KHARTOUM: A fraction of available aid has passed through the Adre border crossing from Chad into Sudan’s hunger-ravaged Darfur region this week following a move by the Sudanese army to temporarily lift a ban on deliveries.
The army’s rivals in the country’s devastating 16-month-old war control most of Darfur and the Adre crossing, the quickest way into the region. The army had ordered aid agencies to stop use of the corridor in February, saying it was used to transport arms, but last week rescinded that order temporarily for three months.
After 15 trucks had moved through the crossing, out of a total of 131 at the border, the Sudanese government “instructed no more movements until procedures received yesterday are agreed,” Justin Brady, head for the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan, said on X late on Wednesday.
In a statement on Wednesday, the World Food Programme said that sorghum, pulses, oil and rice enough for 13,000 people had crossed on Tuesday evening, heading for Kreinik, West Darfur, one of 14 spots across the country experts say is at risk of famine.
But, the agency said, it had food for 500,000 ready to move. More than six million people face food insecurity across Darfur, and more than 25 million, or about half the population, across the country.
It was unclear if the food had reached Kreinik by Thursday. The RSF, which has looted aid trucks and warehouses on numerous occasions according to aid agencies, welcomed the deliveries in a statement late on Wednesday.
A document by the army-aligned Humanitarian Aid Commission showed that the procedures set by the government included the presence of Sudanese authorities and soldiers at Chadian warehouses and the border for inspections.
Aid trucks trickle into Darfur as army pauses delivery ban
https://arab.news/j4awp
Aid trucks trickle into Darfur as army pauses delivery ban
- The army had ordered aid agencies to stop use of the corridor in February, saying it was used to transport arms
In northern Syria, displaced owners return to houses with no roofs
- An aerial video of the area shows rows of houses that are still standing but with their roofs missing
MARAAT AL-NUMAN, Syria: After a decade of war and displacement, many Syrians are returning to their homes, only to find them looted and roofless.
In towns like Maarat Al-Numan and Kfar Nabl in northern Syria, residents who fled years ago have returned since the fall of former President Bashad Assad but are now confronting the harsh reality of widespread theft and destruction.
Strategically located on the route between the cities of Aleppo and Damascus, Maarat Al-Numan became a touchpoint in the Syrian civil war.
Assad’s forces seized the area back from rebel control in 2020. After that, groups affiliated with Assad looted houses and demolished some of them to extract valuable materials and furniture, human rights groups said. Steel and wires were taken out of rooftops to be sold.
An aerial video of the area shows rows of houses that are still standing but with their roofs missing.
Anmar Zaatour, a resident who left in 2019, said he came back in 2025 to find his home destroyed.
“There was nowhere to put our children,” he said. “This destruction isn’t from the bombing, it was the military. And it’s not just mine, it’s my neighbors, and friends.”
Zakaria Al-Awwad burst into tears of mixed joy and sorrow upon his return to Maarat Al-Numan. His house was destroyed, “one of the first ones to get hit,” he said.
“There is no place like home,” he said. “Even if I have to put on a sheet of cloth, it is better than anything else. We have freedom now, and that is priceless.”
Others were more circumspect about the future.
“The problem is, it’s impossible to resume a life without a roof,” said returning resident Hassan Barbesh. “Maarat Al-Numan is an impoverished town. It’s a very difficult task to start from scratch.”
Netanyahu signals he’s moving ahead with Trump’s idea to transfer Palestinians from Gaza
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday signaled that he was moving ahead with US President Donald Trump’s proposal to transfer the Palestinian population out of Gaza, calling it “the only viable plan to enable a different future” for the region.
Netanyahu discussed the plan with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who kicked off a Middle East visit by endorsing Israel’s war aims in Gaza, saying Hamas “must be eradicated.” That created further doubt around the shaky ceasefire as talks on its second phase are yet to begin.
Rubio, in his upcoming stops in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, is likely to face more pushback from Arab leaders over Trump’s proposal, which includes redeveloping Gaza under US ownership. Netanyahu has said all emigration from Gaza should be “voluntary,” but rights groups and other critics say that the plan amounts to coercion given the territory’s vast destruction.
Netanyahu said he and Trump have a “common strategy” for Gaza. Echoing Trump, he said “the gates of hell would be open” if Hamas doesn’t release dozens of remaining hostages abducted in the militant group’s attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that triggered the 16-month war.
The ceasefire’s first phase ends in two weeks. Negotiations were meant to begin two weeks ago on the second phase, in which Hamas would release dozens of remaining hostages in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces
Trump’s special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, told Fox News that “phase two is absolutely going to begin” and he had ”very productive” calls Sunday with Netanyahu and officials from Egypt and Qatar, which serve as mediators, about continuing talks this week. He also said hostages to be released include 19 Israeli soldiers and “we believe all of them are alive.”
Netanyahu’s office said Israel’s security Cabinet would meet Monday to discuss the second phase.
Trump later told journalists it is “up to Israel what the next step is, in consultation with me.”
In another sign of closing ranks, Israel’s Defense Ministry said it received a shipment of 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) MK-84 munitions from the United States. The Biden administration paused a shipment of such bombs last year over concerns about civilian casualties in Gaza.
Resuming the war could doom hostages
This week marks 500 days of the war. Netanyahu has signaled readiness to resume the fighting after the ceasefire’s current phase, though it could be a death sentence for remaining hostages.
Rubio said peace becomes impossible as long as Hamas “stands as a force that can govern or as a force that can administer or as a force that can threaten by use of violence,” adding, “It must be eradicated.”
Hamas reasserted control over Gaza when the ceasefire began last month, despite suffering heavy losses.
Netanyahu has offered Hamas a chance to surrender and send top leaders into exile. Hamas has rejected that scenario and insists on Palestinian rule. Spokesman Abdul Latif Al-Qanou told The Associated Press the group accepts a Palestinian unity government or a technocratic committee to run Gaza.
Netanyahu instructed negotiators to leave for Cairo on Monday to discuss further implementation of the ceasefire’s first phase, as issues over delivery of shelter materials continue.
The Israeli military, meanwhile, said it carried out an airstrike on people who approached forces in southern Gaza. The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said it killed three of its police officers while they secured the entry of aid trucks near Rafah on the Egyptian border.
‘If someone has a better plan ... that’s great’
In an interview last week, Rubio indicated that Trump’s Gaza proposal was in part aimed at pressuring Arab states to make their own postwar plan that would be acceptable to Israel.
Rubio also appeared to suggest that Arab countries send troops to combat Hamas.
“If the Arab countries have a better plan, then that’s great,” Rubio said Thursday on the “Clay and Buck Show.”
But “Hamas has guns,” he added. “Someone has to confront those guys. It’s not going to be American soldiers. And if the countries in the region can’t figure that piece out, then Israel is going to have to do it.”
Rubio wasn’t scheduled to meet with Palestinians on his trip.
Arabs have limited options
For Arab leaders, facilitating the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza or battling Palestinian militants on behalf of Israel are nightmare scenarios that would bring fierce domestic criticism and potentially destabilize an already volatile region.
Egypt hosts an Arab summit on Feb. 27 and is working with other countries on a counterproposal that would allow for Gaza’s rebuilding without removing its population. Human rights groups say the expulsion of Palestinians would likely violate international law.
Egypt has warned that any mass influx of Palestinians from Gaza would undermine its nearly half-century peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of US influence in the region.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia also have rejected any mass displacement of Palestinians.
The UAE was the driving force behind the 2020 Abraham Accords in which four Arab states — Bahrain, the UAE, Morocco and Sudan — normalized relations with Israel during Trump’s previous term. Trump hopes to expand the accords to include Saudi Arabia, potentially offering closer US defense ties, but the kingdom has said it won’t normalize relations with Israel without a pathway to a Palestinian state.
Rubio won’t be visiting Egypt or Jordan, close US allies at peace with Israel that have refused to accept any influx of Palestinian refugees. Trump has suggested he might slash US aid if they don’t comply, which could be devastating for their economies.
Rubio is also skipping Qatar.
Arab and Muslim countries have conditioned any support for postwar Gaza on a return to Palestinian governance with a pathway to statehood in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories that Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war.
Israel has ruled out a Palestinian state and any role in Gaza for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, whose forces were driven out when Hamas seized power there in 2007.
US military says airstrike in Syria kills leader of Al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-Din
RIYADH: A senior official of an Al-Qaeda affiliate was killed during an airstrike by American forces in northwest Syria, the US Central Command, or Centcom said on Sunday.
In a statement posted on the X platform, CENTCOM said the "precision airstrike" targeted and killed "a senior finance and logistics official in the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din (HaD), an Al-Qaeda affiliate."
It said the operation "is part of CENTCOM's ongoing commitment, along with partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks" against civilians and military personnel from the US and its allies.
"We will continue to relentlessly pursue terrorists in order to defend our homeland, and US, allied, and partner personnel in the region,” the statement quoted Centcom chief Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla as saying.
Last January 30 in Syria, a Hurras al-Din leader was also reported killed in a US military airstrike that targetted his vehicle on a highway near the village of Batabo in northwest Syria.
The US military has around 900 troops in Syria as part of the international coalition against the Daesh group. The coalition was established in 2014 to help combat the armed group, which had taken over vast swaths of Iraq and Syria.
(With AFP)
Turkish opposition party delegation meets with Kurdish leader in Iraq as part of PKK peace efforts
- Ocalan, 75, founded the PKK, in 1978, which began an armed insurrection for an autonomous Kurdish state in Turkiye’s southeast in 1984, costing tens of thousands of lives
BAGHDAD: A Turkish opposition party delegation arrived in Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region Sunday against the backdrop of peace efforts between Ankara and a banned Kurdish separatist movement in Turkiye.
The delegation led by Sirri Sureyya Onder and Pervin Buldan, two senior officials with the pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, in Turkiye, met with Masoud Barzani, the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party — the dominant Kurdish party in Iraq — in Irbil Sunday.
Barzani’s office said in a statement that they discussed “the peace process in Turkiye” and that the Turkish delegation conveyed a message from Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of Turkiye’s banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
Barzani “stressed the need for all parties to intensify their efforts and endeavors to enable the peace process to achieve the desired results” and reiterated “his full readiness to provide assistance and support to the peace process in Turkiye and make it a success,” the statement said.
The DEM party has long pressed for greater democracy in Turkiye and rights for the country’s Kurdish population, and also to improve conditions for the imprisoned Ocalan.
Ocalan, 75, founded the PKK, in 1978, which began an armed insurrection for an autonomous Kurdish state in Turkiye’s southeast in 1984, costing tens of thousands of lives. The group is considered a terrorist organization by Turkiye and its Western allies. The central Iraqi government in Baghdad announced a ban on the group, which maintains bases in northern Iraq, last year.
Captured in 1999 and convicted of treason, Ocalan has been serving a life sentence on Imrali island in the Marmara Sea.
The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has traditionally had an antagonistic relationship with the left-wing DEM party, frequently ousting its elected officials on charges of ties to the PKK and replacing them with state appointed officials.
However, this icy relationship began thawing last October, when Erdogan’s coalition partner, far-right nationalist politician Devlet Bahceli suggested that Ocalan could be granted parole, if his group renounces violence and disbands.
The peace effort comes at a time when Erdogan may need support from the DEM party in parliament to enact a new constitution that could allow him to stay in power for unlimited terms.
The Turkish Constitution doesn’t allow Erdogan, who has been in power since 2003 as prime minister and later as president, to run for office again unless an early election is called — something that would also require the support of the pro-Kurdish party.
Even as the latest peace efforts are underway, Erdogan’s government has widened a crackdown on the opposition, arresting journalists and politicians. Several elected Kurdish mayors have been ousted from office and replaced with state appointed officials, the latest this Saturday, when the mayor of Van municipality in eastern Turkiye was removed from his post and replaced with the state-appointed governor.
Meanwhile, conflict is ongoing between Turkish-backed armed groups and Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria.
Turkiye views the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed military Kurdish alliance in Syria, as an extension of the PKK. The SDF is in negotiations with the new government in Damascus following the ouster of then Syrian President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive.
While most former insurgent groups have agreed to dissolve and integrate into the new Syrian army, the SDF has refused so far.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Saturday that the government would reconsider its military presence in northeastern Syria if that country’s new leaders eliminate the presence of the PKK in the area. Also Saturday, Kurds in northeastern Syria staged a mass protest to demand Ocalan’s release.
Syria’s new leader visits former Assad strongholds
- Latakia and Tartus are also home to Assad ally Russia’s only two military bases outside the former Soviet Union
DAMASCUS: Syrian interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa visited Latakia and Tartus on Sunday, his office said, making his first official trip to the coastal provinces formerly known as strongholds of ousted ruler Bashar Assad.
Sharaa met with “dignitaries and notables” during his visit, the Syrian presidency said on Telegram.
It published images of Sharaa meeting with dozens of people, some apparently religious figures, in the two provinces’ capital cities.
Earlier Sunday, Latakia province’s official Telegram channel published footage showing thousands of people gathered in the city, some taking photos, as Sharaa’s convoy passed through.
Sharaa’s Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham led the rebel offensive that ousted Assad in December, and he was appointed interim president last month.
Assad’s hometown is located in Latakia, which along with neighboring Tartus is home to a large number of the country’s Alawite community, a branch of Shiite Islam to which Assad’s family belonged.
Assad had presented himself as a protector of minorities in multi-ethnic, multi-confessional Syria, but largely concentrated power in the hands of his fellow Alawites.
Latakia and Tartus are also home to Assad ally Russia’s only two military bases outside the former Soviet Union.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, Latakia saw violence after Assad’s fall that has since eased somewhat, though occasional attacks are still carried out on checkpoints.
State news agency SANA, citing the interior ministry, said Sunday that a security patrol had been attacked in the province, wounding two patrol members and killing a woman.
Latakia has also seen reprisals against people seen as linked to the former government, though such incidents have also decreased recently, the Britain-based Observatory added.
Security operations have previously been announced in the province in pursuit of “remnants” of the ousted government’s forces.
Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said that “there are still thousands of officers from the former regime present in Latakia and who haven’t settled their status” with the new authorities.
Sharaa’s visit could be a message that there is “no possibility for the regime of Bashar Assad to move in Latakia or on the Syrian coast,” he told AFP.
Despite reassurances from Syria’s new authorities that minorities will be protected, members of the Alawite community in particular fear reprisals because of the minority’s link to the Assad clan.
Sharaa’s visit followed trips to Idlib, the rebels’ former bastion, and Aleppo a day earlier.
