Syrian security forces detain cousin of toppled leader Assad
Wassim al-Assad was sanctioned by the United States in 2023 for leading a paramilitary force backing Assad's army and for trafficking drugs including the amphetamine-like drug captagon.
Bashar al-Assad was toppled by an Islamist-led rebel insurgency in December and fled to Moscow. Most of his family members and inner circle either fled Syria or went underground.
Syria's new security forces have been pursuing members of the former administration - mainly those involved in the feared security branches accused of rights abuses.
Rights groups have called for a fully-fledged transitional justice process to hold them to account.
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The Independent
2 minutes ago
- The Independent
UN envoy warns of renewed violence in Syria a month into a fragile ceasefire
Syria's transition remains 'on a knife-edge' and violence could resume at any moment in the southern city of Sweida, which saw deadly clashes last month, the top U.N. envoy for Syria warned on Thursday. Geir Pedersen told the U.N. Security Council that while violence in Sweida has largely subsided following a ceasefire, 'the threat of renewed conflict is ever-present — as are the political centrifugal forces that threaten Syria's sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity.' Syria is grappling with deep ethnic and religious divisions following the ouster of Syria's autocratic President Bashar Assad in December, which brought an end to decades of Assad family rule. The transition has proven fragile, with renewed violence erupting in March along the coast and in July in Sweida, a city with a significant Druze population, highlighting the continued threat to peace after years of civil war. Clashes erupted in Sweida on July 13 between Druze militias and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes, and government forces intervened, nominally to restore order but they ended up essentially siding with the Bedouins. Israel intervened in defense of the Druze, launching dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government fighters. Pedersen said in a video briefing to the council that although the July 19 ceasefire agreement has largely held, 'we are still seeing dangerous hostilities and skirmishes on the margins of Sweida. And violence could resume at any moment,.' Pedersen expressed concern that 'a month of relative military calm belies a worsening political climate, with escalatory and zero-sum rhetoric hardening among many.' The U.N. envoy said there is an urgent need for security forces under the transitional government led by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa to demonstrate that they are acting to protect all Syrians. Pedersen called for major security sector reforms in Syria and the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of non-government forces. He warned that international support for Syria 'risks being squandered or misdirected' without a genuine political transition that lays the path for long-term stability, good governance, credible reforms and a firm commitment to the rule of law and justice. U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher called the humanitarian situation in Syria 'dire,' saying 16 million people across the country need humanitarian support. He said aid workers need protection and safety, noting that humanitarian convoys came under fire this month. He said money for food and other assistance is desperately needed, pointing to the U.N. humanitarian appeal for $3.19 billion for 2025 being only 14% funded. ___
Sky News
2 hours ago
- Sky News
Israel to continue with Gaza City offensive despite talks to free Hamas hostages
Israel will resume negotiations with Hamas for the release of all hostages captured during the October 7 attack, Benjamin Netanyahu has said - but its military will continue its Gaza City offensive despite international outcry. The remarks from Israel's prime minister are the first since Hamas agreed to a temporary ceasefire proposal. Talks will also be with a view to ending the war, but Mr Netanyahu said it must be on "terms acceptable to Israel". In the meantime, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have begun calling medics and international organisations in northern Gaza to encourage them to evacuate to the south ahead of the expanded operation in Gaza City. Many of Israel's closest allies have urged the government to reconsider. Some Israelis fear it could doom the remaining 20 or so living hostages taken by Hamas-led militants in the 7 October 2023 attack which ignited the war. Israel plans to call up 60,000 reservists and extend the service of 20,000 more. Speaking to soldiers near Israel's border with Gaza, Mr Netanyahu said he was still set on approving plans for defeating Hamas and capturing Gaza City. "At the same time I have issued instructions to begin immediate negotiations for the release of all our hostages and an end to the war on terms acceptable to Israel," he said. "These two things - defeating Hamas and releasing all our hostages - go hand in hand," he added. The latest ceasefire proposal drawn up by Egypt and Qatar is almost identical to an earlier one that Israel accepted before the talks stalled last month. The proposal would include the release of some hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a pullback of Israeli forces and negotiations over a lasting ceasefire. 'Don't tell us where to build' Israeli strikes killed at least 36 Palestinians across Gaza on Thursday, according to local hospitals, including at a tent camp in Deir al-Balah. Meanwhile, Israel's ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, was summoned to the Foreign Office in response to a controversial West Bank settlement plan which has been given final approval. The project, known as the E1 settlement, would effectively cut off the occupied West Bank from East Jerusalem and divide the territory in two. The UK and 21 international partners have released a statement to condemn the decision "in the strongest terms" calling it "a flagrant breach of international law" and "critically undermining a two-state solution". Ms Hotovely gave Sky News her response to the meeting: "I said we wouldn't tell the British where to build in London. Don't tell us where to build in Jerusalem, our capital. We see E1 as part of Greater Jerusalem." 11:50 UK warns of 'horrifying starvation' The UK has also responded to comments from the head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA that famine in Gaza is "deliberate" and being used as an "instrument of war". Minister for the Middle East, Hamish Falconer, has called for a "comprehensive [peace] plan to end this misery and get to a long-term settlement". "Israel must immediately and permanently lift all barriers preventing aid reaching the people of Gaza to prevent the horrifying starvation in the Strip continuing," he added. Demand for Gaza media access The Media Freedom Coalition, which includes the UK and 50 other countries, has called on Israel to allow foreign media access into Gaza. In a joint statement, the coalition, which is a partnership of countries working to defend media freedom, urged Israel to "allow immediate independent foreign media access" and "afford protection for journalists operating in Gaza". They said this was in light of the "unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza".
Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Telegraph
Famine officially declared in Gaza for first time by UN-backed group
Famine will be declared in Gaza City for the first time by the international body responsible for monitoring world hunger, The Telegraph can reveal. The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) – a globally recognised system for classifying the severity of food insecurity and malnutrition – has been used to declare just four famines since it was established in 2004, most recently in Sudan last year. Although the IPC has previously warned famine is imminent in parts of Gaza, it has until now stopped short of making a formal declaration, citing a lack of hard data. However, on Friday morning, it will formally declare a famine in Gaza City, the last remaining major built-up area of Gaza and home to some 500,000 people. The declaration will outrage the Israeli government, which has consistently denied that famine is taking place in Gaza and is currently moving on Gaza City. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said on Thursday he would give final approval for the takeover of the city, one of Hamas's last strongholds. In order to declare a famine, three strict criteria must be met: at least 20 per cent of households face an extreme lack of food, at least 30 per cent of children suffer acute malnutrition, and two people for every 10,000 die each day due to 'outright starvation'. The IPC will state that a famine is taking place in the 'Gaza Governorate', which comprises Gaza City, three surrounding towns, and several refugee camps, according to a briefing shared with its partner organisations and seen by The Telegraph. 'After 22 months of relentless conflict, over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions, characterised by starvation, destitution and death,' says the IPC briefing. It adds that the famine is projected to expand to the governorates of Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September on current projections. Another 1.07 million people – over half of Gaza's population – are already facing 'emergency' levels of food insecurity, the second-highest level on the scale, the briefing adds. The Telegraph has contacted the Israeli government for comment. Mr Netanyahu has faced international backlash over the situation in Gaza, with Israel earlier this month announcing measures to let more aid into Gaza. He insisted 'hundreds of trucks' had been allowed in and said that if Israel was implementing a 'starvation policy', then 'no one in Gaza would have survived after two years of war'. He pointed to disturbing images of Evyatar David, a 24-year-old Israeli hostage who looked severely malnourished in a video released by Hamas. He said: 'The only ones who are being deliberately starved in Gaza are our hostages.' The Israeli prime minister vowed on Thursday to take over all of Gaza City militarily. The wide-scale operation in the city could start within days, with preliminary operations already under way in the area. Earlier this week it was announced that call-up orders were being issued to 60,000 reservists of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ahead of the full-scale assault on the city. Israeli troops are now said to have established a foothold on the outskirts of the city after days of intensive bombing, and Palestinians are fleeing the area in large numbers. The IPC – whose 21 partner organisations include Save the Children, Oxfam and Unicef – is forecasting that food security in Gaza will continue to deteriorate between the middle of August and end of September. 'During this period, almost a third of the population – nearly 641,000 people – are expected to face catastrophic conditions, while the number of people in emergency will likely increase to 1.14 million,' it says. This marks 'the first time a famine has been officially confirmed in the Middle East region', the briefing says, although the region has suffered hunger crises historically. It is only the fifth time a famine has been formally declared by the IPC, with the previous four all in sub-Saharan Africa. Israel has been under intense pressure to allow more food into Gaza, facing international criticism over its aid blockade, which has ebbed and flowed since the Hamas attacks on Oct 7 in which nearly 1,195 were murdered and 251 were taken hostage. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said on Thursday that 271 people had so far died from starvation in Gaza, 112 of them children. More than half of that figure has been in the last three weeks alone. In total, the Palestinian death toll from 22 months of war stands at 62,192, according to figures from Gaza's health ministry. Mr Netanyahu last month defended Israel's handling of the humanitarian disaster in the enclave, claiming 'there is no starvation in Gaza'. 'We enable humanitarian aid throughout the duration of the war to enter Gaza – otherwise, there would be no Gazans,' Mr Netanyahu said. The famine declaration comes as David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, signed a statement accusing the Israeli government of a violation of international law over its plans to press ahead with an illegal settlement that would divide the occupied West Bank Britain and Israel have been at loggerheads ever since Sir Keir Starmer announced the UK would recognise a Palestinian state in September. Israel's military on Thursday said it had warned medical officials and international organisations to prepare for the planned evacuation of Gaza City's residents ahead of its ground offensive to occupy it. The officials were told that 'adjustments' were being made to hospitals in southern Gaza to receive patients, a statement said.
