First responders in the line of fire as Israel and Hezbollah battle it out in Lebanon

IDF has not denied targeting ambulances in south Lebanon. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 20 November 2024
Follow

First responders in the line of fire as Israel and Hezbollah battle it out in Lebanon

  • Israeli military claims Iran-backed Lebanese militia is using ambulances to transport arms and fighters
  • Rights group says civil defense workers, even if affiliated with Hezbollah, are protected under laws of war

LONDON: Since tensions between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah flared up on Oct. 8 last year, paramedics and rescue workers in south Lebanon have found themselves in the line of fire, despite their protected status under international humanitarian law.

In the latest deadly incident, at least 13 people were killed on Thursday in an Israeli strike that hit the main civil defense center in the eastern Baalbek area, according to Lebanon’s General Directorate of Civil Defense.

Bachir Khodr, the regional governor, was quoted by BBC News as saying that the facility belonged to the Lebanese government and that among the victims was the city’s civil defense chief

In a post on X, EU High Representative Josep Borrell said the “EU strongly condemns” the loss of life and that the pattern of attack “mirrors appalling trends in other conflicts, from Syria to Ukraine or Sudan.”

As of Oct. 31, 2024, Israeli military strikes had killed at least 173 emergency workers, injured 277 others, and damaged 243 medical vehicles and 55 hospitals, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.




Following the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in solidarity with its Palestinian ally. (AFP)

Humanitarian organizations and rights groups have joined the ministry in condemning attacks on first responders, their facilities, and ambulances.

“The killing of first responders in south Lebanon is a heartbreaking violation, not just of international law, but of basic humanity,” Tania Baban, the Lebanon country director of the US-based charity MedGlobal, told Arab News.

The media office of the Lebanese Civil Defense earlier shared with Arab News a list documenting 13 personnel and volunteers killed in Israeli strikes while performing their duties. The document, received on Nov. 13, detailed the victims’ names, positions and place of death.

Six of the deaths occurred in the southern governorate of Nabatieh, which has come under regular bombardment since mid-September, while six others occurred in the town of Dardaghia, east of Tyre, and one in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

An Israeli strike directly hit the civil defense center in Dardaghia on Oct. 9, leaving it “completely destroyed” and killing five of its staff, according to the organization’s media office.




Since the conflict began, at least 3,189 people — more than 770 of them women and children — have been killed. (AFP)

The document provided by the Lebanese Civil Defense also listed 70 personnel and volunteers injured in Israeli attacks while carrying out their duties. Injuries ranged in severity and included burns, head trauma, and inhalation of toxic fumes.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry condemned “the continued targeting of emergency medical teams by occupation forces,” calling on the international community “to put an end to this series of ongoing war crimes.”

The statement came after an airstrike on an ambulance in Zefta, a town in Nabatieh, reportedly killed a paramedic and injured two others on the morning of Oct. 31. According to the ministry, the vehicle belonged to the Al-Risala Emergency Medical Association.

“These are people who willingly risk their lives to help others, driven by a duty to save lives, often under extreme conditions. To see them become targets is devastating,” MedGlobal’s Baban said, referring to the first responders.

She said such attacks “undermine the very core of humanitarian work,” stressing that “medics are meant to be neutral, protected under international law.”

INNUMBERS

• 173+ First responders killed in Lebanon since October 2023.

• 243+ Emergency vehicles damaged across Lebanon.

• 55+ Healthcare facilities damaged.

(Source: Lebanese MOPH)


Indeed, Article 18 of the First Geneva Convention, Articles 16(1) and 17(1) of Protocol I, and Article 10(1) of Protocol II prohibit harming or punishing anyone performing medical activities, regardless of the person benefiting from them.

Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Oct. 30 that it had documented three direct Israeli attacks on “medical personnel, transports, and facilities” in Lebanon, which it said constituted “apparent war crimes.”

The three reported attacks involved a civil defense center in central Beirut on Oct. 3, as well as an ambulance and a hospital in southern Lebanon on Oct. 4, which killed 14 paramedics.




As of Oct. 31, 2024, Israeli military strikes had killed at least 173 emergency workers. (AFP)

In a statement on Oct. 11, Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the UN human rights office, said the conflict had killed more than 100 medics and emergency workers across Lebanon within the past year.

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, said at least “27 attacks targeted ambulances used by first responders” since early October last year.

Following the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in solidarity with its Palestinian ally. Israel retaliated, sparking a year-long exchange of fire along the shared Israel-Lebanon border.

However, this tit-for-tat suddenly escalated in September, with Israel mounting a wave of air and ground attacks against Hezbollah’s communications network, weapons caches, and leadership, eliminating the group’s secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27.

Residential buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs have not been spared, nor have villages in south Lebanon, including Ayta Al-Shab, Ramyeh, Kfar Kila, and Mhaybib, according to an analysis of satellite data by The Washington Post.

Some 1.2 million people have been displaced from southern and eastern Lebanon, according to UN figures. As of Oct. 12, more than 283,000 of them — most of them Syrian nationals — had crossed the border into war-torn Syria.

Since the conflict began, at least 3,189 people — more than 770 of them women and children — have been killed, while some 14,078 others have been wounded, according to the Ministry of Public Health.




A document provided by the Lebanese Civil Defense also listed 70 personnel and volunteers injured in Israeli attacks while carrying out their duties. (AFP)

In Israel, 72 people have been killed by Hezbollah attacks, including 30 soldiers, according to the prime minister’s office. More than 60,000 people have been displaced from their homes.

The Israeli military has not denied targeting ambulances in south Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold that has become a battleground between Israeli forces and Lebanese and Palestinian armed groups. On Oct. 12, it even threatened to target medical vehicles.

Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army’s Arabic-speaking spokesperson, said: “Hezbollah operatives are using ambulances to transport fighters and arms.”

In a post on the social media platform X on Oct. 12, he warned that “action will be taken (by the Israeli military) against any vehicle carrying armed men, regardless of its type.”




Israel mounting a wave of air and ground attacks against Hezbollah’s communications network, weapons caches, and leadership. (AP)

Prior to Adraee’s statement, on Oct. 3, the UK’s Guardian newspaper reported that Israel had struck a civil defense center in central Beirut belonging to the Islamic Health Committee, which is affiliated with Hezbollah.

The following day, the BBC reported that an Islamic Health Committee ambulance was struck near the entrance of Marjayoun Hospital in southern Lebanon, killing seven paramedics and forcing the facility to close.

Human Rights Watch said in its Oct. 30 statement that “membership or affiliation with Hezbollah, or other political movements with armed wings, is not a sufficient basis for determining an individual to be a lawful military target.”

“Medical personnel affiliated with Hezbollah, including those assigned to civil defense organizations, are protected under the laws of war,” the rights monitor added.




Article 18 of the First Geneva Convention, Articles 16(1) and 17(1) of Protocol I, and Article 10(1) of Protocol II prohibit harming or punishing anyone performing medical activities. (AFP)

It called on the Israeli military to “immediately halt unlawful attacks on medical workers and health care facilities,” urging Israel’s allies to “suspend the transfer of arms to Israel given the real risk that they will be used to commit grave abuses.”

MedGlobal’s Baban said the targeting of first responders in Lebanon “leaves communities even more vulnerable, depriving families and neighborhoods of essential care and support at a time when they need it most.”

“Every attack on medical staff not only steals lives but shakes the hope and resilience of those they serve,” she said. “We must continue to demand respect and safety for all who work to heal and protect in these conflict zones.”

 


Lancet study estimates Gaza death toll 40% higher than recorded

Updated 55 min 10 sec ago
Follow

Lancet study estimates Gaza death toll 40% higher than recorded

  • The number of dead in Gaza has become a matter of bitter debate since Israel launched its military offensive
  • The study’s best death toll estimate was 64,260, which would mean the health ministry had under-reported the number of deaths

PARIS: Research published in The Lancet medical journal on Friday estimates that the death toll in Gaza during the first nine months of the Israel-Hamas war was around 40 percent higher than recorded by the Palestinian territory’s health ministry.

The number of dead in Gaza has become a matter of bitter debate since Israel launched its military campaign against Hamas in response to the Palestinian militant group’s unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack.

Up to June 30 last year, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported a death toll of 37,877 in the war.

However the new peer-reviewed study used data from the ministry, an online survey and social media obituaries to estimate that there were between 55,298 and 78,525 deaths from traumatic injuries in Gaza by that time.

The study’s best death toll estimate was 64,260, which would mean the health ministry had under-reported the number of deaths to that point by 41 percent.

That toll represented 2.9 percent of Gaza’s pre-war population, “or approximately one in 35 inhabitants,” the study said.

The UK-led group of researchers estimated that 59 percent of the deaths were women, children and the elderly.

The toll was only for deaths from traumatic injuries, so did not include deaths from a lack of health care or food, or the thousands of missing believed to be buried under rubble.

AFP is unable to independently verify the death toll.

On Thursday, Gaza’s health ministry said that 46,006 people had died over the full 15 months of war.

In Israel, the 2023 attack by Hamas resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel has repeatedly questioned the credibility of the Gaza health ministry’s figures, but the United Nations have said they are reliable.

The researchers used a statistical method called “capture-recapture” that has previously been used to estimate the death toll in conflicts around the world.

The analysis used data from three different lists, the first provided by the Gaza health ministry of the bodies identified in hospitals or morgues.

The second list was from an online survey launched by the health ministry in which Palestinians reported the deaths of relatives.

The third was sourced from obituaries posted on social media platforms such as X, Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, when the identity of the deceased could be verified.

“We only kept in the analysis those who were confirmed dead by their relatives or confirmed dead by the morgues and the hospital,” lead study author Zeina Jamaluddine, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said.

The researchers scoured the lists, searching for duplicates.

“Then we looked at the overlaps between the three lists, and based on the overlaps, you can come up with a total estimation of the population that was killed,” Jamaluddine said.

Patrick Ball, a statistician at the US-based Human Rights Data Analysis Group not involved in the research, has used capture-recapture methods to estimate death tolls for conflicts in Guatemala, Kosovo, Peru and Colombia.

Ball said the well-tested technique has been used for centuries and that the researchers had reached “a good estimate” for Gaza.

Kevin McConway, a professor of applied statistics at Britain’s Open University, said there was “inevitably a lot of uncertainty” when making estimates from incomplete data.

But he said it was “admirable” that the researchers had used three other statistical analysis approaches to check their estimates.

“Overall, I find these estimates reasonably compelling, he added.

The researchers cautioned that the hospital lists do not always provide the cause of death, so it was possible that people with non-traumatic health problems — such as a heart attack — could have been included, potentially leading to an overestimate.

However there were other ways that the war’s toll could still be underestimated.

The study did not include missing people. The UN humanitarian agency OCHA has said that around 10,000 missing Gazans are thought to be buried under rubble.

There are also indirect ways that war can claim lives, such as a lack of health care, food, water, sanitation or the spread of disease. All have stricken Gaza since October 2023.

In a contentious, non-peer-reviewed letter published in The Lancet in July, another group of researchers used the rate of indirect deaths seen in other conflicts to suggest that 186,000 deaths could eventually be attributed to the Gaza war.

The new study suggested that this projection “might be inappropriate due to obvious differences in the pre-war burden of disease” in Gaza compared to conflicts in countries such as Burundi and East Timor.

Jamaluddine said she expected that “criticism is going to come from different sides” about the new research.

She spoke out against the “obsession” of arguing about death tolls, emphasizing that “we already know that there is a lot of high mortality.”


What AI-agents and blockchain in a ‘Post Web’ world means for tech-savvy Middle East

Updated 10 January 2025
Follow

What AI-agents and blockchain in a ‘Post Web’ world means for tech-savvy Middle East

  • Web3 redefined the internet with “read, write, own,” but Post Web takes it further, enabling users to “delegate” tasks through AI agents
  • Post Web shifts from attention-driven platforms to intention-based systems, with AI agents handling tasks autonomously

RIYADH: As blockchain and cryptocurrency drive the internet toward decentralization, the shift from Web 3.0 to Post Web is underway. And with a young, tech-savvy population and substantial investments in advanced technologies, the Middle East is poised for early adoption.

Building on this vision of a self-organizing, user-centered internet, Outlier Ventures, a London-based venture capital firm and accelerator specializing in Web3 and blockchain ecosystems, has announced the launch of its “Post Web Thesis.”

As predicted in Outlier Ventures’ 2016 “Convergence Thesis,” advancements in AI are merging with Web3 infrastructure to simplify the latter’s complexity.

Intuitive interfaces and automation now manage tasks like signing transactions, handling fees and bridging chains, making digital property rights and Web3 applications — or decentralized apps — more accessible and scalable through delegation.

“AI agents can now serve users by acting on their intent with a blend of deterministic precision and adaptive flexibility through hyper-contextual experiences,” Jamie Burke, Outlier Ventures CEO and founder, told Arab News.

“In essence, in the Post Web, users won’t just read, write and own — they will also have the ability to delegate.”

An AI agent, Burke says, is intelligent, autonomous software powered by AI to interpret intentions, gather context and execute tasks across decentralized networks, either independently or on behalf of users, with varying degrees of sovereignty.

Those agents will initially handle simple tasks, such as booking appointments, but can gain economic agency over time by interacting with distributed ledger technology such as blockchain, enabling users to perform tasks without a centralized authority.

Burke highlighted the Middle East and North Africa region as a prime candidate for early adoption of the Post Web, citing its young, tech-savvy population and significant investments in advanced technologies.

The region’s advantages could position it as a global hub for Post Web innovation and development, he said.

Opinion

This section contains relevant reference points, placed in (Opinion field)

Web3 defines the web’s “read-write-own” era. Its original goal was to create a decentralized internet using blockchain technology, giving users digital property rights and greater control over their data and assets.

Unlike Web 2.0’s reliance on centralized platforms, Web3, the latest evolution of the World Wide Web since Tim Berners-Lee’s creation in 1989, leverages blockchain technology to enable peer-to-peer interactions without intermediaries.

“Web3’s promise was to ‘unbundle’ the centralized platforms of the Web2 era, promoting greater control for users and peer-to-peer economic interactions,” Burke said.

“But a decade on we can see that mass adoption of its applications just isn’t going to be possible in its current form because, whilst it was a functional upgrade to the internet, Web3 ultimately still isn’t usable for the majority of the people.”

This sets the stage for the “Post Web Thesis,” which examines how the convergence of Web3 and AI could transform the internet.

Rather than operating within the constraints of the “attention economy,” this new paradigm envisions a shift toward an “intention economy” — one where user purpose and goals drive engagement and value creation.

“This shift will reimagine the web, moving from today’s human-centered interactions to a world where machines and autonomous agents act on our behalf through intent-based architectures,” said Burke.

This means that, in the near future, much of the consumer internet could be outsourced to intelligent agents that bypass search engines, price comparison websites and applications, instead accessing application programming interfaces and other agents directly to find information and compare services.

The Post Web’s intention economy seeks to prioritize users’ needs by seamlessly aligning their goals with counterparties through contextual, dynamic interfaces. This approach enables more valuable interactions while minimizing waste and reducing exploitation.

“This marks a profound shift toward an internet that organizes itself around solving real user needs, rather than mindlessly harvesting attention,” Burke said.

“We still believe that humans will interact with the web, but rather than spending hours searching for the best insurance for example or flights for a holiday, time will be spent with much more enriching engagements that people enjoy doing social, gaming and immersive shopping.”

And as AI agents handle most transactional activities and routine tasks in the background, the traditional web will largely fade away, making room for the “Thin Web.”

Inspired by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, this streamlined web offers varying levels of immersion based on users’ personal and environmental contexts.

A simple example of how the Post Web will transform online experiences is booking a family holiday.

Traditional websites are often cluttered with ads for packages that do not fully meet a family’s needs, forcing users to make rushed or suboptimal decisions. Search engines, driven by optimization practices, frequently prioritize results based on rankings rather than quality.

“Paid advertisements and manipulation of organic rankings through search optimization often overwhelm users,” Burke said.

“While price comparison websites may seem like an alternative, these platforms also complicate matters. They typically prioritize results based on auction placements, and comparisons are rarely like-for-like.”

If a user is purchasing holiday insurance for a family with diverse ages and interests, a basic plan might not cover an advanced scuba diver, a beginner and another child who prefers surfing.

The more multidimensional and diverse the trip, the more complex and time-consuming the planning becomes.

In an intention economy, an AI agent compares policies across multiple dimensions, such as payout structures, activity-specific coverage and unique risk factors, Burke said.

“For example, they could recommend a product tailored to a family with an experienced scuba diver and novice scuba diver, factoring in skill level, diving conditions based on weather reports, and other nuances to ensure optimal coverage.”

In terms of cost-effectiveness, Burke says the Post Web eliminates inefficiencies in the consumer internet and “software as a service” sectors. It removes unnecessary intermediaries and aligns outcomes with user needs, resulting in faster, cheaper and better solutions.

DID YOUKNOW?

• In Outlier Ventures’ Post Web era, AI-driven agents will render search obsolete by acting directly on intent.

• The convergence of AI and blockchain will enable the agentic internet, where machines autonomously transact and collaborate.

• AI and Web3 could push organizations toward superfluidity, reducing friction and linking ideas and resources to fuel growth.

By enabling sellers to reach users without relying on interruptive advertising, it reduces costs for both buyers and sellers.

AI agents optimize the technology stack — compute, storage and networking — and replace inefficient centralized cloud systems. This benefits users and sellers but is a major loss for platforms profiting from the attention economy.

In addition to being a more cost-effective solution, the Post Web will lead to what Burke calls a “Supercycle.”

Burke believes these technologies will drive widespread adoption, bringing billions of users and real-world assets on-chain. This presents a valuable investment opportunity in digital assets, which will become crucial for powering the internet and its virtual supply chains.

Since these assets will reflect real-world supply and demand, they can be analyzed like traditional commodities, paving the way for billions in institutional and retail investments through exchange-traded funds and stock market indexes.

“It’s important to see the transition into the Post Web as a vision that will evolve and adapt over time,” he said.

“Web3 was first introduced 10 years ago and while we are sharing our vision for the Post Web now, we see this as an evolution that will evolve over the next 10 years.

“During this time the web as we know it will continue to evolve as AI agents manage more and more tasks on users’ behalf, and the most relevant technologies will converge into the Post Web, but others will become obsolete such as the app store and search.”
 

 


EU medical aid crosses into Syria from Turkiye

Updated 09 January 2025
Follow

EU medical aid crosses into Syria from Turkiye

ISTANBUL: Some 55 tonnes of EU-funded medical supplies entered northwestern Syria from Turkiye on Thursday, a UN health official said.
Part of an EU air bridge to Syria, the supplies crossed Turkiye’s southern Cilvegozu border post and were taken to a warehouse in the northwestern city of Idlib, Mrinalini Santhanam of the World Health Organization said.
“There’s one more air bridge, and it is planned for February,” she said, adding that it was “still in the planning stages” with talks “to determine the volume and the scale.”
The supplies, distributed to Idlib and the Aleppo region health care centers, are part of an EU humanitarian bridge announced by Brussels on Dec. 13.
The aim is to support Syria’s battered healthcare system following the ouster of Bashar Assad on Dec. 8.
Included in the shipment were 8,000 emergency surgical kits, anesthetic supplies, IV fluids, sterilization materials, and medications to prevent disease outbreaks, the WHO said.
The civil war, which broke out in 2011, devastated Syria’s health care system, with “almost half of the hospitals (there) not functional,” WHO planning analyst Lorenzo Dal Monte said in late December.
He said the 50-tonne shipment from Dubai included “mainly trauma and surgical kits.”
Another five tonnes of supplies were brought in from another stockpile in Demark, including emergency health kits as well as winter clothing and water purification tablets, the WHO said.


Polish government to protect Israel's Netanyahu from arrest if he attends Auschwitz event

Updated 10 January 2025
Follow

Polish government to protect Israel's Netanyahu from arrest if he attends Auschwitz event

  • It remains unclear if Netanyahu wanted to attend the event
  • The Polish government vowed to ensure the safe participation of Israeli representatives

WARSAW: The Polish government adopted a resolution on Thursday vowing to ensure the free and safe participation of the highest representatives of Israel — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who choose to attend commemorations for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau later in January.
Netanyahu became an internationally wanted suspect last year after the International Criminal Court (ICC), the world’s top war crimes court, issued an arrest warrant for him in connection with the war in the Gaza Strip, accusing him of crimes against humanity over the death of more than 45,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children, since October 2023.
“The Polish government treats the safe participation of the leaders of Israel in the commemorations on January 27, 2025, as part of paying tribute to the Jewish nation,” read the resolution published by the office of Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

The government published the statement after Polish President Andrzej Duda asked Tusk to ensure that Netanyahu can attend without the risk of being arrested.
There had been reports suggesting that the ICC arrest warrant could prevent Netanyahu from traveling to Poland to attend observances marking the anniversary of the liberation in 1945 of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp by Soviet forces on Jan. 27.
Member countries of the ICC, such as Poland, are required to detain suspects facing a warrant if they set foot on their soil, but the court has no way to enforce that. Israel is not a member of the ICC and disputes its jurisdiction.
The court has more than 120 member states, though some countries, including France, have already said they would not arrest Netanyahu.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán even said he would defy the warrant by inviting him to Hungary.
It was not even clear if Netanyahu wanted to attend the event. The Polish Foreign Ministry said earlier Thursday that it has not received any information indicating that Netanyahu will attend the event.


US, French troops could secure Syria’s northern border, Syrian Kurdish official says

Updated 09 January 2025
Follow

US, French troops could secure Syria’s northern border, Syrian Kurdish official says

  • Turkiye regards the YPG, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a terrorist group linked to Kurdish PKK militants
  • Ilham Ahmed: ‘We ask the French to send troops to this border to secure the demilitarised zone, to help us protect the region and establish good relations with Turkiye’

PARIS: Talks are taking place on whether US and French troops could secure a border zone in northern Syria as part of efforts to defuse conflict between Turkiye and Western-backed Kurdish Syrian forces, a senior Syrian Kurdish official said.
Ankara has warned that it will carry out a cross-border offensive into northeastern Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia if the group does not meet Turkish demands.
Turkiye regards the YPG, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a terrorist group linked to Kurdish PKK militants who for 40 years have waged an insurgency against the Turkish state.
The SDF played an important role in defeating Daesh in Syria in 2014-17. The group still guards Daesh fighters in prison camps there, but has been on the back foot since rebels ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad on Dec. 8.
French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier this week that Paris would not abandon the SDF, which was one among a myriad of opposition forces during Syria’s 13-year-long civil war.
“The United States and France could indeed secure the entire border. We are ready for this military coalition to assume this responsibility,” Ilham Ahmed, co-chair of foreign affairs for the Kurdish administration in northern territory outside central Syrian government control, was quoted as saying by TV5 Monde.
“We ask the French to send troops to this border to secure the demilitarised zone, to help us protect the region and establish good relations with Turkiye.”
Neither France nor Turkiye’s foreign ministries immediately responded to requests for comment. The US State Department was not immediately available for comment.
It is unclear how receptive Turkiye would be to such an initiative, given Ankara has worked for years to secure its border against threats coming from Syria, and has vowed to destroy the YPG.
“As soon as France has convinced Turkiye to accept its presence on the border, then we can start the peace process,” Ahmed said. “We hope that everything will be settled in the coming weeks.”
A source familiar with the matter said such talks were going on, but declined to say how advanced or realistic they were.

Washington has been brokering ceasefire efforts between Turkish-backed groups and the SDF after fighting that broke out as rebel groups advanced on Damascus and overthrew Assad.
Addressing a news conference in Paris alongside outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot hinted that there were talks on the issue.
“The Syrian Kurds must find their place in this political transition. We owe it to them because they were our brothers in arms against Islamic State,” Barrot said.
“We will continue our efforts ... to ensure that Turkiye’s legitimate security concerns can be guaranteed, but also the security interests of (Syria’s) Kurds and their full rights to take part in the construction in the future of their country.”
Blinken said it was vital to ensure that the SDF forces continued the job of guarding more than 10,000 detained Daesh militants as this was a legitimate security interest for both the US and Turkiye.
“We have been working very closely with our ally ... Turkiye to navigate this transition ... It’s a process that will take some time,” Blinken said.
The US has about 2,000 troops in Syria who have been working with the SDF to prevent a resurgence of Daesh.
A French official said France still has dozens of special forces on the ground dating from its earlier support of the SDF, when Paris provided weapons and training.