BEIRUT: One-month-old Heyim Hassan was receiving treatment for a chest infection in the Afrin general hospital in northern Syria when a shell landed a few meters (feet) away. His panicked father whisked him out of the building and spent hours looking for nebulizers to aid the infant’s breathing. No one was killed in the attack, but 30 children had to be evacuated to safety.
It was the third time Heyim’s father, Serbest, had to seek shelter for his family in the last month. Four days after the baby was born, Turkey launched an offensive in northwestern Syria, forcing them to flee their home and Serbest’s mobile phone shop to find safety in the district’s center.
Nearly a month into the offensive in Afrin, hundreds of thousands of Syrians like Hassan and his family are hiding from bombs and airstrikes in caves and basements, trapped in the Kurdish enclave while Turkey and its allies are bogged down in fierce ground battles against formidable opponents.
Crammed with 40 relatives into their new shelter, a three-bedroom apartment, the baby Heyim contracted the infection. Then the new neighborhood also got shelled while he was evacuated from the hospital.
“This is how it is in Afrin. It is not just me,” Hassan said in a series of messages to The Associated Press from inside Afrin, encircled and under attack since Jan. 20.
A slow-moving ground offensive, the assault on Afrin threatens to become a protracted standoff, deepening an already dire humanitarian situation. It could also prove costly for Turkey, diplomatically and militarily. So far, nearly 80 civilians in Afrin, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and 31 Turkish soldiers have been killed. Turkey says it does all it can to avoid civilian casualties.
Turkey launched its offensive with more than 70 aircraft. Airstrikes were followed by a ground assault in which an estimated 10,000 allied Syrian rebel fighters took part, backed by Turkish artillery and other troops.
Fighting on six fronts, the Turkey-backed troops have met stiff resistance from the Kurdish People’s Defense Units, known as the YPG.
Turkish officials have made conflicting statements about the goals of the offensive, but have said they seek to push the Kurdish militia away from its borders.
The Kurdish fighters form the backbone of the U.S-backed Syrian Democratic Forces fighting Daesh group militants in eastern Syria, but are viewed by Turkey as an extension of its own insurgents, the Kurdistan Workers Party or the PKK.
Although Afrin is encircled from all sides by Turkey, the guerrilla fighters — with years to prepare for the defense of their 1,500-square-mile (3,885-square kilometer) district — have proven a challenge.
They targeted Turkish tanks and bases and claimed to have downed at least one helicopter. Eleven soldiers were killed in one day last week. The weather and geography have also slowed down the offensive, with fog and rain grounding jets and obstructing ground advances as fighters grappled to deal with the mountainous terrain.
The Observatory, which monitors in the war in Syria, estimates that Turkey has seized nearly 7 percent of district land along Afrin’s outer edges, including a strategic hill in the east, and Bulbul, Hassan’s hometown, in the north.
The YPG says 98 of its fighters have been killed. But the Observatory puts the toll at over 160, and estimated that over 200 Turkey-backed Syrian fighters have been killed.
YPG commanders hinted they could open new fronts against Turkey.
“We are in the first phase of the battle now,” said YPG commander Sipan Hemo. “This strategic battle will not end ... until we teach the Turkish occupation the right lessons, and they withdraw to their borders.”
Noah Bonsey, senior analyst with the International Crisis Group who recently returned from a visit to Kurdish-controlled territories in northern Syria, said Turkey may either remain along the edges of Afrin or attempt to gain additional ground inside the enclave.
“This is when things could really turn dangerous,” he said. “I think it is unclear where things are moving from here. All eyes are on (US Secretary of State Rex) Tillerson’s visit to Ankara.”
Tillerson met Thursday with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and he and Turkish Foreign Minister Melvut Cavusoglu planned a news conference Friday after meetings were concluded. Ultimately, Ankara wants Washington to halt its support for the Syrian Kurdish militia.
Meanwhile, the offensive has emboldened Washington’s adversary, the Syrian government, which with Russia’s aid, is presenting itself as the solution to the bloody, unpredictable conundrum. Russia has tried to secure the return of some form of government presence to Afrin, asking the Kurdish militia to cede control of security and borders to Damascus.
Although the YPG rejected the proposal, it remains the only idea on the table and Kurdish commanders have recently called publicly on the Syrian government to assume its role guarding Afrin’s borders.
The UN, which has no access to Afrin, said it was “extremely difficult” to verify numbers of displaced, estimating in the first week of February that between 15,000 to 30,000 people were uprooted inside the enclave.
Local Kurdish official Arefeh Bakr said it was a struggle assisting people holed up with relatives in small apartments and caves to escape airstrikes. She herself is hosting 25 people in her home, relatives displaced from nearby villages.
“We don’t want aid or help,” Bakr said. “We just want an end to the airstrikes.”
Jiwan Mohamed, director of the Afrin general hospital, said with a staff of about 250 doctors and nurses, the hospital has so far been able to cope, but it was becoming overwhelming, particularly with a lack of blood transfer products and emergency kits. The UN said there are four other facilities in the district center, including one operated by a UN partner.
Fuel and food supplies have come in through government-held areas, ensuring that prices have not gone up. A water treatment plant was damaged, temporarily affecting supply to one area in the north.
According to the UN, local authorities have prevented people from leaving the enclave, except for critical medical cases allowed out by the Syrian government and Afrin authorities.
For Hassan, the return the Syrian government to Afrin is the least bad option. Although Afrin was one of the first areas to join the protests against the Syrian government that eventually turned into the current conflic, he said the prospect of Turkey-backed rebels swarming their town is frightening.
Dozens of videos have surfaced showing Turkey-backed rebels taking hostages in Afrin, mistreating the elderly and mutilating the body of a female Kurdish fighter.
“This shows what will happen to us,” Hassan said. “We are waiting in anticipation and watching videos.”
In Turkey, the offensive in Afrin is popular, playing to nationalist and anti-Kurdish sentiments ahead of the 2019 elections. Turkish opposition lawmaker and member of the defense committee, Dursun Cicek, said the operation is progressing slowly.
“But Turkey is not in any hurry,” he said.
Civilians have no place to run as Turkey offensive drags on
Civilians have no place to run as Turkey offensive drags on
West Bank family wants justice for children killed in Israel strike
- Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 825 Palestinians in the territory, according to Health Ministry figures
TAMMUN, Plestinian Territories: Batoul Bsharat was playing with her eight-year-old brother Reda in their village in the occupied West Bank. Moments later, an Israeli drone strike killed him and two of their cousins.
“It was the first time in our lives that we played without arguing. It meant so much to me,” the 10-year-old said as she sat on the concrete ledge outside the family home in the northern village of Tammun where they had been playing on Wednesday.
At her feet, a crater no wider than two fists marked where the missile hit.
The wall behind her is pockmarked with shrapnel impacts, and streaks of blood still stain the ledge.
Besides Reda, Hamza, 10, and Adam, 23, were also killed.
The Israeli army said on Wednesday that it had struck “a terrorist cell” in Tammun but later promised an investigation into the civilian deaths.
Batoul puts on a brave face but is heartbroken at the loss of her younger brother.
“Just before he was martyred, he started kissing and hugging me,” she said.
“I miss my brother so much. He was the best thing in the world.”
Her cousin Obay, 16, brother of Adam, was the first to come out and find the bodies before Israeli soldiers came to take them away.
“I went outside and saw the three of them lying on the ground,” he said. “I tried to lift them, but the army came and didn’t allow us to get close.”
Obay said his elder brother had just returned from a pilgrimage to Makkah.
“Adam and I were like best friends. We had so many shared moments together. Now I can’t sleep,” he said, staring into the distance, bags under his eyes.
Obay said the soldiers made him lie on the ground while they searched the house and confiscated cellphones before leaving with the bodies on stretchers.
Later on Wednesday, the army returned the bodies, which were then laid to rest. On Thursday, Obay’s father, Khaireddin, and his brothers received condolences from neighbors.
Despite his pain, he said things could have been worse as the family home hosts many children.
“Usually, about six or seven kids are playing together, so if the missile had struck when they were all there, it could have been 10 children,” he said.
Khaireddin was at work at a quarry in the Jordan Valley when he heard the news. Adam had chosen to stay home and rest after his pilgrimage to Makkah.
He described his son as “an exceptional young man, respectful, well-mannered and upright,” who had “nothing to do with any resistance or armed groups.”
Khaireddin, like the rest of the Bsharat family, said he could not comprehend why his home had been targeted.
“We are a simple family, living ordinary lives. We have no affiliations with any sides or movements.”
Violence has soared in the West Bank since war broke out in Gaza with the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 825 Palestinians in the territory, according to Health Ministry figures.
As the Israeli army has stepped up its raids on West Bank cities and refugee camps, it has also intensified its use of air strikes, which were once a rarity.
A day before the Bsharat home was hit, a similar strike had struck Tammun.
Khaireddin regrets that the army made “no apology or acknowledgment of their mistake.”
“This is the current reality — there is no accountability. Who can we turn to for justice?“
Tajani says Syrian leader pledged to stop ‘illegal immigration’
- Tajani also met his new counterpart Asaad Al-Shaibani, after which the Syrian official said he would soon make his first official tour of Europe
BEIRUT: Syria’s new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa told visiting Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Friday that he was ready to stem “illegal immigration” to Europe, the European diplomat said.
“Al-Sharaa says he is ready to block illegal immigration, (and) fight against drug traffickers,” Tajani said in the Lebanese capital, the second leg of his trip, adding these were “two crucial commitments for Italy.”
Tajani said he had called for a moratorium on EU sanctions on Syria for six months or one year.
However, Tajani added that “lifting sanctions is not a national decision. They are a European bloc decision.”
Tajani also met his new counterpart Asaad Al-Shaibani, after which the Syrian official said he would soon make his first official tour of Europe.
“I am pleased to announce my intention to head a high-level delegation on a foreign tour that includes a number of European countries,” he said. Al-Shaibani has already visited Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Jordan since the start of the month. Tajani arrived after hosting talks with European counterparts and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Rome on Thursday, where Tajani said they are seeking a “stable and united Syria.”
The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas earlier on Friday said the 27-nation bloc could begin lifting sanctions if Syria’s new rulers took steps to form an inclusive government that protects minorities.
US working with regional partners to support ‘responsible transition’ in Syria: Official
- Acting undersecretary for political affairs addressed press briefing attended by Arab News
- John Bass would not answer questions regarding Israel’s military attacks against Syria
CHICAGO: Discussions to ensure a “responsible transition” in Syria to prevent a rise in terrorism, provide basic services to citizens and ensure good relations with regional nations are progressing, the US acting undersecretary for political affairs told a press briefing attended by Arab News on Friday.
Concluding two days of talks with Turkish officials in Ankara, John Bass said the Syria Working Group also addressed defining Syria’s borders and “strengthening internal security” to prevent a resurgence of Daesh and other “foreign terrorist organizations” in the country.
Bass was careful not to predict how US policy might change under Donald Trump, nor would he address questions regarding Israel’s military attacks against Syria.
“We’ve also discussed in depth a range of steps that the United States and other governments have taken to enable the interim authorities in Damascus to address the immediate needs of the Syrian people, including via support from other governments for things like salaries, payments for the civilian administration at the national level, for donations of power or energy, and for some of the other measures that are required to stabilize the Syrian government, to stabilize the economy, and to give the Syrian people hope that this transition will yield a better future for all of the citizens of the country,” Bass said.
“What we’re working through … is how we can affect a responsible transition … so that it contributes to strengthening national forces over time and building, rebuilding a military and a police service that responsibly fulfills its duties and obligations to the Syrian people, but to do that in a way that doesn’t create immediate risk,” he added.
“It’s a complicated process to help a national government, particularly one that’s an interim government that needs to do a lot of internal work with other parts of Syrian society to determine what that government will look like in the future.”
Bass said the US is concerned that events in Syria do not “pose a threat to any of Syria’s neighbors, to countries in the wider region or to countries further afield, whether that’s in Europe, the United States or elsewhere around the world.”
He added that “the long-running civil war in Syria and the long-standing presence of Daesh” in the country have created threats to neighboring nations.
“It’s in that spirit that we’ve been engaging … in discussions about how we can help work together to ensure that as this transition continues inside Syria that it doesn’t just produce a better, safer environment inside Syria for all Syrians, it also addresses the security concerns of Turkiye, of Iraq, of Jordan, and of Syria’s other neighbors,” he said.
The US “greatly” admires “the generosity of the Turkish government and the Turkish people in hosting over 3 million (Syrian) refugees for now well over a decade,” he added.
Bass said discussions were focused on ensuring that fighters of terrorist groups such as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) are forced to return to their nations of origin.
“We’re in agreement with the government of Turkiye and a number of other governments that Syria can’t be, shouldn’t be in the future a safe haven for foreign terrorist organizations or foreign terrorist fighters. And we believe that any foreign terrorist that’s present inside Syria should leave the country,” Bass said in addressing the PKK.
“Ideally, many of those people will be returning to their countries of origin, their countries of nationality, through a responsible process that involves those governments potentially to face justice for their actions.
“But they should no longer be present in Syria, contributing to instability in the country. And that includes any foreign terrorists who have taken advantage of the long-term instability in Syria to set up shop whether it’s in northeastern Syria, whether it’s in southwestern or southern or southeastern Syria.”
Asked how Trump administration policies might differ, Bass said: “I’m a senior official of the current United States government. I can’t speak for the next US administration, nor can I offer any insights at this time into how US policy might change under the next administration.”
He expressed confidence, however, that “colleagues in the US government” will continue to support Syria’s transition.
Bass also emphasized that the small US presence in Syria has one specific purpose, “to ensure that Daesh doesn’t again become a threat to the people of Syria, the people of Turkiye, the people of Iraq or Jordan, or any other country.”
Israeli military confirms hostage killed alongside father in Gaza
- Israeli forces continued on Friday to pound Gaza, with Palestinian medics saying at least 15 people had been killed
- The Israeli military has said it suspected Hamza and Youssef were killed in one of its strikes
JERUSALEM: Israel confirmed on Friday that the remains of a hostage found killed in Gaza were of Hamza Ziyadne, the son of deceased hostage Youssef Ziyadne, whose body was found beside him in an underground tunnel near the southern city of Rafah.
Israeli forces continued on Friday to pound Gaza, with Palestinian medics saying at least 15 people had been killed, including a journalist for Cairo-based Al-Ghad TV who had been covering an incident at Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
There was no immediate comment on the latest fighting from Israeli’s military, which earlier announced it had concluded forensic tests to identify Hamza Ziyadne, an Israeli Bedouin taken hostage by Hamas-led fighters alongside his father and two of his siblings.
It said earlier this week that the body of Hamza’s father Youssef had been recovered close to those of armed guards from Islamist group Hamas or another Palestinian militant group and there were indications that Hamza may also have been killed.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas although the group’s armed wing told Qatar’s Al-Jazeera news network that most of the hostages in northern Gaza were now considered missing because of intense Israeli strikes there.
The left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the Israeli military has said it suspected Hamza and Youssef were killed in one of its strikes, given their bodies were found next to those of dead militants. A military spokesperson said this week that Youssef Ziyadne had not died recently.
The military declined to comment on the cause of the hostages’ deaths.
EFFORTS TO END FIGHTING
Mediators Qatar, the United States and Egypt are making new efforts to reach a deal to halt the fighting in Gaza and free the remaining hostages before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
The Hostages and Missing Family Forum, which represents most of the families, renewed its call on the Israeli government to conclude a deal with Hamas and bring back the hostages, saying Youssef and Hamza Ziyadne could have been saved through an earlier agreement.
The negotiations have been at an impasse for a year over two key issues. Hamas has said it will only free its remaining hostages if Israel agrees to end the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza. Israel says it will not end the war until Hamas is dismantled and all hostages are free.
Israeli defense minister Israel Katz on Friday instructed the military to present a plan for the “total defeat” of Hamas in Gaza if it does not release the hostages before Trump’s inauguration. It was not clear how such a plan would differ from existing Israeli military plans.
“We must not be dragged into a war of attrition against Hamas in Gaza, while the hostages remain in the tunnels, putting their lives at risk and suffering severely,” he told senior commanders, according to a defense ministry statement.
Israel launched its assault on the Gaza Strip after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave laid waste and most of its people — displaced multiple times — facing acute shortages of food and medicine due to Israel’s actions, humanitarian agencies say.
Arab, international support for Lebanon pours in as Aoun set to form government
- Bukhari expressed “Saudi Arabia’s satisfaction with Lebanon’s successful presidential election”
- Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides visited Beirut to congratulate Aoun, marking the first visit by a foreign head of state to Lebanon following the election
BEIRUT: Joseph Aoun’s first day as president of Lebanon was marked by strong Arab and international support.
Parliamentary consultations to name a new prime minister will take place next week.
Imran Riza, UN humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon, announced the allocation of $30 million from the Lebanon Humanitarian Fund to address urgent humanitarian needs caused by the recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s Dar Al-Fatwa relayed remarks from the Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Bukhari, during his meeting with Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian.
Bukhari expressed “Saudi Arabia’s satisfaction with Lebanon’s successful presidential election, achieved through Lebanese unity that inspires hope.”
He described the accomplishment as a significant step toward Lebanon’s renaissance, reconstruction, security, and stability, as well as the initiation of reforms and restoring Arab and international confidence.
Dar Al-Fatwa also reported that Bukhari admired “President Joseph Aoun’s inaugural speech, which was a reflection of his national responsibility.”
On Friday, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides visited Beirut to congratulate Aoun, marking the first visit by a foreign head of state to Lebanon following the election.
Aoun also received a congratulatory message from Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, expressing “the Iranian government’s readiness to continue strengthening bilateral cooperation in all areas.”
Pezeshkian said he hoped the presidential elections would lead to political stability, economic growth, peace, and security for the people of Lebanon. He added that reinforcing stability and unity would thwart Israel’s ambitions in Lebanon’s territory.
Aoun’s initial meetings included a session with Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who, along with Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, is set to visit Syria on Saturday. This marks the first official Lebanese visit to Damascus since the fall of Bashar Assad.
Aoun asked Mikati to “continue managing caretaker duties until a new government is formed.”
Mikati said after the meeting that during the two years and two months since the end of former President Michel Aoun’s term, his government held 60 Cabinet sessions and issued more than 1,211 decisions and more than 3,700 decrees.
“We managed to navigate this phase and maintain the continuity of the state, particularly through its backbone — the army — under the leadership of Gen. Joseph Aoun and through our cooperation with him.”
Mikati explained that the discussion with the president focused on “the existing challenges and the content of the inaugural address, in which Aoun outlined the directions for any new government to implement the speech’s content through the necessary constitutional steps.”
Mikati said: “We talked about the situation in the south and the necessity for a swift and full Israeli withdrawal, reestablishing stability in the south and halting Israeli violations.”
He said the next government must be able to reflect the direction outlined by the president. “We are embarking on a new phase that requires everyone’s cooperation to exert serious efforts to save the nation. The broad outlines set by the president are very important and the leadership of this country has the will to act. Many of these objectives can be achieved quickly through an active government.”
Regarding Aoun’s insistence in his speech on “the state having a monopoly on bearing weapons,” Mikati said: “Do we expect the president of the country to say that weapons are legal for everyone? Do we expect a new government to say that weapons are legal for all citizens? Today, we are entering a new phase that starts from southern Lebanon, specifically south of the Litani River, to withdraw arms and ensure that the state will be present across all Lebanese territory, with stability beginning from the south.”
Aoun’s inaugural address on Thursday was widely welcomed in Lebanon, and across the Arab and international states. Leaders of political parties and economic bodies expressed support for the speech and its implementation.
Sami Gemayel, head of the Lebanese Kataeb Party, said: “His address is unprecedented in the past three decades, as all presidents came during the Syrian guardianship or when Hezbollah controlled decisions and no president was allowed to speak about the interest of his country.”
Gemayel pledged to “defend the speech, which fully represents us, and to stand by the president to realize his national project.”
A few hours after the election of the president, Israeli reconnaissance planes resumed violations of Lebanese airspace, starting from the south and reaching Beirut and its southern suburb, extending to Hermel on the border with Syria.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued their incursions into southern Lebanon, destroying border villages.
Aita Al-Shaab was subjected to artillery shelling, with Israeli forces conducting explosions and intensive sweep operations inside the town.
Movements of Israeli forces’ vehicles were observed between Tallat Al-Hamames and the adjacent Metula settlement at the Khiam-Wazzani triangle.
Once again, Israeli tanks and infantry forces conducted incursions in the town of Taybeh and opened fire on the remaining houses.
On Friday, a Lebanese Army unit entered the town of Aitaroun in Bint Jbeil, accompanied by a bulldozer to clear a dirt barrier previously erected by the Israeli Army at the village entrance.
The Lebanese Army is awaiting a signal from a five-member committee, tasked with overseeing the implementation of the ceasefire resolution, to redeploy in positions at the Al-Qouzah-Debel-Aita Al-Shaab triangle following the Israeli withdrawal.
On Thursday Israel heavily bombed the border town of Aita Al-Shaab, causing tremors deep in southern regions.
Israel also carried out operations to detonate houses in Kafr Kila, Houla, and the vicinity of Wazzani, with the Israeli military claiming it had bombed “five large ammunition warehouses.”
Israeli forces still have 15 days left of the 60-day deadline to fully withdraw from the area following the incursion on Oct. 1.
On Friday, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee renewed his warning to the residents of southern Lebanon via social media, advising them against “moving south to the line of villages from Mansouri in the west to Shebaa in the east until further notice. Anyone who moves south of this line is at risk.”
Civil defense personnel, in coordination with the army and UNIFIL, continue to search and survey the areas from which the Israeli army withdrew, looking for the bodies of Hezbollah fighters who were reportedly missing.
