Houthi targets several times inside Yemen, including in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa.
Iraqi PM outlines vision for UK relations ahead of official visit
- Mohammed Al-Sudani will meet with King Charles, PM Keir Starmer
- Visit ‘reflects my government’s commitment to strengthening the strategic partnership’
LONDON: Iraq’s prime minister has called for bolstering economic, trade and security ties with the UK ahead of an official visit to the country.
Mohammed Al-Sudani will arrive in London on Jan. 13 and will meet with King Charles, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and senior British officials.
Writing in the Telegraph on Sunday, Al-Sudani said the visit “reflects my government’s commitment to strengthening the strategic partnership between Iraq and the UK.”
He warned that it comes amid “unprecedented and escalating events in the Middle East” that threaten the region and the wider world.
Al-Sudani wrote that regional and international solidarity will ensure that the “free will and aspirations of the Syrian people are respected.”
He praised the UK’s support for Iraq’s fight against Daesh, and said the bilateral relationship had significantly transformed in recent decades.
“Today, as our country achieves greater levels of security and stability, the time has come to transition to a new phase of sustainable economic partnership,” he added.
Al-Sudani will aim to attract British investment in Iraqi energy infrastructure during his visit. It is part of a larger plan to establish Iraq as an international trade hub.
“We will continue to encourage more British investments in oil and gas, as well as in renewable energy projects, recognizing the importance of diversifying energy sources and addressing environmental challenges in the long term,” he wrote.
Al-Sudani highlighted banking reform as another area of potential cooperation with the UK, whose financial institutions and expertise can “improve government services and enhance administrative efficiency.”
He added: “We are determined to channel investments into developing education and training to equip young Iraqis with the skills required to meet the demands of the next phase of development.”
Counterterrorism efforts involving the UK could protect both domestic and regional stability, Al-Sudani said, adding that Iraq could benefit from British military industries.
“My upcoming meetings in London carry a clear message: Iraq is committed to building partnerships based on shared interests and forward-looking vision,” he said.
“We seek a global partner with political and economic weight, and the UK is well-positioned to play this vital role as we embark on a new chapter of growth and reconstruction.”
The Iraqi delegation to the UK includes ministers, MPs, Basra’s governor and representatives from the private sector.
UAE sends 35 trucks in 3 convoys to deliver aid to Gaza
- The latest Emirati delivery of essential supplies includes medical equipment such as dialysis machines and ultrasound devices, plus food and shelter materials
- The UAE has dispatched 153 humanitarian convoys to Gaza since November 2023, with 2,391 trucks delivering more than 29,274 tonnes of aid
LONDON: Three convoys of trucks carrying aid from the UAE this week crossed into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt.
A total of 35 trucks carried more than 248.9 tonnes of humanitarian supplies, including more than 100 tonnes of medical supplies, the Emirates News Agency reported.
The deliveries are part of an ongoing Emirati humanitarian campaign to help the Palestinian people during the war between Israel and Hamas. Since the launch of “Operation Chivalrous Knight 3” in November 2023, the UAE has sent 153 convoys into the Gaza Strip, with a total of 2,391 trucks delivering more than 29,274 tonnes of aid.
The essential supplies delivered by the latest convoys included medical equipment such as dialysis machines, ultrasound devices, resuscitation sets, wheelchairs and respiratory masks, the news agency added. Other items included food, tents and sacks of flour.
Fadel Al-Shamsi, a spokesperson for the Emirati aid operation, said care was taken to maintain the highest standards of safety and quality during the storage and transportation of the medical supplies to Gaza.
Palestinian president meets British FM in Ramallah
- Mahmoud Abbas briefed David Lammy on Israeli aggression in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem
LONDON: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas received British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Monday at the Palestinian Authority’s headquarters in Ramallah.
Abbas discussed with Lammy the need to implement UN Security Council Resolution 2735, which calls for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the coastal enclave.
He highlighted the UK’s backing for the efforts to gain international recognition of the State of Palestine and its full membership in the UN, as part of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He briefed Lammy on the latest Israeli aggressions in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, the WAFA news agency reported.
