Coalition says ‘good progress’ in north Syria buffer zone, thousands return to government-seized areas

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Abu Ahmad, a displaced Syrian from Termala and one of his young sons clear material as they dig a cave for shelter in the village of Kafr Lusin near the Syria-Turkey border, on September 9, 2019. (AFP)
Updated 15 September 2019
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Coalition says ‘good progress’ in north Syria buffer zone, thousands return to government-seized areas

  • The Syrian Observatory reported “around 3,000 people” going home from other areas under regime control
  • The Idlib region is one of the last holdouts of opposition forces

TAL ABYAD, Syria: The US-led coalition said Sunday that “good progress” was being made in implementing a buffer zone in northern Syria along the Turkish border.
Turkey and the United States last month agreed on the so-called “security mechanism” to create a buffer between the Turkish border and Syrian areas controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
The YPG led the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in battle against Daesh in Syria, but Ankara views the Kurdish fighters as “terrorists.”
The United States and Turkey launched their first joint patrol of the border areas on September 8, but Ankara has accused Washington of stalling in the week since.
A coalition delegation on Sunday met with members of a military council in Tal Abyad, a northern town from which Kurdish forces started withdrawing late last month.
“We are seeing good progress for the initial phase of security mechanism activities,” the coalition said in a statement handed out to journalists.
“The coalition and SDF have conducted multiple patrols to identify and remove fortifications to address concerns from Turkey,” the statement said.
“Four joint US and Turkish military overflights” by helicopter were also carried out, it said.
Little is known about the buffer zone’s size or how it will work, although Ankara has said there would be observation posts and joint patrols.
“We will continue the removal of certain fortifications in the security mechanism area of concern to Turkey,” the coalition statement said.
Riad Al-Khamis, a joint head of the Tal Abyad military council, said the SDF had withdrawn from the area, to be replaced by the local forces.
He announced US-Turkish “joint patrols in the coming days to ensure the security of the border and the area.”
“They will be joint patrols between the coalition or United States and Turkey in coordination with us, the Tal Abyad military council,” he said.
“The coalition has promised to train the military personnel (of the council) — who are from this area — and support them logistically,” he told reporters.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to go his “own way” if the buffer zone was not set up by the end of September “with our own soldiers.”
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday belittled efforts to create the safe zone as largely “cosmetic.”
Syria’s Kurds have established a semi-autonomous region in northeastern Syria during the country’s eight-year war.
Erdogan has repeatedly threatened to attack Kurdish-held areas in northern Syria, and the prospect of a US withdrawal after the territorial defeat of Daesh in March again stoked fears of an incursion.
Damascus labelled the first patrol last week as a flagrant “aggression” that seeks to prolong Syria’s war.
Turkey has already carried out two cross-border incursions into Syria, the latest of which saw Turkish troops and Ankara’s Syrian rebel proxies seize the northwestern enclave of Afrin last year.
Meanwhile, state media reported on Sunday that thousands have returned to their hometowns in northwest Syria after military advances by government loyalist against militants and allied rebels, .
“Thousands of citizens return to their villages and towns of the northern Hama countryside and the southern Idlib countryside,” state news agency SANA said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, reported “around 3,000 people” going home from other areas under regime control.
Since August 31, a cease-fire announced by regime backer Russia has largely held in northwestern Syria, though the Observatory has reported sporadic bombardment.
SANA said the returns came amid “government efforts to return the displaced to their towns and villages.”
The Idlib region of around three million people, many of them displaced by fighting in other areas, is one of the last holdouts of opposition to forces backing Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Moscow announced the cease-fire late last month after four months of deadly violence that displaced 400,000 people, most of whom fled north within the militant-run bastion, according to the United Nations.
Regime forces had chipped away at the southern edges of the militant-run stronghold throughout August, retaking towns and villages in the north of Hama province and the south of Idlib province.
Syria’s civil war has killed more than 370,000 people since it started in 2011 with the repression of anti-government protests.
Assad’s regime now controls more than 60 percent of the country after notching up a series of victories against rebels and militants with key Russian backing since 2015.
But a large chunk of Idlib, fully administered by Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate since January, as well as a Kurdish-held swathe of the oil-rich northeast, remain beyond its reach.


Turkiye court postpones hearing over hotel fire

Updated 17 sec ago
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Turkiye court postpones hearing over hotel fire

The court is considering allegations that poor safety measures at the hotel contributed to the disaster
The different organizations under scrutiny denied responsibility

ISTANBUL: A Turkish court on Thursday adjourned the trial of 32 people over a fire January at a luxury ski resort hotel that killed 78 people, after 10 days of harrowing testimony.

Since the trial opened on July 7, survivors, many of them in tears, have told the court how they escaped the deadly blaze, whose victims included 36 children.

The fire swept through the Grand Kartal Hotel in the northern mountain resort of Kartalkaya on January 21.

As well as the 78 people killed in the fire, another 130 people were injured.

The court is considering allegations that poor safety measures at the hotel contributed to the disaster.

Among the defendants facing manslaughter charges are the hotel’s owner, managers, the deputy mayor of Bolu city and two fire department officials.

“Everyone including the employees and bosses lied in their initial statements,” said Yusuf Yaman, the private DHA news agency reported. Yaman lost his daughter and grand-daughter in the fire.

“We lost 78 lives. They’re all my children. If they (the suspects) had shown courage, if they had confessed everything, they would have had a clearer conscience,” he added.

After the fire, the different organizations under scrutiny denied responsibility, the tourism ministry and the local municipality run by the main opposition CHP party blaming each other.

At the end of the 10-day hearing, the hotel’s director and owner Emir Aras expressed regret. He told the judge he did not want to be released from detention, DHA reported.

The court postponed the hearing to September 22.

Jordan treats dozens of injured Palestinians from Gaza, sends more aid to territory

Updated 39 min 48 sec ago
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Jordan treats dozens of injured Palestinians from Gaza, sends more aid to territory

  • Jordanian Medical Corridor initiative aims to assist Palestinians in Gaza and is carried out in cooperation with the Jordanian armed forces, Ministry of Health, and the World Health Organization
  • Since the initiative began in March, 112 injured and sick children, accompanied by 241 carers, have entered Jordan to receive treatment in private hospitals

LONDON: Jordanian associations dispatched 50 aid trucks to the Gaza Strip on Thursday and transferred dozens of Palestinian children to receive medical treatment in Jordan this week.

Dr. Fawzi Al-Hammouri, chairman of the Private Hospitals Association, confirmed that 35 sick and injured children from Gaza, accompanied by 72 carers, were admitted to several private hospitals in Jordan.

The initiative, part of the Jordanian Medical Corridor, aims to assist Palestinians in Gaza and is carried out in cooperation with the Jordanian armed forces, the Ministry of Health, and the World Health Organization.

Since the initiative began in March, 112 injured and sick children, accompanied by 241 guardians, have entered Jordan to receive treatment in private hospitals, according to Dr. Al-Hammouri.

On Thursday, the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization sent another humanitarian convoy of 50 trucks loaded with essential food supplies to the northern part of the Gaza coastal enclave. Northern Gaza is experiencing severe shortages of food and essential supplies due to disruptions in aid delivery and Israeli attacks.

Since late 2023, Jordan has delivered more than 7,815 aid trucks and 53 cargo planes through the Egyptian port of Arish, along with 102 helicopter sorties to deliver aid, to support Palestinians in Gaza.

Jordan was among the first countries to conduct airlift missions in the early days of the war, delivering relief to Gaza. More than 58,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, which have been described as genocide by human rights groups and several heads of state.


Qatar to strengthen tourism partnership with Jordan, delegation visits Amman Citadel

Updated 50 min 57 sec ago
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Qatar to strengthen tourism partnership with Jordan, delegation visits Amman Citadel

  • Talks underway for launch of joint promotional campaigns and sharing of expertise in sustainable tourism marketing
  • Central Bank of Jordan reports 11.9% increase in tourism revenues during first half of 2025 to $3.67bn, despite drop in visitors to Petra in June due to regional conflicts

LONDON: Saad Al-Kharji, the chairperson of Qatar Tourism, visited the historical site of Amman Citadel, accompanied by the Jordanian minister of tourism and antiquities, Lina Annab, as officials from the two countries met to discuss enhanced cooperation in the tourism sector.

The Qatari delegation toured several key landmarks on Wednesday and learned about Jordan’s rich cultural history as part of a visit described as an essential step as officials work to develop joint promotional campaigns and share expertise in the marketing of sustainable tourism, the Jordan News Agency reported.

The Jordanian ministry said the diverse tourism options in Jordan and Qatar provide the foundations for fostering a partnership that can enrich visitor experiences and attract foreign travelers.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Jordan reported an 11.9 percent increase in tourism revenues to $3.67 billion during the first half of 2025 compared with the same period last year.

This was despite a previously reported decline of more than 75 percent in the number of foreign visitors to Petra, the country’s main tourist attraction, in June compared with the same month in recent years due to the ongoing war in Gaza and the conflict between Iran and Israel.


British surgeon in Gaza describes wounded Palestinians dying due to malnutrition 

Updated 52 min 7 sec ago
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British surgeon in Gaza describes wounded Palestinians dying due to malnutrition 

  • Professor Nick Maynard moved to tears by malnourished state of Palestinian babies at Nasser Hospital
  • Even Palestinian hospital colleagues look shadow of former selves due to Israel’s aid blockade

LONDON: Palestinians being treated in one of Gaza’s few remaining hospitals are dying from their wounds because they are so malnourished, a British doctor working in the territory said.

Professor Nick Maynard, a consultant gastrointestinal surgeon, who is on his third stint volunteering in the territory since the war started, said he is seeing unprecedented levels of severe malnutrition.

“The malnutrition I’m seeing here is indescribably bad. It’s much, much worse now than a year ago,” Maynard, who is based at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, said.

UNICEF chief Catherine Russell told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that acute malnutrition among children in Gaza had almost tripled after Israel imposed an 11-week blockade on food aid to the territory in March.

 

 

Maynard said malnutrition levels were directly contributing to preventable deaths among patients receiving surgery. He said those injured in Israel’s military attacks were dying because being malnourished prevents proper healing.

“The repairs that we carry out fall to pieces; patients get terrible infections and they die,” Maynard, who is volunteering with Medical Aid for Palestinians, said. “I have had so many patients die because they can’t get enough food to recover, it’s distressing to see that and know that it is preventable and treatable.”

Maynard said babies in Nasser’s neonatal unit have been particularly affected, with four recent infant deaths blamed on malnutrition.

The surgeon said he had been reduced to tears by the state of the children he has seen. 

“I saw a seven-month-old who looked like a newborn,” Maynard said. “The expression ‘skin and bones’ doesn’t do it justice. We have almost no liquid or intravenous feeds — children are being given essentially 10 percent sugar water, which is not proper nutritional support.”

Maynard said he had even seen the effects of malnutrition in his Palestinian colleagues, who were barely recognizable from when he had worked with them a year ago. He said many had lost 20-30kg due to the food shortages.

Israel’s blockade of Gaza lead to widespread warnings that the territory could descend into a state of famine.

Surgeon Nick Maynard is on his third visit to Gaza since the war started. He said the levels of severe malnutrition are unprecedented. (MAP)

In her briefing to the security council, UNICEF’s Russell said that of the more than 113,000 children screened for malnutrition in June, almost 6,000 were found to be acutely malnourished — an 180 percent increase in acute malnutrition cases compared to February.

“Children in Gaza are enduring catastrophic living conditions, including severe food insecurity and malnutrition,” she said. 

Maynard, who is usually based at Oxford University Hospital, has been traveling to volunteer in Gaza with MAP for more than 10 years.

While on his current posting, he has witnessed the daily arrival of Palestinians who have been shot while trying to access food aid through distribution hubs set up by the new Israeli- and US-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

“We have hundreds of trauma casualties coming in every day, it’s relentless,” he said. “This is not only from Israeli military airstrikes and attacks, but we are also treating multiple gunshot wounds every day.

“These are mainly from the militarized distribution points, where starving civilians are going to try and get food but then report getting targeted by Israeli soldiers or quadcopters.”

The surgeon said he had mostly been operating on boys aged 12 or 13 who had been sent to the aid hubs to get food for their families.

“A 12-year-old boy I was operating on died from his injuries on the operating table — he had been shot through the chest.”

Maynard called on the international community to force Israel to allow the full flow of food and aid into Gaza, and to end the “collective punishment” of the territory’s population.

“The enforced malnutrition and attacks on civilians we are witnessing will kill many more thousands of people if not stopped,” he said.


Palestinian man dies in Israeli jail a week after his arrest

Updated 17 July 2025
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Palestinian man dies in Israeli jail a week after his arrest

  • Samir Mohammad Yousef Al-Rifai, 53, is the 74th Palestinian prisoner to die in Israeli custody since October 2023
  • Palestinian prisoners’ advocacy groups say his death constitutes a new crime of Israeli brutality against prisoners and ongoing genocide

LONDON: A 53-year-old Palestinian prisoner died in an Israeli jail after nearly a week following his arrest in Rummana, near Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Detainees’ Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society announced on Thursday the death of Samir Mohammad Yousef Al-Rifai. He is the 74th Palestinian prisoner to die in Israeli custody since October 2023 and the 311th since Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian Territories began in 1967.

Al-Rifai, a father of five, was arrested by Israeli occupation forces at his home in Rummana on July 10. According to the Wafa news agency, he had pre-existing heart problems and required intensive medical follow-up. He was scheduled to have his first hearing in the Salem Military Court on Thursday.

The commission and the PPS reported that Palestinian prisoners face systematic crimes, including torture, starvation, medical abuses, sexual assaults, and harsh conditions in Israeli prisons, which lead to the outbreak of diseases like scabies.

The death of Al-Rifai “constitutes a new crime added to the record of Israeli brutality, which commits all forms of crimes aimed at killing prisoners. This is another aspect of the ongoing genocide, and an extension of it,” they added.

More than 10,000 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, the highest prisoner count since the Second Intifada in 2000, Palestinian prisoners’ advocacy groups reported last week.

As of early July, some 10,800 prisoners are said to be held in Israeli detention centers and prisons, including 50 women — two of whom are from the Gaza Strip — and over 450 children.

Since the 1967 occupation of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, over 800,000 Palestinians have spent time in Israeli jails, according to a UN report in 2023.