Armed groups attack Syria's internal security forces in Sweida, killing one, Ekhbariya TV reports
The source said the armed groups violated the ceasefire agreed in the predominantly Druze region last month after factional bloodshed in which hundreds have been killed.
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Al Arabiya
24 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Exclusive Senior Hamas official accuses US envoy Witkoff of spoiling Gaza ceasefire efforts
A senior Hamas official has accused US envoy Steve Witkoff of repeatedly undermining efforts to reach a ceasefire between the Palestinian group and Israel in the war-torn Gaza Strip. In an exclusive interview on Al Arabiya English's Counterpoints program, Basem Naim claimed that Witkoff 'undermined a serious chance to reach a ceasefire agreement' on multiple occasions. Naim said Hamas had initially hoped that US President Donald Trump's stated desire to end wars globally would translate into concrete action in Gaza, but that such hope had been disappointed. 'Unfortunately, in our case, we have seen repeatedly that [the US is] backing the position of this fascist Israeli government – in all forms,' Naim said. 'Even, sometimes, if the cost or the price is to undermine a serious chance to reach a ceasefire.' He claimed there had been multiple moments when a truce was within reach but was derailed 'by one of those two parties – either the Israelis or the Americans.' Naim insisted that Hamas remains committed to negotiating a ceasefire – even a temporary one – as a step toward 'a permanent ceasefire and a full withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.'
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
Lebanon cabinet meets again on Hezbollah disarmament
Lebanon's cabinet convened again on Thursday to discuss the thorny task of disarming Hezbollah, a day after the Iran-backed group rejected the government's decision to take away its weapons. With Washington pressing Lebanon to take action on the matter, US envoy Tom Barrack has made several visits to Beirut in recent weeks, presenting officials with a proposal that includes a timetable for Hezbollah's disarmament. Amid the US prodding and fears that Israel could expand its strikes in Lebanon, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Tuesday that the government had tasked the military with developing a plan to restrict arms to state forces by the end of 2025. The decision is unprecedented since the end of Lebanon's civil war more than three decades ago, when the country's armed factions - with the exception of Hezbollah - agreed to surrender their weapons. As Thursday's cabinet meeting got underway, Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc called on the government to 'correct the situation it has put itself and Lebanon in by slipping into accepting American demands that inevitably serve the interests of the Zionist enemy.' The government has said the new disarmament push is part of implementing a November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. That conflict culminated last year in two months of full-blown war that left the group badly weakened. Hezbollah said on Wednesday that it would treat the government's decision to disarm it 'as if it did not exist,' accusing the cabinet of committing a 'grave sin.' 'Never come to fruition' Iran backs the group militarily and financially, with a member of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps expressing skepticism at the 'American-Zionist plan' for Hezbollah's disarmament. 'In my opinion, it will never come to fruition,' said deputy coordinator Iraj Masjedi of the Guards' Quds Force, its foreign operations arm. Citing 'political sources,' pro-Hezbollah newspaper Al Akhbar said the group and its ally the Amal movement could choose to withdraw their four ministers from the government or trigger a no-confidence vote by parliament's Shia bloc, which comprises 27 of Lebanon's 128 lawmakers. Israel - which routinely carries out airstrikes in Lebanon despite the November ceasefire - has already signaled it would not hesitate to launch destructive military operations if Beirut failed to disarm the group. Israeli strikes in south Lebanon killed two people on Wednesday, according to the health ministry. Under the truce, Israel was meant to completely withdraw from Lebanon, though it has kept forces in several areas it deems strategic. Hezbollah, meanwhile, was to pull its fighters north of the Litani River, around 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border with Israel, to be replaced by the expanded deployment of the Lebanese army and United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL). UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said on Thursday that peacekeepers 'discovered a vast network of fortified tunnels in the vicinity of Tayr Harfa, Zibqin, and Naqura,' including 'several bunkers, artillery pieces, multiple rocket launchers, hundreds of shells and rockets, anti-tank mines, and other explosive devices.' Prime Minister Salam said in June that the Lebanese army had dismantled more than 500 Hezbollah military positions and weapons depots in the south.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Starmer defends Palestine recognition pledge
LONDON: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has defended his pledge to potentially recognize a Palestinian state next month, The Independent has reported. Starmer's defence of his move came after Israeli officials criticized his plan, and as British family members of Hamas-held hostages are set to stage a protest in London against the government. Starmer said that there was a 'sense of revulsion' about the level of suffering in Gaza among the British public. He highlighted his intentions to only recognize a Palestinian state if Israel failed to meet a set of conditions relating to the war in Gaza. It must address the humanitarian disaster in the enclave, reach a ceasefire with Hamas, and commit to reviving the path toward a two-state solution, he said. The pledge was not a propaganda boost to Hamas, Starmer said, denying that the 'terrorist organization' could play any role in a future government of Gaza. The pro-Israel protest is set to take place in the English capital this weekend. Demonstrators will march on Downing Street to demand the release of the remaining hostages before any formal recognition of Palestine. Israeli Ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely accused Starmer and the government of 'rewarding' Hamas' actions through the pledge. Kemi Badenoch, the opposition Conservative leader, said on Tuesday that Starmer had 'made a mistake' and 'what we need to focus on now is a ceasefire and getting the hostages home.' Starmer told Channel 5 that the hostages held by Hamas and other militant groups had been held for a 'very, very long time in awful circumstances, unimaginable circumstances, and Hamas is a terrorist organization, and that's why I'm really clear about Hamas.' He added: 'They should release the hostages straight away and they should play absolutely no part in the governance of Palestine at any point.' The prime minister highlighted the terms of his pledge, and said: 'We do, alongside that, have to do all that we can to alleviate the awful situation on the ground in Gaza. We need aid in volume and at scale.' The government had to do 'everything we can' to get aid in, working with other countries 'and it's in that context that I set out our position on recognition.'
