Syria investigates Sweida violence, and Huckabee in Ramallah
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Khaleej Times
17 minutes ago
- Khaleej Times
Syria says meeting with Israeli officials sought to 'contain escalation'
A Syrian diplomatic source said Saturday (July 26) that a US-mediated meeting with Israeli officials in Paris sought to "contain the escalation" after recent sectarian violence in southern Syria prompted Israeli intervention. Israel launched strikes this month on Damascus and Druze-majority Sweida province, saying it was acting both in support of the religious minority and to enforce its demands for a demilitarised southern Syria. The Syrian diplomatic source told state television on Saturday that the Paris meeting "brought together a delegation from the foreign ministry and the general intelligence service with the Israeli side", and addressed "recent security developments and attempts to contain the escalation in southern Syria". Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels. On Thursday (July 24), US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack had said he held talks with unspecified Syrian and Israeli officials in Paris. A senior diplomat had previously told AFP that Barrack would be facilitating talks between Damascus's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer. According to the source cited by state TV, the meeting "addressed the possibility of reactivating the disengagement agreement with international guarantees, while demanding the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from points where they recently advanced". After the overthrow of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that used to separate the countries' forces in the strategic Golan Heights. It has since conducted incursions deeper into southern Syria, demanding the area's total demilitarisation. Damascus has previously confirmed holding indirect contacts with Israel seeking a return to the 1974 disengagement agreement that created the buffer zone. The Paris meeting "did not result in any final agreements but rather represented initial consultations that aimed to reduce tensions and reopen communication channels in light of the ongoing escalation since early December", the diplomatic source said. More meetings were planned, the source said, adding that the Syrian side emphasised that the country's unity and sovereignty were non-negotiable. "Sweida and its people are an integral part of the Syrian state," the delegation said, according to the source. Syrian and Israeli officials had previously met in Baku on July 12, according to a diplomatic source in Damascus, coinciding with a visit to Azerbaijan by Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The two countries have technically been at war since 1948, and Israel has occupied the Golan Heights, which it seized from Syria, since 1967. After Assad's ouster, Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria to prevent key military assets from falling into the hands of the new Islamist-led administration.
The National
6 hours ago
- The National
Six killed in attack on court building in south-east Iran
Six people, including a woman and a child, were killed in an attack on the Zahedan Judicial Centre in Iran's south-eastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, Iranian state news agency Irna reported on Saturday. Twenty-two other people were injured, it said, citing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Ground Forces. The attack was carried out by unknown gunmen, the judiciary's Mizan Online outlet said. The armed assailants opened fire inside the building in Azadi Street in Zahedan, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said. "The condition of a number of the injured has been declared critical," Irna reported. State media referred to the assailants as "terrorists" and said they were carrying explosive vests. The attackers were killed during the incident, Irna added. The Baloch militant group Jaish Al Adl claimed responsibility for the attack, Tasnim reported. Jaish Al Adl wants independence for Iran 's eastern Sistan and Pakistan's south-western Balochistan provinces. The Sistan-Baluchestan province, bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan, has been the site of occasional deadly clashes involving militant groups, armed drug smugglers and Iranian security forces. In October, an attack on an Iranian police convoy in the province killed at least 10 officers. The head of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Dr Mohammad Hassan Mohammadi, said emergency services responded to the incident and carried out "diagnostic and surgical procedures" on the wounded. Visitors were evacuated, Tasnim reported.
The National
7 hours ago
- The National
US forces kill ISIS leader in Syria raid
American forces killed an ISIS leader in a raid in Syria's Aleppo province on Friday, the US military's Central Command said. The raid resulted 'in the death of senior ISIS leader Dhiya Zawba Muslih Al Hardani, and his two adult ISIS-affiliated sons', Centcom said in a statement. 'These ISIS individuals posed a threat to US and Coalition Forces, as well as the new Syrian government,' it said. Three women and three children at the raid location were unharmed in the operation, Centcom added. ISIS rose out of the chaos of the Syrian civil war to seize swathes of territory there and in neighbouring Iraq more than a decade ago. The US has been engaged in military operations against the group since 2014, as part of a broader international coalition aimed at dismantling its territorial control and leadership. While ISIS no longer holds significant territory, the group continues to operate sleeper cells and carry out attacks, particularly in eastern Syria. US forces, working alongside local Kurdish-led partners, maintain a presence in Syria to prevent the group's resurgence and to target its remaining leadership. 'ISIS terrorists are not safe where they sleep, where they operate and where they hide,' said Gen Michael Kurilla, US Centcom Commander. 'Alongside our partners and allies, US Central Command is committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS terrorists that threaten the region, our allies and our homeland,' he added. President Trump signed an executive order in late June lifting the bulk of US sanctions on Syria. This rolled back decades of restrictions and offered economic relief to Damascus's new government, which overthrew longtime ruler Bashar Al Assad.
