SDF, allies set up civilian council to run Deir Ezzor

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) gather in northern Deir al-Zor province ahead of an offensive against Daesh militants, Syria February 21, 2017. (REUTERS)
Updated 24 September 2017
Follow

SDF, allies set up civilian council to run Deir Ezzor

DEIR EZZOR, Syria: US-allied militias in northern Syria have announced the formation of a civilian council to govern the oil rich eastern province of Deir Ezzor where they are racing with the Syrian regime’s troops to capture territory held by Daesh.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which includes Arab militias but is dominated by the powerful Kurdish people’s protection unit (YPG) militia, launched an operation in Deir Ezzor province which borders Iraq earlier this month which captured its northern countryside and advanced east of the Euphrates River.
On Saturday, they seized a major gas field in Deir Ezzor province from Daesh militants in rapid advances that preempted the Syrian regime that was also heading in that direction.
In a separate offensive, Syrian regime troops and Iranian backed militias with Russian air power had also this month broke a years-long Daesh siege of government-held parts of Deir Ezzor on the other side of the Euphrates river.
The advances against Daesh have brought US-backed forces and the Syrian regime side, backed by Russia and Iran, into close proximity.
The assaults by the Russian-backed Syrian army and the US-backed SDF have at times raised fears of clashes that could stoke tensions between the competing world powers.
The SDF appointed 100 tribal figures to meet and elect a council to run the province on Sunday.
In a final communique, the council said its priority was the return of tens of thousands of displaced residents of the province who fled during the conflict and restoring basic utilities. It urged the US-led coalition to provide aid to the war-torn province.
“We want to cement ties among the people of the province,” the statement of the newly formed Deir Ezzor civil council said.
The extent of Kurdish control in the eastern province that lies at the heart of Arab tribal area is sensitive both for residents and for Ankara.
Many local Arab tribes from the region also complain they are marginalized in decision making and blame the YPG for discrimination against them, including the forced conscription of their youths. The YPG denies these allegations.
On Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said Russian airstrikes had killed 45 members of an extremist group in the northwestern province of Idlib.
It was unclear why the strikes, which took place Saturday, targeted members of the Faylaq Al-Sham rebel group, which has taken part in peace talks supervised by Moscow in the Kazakh capital Astana.
The strikes hit the group in the province of Idlib, which is part of a so-called “de-confliction” zone agreed in a deal between Russia, Iran and Turkey.
The Observatory initially reported a lower toll, but said the figure had risen as bodies were recovered after the strike on one of the rebel group’s headquarters on the outskirts of the village of Tal Mardikh.
Faylaq Al-Sham is a radical group considered close to the Muslim Brotherhood movement.
It has fought against the former Al-Qaeda affiliate that now effectively controls nearly all of Idlib after chasing its former rebel allies from their positions in fighting this summer.
A spokesman for Faylaq Al-Sham confirmed the group’s headquarters had been targeted, despite their participation in the last round of talks in Astana.
“Our participation in Astana does not in any way mean that Russia is a friendly or neutral country,” Idriss Al-Raed said.
“The Russian bombing is not surprising, since its policy since its intervention in Syria is based on criminality and killing,” he added.
Russia began an intervention in Syria in support of ally President Bashar Assad in 2015, and has helped the regime win back large parts of the country.
Moscow also helped broker a deal for four truce zones, one of which includes Idlib province, in an agreement with Iran and Turkey inked in May.
The three other zones are around the capital Damascus, in southern Syria and in the center of the country.
More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.


Israeli fire wounds five in south Lebanon as residents try to return, Lebanese media reports

Updated 9 sec ago
Follow

Israeli fire wounds five in south Lebanon as residents try to return, Lebanese media reports

  • Israel said on Friday it intended to keep troops on the ground beyond the Sunday deadline
  • Kfar Kila is one of dozens of border villages where residents are forbidden from returning
BEIRUT: Israeli fire wounded five people in south Lebanon on Sunday, Lebanese media and security sources said, as residents sought to return to homes in the border area where Israeli forces remained on the ground after a deadline for their withdrawal passed.
Israel said on Friday it intended to keep troops on the ground beyond the Sunday deadline stipulated in the US-brokered ceasefire that halted last year’s war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah. Israel did not say how long its forces would remain.
The deal stipulated that Israeli forces should withdraw from south Lebanon as Hezbollah’s weapons and fighters were removed from the area and the Lebanese army deployed, within in a 60-day period which ended on Sunday morning.
Israel has said the terms had not been fully enforced by the Lebanese state, while Lebanon’s US-backed military on Saturday accused Israel of procrastinating in its withdrawal.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli forces opened fire on residents of the village of Kfar Kila after they crossed a barricade put up by Israeli forces, wounding five.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.
Kfar Kila is one of dozens of border villages that the Israeli military has said residents are forbidden from returning to until further notice.

WHO chief urges end to attacks on Sudan health care after 70 killed in drone strike

Updated 26 January 2025
Follow

WHO chief urges end to attacks on Sudan health care after 70 killed in drone strike

  • WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: ‘We continue to call for a cessation of all attacks on health care in Sudan’

The head of the World Health Organization called on Saturday for an end to attacks on health care workers and facilities in Sudan after a drone attack on a hospital in Sudan’s North Darfur region killed more than 70 people and wounded dozens.
“As the only functional hospital in El Fasher, the Saudi Teaching Maternal Hospital provides services which include gyn-obstetrics, internal medicine, surgery and pediatrics, along with a nutrition stabilization center,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on X after the Friday strike.
“We continue to call for a cessation of all attacks on health care in Sudan, and to allow full access for the swift restoration of the facilities that have been damaged,” Tedros said.
The war between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which broke out in April 2023 due to disputes over the integration of the two forces, has killed tens of thousands, driven millions from their homes and plunged half of the population into hunger.
The conflict has produced waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RSF, creating a humanitarian crisis.
Darfur Governor Mini Minnawi said on X that an RSF drone had struck the emergency department of the hospital in the capital of North Darfur, killing patients, including women and children.
Fierce clashes have erupted in El Fasher between the RSF and the Sudanese joint forces, including the army, armed resistance groups, police, and local defense units.


Devastating toll for Gaza’s children: Over 13,000 killed and an estimated 25,000 injured, UN says

Updated 26 January 2025
Follow

Devastating toll for Gaza’s children: Over 13,000 killed and an estimated 25,000 injured, UN says

  • UN says out of 40,717 Palestinian bodies identified so far, roughly a third or 13,319  were children
  • Nearly 19,000 children were hospitalized for acute malnutrition in four months before December 2025

UNITED NATIONS: The war in Gaza has been devastating for children: More than 13,000 have been killed, an estimated 25,000 injured, and at least 25,000 hospitalized for malnutrition, according to UN agencies.
As Britain’s deputy UN ambassador, James Kariuki, recently told the Security Council, “Gaza has become the deadliest place in the world to be a child.”
“The children of Gaza did not choose this war,” he said, “yet they have paid the ultimate price.”
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported Thursday that of the 40,717 Palestinian bodies identified so far in Gaza, one-third – 13,319 – were children. The office said Friday the figures came from Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

The bodies of three children killed by an Israeli strike are carried for burial in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday Nov. 21, 2024. (AP)

The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, said the estimate of 25,000 children injured came from its analysis based on information collected together with Gaza’s Health Ministry.
UN deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said nearly 19,000 children had been hospitalized for acute malnutrition in the four months before December.
That figure also came from UNICEF, which said it was from data collected by UN staff in Gaza focusing on nutrition, in coordination with all pertinent UN agencies.

The UN says thousands of children have also been orphaned or separated from their parents during the 15-month war.
Yasmine Sherif, executive director of the UN global fund Education Cannot Wait, told a press conference that 650,000 school-age children haven’t been attending classes and the entire education system has to be rebuilt because of the widespread destruction in Gaza.

Palestinian children queue at a food distribution kitchen in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday Nov. 28, 2024. (AP)

Diplomats from Britain, France and other countries also cited the toll on Israeli children who were killed, injured and abducted during Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 – with some still being held hostage.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon asked the Security Council whether it ever paused to consider the plight of Israeli children “mutilated, tortured and murdered” on Oct. 7, the 30 who were kidnapped and the tens of thousands who have been displaced, their homes destroyed.
“The trauma they have endured is beyond imagination,” he said.
Danon called Thursday’s council meeting on children in Gaza “an affront to common sense,” accusing Hamas of turning Gaza into “the world’s largest terror base” and using children as human shields.
“The children of Gaza could have had a future filled with opportunity,” he said. “Instead, they are trapped in a cycle of violence and despair, all because of Hamas, not because of Israel.”

 

 


Devastating toll for Gaza’s children: Over 13,000 killed and an estimated 25,000 injured, UN says

Palestinian children queue at a food distribution kitchen in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday Nov. 28, 2024. (AP)
Updated 26 January 2025
Follow

Devastating toll for Gaza’s children: Over 13,000 killed and an estimated 25,000 injured, UN says

  • The UN says thousands of children have also been orphaned or separated from their parents during the 15-month war

UNITED NATIONS: The war in Gaza has been devastating for children: More than 13,000 have been killed, an estimated 25,000 injured, and at least 25,000 hospitalized for malnutrition, according to UN agencies.
As Britain’s deputy UN ambassador, James Kariuki, recently told the Security Council, “Gaza has become the deadliest place in the world to be a child.”
“The children of Gaza did not choose this war,” he said, “yet they have paid the ultimate price.”
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported Thursday that of the 40,717 Palestinian bodies identified so far in Gaza, one-third – 13,319 – were children. The office said Friday the figures came from Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

The bodies of three children killed by an Israeli strike are carried for burial in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday Nov. 21, 2024. (AP)

The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, said the estimate of 25,000 children injured came from its analysis based on information collected together with Gaza’s Health Ministry.
UN deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said nearly 19,000 children had been hospitalized for acute malnutrition in the four months before December.
That figure also came from UNICEF, which said it was from data collected by UN staff in Gaza focusing on nutrition, in coordination with all pertinent UN agencies.

The UN says thousands of children have also been orphaned or separated from their parents during the 15-month war.
Yasmine Sherif, executive director of the UN global fund Education Cannot Wait, told a press conference that 650,000 school-age children haven’t been attending classes and the entire education system has to be rebuilt because of the widespread destruction in Gaza.

Palestinian children queue at a food distribution kitchen in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday Nov. 28, 2024. (AP)

Diplomats from Britain, France and other countries also cited the toll on Israeli children who were killed, injured and abducted during Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 – with some still being held hostage.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon asked the Security Council whether it ever paused to consider the plight of Israeli children “mutilated, tortured and murdered” on Oct. 7, the 30 who were kidnapped and the tens of thousands who have been displaced, their homes destroyed.
“The trauma they have endured is beyond imagination,” he said.
Danon called Thursday’s council meeting on children in Gaza “an affront to common sense,” accusing Hamas of turning Gaza into “the world’s largest terror base” and using children as human shields.
“The children of Gaza could have had a future filled with opportunity,” he said. “Instead, they are trapped in a cycle of violence and despair, all because of Hamas, not because of Israel.”

 

 


US says it is ‘critical’ that Gaza ceasefire implementation continues

Updated 26 January 2025
Follow

US says it is ‘critical’ that Gaza ceasefire implementation continues

  • Both Republican Trump and Democratic former President Joe Biden have been strong backers of Washington’s ally Israel

WASHINGTON: The US government said on Saturday it was “critical” that implementation of the Gaza ceasefire continues, after four Israeli soldiers were freed by Palestinian Hamas militants in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners.

KEY QUOTES
“It is critical that the ceasefire implementation continues and that all of the hostages are freed from Hamas captivity and safely returned to their families,” the US State Department said in a statement on Saturday.
Statements by the State Department and the White House welcomed the release of Israeli hostages and did not mention the Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel.
“The United States celebrates the release of the four Israeli hostages held in captivity for 477 days,” the State Department added.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
The week-old ceasefire in Gaza began last weekend just before US President Donald Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20. Both Republican Trump and Democratic former President Joe Biden have been strong backers of Washington’s ally Israel.
Trump has credited his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff for the ceasefire deal reached after months of talks mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar. Before his inauguration, Trump warned there would be “hell to pay” if hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were not released.

CONTEXT
Hamas took around 250 hostages during an Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed, according to Israeli tallies. It sparked the latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed over 47,000 people, according to the Gaza health ministry, and led to accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies. It also displaced nearly Gaza’s entire population and caused a hunger crisis.