ALEPPO, Syria: Scores of US-backed Kurdish fighters left two neighborhoods in the Syrian Arab Republic’s northern city of Aleppo Friday as part of a deal with the central government in Damascus, which is expanding its authority in the country.
The fighters left the predominantly Kurdish northern neighborhoods of Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh, which had been under the control of Kurdish fighters in Aleppo over the past decade.
The deal is a boost to an agreement reached last month between Syria’s interim government and the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast. The deal could eventually lead to the merger of the main US-backed force in Syria into the Syrian army.
The withdrawal of fighters from the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces came a day after dozens of prisoners from both sides were freed in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.
Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that government forces were deployed along the road that SDF fighters will use to move between Aleppo and areas east of the Euphrates River, where the Kurdish-led force controls nearly a quarter of Syria.
Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh had been under SDF control since 2015 and remained so even when forces of ousted President Bashar Assad captured Aleppo in late 2016. The two neighborhoods remained under SDF control when forces loyal to current interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa captured the city in November, and days later captured the capital, Damascus, removing Assad from power.
After being marginalized for decades under the rule of the Assad family rule, the deal signed last month promises Syria’s Kurds “constitutional rights,” including using and teaching their language, which were banned for decades.
Hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who were displaced during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, will return to their homes. Thousands of Kurds living in Syria who have been deprived of nationality for decades under Assad will be given the right of citizenship, according to the agreement.
Kurds made up 10 percent of the country’s prewar population of 23 million. Kurdish leaders say they don’t want full autonomy with their own government and parliament. They want decentralization and room to run their day-to day-affairs.
Kurdish fighters leave northern city in Syria as part of deal with central government
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Kurdish fighters leave northern city in Syria as part of deal with central government
- The fighters left the predominantly Kurdish northern neighborhoods of Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh
- The deal is a boost to an agreement reached last month
Six European nations reject ‘any demographic or territorial change’ in Gaza
- Israel’s plan ‘would mark a new and dangerous escalation’ in the war, the FMs of Spain, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway and Slovenia said in a joint statement
- FMs, who apart from Luxembourg represent countries that have recognized a Palestinian state, said the plans would ‘cross another line’ and ‘endanger any perspective of a viable two-state solution’
MADRID: Six European countries said Wednesday that they “firmly reject any demographic or territorial change in Gaza” after Israel announced plans to expand its military offensive in the Palestinian territory.
Israel’s plan “would mark a new and dangerous escalation” in the war, the foreign ministers of Spain, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway and Slovenia said in a joint statement.
Israel has called up tens of thousands of reservists for the planned offensive, which comes after resumed Israeli attacks against militant group Hamas in March ended a two-month truce.
An Israeli military official has said the offensive would include the “conquest” of Gaza, holding territory and moving the strip’s population south “for their protection.”
The foreign ministers, who apart from Luxembourg represent countries that have recognized a Palestinian state, said the plans would “cross another line” and “endanger any perspective of a viable two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A military escalation would “worsen an already catastrophic situation” for Palestinian civilians and endanger the lives of hostages held in Gaza, they added.
The ministers also asked Israel to “immediately lift the blockade” it has imposed on Gaza-bound humanitarian aid that has caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine and increased fears of famine.
“What is needed more urgently than ever is the resumption of the ceasefire and the unconditional release of all the hostages,” they said.
The war started after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from Gaza on October 7, 2023 which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Palestinian militants also abducted 251 people that day, of whom 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed 52,653 people, mainly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Yemen’s Houthis to keep attacking Israeli ships despite US deal
- “The waterways are safe for all international ships except Israeli ones,” Alejri told AFP
- “Israel is not part of the agreement, it only includes American and other ships“
SANAA: Yemen’s Houthi militants will continue targeting Israeli ships in the Red Sea, an official told AFP on Wednesday, despite a ceasefire that ended weeks of intense US strikes on the Iran-backed group.
A day after the Houthis agreed to stop firing on ships plying the key trade route off their shores, a senior official told AFP that Israel was excluded from the deal.
“The waterways are safe for all international ships except Israeli ones,” Abdulmalik Alejri, a member of the Houthi political bureau, told AFP.
“Israel is not part of the agreement, it only includes American and other ships,” he said.
The Houthis, who have controlled large swathes of Yemen for more than a decade, began firing on Israel-linked shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in November 2023, weeks after the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
They broadened their campaign to target ships tied to the United States and Britain after military strikes by the two countries began in January 2024.
Alejri said the Houthis would now “only” attack Israeli ships. In the past, vessels visiting Israel, or those with tenuous Israeli links, were in the militants’ sights.
The US-Houthi deal was announced after deadly Israeli strikes on Tuesday put Sanaa airport out of action in revenge for a Houthi missile strike on Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport.
Sanaa airport director Khaled alShaief told the militants’ Al-Masirah television Wednesday the Israeli attack had destroyed terminal buildings and caused $500 million in damage.
Oman said it had facilitated an agreement between Washington and the militants that “neither side will target the other... ensuring freedom of navigation.”
US President Donald Trump, who will visit Gulf countries next week, trumpeted the deal, saying the Houthis had “capitulated.”
“They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore, and that’s... the purpose of what we were doing,” he said during a White House press appearance.
The ceasefire followed weeks of stepped-up US strikes aimed at deterring Houthi attacks on shipping. The US attacks left 300 people dead, according to an AFP tally of Houthi figures.
The Pentagon said last week that US strikes had hit more than 1,000 targets in Yemen since mid-March in an operation that has been dubbed “Rough Rider.”
Alejri said recent US-Iran talks in Muscat “provided an opportunity” for indirect contacts between Sanaa and Washington, leading to the ceasefire.
“America was the one who started the aggression against us, and at its beginning, we did not resume our operations on Israel,” he added.
“We did not target any American ships or warships until they targeted us.”
Scores of Houthi missile and drone attacks have drastically reduced cargo volumes on the Red Sea route, which normally carries about 12 percent of global maritime trade.
The Houthis say their campaign — as well as a steady stream of attacks on Israeli territory — is in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Hamas says commander killed in Israel Lebanon strike
- The dawn strike killed one person
- The Israeli military confirmed that it killed Ahmed, adding that he was “the head of operations in Hamas’s Western Brigade in Lebanon“
SIDON, Lebanon: Hamas said one of its commanders was killed in an Israeli strike on the south Lebanon city of Sidon on Wednesday, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the dawn strike killed one person.
Hamas named him as Khaled Ahmed Al-Ahmed and said he was on his way to pray.
“As we mourn our heroic martyr, we pledge to God Almighty, and then to our people and our nation, to continue on the path of resistance,” the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.
The Israeli military confirmed that it killed Ahmed, adding that he was “the head of operations in Hamas’s Western Brigade in Lebanon.”
It alleged he had been engaged in weapons smuggling and advancing “numerous” attacks against Israel.
Israel has continued to launch regular strikes in Lebanon despite the November 27 truce which sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah including two months of full-blown war.
Under the deal, Hezbollah was to pull back its fighters north of Lebanon’s Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure to its south.
Israel was to withdraw all its forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five positions that it deems “strategic.”
A Lebanese security source told AFP that Hezbollah had withdrawn fighters from south of the Litani and dismantled most of its military infrastructure in the area.
Lebanon says it has respected its commitments and has called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its attacks and withdraw from the five border positions.
Last week, Lebanon’s top security body the Higher Defense Council warned Hamas against using the country for attacks on Israel.
The group has since handed over several Palestinians accused of firing rockets from Lebanon into Israel in March.
Yemen, Iran will be left ‘unrecognizable’ if attacks continue, says Israeli envoy
- UN Ambassador Danny Danon was speaking at Israeli Independence Day celebrations
- Warning came as Israel ‘fully disabled’ Sanaa airport in retaliatory strikes on Tuesday
NEW YORK CITY: Israel’s UN ambassador threatened Yemen’s Houthi militia and Iran in remarks made during Israeli Independence Day celebrations.
“If the Houthis and their Iranian masters want to play with fire, they will find their own lands unrecognizable,” Danny Danon said on Tuesday at UN Headquarters in New York City.
The warning came as Israel launched a series of attacks on Yemen in retaliation for a Houthi missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv days earlier.
Israeli jets struck Sanaa’s international airport as well as the Red Sea port of Hodeidah on Tuesday.
The Yemeni capital’s airport was left “fully disabled” by the attack, the Israeli military said in a statement.
Washington and the Houthi militia on Tuesday also reached a deal to end the militia’s attacks on Red Sea shipping.
But the ceasefire, mediated by Oman, does not include an agreement to limit Houthi strikes on Israel, officials from the militia said later.
Dozens of ambassadors and Jewish community leaders took part in the Independence Day event in New York City.
Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots football team who has deep ties to Israel, also attended.
Danon said: “Israel is not a footnote in history — it is a driving force in history. Even after 77 years of independence, we are still forced to fight for our very right to exist in security and peace.
“But time and again we have shown the world the unbeatable spirit of the Jewish people — the ability to turn suffering into strength, isolation into unity and despair into hope.”
Malawi’s ambassador to the UN, Dr. Agnes Chimbiri-Molande, also took part in the event. She recently joined an Israeli-organized delegation to Auschwitz as part of the March of the Living organization.
Chimbiri-Molande said: “Visiting Israel was a powerful and unforgettable experience for me. I stood in the face of destruction — but also in the face of hope.
“Israel is a living example to the world of how one can continue to build and believe, even when attempts are made repeatedly to destroy it.”
Kraft, founder of the Stand Up to Jewish Hate initiative, has led extensive pro-Israel campaigning efforts in the US. Last year, he likened nationwide university protests against the war in Gaza to the forces that led to the rise of Nazism in Germany during the 1930s.
Kraft said at the Israeli Mission’s event: “Today more than ever we must stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel. The Jewish people have contributed to the entire world — in science, technology, medicine and humanity.
“It is time for the world to recognize and protect this contribution.”
Syrian leader arrives in France in first European trip
- Sharaa, who will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, received an exemption from the United Nations to travel to Paris as he remains on a terrorism sanctions list
- The two leaders will discuss how to ensure Syria’s sovereignty and security, the handling of minorities after recent attacks against Alawites and Druze
PARIS: Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa arrived in Paris on Wednesday, his first trip to Europe since the overthrow of Bashar Assad in December, as he seeks international support for his efforts to bring greater stability to his war-shattered country.
Sharaa, who will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, received an exemption from the United Nations to travel to Paris as he remains on a terrorism sanctions list for his previous leadership of Islamist armed group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a former Al-Qaeda affiliate.
The two leaders will discuss how to ensure Syria’s sovereignty and security, the handling of minorities after recent attacks against Alawites and Druze, counterterrorism efforts against Daesh militants and the coordination of aid and economic support, including an easing of sanctions, French officials said.
The visit marks a diplomatic boost for Sharaa from a Western power at a time when the United States is refusing to recognize any entity as the government of Syria and keeping sanctions in place.
“We are not writing a blank cheque and we will judge (him) on actions,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told TF1 TV channel on Wednesday.
He added that Paris wanted to ensure that Syria focused on fighting impunity to curtail sectarian violence and its full engagement in tackling Daesh militants.
“If Syria were to collapse today it would be like rolling out a red carpet for Islamic State,” Barrot said.
The Franco-Alawite Collective is holding a protest against Sharaa in central Paris on Wednesday afternoon.
The same group filed a legal complaint on April 11 to the Paris prosecutor, seen by Reuters, aimed at Sharaa and some of his ministers for genocide and crimes against humanity over the mass killings in March of Alawaites in the country’s coastal region.
CAUTIOUS RAPPROCHEMENT
France welcomed Assad’s fall and has increasingly fostered ties with Sharaa’s transitional authorities. Macron recently held a trilateral video meeting with Sharaa and Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun as part of efforts to ease tensions on the border.
France last month appointed a charge d’affaires in Damascus with a small team of diplomats as a step toward fully reopening its embassy.
Paris believes it has a card to play in Syria, having cut ties with Assad in 2012 and having refused thereafter to restore ties with his government even after opposition fighters were badly defeated and confined to northern pockets of the country.
It traditionally backed a broadly secular exiled opposition and Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria, where it already has special forces.
Over the past months France played an intermediary role between Sharaa and the Kurds as the United States began reducing its presence and the new Syrian leader looked to bring the area back under centralized control from Damascus.
A French presidency official said Paris had been holding talks with the Americans on how to handle Washington’s withdrawal and how France could play a bigger role.
With the World Bank estimating reconstruction costs in Syria at more than $250 billion, Sharaa is in desperate need of sanctions relief to kickstart an economy battered by 14 years of civil war. During that period the US, the European Union and Britain imposed tough sanctions on the Assad government.
The EU has lifted some sanctions, while some others that target individuals and entities are due to expire on June 1.
Syria hopes the EU will not renew those measures. Their renewal needs consensus among all 27 member states, although the bloc could opt for a limited renewal or delist key institutions such as the Central Bank or other entities that are needed for economic recovery, including energy, infrastructure, finance.
