BEIRUT: Syrian regime shelling on an opposition-held southern region has killed at least six civilians, hours after US warning not to jeopardize talks on the area's fate, a monitoring group said Friday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the casualties, who included two children, were killed in shelling on two villages in the north of Daraa province.
The Britain-based monitor, which relies on a large network of sources inside Syria, said the shelling came from army positions that had recently received reinforcements.
The US State Department had on Thursday warned Damascus against any military action that could scupper ongoing talks aimed at finding a settlement for the complex southern front.
“We reiterate that any Syrian government military actions against the southwest de-escalation zone risk broadening the conflict,” spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.
“We affirm again that the United States will take firm and appropriate measures in response to Syrian government violations in this area.”
The United States, Russia and Jordan agreed to a de-escalation deal in the southern province, and negotiations are continuing in a bid to reach a deal that would remove the need for a government offensive.
The Observatory said Friday's shelling had caused the highest civilian toll since the de-escalation deal, reached almost a year ago.
The region borders Jordan and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
Rebel groups, who still control about two thirds of Daraa, have so far refused to negotiate with the Syrian regime.
In an interview with Iran's Al-Alam television channel earlier this week, Syrian President Bashar Assad said contacts were ongoing between Russia, the US and Israel over the southern front.
“We are giving the political talks a chance, but if they fail, there will be no choice but liberation by force,” he said.
The regime wants rebels to withdraw from the area either by force or under a deal.
Also at stake in the current talks are the future of a US military base in southeastern Syria and the presence of Iranian and allied forces in southern parts of Syria near the border with Israel.
Meanwhile, Assad attended a mosque in the country's west on Friday for prayers marking the end of Ramadan, in a rare appearance outside Damascus, images on his social media showed.
“President Assad performs the Eid Al-Fitr prayer at the Sayyida Khadija Mosque in the city of Tartus,” a caption read.
In one picture, he was seen praying alongside the country's top Muslim cleric and its Islamic endowments minister.
Another image showed him surrounded by dozens of worshippers who appeared to be offering him Eid greetings.
Assad has rarely appeared in public outside Damascus since Syria's conflict broke out more than six years ago.
The coastal city of Tartus is the site of a naval base belonging to Assad's key backer Russia, which has helped his forces retake swathes of opposition-held territory.
Like neighboring Latakia province, from which Assad's clan hails, Tartus is a stronghold of his Alawite sect.
The region has largely escaped the destruction that has blighted other areas of Syria but it has suffered a heavy human toll from military service in the conflict that has killed 350,000 people since 2011.
Russian and Iranian-backed regime forces now control around 60 percent of Syrian territory.
Syrian regime’s shelling kills 6 civilians; Assad appears at mosque near capital
Syrian regime’s shelling kills 6 civilians; Assad appears at mosque near capital
- Russian and Iranian-backed regime forces now control around 60 percent of Syrian territory
- The Observatory said Friday's shelling had caused the highest civilian toll since the de-escalation deal, reached almost a year ago
Turkiye’s $14-billion plan to boost development in Kurdish southeast
- The announcement comes amid increased hopes for an end to a decades-long insurgency waged by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party in southeast Turkiye
SANLIURFA: Turkiye announced on Sunday a $14 billion regional development plan that aims to reduce the economic gap between its mainly Kurdish southeast region and the rest of the country.
The announcement comes amid increased hopes for an end to a decades-long insurgency waged by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, in southeast Turkiye as well as the advent of a new leadership in neighboring Syria with cordial ties to Ankara.
The eastern and southeastern provinces of Turkiye have long lagged behind other regions of the country in most economic indicators including the GDP per capita, partly as a result of the insurgency.
Turkish Industry Minister Fatih Kacir told reporters in the southeastern city of Sanliurfa that the government would spend a total 496.2 billion lira ($14.15 billion) on 198 projects across the region in the period to 2028.
“With the implementation of the projects, we anticipate an additional 49,000 lira ($1,400) increase in annual income per capita in the region,” he added.
According to 2023 data, the per capita income of Sanliurfa stood at $4,971, well below the national average of $13,243.
Meanwhile, Turkiye’s pro-Kurd party said Sunday that Abdullah Ocalan, jailed leader of the PKK, is “ready to make a call” to back a new initiative by the Turkish government to end decades of conflict.
Two lawmakers from the DEM party made a rare visit to Ocalan on Saturday on his prison island, the first by the party in almost a decade, amid signs of easing tensions between the Turkish government and the PKK.
On Friday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government approved DEM’s request to visit the founder of the PKK, which is designated a terror group by Turkiye and its Western allies.
Ocalan has been serving a life sentence on the island of Imrali south of Istanbul since 1999.
Syrian Jewish community can visit one of the world’s oldest synagogues again
- New rulers have said they will allow members of all religions to perform their religious duties freely
JOBAR, Syria: In this Damascus suburb, the handful of remaining Jews in Syria can again make pilgrimages to one of the world’s oldest synagogues where people from throughout the region once came to pray.
Syria’s 13-year civil war left the synagogue partially destroyed. Walls and roofs have collapsed. Some artifacts are missing. A marble sign in Arabic at the gate says it was first built 720 years before Christ.
Since insurgents overthrew President Bashar Assad in early December, people have been able to safely visit the widely destroyed Jobar suburb that was pounded for years by government forces while in the hands of opposition fighters.
Syria was once home to one of the world’s largest Jewish communities. Those numbers have shrunk dramatically, especially after the state of Israel was created in 1948.
Today, only nine Jews live in Syria, according to the head of the community, almost all older men and women. The community believes that no Syrian Jews will remain in the country in a few years.
One of the people visiting the Jobar Synagogue, also known as Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue, on Thursday was gray-haired Bakhour Chamantoub, the head of the community in Syria.
“This synagogue means a lot to us,” the 74-year-old said during his first visit in 15 years.
Chamantoub had heard the synagogue was damaged, but he did not expect to see that part of it had been reduced to a pile of debris.
“I am frankly disturbed,” he said.
Chamantoub said Jewish people from around the world have been calling him to say they are ready to help rebuild.
He had refused to leave Syria during the war, while all 12 of his siblings left. He said he was happy in Syria and surrounded by people who respect him.
Chamantoub said he had been one of the few Jews who openly spoke about his faith, adding that he never faced discrimination.
He said other Jews preferred not to speak openly for safety reasons amid the animosity in Syria toward archenemy Israel and fears of being labeled spies or collaborators. The Jewish community in Syria dates back to the prophet Elijah’s Damascus sojourn nearly 3,000 years ago.
After 1099, when Christian armies conquered Jerusalem in the First Crusade and massacred the city’s Muslim and Jewish inhabitants, some 50,000 Jews reportedly fled to Damascus, making up nearly a third of residents.
Another wave of Jews later arrived from Europe, fleeing the Spanish Inquisition that began in 1492.
The community in Syria numbered about 100,000 at the start of the 20th century. In the years surrounding Israel’s creation, Syrian Jews faced increased tensions and restrictions. Many emigrated to Israel, the US and other countries.
Before Syria’s conflict began in 2011, Chamantoub and other remaining community members came on Saturdays to Jobar for prayers. He recalled Torahs written on gazelle leather, chandeliers, tapestries and carpets. All are gone, likely stolen by looters.
Barakat Hazroumi, a Muslim born and raised near the synagogue, recounted how worshipers on Saturdays asked him to turn on the lights or light a candle since Jews are not allowed to do physical labor on the Sabbath.
“It was a beautiful religious place,” Hazroumi said of the synagogue, which at some point during the war was protected by rebels. It and the whole destroyed suburb “needs to be reconstructed from scratch.”
Assad’s forces recaptured Jobar from rebels in 2018 but imposed tight security, preventing many people from reaching the area.
The new rulers of Syria, led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, have said they will allow members of all religions to perform their religious duties freely. There have been some sectarian attacks but mostly against members of Assad’s minority Alawite sect.
After visiting the synagogue, Chamantoub returned to his home in old Damascus, close to the private Jewish school known as Maimonides that was founded in 1944 but has been closed for decades. Posters in Hebrew remain on the walls.
The area is known as the Jewish quarter. Many old homes have doors and windows closed with pieces of metal and a sign in Arabic saying: “The real estate is closed by the state’s Higher Committee for the Affairs of Jews.”
As the Jewish community has shrunk, it has also struggled to find kosher food. Chamantoub receives packages of meat from siblings in the US at least once a year via people traveling to Syria. In the past, he went to the chicken market with a Jewish friend who would slaughter them, but the man now can hardly walk.
Chamantoub mostly eats vegetarian dishes. Almost every morning, he cooks for himself and a Jewish woman in the area with no remaining relatives in Syria.
The woman, 88-year-old Firdos Mallakh, sat on a couch under two blankets. When asked to greet a journalist with “Shabbat Shalom,” she replied it was not yet time. “Today is Thursday and tomorrow is Friday,” she said.
Chamantoub, who makes a living as a landlord, asked Mallakh why she had not turned on the gas heater. Mallakh said she did not want to waste gas.
Chamantoub hopes that with the fall of Assad, Syrians will enjoy more freedoms, economic and otherwise. In the past, he said, authorities prevented him from giving interviews without permission from the security agencies.
“I am a Jew and I am proud of it,” he said. But with so few remaining in Damascus, the city’s synagogues see no services. Chamantoub is marking the eight-day Jewish holiday of Hanukkah alone at home.
Lebanon arrests late Muslim Brotherhood leader’s son wanted by Egypt, says judicial official
- Qaradawi was detained on Saturday as he arrived from Syria at the Masnaa border crossing
BEIRUT: Lebanese authorities have arrested Abdul Rahman Al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian opposition activist wanted by Cairo and son of the late spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, a Lebanese judicial official told AFP on Sunday.
Qaradawi, also a poet, was detained on Saturday as he arrived from Syria at the Masnaa border crossing due to an Egyptian arrest warrant, the official said.
The warrant was “based on an Egyptian judiciary ruling” sentencing Qaradawi in absentia to five years’ jail on charges of “opposing the state and inciting terrorism,” the official added.
His father was prominent Sunni scholar Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood which is outlawed in Egypt.
The late scholar was imprisoned several times in Egypt over his links to the Muslim Brotherhood. He died in 2022 after decades in exile in Qatar.
Lebanese authorities “will ask the Egyptian authorities” to transfer Al-Qaradawi’s file for examination, the judicial official said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The judiciary will make a recommendation on whether “the conditions are met for him to be extradited” and the matter will be referred to the Lebanese government, which must make the final decision, the official added.
Qaradawi was a political organizer against the government of longtime Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled in 2011 in the Arab Spring uprising.
He later became a vocal opponent of current Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
A family friend told AFP that Qaradawi holds Turkish citizenship and was returning from a visit to Syria, where militants led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham toppled longtime Syrian ruler Bashar Assad on December 8.
Assad’s ousting came more than 13 years after war broke out in Syria with the brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011.
Qaradawi had posted a video online taken at Damascus’s Umayyad mosque, celebrating Assad’s fall.
The video has circulated widely including on Egyptian media, where local outlets have described it as “insulting.”
Some commentators close to El-Sisi’s government have demanded Qaradawi be handed over to Egyptian authorities.
Cairo blacklisted the Muslim Brotherhood as a “terrorist” organization in 2013, and has since jailed thousands of its members and supporters and executed dozens.
Yusuf Al-Qaradawi’s daughter Ola was detained in Egypt for four and a half years over her links to the organization. She was released in 2021.
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Israeli airstrike near Syrian capital kills 11, war monitor says
- Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the airstrike targeted a weapons depot that belonged to Assad’s forces near the industrial town of Adra
BEIRUT: An Israeli airstrike in the outskirts of Damascus on Sunday killed 11 people, according to a war monitor, as Israel continues to target Syrian weapons and military infrastructure even after the ouster of former President Bashar Assad.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the airstrike targeted a weapons depot that belonged to Assad’s forces near the industrial town of Adra, northeast of the capital. The observatory said at least 11 people, mostly civilians, were killed.
Beirut-based pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen TV also reported the airstrike but put the death toll at six. The Israeli military did not comment on the airstrike Sunday.
Israel, which has launched hundreds of airstrikes over Syria since the country’s uprising turned-civil war broke out in 2011, rarely acknowledges them. It says its targets are Iran-backed groups that backed Assad. Israel also wants to remove a threat posed by weapons in Syria, which is now governed by militants.
Syrian insurgents who ousted Assad in a lightning ofensive in early December have demanded that Israel cease its airstrikes.
Israeli forces order new evacuation at besieged northern Gaza town, residents say
- Israeli forces instruct Beit Hanoun residents to leave, causing new displacements
- Palestinian officials say evacuations worsen Gaza’s humanitarian conditions
CAIRO: Israeli forces carrying out a weeks-long offensive in northern Gaza ordered any residents remaining in Beit Hanoun to quit the town on Sunday, pointing to Palestinian militant rocket fire from the area, residents said.
The instruction to residents to leave caused a new wave of displacement, although it was not immediately clear how many people were affected, the residents said.
Israel says its almost three-month-old campaign in northern Gaza is aimed at Hamas militants and preventing them from regrouping. Its instructions to civilians to evacuate are meant to keep them out of harm’s way, the military says.
Palestinian and United Nations officials say no place is safe in Gaza and that evacuations worsen humanitarian conditions of the population.
Much of the area around the northern towns of Beit Hanoun, Jabalia and Beit Lahiya has been cleared of people and razed, fueling speculation that Israel intends to keep the area as a closed buffer zone after the fighting in Gaza ends.
The Israeli military announced its new push into the Beit Hanoun area on Saturday.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said it had lost communication with people still trapped in the town, and it was unable to send teams into the area because of the raid.
On Friday, Israeli forces stormed the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza. The military said it was being used by militants, which Hamas denies.
The raid on the hospital, one of three medical facilities on the northern edge of Gaza, put the last major health facility in the area out of service, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a post on X.
Some patients were evacuated from Kamal Adwan to the Indonesian Hospital, which is not in service, and medics were prevented from joining them there, the Health Ministry said. Other patients and staff were taken to other medical facilities.
On Sunday, health officials said an Israeli tank shell hit the upper floor of the Al-Ahly Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City near the X-ray division.
Meanwhile, Palestinian health officials said Israeli military strikes across the enclave killed at least 16 people on Sunday. One of those strikes killed seven people and wounded others at Al-WAFA Hospital in Gaza City, the Palestinian civil emergency service said in a statement.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.
Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 45,300 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.
The war was triggered by Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken to Gaza as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
