Hamas gives ‘positive response' to Gaza ceasefire proposal
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Glasgow Times
40 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Syrian minister holds rare meeting with Israeli officials in Paris
The talks were brokered by the United States, which has been pushing for Syria and Israel to normalise relations, the report said. Foreign minister Asaad al-Shibani met Israeli officials on Tuesday to discuss de-escalating tensions and restoring a 1974 ceasefire agreement, the SANA news agency said. Syrian officials have acknowledged holding indirect talks with Israel to defuse tensions. There was no immediate confirmation of such a meeting from Israel. Tensions have soared between the two neighbouring countries following the overthrow of Syrian president Bashar Assad in December. Israeli forces seized control of a UN-patrolled buffer zone in Syria shortly after Mr Assad's overthrow and carried out airstrikes on military sites in what officials said was aimed at creating a demilitarised zone south of Damascus. Israel has said it will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves along the frontier, as Iranian-backed groups did during Mr Assad's rule. It distrusts Syria's new government, which is led by former Islamist insurgents. Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaida commander who severed ties with the militant group years ago, has pledged to build a new country that respects the rights of minorities, but sectarian violence has erupted on a number of occasions, raising concerns about the country's fragile transition. Israel stepped up its intervention when violence erupted in Syria's Sweida province last month between Bedouin clans and government forces on one side and armed groups from the Druze religious minority on the other. Israel said it was acting to protect the Druze, who are seen as a loyal minority in Israel and often serve in the military. Israel launched dozens of airstrikes on convoys of Syrian forces around Sweida and struck the headquarters of the Syrian ministry of defence in the heart of Damascus, Syria's capital. Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed the strategic plateau in a move that has only been recognised by the US. The rest of the international community views the Golan as occupied Syrian territory.
Rhyl Journal
44 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
383 aid workers were killed in global hotspots in 2024, nearly half in Gaza: UN
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said the record number of killings must be a wake-up call to protect civilians caught in conflict and all those trying to help them. 'Attacks on this scale, with zero accountability, are a shameful indictment of international inaction and apathy,' Mr Fletcher said in a statement on World Humanitarian Day. 'As the humanitarian community, we demand — again — that those with power and influence act for humanity, protect civilians and aid workers and hold perpetrators to account.' The Aid Worker Security Database, which has compiled reports since 1997, said the number of killings rose from 293 in 2023 to 383 in 2024 – including more than 180 in Gaza. On #WorldHumanitarianDay the humanitarian movement is united in grief, anger, and in demanding change. — Tom Fletcher (@UNReliefChief) August 19, 2025 Most of the aid workers killed were national staffers serving their communities who were attacked while on the job or in their homes, according to the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as Ocha. This year, the figures show no sign of a reversal of the upward trend, Ocha said. There were 599 major attacks affecting aid workers last year, a sharp increase from the 420 in 2023, the database's figures show. The attacks in 2024 also wounded 308 aid workers and saw 125 kidnapped and 45 detained. There have been 245 major attacks in the past seven-plus months, and 265 aid workers have been killed, according to the database. One of the deadliest and most horrifying attacks this year took place in the southern Gaza city of Rafah when Israeli troops opened fire before dawn on March 23, killing 15 medics and emergency responders in clearly marked vehicles. Troops bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. UN and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later. 'Even one attack against a humanitarian colleague is an attack on all of us and on the people we serve,' Mr Fletcher said. 'Violence against aid workers is not inevitable. It must end.' According to the database, violence against aid workers increased in 21 countries in 2024 compared with the previous year, with government forces and affiliates the most common perpetrators. The highest numbers of major attacks last year were in the Palestinian territories with 194, followed by Sudan with 64, South Sudan with 47, Nigeria with 31 and Congo with 27, the database reported. As for killings, Sudan, where civil war is still raging, was second to Gaza and the West Bank with 60 aid workers losing their lives in 2024. That was more than double the 25 aid worker deaths in 2023. Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah militants fought a war last year, saw 20 aid workers killed compared with none in 2023. Ethiopia and Syria each had 14 killings, about double the number in 2023, and Ukraine had 13 aid workers killed in 2024, up from six in 2023, according to the database.
Rhyl Journal
an hour ago
- Rhyl Journal
Syrian minister holds rare meeting with Israeli officials in Paris
The talks were brokered by the United States, which has been pushing for Syria and Israel to normalise relations, the report said. Foreign minister Asaad al-Shibani met Israeli officials on Tuesday to discuss de-escalating tensions and restoring a 1974 ceasefire agreement, the SANA news agency said. Syrian officials have acknowledged holding indirect talks with Israel to defuse tensions. There was no immediate confirmation of such a meeting from Israel. Tensions have soared between the two neighbouring countries following the overthrow of Syrian president Bashar Assad in December. Israeli forces seized control of a UN-patrolled buffer zone in Syria shortly after Mr Assad's overthrow and carried out airstrikes on military sites in what officials said was aimed at creating a demilitarised zone south of Damascus. Israel has said it will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves along the frontier, as Iranian-backed groups did during Mr Assad's rule. It distrusts Syria's new government, which is led by former Islamist insurgents. Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaida commander who severed ties with the militant group years ago, has pledged to build a new country that respects the rights of minorities, but sectarian violence has erupted on a number of occasions, raising concerns about the country's fragile transition. Israel stepped up its intervention when violence erupted in Syria's Sweida province last month between Bedouin clans and government forces on one side and armed groups from the Druze religious minority on the other. Israel said it was acting to protect the Druze, who are seen as a loyal minority in Israel and often serve in the military. Israel launched dozens of airstrikes on convoys of Syrian forces around Sweida and struck the headquarters of the Syrian ministry of defence in the heart of Damascus, Syria's capital. Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed the strategic plateau in a move that has only been recognised by the US. The rest of the international community views the Golan as occupied Syrian territory.
