Tag: Syria

Egyptian FM calls for end to terrorism in Syria

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Cairo: Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has called for an end to all forms of terrorism and foreign “interference” in Syria in order to restore its security and stability.
During a phone call with the United Nations Special Envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen, the top Egyptian diplomat reiterated Egypt’s full support for Pedersen’s efforts to reach a comprehensive political settlement in Syria, in line with Security Council Resolution 2254, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.
For his part, the UN envoy thanked Egypt for its contribution and ongoing support in resolving the Syrian crisis.

Shoukry and Pedersen also discussed ways to alleviate the sufferings of the Syrian people, according to the statement.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 10, 2023
Israel launches airstrikes in Syria after rocket attacks

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Tel Aviv: Israel carried out artillery strikes in southern Syria, in response to six rockets that were launched from its Islamic neighbour, The Times of Israel reported citing Israel Defence Force.
The IDF did not immediately provide further details on the strikes.
Earlier, 3 more rockets were launched from southern Syria at Israeli towns in the Golan Heights, the Israel Defense Forces said. This came hours after another three rockets were launched from Syria at the Golan, reported The Times of Israel.

On Saturday night, the focus shifted to Jerusalem’s Old City as security forces fear that further unrest could break out on Sunday when Jewish worshipers are expected to flock to the Western Wall for the priestly blessings that take place on Passover, reported Jerusalem Post.
Jewish visitors are also expected to ascend the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif. An additional 2,300 police troops have been deployed throughout the city. “Israel is taking every measure to ensure that Muslims, Jews and Christians can celebrate Ramadan, Passover and Easter peacefully,” the Foreign Ministry said.
Despite appeals for restraint, violence has surged since Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque on Wednesday after they said Palestinians barricaded themselves inside.
Israel bombarded both Gaza and Lebanon in response to rocket fire by Palestinian militants. The unrest comes as the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramzan, Jewish Passover, and Christian Easter coincide.
By Saturday night, it appeared as if an uneasy calm had been restored, with security forces still braced not just for violence along those borders as well as increased Israeli-Palestinian violence, reported Jerusalem Post.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant briefed US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on the security situation on Saturday night, detailing efforts to “thwart terrorism and respond effectively to any threat toward Israeli citizens and troops,” his office said.
“Gallant also raised the defence establishment’s efforts to enable freedom of prayer at the Temple Mount, which is hijacked by groups of extreme rioters,” his office added President Isaac Herzog said Israel was “firmly committed to preserving the status quo at the holy sites in general and on the Temple Mount in particular” in a telephonic conversation he had with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Netanyahu said last week claimed Iran is behind the latest spiral in violence in Israel, a point Herzog underscored in his conversation with Erdogan.
“Iran, by means of its proxies, including Hamas, is leading a campaign on several fronts with the aim of undermining regional stability and is using terrorism based on religious incitement, focusing on the situation in Jerusalem,” Herzog said.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati issued a statement condemning any military operations from its territory that threatened stability but there was no immediate comment from Hezbollah, reported Jerusalem Post.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 9, 2023
Tensions build around Jerusalem shrine after Syria rockets

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Such tours by religious and nationalist Jews have increased in size and frequency over the years, and are viewed with suspicion by many Palestinians who fear that Israel plans one day to take over the site or partition it. Israeli officials say they have no intention of changing long-standing arrangements that allow Jews to visit, but not pray in the Muslim-administered site. However, the country is now governed by the most right-wing government in its history, with ultra-nationalists in senior positions.
Tensions have soared in the past week at the flashpoint shrine after an Israeli police raid on the mosque. On several occasions, Palestinians have barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque with stones and firecrackers, demanding the right to pray there overnight, something Israel has in the past only allowed during the last 10 days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Police removed them by force, detaining hundreds and leaving dozens injured.
The violence at the shrine triggered rocket fire by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon, starting Wednesday, and Israeli airstrikes targeted both areas.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah’s media office announced that the militant group’s chief, Hassan Nasrallah, received a delegation headed by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday. The two discussed “the most important developments in occupied Palestine, the course of events at al-Aqsa Mosque, and the escalating resistance in the West Bank and Gaza, in addition to general political developments in the region, the readiness of the resistance axis and the cooperation of its parties,” the statement said.
Haniyeh, who arrived in Lebanon last week shortly before rockets were launched at Israel from south Lebanon, had been scheduled to make a public appearance in Beirut on Friday. But it was canceled for security reasons following the exchange of strikes between Lebanon and Israel. No group has officially claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks, but Israel has accused Hamas of being behind them.
Late on Saturday and early Sunday, militants in Syria fired rockets in two salvos toward Israel and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. A Damascus-based Palestinian group loyal to the Syrian government claimed responsibility for the first round of rockets, saying it was retaliating for the Al-Aqsa raids.
In the first salvo, one rocket landed in a field in the Golan Heights. Fragments of another destroyed missile fell into Jordanian territory near the Syrian border, Jordan’s military reported. In the second round, two of the rockets crossed the border into Israel, with one being intercepted and the second landing in an open area, the Israeli military said.
Israel responded with artillery fire into the area in Syria from where the rockets were fired. Later, the military said Israeli fighter jets attacked Syrian army sites, including a compound of Syria’s 4th Division and radar and artillery posts.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the violence in a telephone call with Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog late Saturday, telling Herzog that Muslims could not remain silent about the “provocations and threats” against the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and said the hostilities that have spread to Gaza and Lebanon should not be allowed to escalate further.
In addition to the cross-border fighting, three people were killed over the weekend in Palestinian attacks in Israel and the occupied West Bank.
The funeral for two British-Israeli sisters, Maia and Rina Dee, who were killed in a shooting was scheduled for Sunday at a cemetery in the Jewish settlement of Kfar Etzion in the occupied West Bank.
An Italian tourist, Alessandro Parini, 35, a lawyer from Rome, had just arrived in the city a few hours earlier with some friends for a brief Easter holiday. He was killed Friday in a suspected car-ramming on Tel Aviv’s beachside promenade.
Over 90 Palestinians and have been killed by Israeli fire so far this year, at least half of them affiliated with militant groups, according to a tally by The Associated Press. Palestinian attacks on Israelis have killed 19 people in that time. All but one were civilians.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 9, 2023
Militants in Syria fire 3 rockets toward Israel: Army

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Jerusalem: Militants in Syria fired three rockets toward northern Israel on Saturday night, Israel’s military said, in a rare attack from Syria amid escalating tension in the region.
According to a statement released by the army, only one of the rockets crossed into the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and landed in an open area, Xinhua news agency reported.
It triggered sirens in the northern community of Moshav Meitsar, however, there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The Israeli army on Thursday and Friday struck southern Lebanon and Gaza Strip as Israel accused Hamas and other militant groups of being responsible for firing dozens of rockets at Israel.
The latest tension was triggered by Israeli raids of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Muslims’ third holiest site, during a sensitive holiday time as Muslims were observing the holy month of Ramadan with prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Jews were commemorating the Passover holiday.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 9, 2023
Israel shoots down unmanned aircraft from Syria

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Jerusalem: Israeli military intercepted an unmanned aircraft that entered Israeli airspace from Syria, according to a statement by the military.
The Israeli Air Force sent helicopters and fighter jets to track the unidentified aircraft, which was crossing into Israeli territory from the direction of Syria, it added on Sunday.
The aircraft was monitored and shot down in an open area, it noted, adding that it did not pose a threat, Xinhua news agency reported.

Israeli soldiers were sent to collect the debris from the aircraft, the statement said, adding the incident is under review.
The incident came hours after Israeli airstrikes hit several sites in the Homs province of Syria, wounding five soldiers, according to a report by Syria’s state-owned SANA news agency.
The incident highlighted the ongoing tensions between Israel and Syria, which have been at odds for decades.
In recent years, Israel has carried out regular airstrikes in Syria against what it says are Iranian-backed militias and arms shipments to Hezbollah. Israel has also accused Iran of using Syria as a base to attack it.

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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 3, 2023
Israel launches fresh attack against military sites in Syria

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Damascus: Israel launched a fresh missile attack against military sites in the central Syrian province of Homs after midnight Sunday, the state TV reported.
Syrian air defenses were triggered by the attack, intercepting some of the missiles, according to the report.
The pro-government Sham FM radio said that four soldiers were wounded in the attack, which hit a military base in the western countryside of Homs, Xinhua News Agency reported.

It was Israel’s third attack against Syrian military sites since Thursday.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 2, 2023
Austin admits admin should’ve notified Congress ‘earlier’ about Syria strike

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The gap prompted Republicans to question if the administration held off on notifying Congress to shield Kurilla from tough questions and to ensure the war-powers measure sailed through the upper chamber.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked Austin on Tuesday if the Pentagon’s congressional affairs team should’ve notified Congress sooner, especially because of the war powers vote. Austin agreed: “We should’ve notified you earlier.”
The secretary noted that the U.S. suffered an attack and responded in one day, letting Congress know about both events in between. “We take the War Powers Act very seriously,” Austin said, seated alongside Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley.
Later in the hearing, Austin told Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) that there was no connection between the notifications and the war powers vote.
“Secretary Austin, I don’t believe you,” Cotton responded, noting that an amendment by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) “directly touched” on the Syria strike scenario. “That’s my belief, nothing you can say is going to change my belief on that.”
“I just want to say, senator, that is absolutely not true,” Austin said.
“Maybe you didn’t personally do it, but I believe entirely that people in your office did that,” Cotton replied.
Tess Bridgeman, the co-editor in chief of Just Security, told POLITICO on Monday that the executive branch isn’t required to include casualty information in reports to Congress.

“That said, the Biden administration did include casualty information in its notification to Congress, even though it was not required to do so,” she added.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 28, 2023
Saudi Arabia and Syria in talks to re-establish ties: Report

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Saudi Arabia and Syria are discussing the resumption of consular services, according to Saudi official media, more than a decade after the Gulf kingdom severed relations with President Bashar al-dictatorship.
“A discussion is underway between officials in the kingdom and their counterparts in Syria about resuming the provision of consular services,” state-affiliated channel Al-Ekhbariya said, citing a Saudi foreign ministry official.
The report did not provide a timetable for the move, which would be the latest Saudi effort to heal fences with regional enemies.
Earlier this month, a Chinese-brokered agreement was revealed to restore diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which had been cut for seven years.
For weeks, Riyadh has hinted at a reconciliation with Syria.
In the aftermath of a massive earthquake that slammed southeastern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6, killing tens of thousands of people, it provided relief to both rebel-held and government-controlled areas of the nation.
The efforts did not entail direct communication with Assad’s internationally isolated administration, and Saudi officials instead organised supplies into government-controlled areas via the Syrian Red Crescent.
After the earthquake, Damascus has witnessed more Arab participation, especially from countries that have so far rejected normalisation after more than a decade of conflict.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan stated in February that the Arab world was coming to the conclusion that a new strategy for Syria would be required, involving dialogue with Damascus in order to solve humanitarian concerns.
“There is a consensus within the Arab world that the status quo is not working and that we need to find some other approach. What that approach is, is still being formulated” Prince Faisal told the Munich Security Conference.
According to the Saudi foreign minister, policy changes in Syria might benefit Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries, particularly Jordan and Lebanon.
Emirati official media said that Assad visited the UAE on Sunday, when President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan informed him that it was time for Damascus to be reintegrated into the larger Arab area.
The visit is Assad’s second to the oil-rich UAE in as many years, following a visit to Oman last month, his only formal engagements in Arab nations since Syria’s civil conflict began in 2011.
Syria was kicked out of the Cairo-based Arab League in 2011 for its deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 24, 2023
Turkey’s Erdoğan urges end of Ukraine war in call with Putin

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Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Saturday called for the “immediate cessation” of the war in Ukraine during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Erdoğan also “thanked President Putin for his positive stance regarding the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative” and added that the two countries “could take further steps” when it comes to economic cooperation, the Turkish presidency’s communications directorate said in a statement on Saturday.
The Black Sea grain deal, which allowed the export of foodstuffs from Ukraine to resume after Moscow’s unlawful invasion of the country blocked several ports, was extended last weekend. The grain agreement was originally signed last summer by Kyiv and Moscow under the auspices of the United Nations.
The Kremlin said in a statement following the Putin-Erdoğan phone call that the two leaders also discussed the situation in Syria.
They emphasized “the need to continue the process of normalizing relations between Turkey and Syria” and “Russia’s constructive role as a mediator,” according to the statement.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

March 23, 2023
New Zealand to provide further humanitarian support for Turkey, Syria

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Wellington: New Zealand will provide further humanitarian support for Turkey and Syria where devastating earthquakes earlier this month killed more than 57,300 people, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said on Tuesday.
“The earthquakes on February 6 have had devastating consequences, with almost 18 million people affected. More than 53,000 people have died and tens of thousands more have been injured,” she said.
This represents the third tranche of humanitarian funding provided by the New Zealand government, totaling NZ$4 million ($2 millio) in order to support those in urgent need in the two heavily hit countries, Xinhua news agency quoted the Minister as saying.
The sum includes NZ$1.4 million to the UN Population Fund to deliver essential healthcare services for expectant and new mothers, and protection services for vulnerable women and girls in Turkey, she said.
New Zealand is also contributing NZ$2.1 million for Unicef’s operations in Syria to provide education, water and sanitation, medical care and protection services for children and their families, said the Foreign Minister.
A total of NZ$500,000 in funding will also be made available to accredited New Zealand non-governmental organisations working with their local partners in Turkey to deliver essential relief, she said.
The funding was pledged at an International Donors’ Conference in support of the two quake-hit nations in Brussels on Monday, hosted by the European Commission, the government of Sweden and Turkish authorities.
Tuesday’s announcement brings New Zealand’s total humanitarian funding for the response to NZ$8.5 million.

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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 21, 2023