MOSCOW: UN peacekeepers returned on Thursday to patrol the frontier between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, years after an escalation in fighting and abduction of UN troops had prompted them to withdraw, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced.
For the first time, Russian forces joined the peacekeepers — a sign of Russia’s deepening involvement as a mediator between Israel and Syria.
Israel for its part acknowledged a return to normalcy along the frontier, which had become particularly volatile in recent months amid a Syrian government offensive to retake territories along the border.
Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy of the Russian General Staff told reporters at a press conference in Moscow that Russian military police accompanied the UN peacekeepers in the mission. The peacekeeping mission was halted in 2014 amid the violence in Syrian’s civil war over security concerns.
Syria has seen spells of fighting between rebels, government forces, and Daesh militants along the Golan Heights since the civil war erupted in 2011.
On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the situation on the Syrian side of the boundary had returned to its pre-2011 state after Syrian government forces, supported by Russia’s military, regained control of the region.
Lieberman said Israel will have “no cause to intervene or operate in Syrian territory” if Damascus respects a 1974 disengagement agreement between the two sides — and as long as Syria doesn’t become a staging ground for Iranian forces to attack Israel or transfer arms to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Russia announced Wednesday it had reached an agreement to keep Iranian forces 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the Syrian-Israeli frontier.
Still, in related violence, Israel’s military said Thursday that its aircraft fired on “several armed terror operatives in the southern Syrian Golan Heights” overnight and that troops were on high alert.
In Moscow, Rudskoy said Russia’s military police would establish eight of its own monitoring posts at the edge of the UN disengagement zone at the frontier.
“As the situation stabilizes, these posts will be handed over to Syrian government forces,” Rudskoy told reporters.
The UN peacekeeping forces first deployed along the frontier in 1974 to separate Syrian and Israeli forces after Israel occupied the Golan Heights in the 1967 war.
After Syria’s conflict erupted, clashes broke out between Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces and rebels inside the disengagement zone. In 2014, Al-Qaeda militants in the area kidnapped 45 UN peacekeepers before releasing them after two weeks. The UN withdrew from many of its positions shortly after that incident.
Israel’s military spokesman, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, said in a telephone briefing with reporters that he could not immediately comment on the deployment on the Syrian side of the border.
Conricus said the Israeli military targeted and killed seven “armed terror operatives” who had crossed into Israeli territory in the southern Golan Heights.
Israel tracked the armed infiltrators who approached the border on Wednesday night and a military aircraft struck as they attempted to cross a security fence on the Israeli side of the frontier.
A subsequent search of the area yielded several assault rifles and explosives, Conricus added. He said a preliminary assessment was that the infiltrators were Daesh militants.
Israeli troops were on “high alert and readiness” following the strike. The army’s announcement came shortly after Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman toured a Patriot missile defense battery in northern Israel during a military preparedness drill.
In Amman, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said that the Syrian government has not officially requested to open the Syria-Jordan border, after government forces recaptured its side of a crossing from rebels last month.
Jordan has been in discussion with Russian authorities, Safadi said, and will respond to Syria’s request “positively,” in a way that supports Jordanian and Syrian interests.
Russian forces join UN peacekeepers on Golan Heights frontier patrol
Russian forces join UN peacekeepers on Golan Heights frontier patrol
- Russian forces joined the peacekeepers – a sign of Russia’s deepening involvement as a mediator between Israel and Syria
- Israel for its part acknowledged a return to normalcy along the frontier – which had become particularly volatile in recent months amid a Syrian government offensive
Rahim Al-Hussaini is named new spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims, succeeding his father
- Rahim Al-Hussaini was designated as the Aga Khan V
- The Aga Khan is treated by his followers as a head of state
LISBON: Rahim Al-Hussaini was named Wednesday as the new Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the world’s millions of Ismaili Muslims.
He was designated as the Aga Khan V, the 50th hereditary imam of the Shiite Ismaili Muslims, in his father’s will. His father died Tuesday in Portugal.
The Aga Khan is considered by his followers to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and is treated as a head of state.
The Aga Khan Development Network and the Ismaili religious community announced earlier that His Highness Prince Karim Al-Hussaini, the Aga Khan IV and 49th hereditary imam of the Shiite Ismaili Muslims, died surrounded by his family.
It said his burial and will-reading will be held in the coming days, followed by an homage ceremony.
The late Aga Khan was given the title of “His Highness” by Queen Elizabeth in July 1957, two weeks after his grandfather the Aga Khan III unexpectedly made him heir to the family’s 1,300-year dynasty as leader of the Ismaili Muslim sect.
A defender of Islamic culture and values, he was widely regarded as a builder of bridges between Muslim societies and the West despite — or perhaps because of — his reticence to become involved in politics.
The Aga Khan Development Network, his main philanthropic organization, deals mainly with issues of health care, housing, education and rural economic development. It says it works in over 30 countries and has an annual budget of about $1 billion for nonprofit development activities.
Ismailis lived for many generations in Iran, Syria and South Asia before also settling in east Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East, as well as Europe, North America and Australia more recently. They consider it a duty to tithe up to 12.5 percent of their income to the Aga Khan as steward.
Palestinian Ambassador to Japan: The world is not real estate for Trump who does not understand what Palestine is
- “We condemn the policy and statements of Trump, who claims that he wants to bring peace to the world,” Ambassador Siam said
- The Palestinian Ambassador pointed out that “the world is not a piece of real estate for Trump to play with according to his whims
TOKYO: Palestinian Ambassador to Japan Walid Siam has strongly criticized US President Donald Trump in response to Trump’s sudden announcement of his intention to occupy the Gaza Strip after displacing its Palestinian residents.
“We condemn the policy and statements of Trump, who claims that he wants to bring peace to the world,” Ambassador Siam said in an interview with Arab News Japan in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Siam said that the American president’s wish to possess Greenland, annex Canada, reclaim the Panama Canal, and now occupy Gaza clearly shows that Trump is the last person in the world who wants peace.
The Palestinian Ambassador pointed out that “the world is not a piece of real estate for Trump to play with according to his whims. There are international laws that govern the relationship between countries.”
He warned that Trump’s disrespect for international law will expose America to many problems in the future.
Regarding Trump’s statement calling for the expulsion of the Gaza Strip’s 2.4 million people and their transfer to Arab countries such as Egypt, Jordan and other countries, Ambassador Siam referred to the Geneva Convention and UN resolutions that guarantee the Palestinians’ right to their land and their right to be protected under occupation, stressing that neither the occupiers or anyone else has the right to seize them or force them to leave their lands, which are protected by international agreements.
“I think that Trump does not know the Palestinian people, who have suffered for a hundred years under the Zionist Israeli occupation,” Siam said. “And have seen hundreds of thousands of Palestinian martyrs and have been subjected to massacres committed by the Zionist occupation forces in 1947 and 1948 and beyond, and the displacement of 700,000 Palestinians who have become refugees in all the corners of the Earth.”
Ambassador Siam said that Israel’s crimes did not end there as they also occupied the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza and want to expel the Palestinians from those areas that remain for them from the land of Palestine.
“Israel is still committing human massacres against the Palestinians, and despite all this, the Palestinian people are still clinging to their lands and are firmly rooted in the land of their ancestors,” he said. “This is a historical Palestinian land and is not for sale or bargaining. We are in our land. Other people came who do not have a land.”
“We continue to tell the entire world that the Palestinians have the right to their independent state on their land and we will not give that up until the last drop of Palestinian blood. There is no power in the world that can banish us from existence or uproot us from our land, so we are telling the entire world that international law must be respected.”
Ambassador Siam strongly criticized the American policy of hegemony and arrogance, saying, “America is not international law and must respect the rule of law. America and Congress do not represent global leadership or global law.”
“We are the only legitimate residents of Palestine, and the others are illegitimate,” he added, referring to the Jews who came to Palestine from all over the world. “This is what Trump does not know. He does not understand what the land of Palestine is.”
Jordanian king affirms support for Palestinians in meeting with President Abbas
- Jordan firmly rejects any attempts to annex land or displace Palestinians in Gaza
- King Abdullah is scheduled to visit Washington on Feb. 11
LONDON: Jordan’s King Abdullah II reaffirmed his kingdom’s support for Palestinians when he welcomed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at Al-Husseiniyah Palace in Amman.
The king said Jordan fully supported Palestinians in realizing their legitimate rights to establish a state based on pre-1967 borders, which include the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
He also stressed that Jordan firmly rejected any attempts to annex land or displace Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, according to the Petra news agency.
His remarks come after US President Donald Trump said Egypt and Jordan would have to take in any Gazans that were displaced by Washington, a proposal rejected by both countries.
During a media conference on Tuesday evening with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump reiterated his statement and added the US planned to take control of Gaza.
King Abdullah is scheduled to visit Washington on Feb. 11. Jordan, which signed a peace agreement with Tel Aviv in 1994, shares approximately 400 kilometers of border with Israel, including the territories of the occupied West Bank.
Abbas emphasized Jordan’s crucial role in supporting a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza and its ongoing delivery of humanitarian aid to the coastal enclave.
The meeting was attended by Jordanian Crown Prince Hussein and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi, as well as Director of General Intelligence Maj. Gen. Ahmed Hosni and Hussein Al-Sheikh, the secretary of the Executive Committee of the PLO, among others.
Aoun seeks French support for Israeli troop withdrawal
- Joseph Aoun called for pressure to be applied to halt daily violations and to work toward the release of Lebanese prisoners within the specified timeframe
- Israeli forces are positioned behind earthen barriers and barbed wire, with a warning sign reading Do Not Approach, at the entrances of Yaroun and Maroun Al-Ras
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun has urged France to back demands for a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese border areas occupied during the recent conflict.
In a meeting with the French Ambassador to Lebanon, Herve Magro, on Wednesday, Aoun also called for “pressure to be applied to halt daily violations and to work toward the release of Lebanese prisoners within the specified timeframe.”
Israeli forces are still entrenched behind an earthen barrier created a week ago west of the town of Mays Al-Jabal, while Lebanese troops are deployed dozens of meters away.
Several houses in the town of Rab El Thalathine in the Marjeyoun district were destroyed by Israeli troops a day after homes in the town of Yaroun in the Bint Jbeil district were also razed.
Israeli forces are positioned behind earthen barriers and barbed wire, with a warning sign reading “Do not approach,” at the entrances of Yaroun and Maroun Al-Ras.
They are supported by snipers hidden among the trees, while elements of the Lebanese army are deployed just meters away.
Israeli forces are expected to withdraw from the border area on Feb, 18, following a 23-day extension of the withdrawal deadline with the approval of the US.
Wajih Zahwi, 7, from Majdal Selem, on Wednesday died from head injuries sustained in an Israeli military drone strike on Jan. 29 while civilians were returning to their villages. The attack was in violation of the ceasefire agreement.
The border municipality of Ramiyah said that it was “informed by the military intelligence that two army posts will be established within the town. Additionally, efforts will be made to open several secondary roads, and on Friday, engineering teams from the army will conduct surveys and inspections for remnants of the Israeli aggression in the area.”
Meanwhile, a foreign photojournalist working in the Middle East claimed that she was threatened by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon.
Courtney Bonneau posted on Instagram that at around 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday, while she was in a building in the town of Taybeh in southern Lebanon, where the Lebanese army has redeployed, the Israeli army called UNIFIL to inform her and another photographer that if they did not vacate the premises, they would be shot.
As part of military and security agencies’ efforts to combat illegal weapons, the General Directorate of Internal Security Forces said that it had seized a four-wheel-drive vehicle driven by a 43-year-old Lebanese man, whose name was not disclosed.
Weapons and ammunition were found after the vehicle was stopped at the Dahr Al-Baydar checkpoint on the Bekaa-Beirut road. The man admitted bringing the weapons from Syria, and another Lebanese man accompanying him was also arrested.
Military police on Tuesday also intercepted a weapons shipment in Wardaniyeh that was being moved from a Hezbollah warehouse to an undisclosed location.
In a related development, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has designated Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem as his “representative for Hussainiyah affairs and religious administration in Lebanon.”
Qassem is believed to have remained in Iran since assuming his new role.
His appointment was announced by Hezbollah on Oct. 29, following the death of Hassan Nasrallah in Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Nasrallah had served as Khamenei’s representative in Lebanon before his death.
Indonesia ‘strongly rejects’ Trump’s Gaza plan
- “Indonesia strongly rejects any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians or alter the demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the Foreign Ministry said
- Jakarta also called on the international community to respect international law
JAKARTA: Indonesia “strongly rejects” the proposal made by President Donald Trump for the United States to assume control of Gaza and resettle Palestinians elsewhere, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
Trump announced the stunning proposal Tuesday, without detailing his plans on how to move out nearly two million Palestinians from the enclave, claiming that the US will rebuild the territory and turn it into the “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, has consistently called for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Indonesia strongly rejects any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians or alter the demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on social media X, formerly Twitter.
Jakarta also called on the international community to respect international law, “particularly the right to self-determination of the Palestinians as well as their inalienable right to return to their homeland,” the ministry added.
Trump claimed there was support from the “highest leadership” in the Middle East and upped pressure on Egypt and Jordan to take displaced Palestinians — despite both countries flatly rejecting the idea.
Jakarta said addressing the “root cause” of the conflict, namely “the illegal and prolonged Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory,” was the only path to achieve a lasting peace in the region, the statement added.
