NAWA, Syria: Israeli strikes in Syrian Arab Republic reportedly killed at least nine people in the southwest of the country on Thursday, as Israel accused Turkiye of trying to build a “protectorate” in Syria.
Syrian state news agency SANA said that those who died in the strikes were civilians, without giving details.
Israel had also struck five cities in Syria late Wednesday, including more than a dozen strikes near a strategic air base in the city of Hama, where Turkiye, a key ally of interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, reportedly has interests in having a military presence.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the strikes had resulted in the “near-total destruction of the Hama military airport and the injury of dozens of civilians and military personnel.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accused Turkiye of playing a “negative role” in Syria.
“They are doing their utmost to have Syria as a Turkish protectorate, it’s clear that this is their intention,” he told a news conference in Paris on Thursday. “We don’t think that it was good when Syria was an Iranian proxy .... And we don’t think that Syria should be” a Turkish protectorate.”
Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry responded with a statement accusing Israel of “undermining efforts to establish stability in Syria.”
“Israel has become the greatest threat to the security of our region with its attacks targeting the territorial integrity and national unity of the countries in the region,” it said.
Israel has seized parts of southwestern Syria and created a buffer zone there since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, saying it’s to secure Israel’s safety from armed groups. But critics say the military operations have created tensions in Syria and aim to prevent any long-term stability and reconstruction for the war-torn country.
In the city of Nawa in western Daraa province, thousands took part in a procession through the streets to bury the dead.
Imad al Basri, an activist from the city, said that Israeli forces had advanced on Nawa for the first time on Thursday and arrived to the surrounding rural area when “people started to come out with light arms to the area of the incursion and there was an exchange of fire from both sides.”
Israeli soldiers withdrew and the Israeli military began to target the area with artillery shelling and airstrikes, he said, adding that ambulances were prevented from reaching the wounded and dead until the morning. He called on Syria’s new rulers to take a stronger stance.
“Why is the government silent about these incursions?”
Last month, residents in the village of Koawaya in the province had clashed with Israeli troops trying to cross through agricultural land.
On Thursday, the Israeli military dropped flyers in the area of Koawaya warning residents not to carry weapons and not to cross a road on the southwestern edge of the village.
Syria’s interim leadership has struggled to appeal to non Sunni Muslim communities. Tensions are still simmering with the Druze community in the south, and the Alawites on the coast are still fearful after clashes between security forces and Assad loyalists led to revenge killings.
Amnesty International said that the killings should be investigated as war crimes and accused government-affiliated militias of deliberately killing civilians.
“Our evidence indicates that government affiliated militias deliberately targeted civilians from the Alawite minority in gruesome reprisal attacks — shooting individuals at close range in cold blood,” Agnès Callamard, secretary-general of the international human rights group, said in a statement. “For two days, authorities failed to intervene to stop the killings.”
The new authorities have, however, made progress in relations with Kurdish-led forces, which control much of the country’s northeast. Turkish-backed former insurgent groups allied with the new authorities in Damascus had been fighting with Kurdish forces, but the clashes subsided after a landmark deal was reached between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and the government in Damascus last month.
On Thursday, SANA reported that a prisoner exchange had taken place in Aleppo between the SDF and forces affiliated with the new government in Damascus, with 250 prisoners slated to be released by both sides.
At least 9 people killed in southwestern Syria following countrywide Israeli strikes overnight
https://arab.news/69zu4
At least 9 people killed in southwestern Syria following countrywide Israeli strikes overnight
- Syria’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the strikes had resulted in the “near-total destruction of the Hama military airport”
- Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accused Turkiye of playing a “negative role” in Syria
Turkiye’s Erdogan insists on Cyprus two-state solution
- Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when a Turkish invasion followed a coup in Nicosia backed by Greece’s then-military junta
- Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, declared in 1983, is recognized only by Ankara
NORTH NICOSIA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday reaffirmed his country’s support for a two-state solution in Cyprus, urging the international community to accept the Mediterranean island’s existing division.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when a Turkish invasion followed a coup in Nicosia backed by Greece’s then-military junta. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, declared in 1983, is recognized only by Ankara.
“We fully support the vision based on a two-state solution,” Erdogan said during a visit to northern Cyprus marking 51 years since Turkish troops invaded the island.
“It is time for the international community to make peace with the realities on the ground,” Erdogan said.
The Turkish leader’s visit comes few days after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that meetings between Cyprus’s rival leaders at the organization’s New York headquarters were “constructive,” even as questions remained about crossing points on the island.
Erdogan on Sunday called for an end to the isolation of the TRNC.
“Diplomatic, political, and economic relations should be established with the TRNC, and the injustice endured by Turkish Cypriots for decades must finally come to an end,” he said.
The last major round of peace talks collapsed in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, in July 2017.
Recognized, independent Palestinian state could unlock disputed gas wealth, expert says
- Gas was discovered in 2000 in the Gaza Marine field
- Michael Barron, author of “The Gaza Marine Story,” estimates field could generate $4 billion in revenue at current prices
LONDON: Official recognition of a Palestinian state would end legal ambiguities over the Gaza Marine gas field and secure the Palestinian Authority’s right to develop its most valuable natural resource, according to energy expert Michael Barron.
Barron, author of “The Gaza Marine Story,” estimates the field could generate $4 billion in revenue at current prices, with the PA reasonably earning $100 million annually for 15 years, The Guardian reported on Sunday.
“The revenues would not turn the Palestinians into the next Qataris or Singaporeans, but it would be their own revenue and not aid, on which the Palestinian economy remains dependent,” he said.
Gas was discovered in 2000 in the Gaza Marine field, a joint venture between BG Gas and the Palestinian Consolidated Contractors Co.
Despite initial hopes of ending energy shortages in the Gaza Strip, the project has been repeatedly stalled over ownership disputes, lack of sovereignty, and political instability.
“The Oslo Accords agreed in 1993 clearly give the Palestinian National Authority jurisdiction over territorial waters, the subsoil, power to legislate over oil and gas exploration and to award licenses to do so,” Barron said.
“Control over natural resources was an important element of (the) state-building agenda of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Israeli exploitation of Palestinian resources was and remains a central part of the conflict,” he added.
Israel has historically blocked development over concerns that revenue could reach Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. An Israeli court once ruled the waters a “no-man’s water” due to the PA’s lack of sovereignty, and Israel has long claimed any license 20 miles off the Gaza coast should be seen as a gift, not a right.
Barron said that if Palestine were recognized as a state, particularly by countries where major oil firms are based, it would “effectively end the legal ambiguity” and allow the PA to develop the field and achieve energy independence from Israel.
A separate controversy has emerged over Israeli-issued gas licenses in a disputed area known as Zone G.
Lawyers acting for Palestinian human rights groups recently warned Italian energy firm Eni not to proceed with exploration, saying “Israel cannot have validly awarded you any exploration rights and you cannot validly have acquired any such rights.”
Eni has since told Italian campaigners that “licenses have not yet been issued and no exploratory activities are in progress.”
Activist group Global Witness also argues the East Mediterranean Gas pipeline, which passes through waters claimed by Palestine, is unlawful and does not provide any revenue to the PA.
The 56-mile pipeline transports gas from Ashkelon in Israel to Arish in Egypt for export.
The issue has gained new attention following a UN report by Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese.
She warned corporations of their potential legal liability for supporting Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, citing international court rulings.
Her report concluded companies have a “prima facie responsibility ‘to not engage and/or to withdraw totally and unconditionally from any associated dealings with Israel, and to ensure that any engagement with Palestinians enables their self-determination.’”
Israel has rejected the report in full.
Barron argues that, with Israel now self-sufficient in gas, “so long as a Palestinian state with unified governance is recognized, Israel will have no motive or legal right to block Palestine exploiting its single greatest natural resource.”
Gaza civil defense says Israeli fire kills 73 aid seekers
- At least 67 were killed as truckloads of aid arrived in the north, while six others were reported shot near an aid point close to Rafah in the south
GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli forces opened fire on crowds of Palestinians trying to collect humanitarian aid in the war-torn Palestinian territory on Sunday, killing 73 people and wounding dozens more.
At least 67 were killed as truckloads of aid arrived in the north, while six others were reported shot near an aid point close to Rafah in the south, where dozens of people lost their lives just 24 hours earlier.
The UN World Food Programme said its 25-truck convoy carrying food aid “encountered massive crowds of hungry civilians which came under gunfire” near Gaza City, soon after it crossed from Israel and cleared checkpoints.
Israel’s military disputed the death toll and said soldiers had fired warning shots “to remove an immediate threat posed to them” as thousands gathered near Gaza City.
Deaths of civilians seeking aid have become a regular occurrence in Gaza, with the authorities blaming Israeli fire as crowds facing chronic shortages of food and other essentials flock in huge numbers to aid centers.
The UN said earlier this month that nearly 800 aid-seekers had been killed since late May, including on the routes of aid convoys.
In Gaza City, Qasem Abu Khater, 36, told AFP he had rushed to try to get a bag of flour but instead found a desperate crowd of thousands and “deadly overcrowding and pushing.”
“The tanks were firing shells randomly at us and Israeli sniper soldiers were shooting as if they were hunting animals in a forest,” he added.
“Dozens of people were martyred right before my eyes and no one could save anyone.”
Civil defense agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP the death toll was 67 and expected to rise while the WFP condemned violence against civilians seeking aid as “completely unacceptable.”
“Israeli forces’ gunfire” was responsible for the deaths in the south, he added.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the agency and other parties.
The army has maintained that it works to avoid harm to civilians, saying this month that it issued new instructions to its troops on the ground “following lessons learned” from a spate of similar incidents.
The war was sparked by Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, leading to the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 58,895 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday expressed his regret to Pope Leo XIV after what he described as a “stray” munition killed three people sheltering at the Holy Family Church in Gaza City.
At the end of the Angelus prayer on Sunday, the pope slammed the “barbarity” of the Gaza war and called for peace, days after the Israeli strike on the territory’s only Catholic church.
The strike was part of the “ongoing military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza,” he added.
“I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations.”
The Catholic Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, held mass at the Gaza church on Sunday after traveling to the devastated territory in a rare visit on Friday.
Most of Gaza’s population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war and there have been repeated evacuation calls across large parts of the coastal enclave.
On Sunday morning, the Israeli military told residents and displaced Palestinians sheltering in the Deir el-Balah area to move south immediately.
Israel was “expanding its activities” against Hamas around Deir el-Balah, “where it has not operated before,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.
The announcement prompted concern from families of hostages held since October 7, 2023 that the Israeli offensive could harm their loved ones.
Delegations from Israel and militant group Hamas have spent the last two weeks in indirect talks on a proposed 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and the release of 10 living hostages.
Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Jordanian Armed Forces down 310 drug-laden drones over 7 months
- Jordanian military seizes 14.1 million narcotic pills, 92.1 kg of illegal drugs, and over 10,600 slabs of hashish
- Traffickers used unconventional methods to smuggle drugs, including toy-like balloons with remote navigation
LONDON: The Jordanian Armed Forces have intercepted 310 drug-carrying drones and thwarted multiple smuggling attempts over the past 197 days, according to military data, as they work to protect national security.
From January to July 16, the armed forces intercepted an average of 51 drones each month, nearly two per day, all carrying narcotics destined for Jordanian territory, according to an investigative report by the Jordan News Agency, or Petra.
The Jordanian military seized over 14.1 million narcotic pills, 92.1 kg of illegal drugs, and more than 10,600 slabs of hashish over the past six months, with a street value amounting to tens of millions of US dollars.
Petra reported 69 smuggling attempts and infiltration operations by traffickers, who used weapons and unconventional methods to smuggle drugs, including toy-like balloons with remote navigation. However, these were detected and downed by the armed forces. One balloon was found carrying crystal meth.
In another incident, border personnel tracked a projectile from Syrian territory, which was found to be packed with narcotics, including 500 grams of crystal meth, reflecting the complex threats facing Jordan.
Iran says replaced air defense systems damaged during Israel war
- Israel launched an unprecedented surprise bombing campaign against Iran in mid-June, prompting Tehran to respond with drone and missile attacks
TEHRAN: Iran has replaced the air defense systems damaged during its 12-day war with Israel last month, a senior army general said on Sunday according to state media.
Israel launched an unprecedented surprise bombing campaign against Iran in mid-June, prompting Tehran to respond with drone and missile attacks.
Israel’s strikes dealt a significant blow to the Islamic republic’s air defenses, which were repeatedly activated in the capital Tehran and across the country throughout the war.
“The Zionist enemy sought to destroy Iran’s defense capabilities, and some of our defense systems were damaged in that war,” army operations chief Mahmoud Mousavi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
“The damaged defense systems have now been replaced,” he added.
Iran’s air defense network includes systems like the domestically built Bavar-373 and Khordad-15, designed to counter missiles and aircraft. Iran also installed Russia’s S-300 air defense systems in 2016.
The war with Israel killed more than 1,000 people in Iran, while Iranian fire killed at least 28 people in Israel, according to authorities in each country.
Israel’s attacks targeted military infrastructure and nuclear facilities across Iran.
On June 22, Israel’s ally the United States also carried out unprecedented strikes on Iranian nuclear sites at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz.
The full extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear program remains unclear.
US President Donald Trump has insisted the sites were “completely destroyed,” but US media reports have cast doubt on the severity of the damage.
On Friday, NBC News, citing a military damage assessment, reported that only one of the three sites was mostly destroyed.
A ceasefire between Iran and Israel has been in effect since June 24.
After the truce was announced, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to prevent Iran from rebuilding its nuclear capabilities, raising the prospect of renewed conflict.
Earlier in July, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was formulating a plan to “ensure that Iran cannot threaten Israel again.”
Katz said the military had to maintain its “air superiority over Tehran, the ability to enforce restrictions on Iran and prevent it from rebuilding its capabilities.”
