BEIRUT/ANKARA: Turkey warned on Wednesday that pro-Damascus forces would face “serious consequences” for entering Syria’s Afrin region to help Kurdish fighters repel a Turkish offensive.
Their arrival raises the spectre of wider escalation on Syria’s northern battlefront, which includes the Syrian army, allied Iran-linked militias, Kurdish forces, rebels, Turkish troops, and Russian and American forces.
The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said Turkish planes bombed a town in Afrin and fighting raged on the ground on Wednesday. Turkey launched its assault last month to drive out the YPG, which it deems a menace along its border.
More paramilitary forces aligned with Syrian President Bashar Assad went to Afrin on Wednesday, state media said.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman said shellfire had forced an earlier convoy to retreat. “Any step by the (Syrian) regime or other elements in this direction will surely have serious consequences,” Ibrahim Kalin told a news conference.
A commander in the alliance fighting alongside Damascus in Syria’s seven-year war told Reuters that pro-government forces in Afrin had returned fire after rebels backed by Turkey attacked them on Tuesday night.
A new confrontation, pitting the Turkish army directly against pro-Assad forces, would further scramble the web of alliances and rivalries already at play in northern Syria.
Erdogan has described the pro-government fighters as militias acting independently and warned they would pay a heavy price.
Kalin said Turkey was not in direct talks with the Syrian government, but its messages to Damascus were being indirectly conveyed.
DEPLOYMENT
“The Syrian forces that entered and are still entering will be in the suitable locations to repel the Turkish occupation army,” said Rezan Hedo, a YPG media adviser.
They would deploy near the Turkish border, the YPG has said.
The pro-Assad commander said Russia had intervened to “delay the entry” of Syrian army troops, and so allied “popular forces” with heavy weaponry went instead.
Some Syrian Kurdish officials have said they believed Moscow wanted to keep leverage with Ankara to advance its wider ambitions of brokering a settlement of the conflict.
Turkey and Russia have fought on opposing sides during the seven-year war, with Moscow the key ally of Assad and Ankara one of the main backers of rebels fighting to overthrow him. But Ankara shifted its Syria policy, seeking to mend ties with Russia and turning its firepower against Kurdish forces.
Turkey has in recent months lent support to diplomacy by Russia, whose jets helped Assad’s government seize back most major cities since 2015. Ankara said last month it had sought Moscow’s agreement before the Afrin assault.
“The Russians are the ones who decided this game,” said Kurdish politician Fawza Youssef.
“The Russians have been playing it like this for a while... They pressure the Turks with the Kurdish card (and vice versa),” said Youssef, a senior member of the Kurdish-led autonomous authority in north Syria.
There was no comment from Moscow on Syrian deployments.
Ahead of the Turkish offensive last month, Russia pulled out the military police it had deployed in Afrin last year.
The Turkish offensive was slow to achieve gains along the frontier but pushed several km (miles) into Syria. Still, the YPG holds most of the Afrin region including its central town.
Turkey regards the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdish PKK movement which has waged a three-decade insurgency on its soil, though the groups say they are independent.
RIVAL VISIONS
In response to questions on Afrin on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged all Syrian combatants to talk to Damascus within Syria’s “territorial intergrity.”
Kurdish autonomy declarations in north Syria do “not help to resolve the problem” nor does US support in territory outside government control, the TASS news agency cited Lavrov as saying.
Since the onset of Syria’s conflict in 2011, the YPG and its allies have carved out three autonomous cantons in the north, including Afrin. Their power expanded as they fought Daesh militants with the help of US jets — though Washington opposes their political ambitions as does the Syrian government.
The US arming of the YPG has infuriated NATO ally Turkey. But while Washington’s troops stand with the Kurdish forces in the much larger swathes of east Syria they control, it has not given them support in Afrin.
Syrian Kurdish officials have said they sought assistance from Assad’s military after foreign powers did not help them against Turkey’s army.
The move of pro-Assad forces into Afrin has drawn more attention to the relationship between Damascus and the YPG, which will prove pivotal in how the conflict unfolds.
The Kurdish fighters and the Syrian government, which each hold more ground than any other side in the war, have mostly avoided direct conflict despite occasional clashes.
But Kurdish leaders seek autonomy as part of Syria, and Assad repeatedly pledges to take back the whole country.
While both have at times hinted a long-term agreement might be possible, their dealings are vulnerable to wider factors as powerful foreign allies also wrangle over Syria.
In Afrin, they have a common enemy in the Turkish forces. Kurdish officials said this week that talks with Damascus over Afrin had remained purely military.
“Until now, there is no talk at all over returning state institutions or administrative matters,” said Youssef, the senior Kurdish politician. “The priority now is that there’s an assault... After, the political can be discussed.”
A key ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Reuters that Ankara’s military campaign was in violation of international law and could strain ties within NATO.
Norbert Roettgen, who heads the German parliament’s foreign affairs committee, also said the military operation would complicate fledgling efforts to rebuild German-Turkish ties.
Stakes rise in Turkey’s Afrin assault as pro-Assad militia arrive
Stakes rise in Turkey’s Afrin assault as pro-Assad militia arrive
Security deployed as wartime Bethlehem readies for another somber Christmas
- Missing for a second consecutive year were the decorations, bustling tourists and crowds of pilgrims that were staples of Christmases past
BETHLEHEM: Palestinian security forces deployed around the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank holy city of Bethlehem on Tuesday, as the faithful prepared for another solemn Christmas overshadowed by the war in Gaza.
An unusual calm enveloped Manger Square, the heart of the Palestinian city dominated by the revered church that marks the site where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born.
The white-walled compound and its surrounding plaza were empty, save for a few vendors selling coffee and corn and a significant contingent of journalists, an AFP reporter saw.
Missing for a second consecutive year were the decorations, bustling tourists and crowds of pilgrims that were staples of Christmases past, reflecting the somber mood as the war between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip drags on.
The fighting in Gaza — which is separated from the occupied West Bank by a swath of Israeli territory — erupted after Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7 last year.
Traditionally, a grand Christmas tree would light up Manger Square, but local authorities opted against elaborate celebrations for a second year.
“This year we limited our joy,” Bethlehem mayor Anton Salman told AFP.
“We want to focus on the Palestinian reality and show the world that Palestine is still suffering from the Israeli occupation, still suffering from the injustice.”
Prayers, including the church’s famed midnight mass, will still be held in the presence of the Catholic Church’s Latin Patriarch, but the festivities will be of a more strictly religious nature than the festive celebrations the city once held.
Despite the gloomy mood, some Christians in the Holy Land — who number about 185,000 in Israel and 47,000 in the Palestinian territories — are finding refuge in prayer.
“Christmas is a feast of faith... We’re going to pray and ask God to end our suffering,” Salman said.
Vendors in front of the local municipality building, the Bethlehem Peace Center, waited for customers in vain behind pots full of steaming coffee.
Mohammad Awad, 57, has been selling coffee for more than 25 years at the foot of the Mosque of Omar, whose elegant minaret stands directly opposite the Church of the Nativity.
“Business was good before the war, but now there’s no one,” the vendor lamented. “I hope the war in Gaza will end soon and that tourists will return.”
While most streets were quiet, a handful of visitors could still be seen in the area.
“On one hand, it’s sad that there are so few people,” said Christiana von der Tann, a German who came with her husband to spend the holidays with her daughter, a journalist in Tel Aviv.
“But then you can access the Church of the Nativity as you can freely go inside... That’s the advantage.
“But it’s very sad for the people here, it’s very sad they can’t sell their goods. They’ve got a really hard time.”
Violence across the Israeli-occupied West Bank has surged since the war in Gaza broke out, but Bethlehem has remained largely quiet, even though the fighting has taken a toll on the now predominantly Muslim city.
Foreign tourists, on whom Bethlehem’s economy almost entirely relies, stopped coming due to the war. And an increase in restrictions on movement in the form of Israeli checkpoints is also preventing many Palestinians from visiting.
“Last night, there was a rocket attack in Tel Aviv and it was a little scary,” said Tann.
“We had to go to a shelter room. That was a special experience. You don’t forget that you are in a country at war.”
Lebanese Christians celebrate Christmas, hoping for election of president in 16 days
- Maronite Patriarch calls for return to ‘active positive neutrality’ for sake of country
BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi emphasized in his Christmas message to the Lebanese on Tuesday the importance of “not giving in to despair or hopelessness, no matter how severe the circumstances or challenges may be.”
Speaking on the eve of the most significant date in the Christian calendar, Al-Rahi said: “There is no salvation for Lebanon except through returning to the culture of active positive neutrality, which aligns with the nature of its political system. This would ensure Lebanon has one army, not two; one policy, not two. Lebanon would not enter wars, conflicts, or alliances, but instead maintain its sovereignty and defend its land against any aggressor through its own capabilities, without interfering in the affairs of other countries.”
Al-Rahi’s address this year came in the wake of a destructive war between the Israeli army and Hezbollah that left thousands in Lebanon dead and wounded. The ceasefire agreement, now in its 28th day, continues to face repeated violations by Israeli forces, however.
Meanwhile, the reconstruction of damaged areas in Beirut, its southern suburb, the south of Lebanon, and Bekaa remains dependent on the availability of funds — whether from the state or Hezbollah, which is still reeling from losses on several fronts.
Israel continues its unilateral war against southern Lebanon, exploiting the 60-day withdrawal period from the border area by conducting demolitions and explosions in villages.
Al-Rahi reiterated that neutrality “enables Lebanon to play its effective role as a place of meeting and dialogue between cultures and religions, and as a defender of peace and understanding in the region.”
On Tuesday, Beirut and other regions of the country witnessed high congestion in the streets and stores. Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport also saw increased activity with thousands of expatriates returning to spend the holiday season with their families.
Lebanese citizens are looking forward hopefully to Jan. 9, the date set for a parliamentary session to elect a president — the Maronite position that has been vacant for two years and two months due to political disagreements between Hezbollah and its allies on one side and the party’s opponents on the other.
Al-Rahi expressed his optimism about the election of a president “after a shameful vacuum that contradicts the constitution, and without any justification other than the lack of self-confidence among the nation’s MPs, waiting for the name to come from abroad. This is a great injustice.”
Parliament speaker Nabih Berri extended his congratulations to the Lebanese people, particularly to the Christian community, on the occasion. In a statement, he urged everyone “to approach all our issues with a Christmas spirit characterized by compassion, love, humility, tolerance, reconciliation, and openness.” Berri also met with Prime Minister Najib Mikati to discuss the developments in southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry, through Lebanon’s permanent mission to the UN in New York, has submitted a complaint to the Security Council, protesting Israel’s repeated violations of the declaration of a cessation of hostilities and related obligations concerning enhanced security arrangements for the implementation of Resolution 1701, commonly referred to as the ceasefire arrangements.
The complaint lists more than 816 Israeli incursions, both terrestrial and aerial, occurring between Nov. 27 and Dec. 22.
Lebanon stated in its complaint that “Israeli violations, including shelling of Lebanese border villages, booby-trapping of homes, destruction of residential areas, and obstruction of roads, undermine efforts for de-escalation and avoidance of military escalation.
“These actions pose a serious threat to international efforts aimed at achieving security and stability in the region and complicate Lebanon’s efforts to implement the provisions of Resolution 1701, while also hindering the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south.”
The complaint also stressed Lebanon’s “commitment to international resolutions and the implementation of the cessation of hostilities arrangements,” noting that it “has fully complied with international calls to calm the situation, and continues to show the utmost restraint and cooperation in order to avoid falling back into the hell of war.”
Lebanon called on “the countries sponsoring the cessation of hostilities arrangements to take a firm and clear position regarding Israel’s violations, and to take action to ensure that Israel respect its obligations under the declaration of cessation of hostilities and relevant international resolutions.”
It also requested the “enhancement of support for UNIFIL forces and the Lebanese Army to ensure the protection of its sovereignty and create the security conditions necessary for the restoration of stability and the return to normal life in the south.”
Italian army chief Lt. General Luciano Portolano arrived in Beirut to spend Christmas Eve with his country’s unit in UNIFIL.
He met with his Lebanese counterpart Gen. Joseph Aoun. Lebanon’s Army Command said their discussions focused on “ways to enhance cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries and the coordination between the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL.”
Sudan’s war is ‘deepening and widening’ a famine crisis, hunger monitoring report says
- Sudan has been roiled by a 20-month war that has killed more than than 24,000 people and driven over 14 million people
CAIRO: Famine is spreading in Sudan due to a war between the military and a notorious paramilitary group that has wrecked the country and created the world’s largest displacement crisis, a global hunger-monitoring group said Tuesday.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said it detected famine in five areas, including in Sudan’s largest displacement camp, Zamzam, in North Darfur province, where famine was found for the first time in August.
“This marks an unprecedented deepening and widening of the food and nutrition crisis, driven by the devastating conflict and poor humanitarian access,” an IPC report said.
As well as in the Zamzam camp, which hosts more than 400,000 people, famine was also detected in two other camps for displaced people, Abu Shouk and Al-Salam in North Darfur, and the Western Nuba Mountains, IPC’s report said.
Five other areas in North Darfur are projected “with reasonable evidence” to experience famine in the next six months, including el-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur, it said. Seventeen areas in the Nuba Mountains and the northern and southern areas of Darfur are at risk of famine, it added.
The report said some areas in Khartoum and the east-central province of Gezira “may be experiencing” famine-like conditions. It said experts were unable to confirm whether famine threshold has been surpassed due to lack of data.
Ahead of the IPC’s report, Sudan’s government said it had suspended its participation in the global system, according to a senior United Nations official with knowledge of the move.
In a letter dated Dec. 23, Agriculture Minister Abu Baker Al-Beshri accused the IPC of “issuing unreliable reports that undermine Sudan’s sovereignty and dignity,” said the UN official, who spoke in condition of anonymity.
Sudan has been roiled by a 20-month war that has killed more than than 24,000 people and driven over 14 million people — about 30 percent of the population — from their homes, according to the United Nations. An estimated 3.2 million Sudanese have crossed into neighboring countries, including Chad, Egypt and South Sudan.
The war began in April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, before spreading to other urban areas and the western Darfur region. The conflict has been marked by atrocities, including ethnically motivated killing and rape, according to to the UN and rights groups. The International Criminal Court is investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
There is widespread hunger, with food in markets now scarce and prices have spiked. Aid groups also say they’re struggling to reach the most vulnerable as warring parties limit access, especially in North Darfur province.
Dervla Cleary, a senior emergency and rehabilitation officer at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, said 638,000 people are experiencing famine.
“The situation in Sudan is just awful. It is unacceptable in a world like today,” she said. “We need the violence to stop so people can access food, water, health, nutrition and agriculture.”
According to the IPC report, a total of 24.6 million Sudanese — half of the population — faces high levels of acute food insecurity.
Sudan is the third country where famine was declared in the past 15 years, along with South Sudan and Somalia, where a 2011 major famine was estimated to have killed a quarter of a million people — half of them children under 5 years old.
The IPC comprises more than a dozen UN agencies, aid groups, and governments that use its monitoring as a global reference for analysis of food and nutrition crises.
The organization has also warned that large parts of Gaza’s Palestinian population face the threat of famine.
Qatar says sanctions on Syria must be lifted quickly
DOHA: Qatar called on Tuesday for the quick removal of sanctions on Syria following the ousting of president Bashar Assad by Islamist-led rebels.
“We call for intensified efforts to expedite the lifting of international sanctions on Syria,” foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari told a regular briefing.
Qatar’s call came a day after a high-level delegation visited Damascus. The Qatari embassy there reopened on Sunday, ending a 13-year rift between the two countries.
“Qatar’s position is clear,” Ansari said. “It’s necessary to lift the sanctions quickly, given that what led to these sanctions is no longer there and that what led to these sanctions were the crimes of the former regime.”
Doha was one of the main backers of the armed rebellion that erupted after Assad’s government crushed a peaceful uprising in 2011.
Unlike several of its neighbors, Qatar had remained a stern critic of Assad and did not renew ties with Syria despite its return to the Arab diplomatic fold last year.
The international community has not rushed to lift sanctions on Syria, waiting to see how the new authorities exercise their power.
Israeli forces kill two Palestinians in West Bank refugee camp
- Khawla Abdo, a 53-year-old woman, was killed as a result of shelling by Israeli forces, while Fathi Saeed Odeh Salem, an 18-year-old man, was shot in the abdomen and chest
JERUSALEM: Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in a dawn raid on Tuesday on a refugee camp near the city of Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian and Israeli officials said.
Khawla Abdo, a 53-year-old woman, was killed as a result of shelling by Israeli forces, while Fathi Saeed Odeh Salem, an 18-year-old man, was shot in the abdomen and chest, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
The Israeli military said earlier it killed one Palestinian in a “counter-terrorism” operation in Tulkarm, while its forces arrested 18 other wanted individuals and confiscated dozens of weapons.
Hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of Israelis have been killed in the West Bank since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza and a wider conflict on several fronts.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said Israeli forces prevented ambulance crews from reaching Salem by opening fire on him.
Bulldozers also demolished infrastructure in Tulkarm camp, including homes, shops, part of the walls of Al-Salam mosque, which they barricaded off, and part of the camp’s water network, it said.
