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Hamas says Gaza truce talks in Doha ‘serious and positive’

A Palestinian girl carries a pot as she waits for a food portion at a distribution centre south of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 17, 2024. (AFP)
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A Palestinian girl carries a pot as she waits for a food portion at a distribution centre south of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 17, 2024. (AFP)
A Palestinian boy eats after receiving a food portion at a distribution centre south of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 17, 2024. (AFP)
2 / 2
A Palestinian boy eats after receiving a food portion at a distribution centre south of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 17, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 2 min 6 sec ago
AFP
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Hamas says Gaza truce talks in Doha ‘serious and positive’

A Palestinian boy eats after receiving a food portion at a distribution centre south of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
  • Reaching an agreement for a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange is possible if the occupation ceases to impose new conditions, Hamas said
Updated 2 min 6 sec ago
AFP
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DOHA: Hamas said talks in Qatar on Tuesday aimed at a truce and hostage-prisoner exchange in Gaza were “serious and positive,” a day after an Israeli delegation arrived in Doha to meet with mediators.
“Hamas affirms that, in light of the serious and positive discussions taking place today in Doha under the auspices of our Qatari and Egyptian brothers, reaching an agreement for a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange is possible if the occupation ceases to impose new conditions,” the Palestinian group said in a statement.
Israeli officials arrived in Doha on Monday for talks aimed at bridging gaps between the two parties, a source with knowledge of the discussions told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity due to their sensitivity.
The meetings follow a trip by David Barnea, who heads Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, to the Qatari capital on Wednesday, the source said.
Qatar, along with the United States and Egypt, has been involved in months of behind-the-scenes negotiations for a Gaza truce and hostage release.
But apart from a one-week pause in fighting late last year, during which scores of Hamas-held hostages were released in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, successive negotiations have failed to halt the war.
On Monday, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz indicated Israeli negotiators have “not been this close to an agreement” for the release of hostages in Gaza since the November 2023 truce.
A senior Hamas official based in Doha also said on Monday that negotiations for a deal were “closer than ever before” but warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could still “disrupt the agreement as he has done every time before.”

Topics: War on Gaza Hamas

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Ceasefire between Turkiye and US-backed SDF extended, State Dept says

Ceasefire between Turkiye and US-backed SDF extended, State Dept says
Updated 13 sec ago
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Ceasefire between Turkiye and US-backed SDF extended, State Dept says

Ceasefire between Turkiye and US-backed SDF extended, State Dept says
Updated 13 sec ago
WASHINGTON: A ceasefire between Turkiye and the US-backed Kurdish Syrian forces (SDF) around the northern Syrian city of Manbij has been extended until the end of this week, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday.
Washington brokered an initial ceasefire last week but it had expired, Miller said, adding that Washington would like the ceasefire to be extended for as long as possible.
“We continue to engage with the SDF, with Turkiye about a path forward,” Miller said.
“We don’t want to see any party take advantage of the current unstable situation to advance their own narrow interests at the expense of the broader Syrian national interest,” he added.
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi expressed on Tuesday the group’s readiness to present a proposal that establishes a demilitarized zone in the northern city of Kobani with the redeployment of security forces under US supervision and presence.
He said in a statement on X that the proposal aims to address Turkiye’s security concerns and ensure permanent stability in the area.

Army drone attack in Sudan’s Omdurman kills 15

Army drone attack in Sudan’s Omdurman kills 15
Updated 12 min 29 sec ago
AFP
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Army drone attack in Sudan’s Omdurman kills 15

Army drone attack in Sudan’s Omdurman kills 15
Updated 12 min 29 sec ago
AFP

PORT SUDAN: A Sudanese military drone attack in the Khartoum area killed 15 civilians, pro-democracy lawyers said on Monday, 20 months into a war which has left the country in a crisis whose gravity the world does not understand, according to a UN official.

“The deadly attack resulted in the death of 15 people with six others injured and two individuals still missing,” said the Emergency Lawyers, who have been documenting human rights abuses throughout the war between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Most of Omdurman — the capital’s twin city across the Nile River — is under army control but the drone attack — which occurred on Saturday — took place in western Omdurman which is under RSF control.

The truck, carrying milk barrels from surrounding villages to an area near a camel market in Omdurman, reportedly broke down on the road before being targeted by the military drone, the lawyers said.

They added that according to initial evidence the victims were all herders and workers involved in milk transportation.Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the war which has displaced millions and left the northeast African country on the brink of famine, according to aid agencies.

Both the army and the RSF have been accused of targeting civilians and indiscriminately shelling residential areas.

Topics: Sudan Unrest

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Israel ignores truce as bulldozers enter Lebanon border towns

Israel ignores truce as bulldozers enter Lebanon border towns
Updated 17 min 57 sec ago
NAJIA HOUSSARI
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Israel ignores truce as bulldozers enter Lebanon border towns

Israel ignores truce as bulldozers enter Lebanon border towns
  • World Bank in talks with Lebanese govt over reconstruction efforts
  • Rubble from attacks will be used to fill quarries, environment minister says
Updated 17 min 57 sec ago
NAJIA HOUSSARI

 

BEIRUT: Israeli forces bulldozed roads and destroyed houses early on Tuesday in the village of Naqoura, near the southern Lebanese border.

Troops continued to violate the ceasefire agreement, firing bursts of machine-gun fire inside the coastal town, while bulldozing local landmarks.

Remaining houses in the border village of Kfarkila were also bulldozed.

Israeli forces invaded the Lebanese southern border region on Oct. 1 as part of their expanded war against Hezbollah.

Troops are slowly withdrawing from the area, taking advantage of the 60 days agreed in the ceasefire deal for their complete withdrawal.

The agreement took effect three weeks ago.

Israeli artillery on Monday targeted the outskirts of Halta, Kfarshouba, and Shebaa, while reconnaissance planes continued around-the-clock flights over the south and Beirut, mainly the southern suburbs.

The Lebanese army in coordination with UNIFIL is set to retrieve the bodies of 37 Hezbollah fighters killed in confrontations in the border villages of Odaisseh and Taybeh.

Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV said that the army is waiting on communications from UNIFIL before entering the towns. No implementation date has been set, it added.

The network also said Israel’s slow withdrawal from Al-Hamames Hill is delaying the Lebanese army’s entry into Khiam.

The withdrawal was part of the first phase of the agreement with UNIFIL.

Maj. Gen. Patrick Gauchat, head of the UN Truce Supervision Organization, held talks with Lebanese officials, including caretaker Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib, in a bid to solve disputes over the withdrawal.

Habib emphasized the importance of clearly establishing the borders between Lebanon and Israel.

Six sections of the 120 km border between the two countries are still disputed.
 
Meanwhile, Jean-Christophe Carret, World Bank country director for the Middle East, met with Lebanese officials to discuss reconstruction programs, and the rebuilding and repair of infrastructure.

Carret said the bank wanted to ensure the “effective operation, implementation, and sustainability of the work.”

Lebanon’s government is still discussing possible disposal sites for debris from Israeli attacks on residential buildings and facilities.

Environment Minister Nasser Yassin said that the rubble is likely to be taken to quarries around the country.

Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi told governors in southern Lebanon and Nabatieh, Bekaa, Baalbek-Hermel, and other municipalities to ensure the Litani River and its tributaries area protected during reconstruction work.

Debris must not be dumped in the river or left on open land overlooking the waterway, he said.

On Monday, two Lebanese lawyers, Majd Harb and Eli Kirolos, submitted a complaint to the judiciary accusing the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association, affiliated with Hezbollah, of violating monetary and credit laws.

Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association offices in various locations around Lebanon were hit by Israeli attacks during the final two weeks of the conflict.

Hezbollah announced the resumption of operations in some of the offices following the ceasefire.

Topics: Battlefield Lebanon Israel Hezbollah

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Israel’s Netanyahu tours buffer zone inside Syria

Israel’s Netanyahu tours buffer zone inside Syria
Updated 48 min 45 sec ago
AP
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Israel’s Netanyahu tours buffer zone inside Syria

Israel’s Netanyahu tours buffer zone inside Syria
  • First time a sitting Israeli leader entered Syrian territory
  • Israel seized a swath of southern Syria along the border with the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights in the days after Assad's downfall
Updated 48 min 45 sec ago
AP

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered Syrian territory on Tuesday during a security tour of the buffer zone seized by Israel in the days since the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
It was apparently the first time a sitting Israeli leader entered Syrian territory. Israel seized a swath of southern Syria along the border with the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, calling it a buffer zone, in the days after Assad was ousted by rebels.
Israel still controls the Golan Heights that it captured from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed — a move not recognized by most of the international community.
Netanyau and Defense Minister Israel Katz visited the snow-dusted summit of Mount Hermon, the highest peak in the area, which is located inside Syrian territory.
Katz added that Israel will maintain a presence in the Syrian buffer zone “for as long as is required” and had instructed the Israeli military to quickly establish a presence including fortifications, in anticipation of what could be an extended stay in the area.
“The summit of the Hermon is the eyes of the state of Israel to identify our enemies who are nearby and far away,” Katz said.
Israeli forces were moving to control a roughly 400-square-kilometer (155-square-mile) demilitarized buffer zone in Syrian territory. The buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights was created by the UN after the 1973 Mideast war. A UN force of about 1,100 troops has patrolled the area since then.
Mount Hermon is divided between the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, Lebanon, and Syria. Only the United States recognizes Israel’s control of the Golan Heights.

Topics: Golan Heights Benjamin Netanyahu Fall of Assad

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Smooth end to Syria sanctions would help address immense needs, says UN envoy

Geir Pederson, the United Nations’ special envoy to Syria, center, listens to a woman who was looking for her missing relative.
Geir Pederson, the United Nations’ special envoy to Syria, center, listens to a woman who was looking for her missing relative.
Updated 17 December 2024
Reuters
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Smooth end to Syria sanctions would help address immense needs, says UN envoy

Geir Pederson, the United Nations’ special envoy to Syria, center, listens to a woman who was looking for her missing relative.
  • Pedersen called for “broad support” for Syria and an end to sanctions to allow for reconstruction of the war-ravaged country
Updated 17 December 2024
Reuters

UNITED NATIONS: Concrete movement on an inclusive political transition in Syria will be key in ensuring the country gets the economic support it needs, United Nations special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen told the Security Council on Tuesday.
“There is a clear international willingness to engage. The needs are immense and could only be addressed with broad support, including a smooth end to sanctions, appropriate action on designations too, and full reconstruction,” he said.
Pedersen and UN aid chief Tom Fletcher briefed the 15-member council from Damascus, where they met with the country’s new leaders after President Bashar Assad was ousted by insurgent forces led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS).
The United States, Britain, the European Union and others imposed tough sanctions on Syria after a crackdown by Assad on pro-democracy protests in 2011 spiraled into civil war. But the new reality in Syria has been further complicated by sanctions on HTS for its days as an Al-Qaeda affiliate.
Formerly known as Nusra Front, HTS was Al-Qaeda’s official wing in Syria until breaking ties in 2016. Along with unilateral measures, the group has also been on the UN Security Council Al-Qaeda and Daesh sanctions list for more than a decade, subjected to a global assets freeze and arms embargo.
Fletcher appealed to all states to ensure “sanctions and counter-terrorism measures do not impede humanitarian operations” in Syria.
“Syria was already one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world, with 17 million people – more than 70 percent of the population – in need of support,” he told the council.
There is a humanitarian exemption for UN sanctions on HTS that allows “the provision, processing or payment of funds, other financial assets, or economic resources, or the provision of goods and services necessary to ensure the timely delivery of humanitarian assistance or to support other activities that support basic human needs.”
Many diplomats acknowledge that the removal of sanctions could be used as leverage to ensure Syria’s new authorities fulfill their commitments. Diplomats and UN officials are also keen to avoid a repeat of the difficulties faced in Afghanistan. After the hard-line Taliban took over in August 2021 as US-led forces withdrew after two decades of war, banks were wary of testing UN and US sanctions, leaving the UN and aid groups struggling to deliver enough cash to run operations. The US had to issue sanctions exemptions.

Topics: Fall of Assad Syria Geir Pederson

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