Syria's defence ministry and Kurdish-led SDF trade blame over attack in northern Syria
The defence ministry accused the SDF of carrying out a rocket barrage on one of the army's outposts in the city's countryside, injuring four troops and three civilians, according to the state news agency SANA. It described the attack as irresponsible and without justification.
The U.S.-backed SDF said in a statement they were responding to "an unprovoked artillery assault targeting civilian-populated areas with more than ten shells" from factions operating within Syrian government ranks. The statement made no mention of any casualties.
In March, the SDF signed a deal with the Damascus Islamist-led government to join Syria's state institutions.
The deal aims to stitch back together a country fractured by 14 years of war, paving the way for Kurdish-led forces that hold a quarter of Syria to merge with Damascus, along with regional Kurdish governing bodies.
However, the deal did not specify how the SDF will be merged with Syria's armed forces. The SDF has previously said its forces must join as a bloc, while Damascus wants them to join as individuals.
A Turkish defence ministry source said last month the SDF must prove it is adhering to the agreement with the Syrian government. Ankara deems the SDF an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party.
"While we reaffirm our commitment to respecting the current de-escalation arrangements, we call on the relevant authorities in the Syrian government to take responsibility and bring the undisciplined factions under their control," the SDF said in its statement.
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The Guardian
7 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Israeli unit tasked with smearing Gaza journalists as Hamas fighters
A special unit in Israel's military was tasked with identifying reporters it could smear as undercover Hamas fighters, to target them and to blunt international outrage over the killing of media workers, the Israeli-Palestinian outlet +972 Magazine reports. The 'legitimisation cell' was set up after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack to gather information that could bolster Israel's image and shore up diplomatic and military support from key allies, the report said, citing three intelligence sources. According to the report, in at least one case the unit misrepresented information in order to falsely describe a journalist as a militant, a designation that in Gaza is in effect a death sentence. The label was reversed before the man was attacked, one of the sources said. Earlier this week, Israel killed the Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif and three colleagues in their makeshift newsroom, after claiming Sharif was a Hamas commander. The killings focused global attention on the extreme dangers faced by Palestinian journalists in Gaza and Israel's efforts to manipulate media coverage of the war. Foreign reporters have been barred from entering Gaza apart from a few brief and tightly controlled trips with the Israeli military, who impose restrictions including a ban on speaking to Palestinians. Palestinian journalists reporting from the ground are the most at risk in the world, with more than 180 killed by Israeli attacks in less than two years, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Israel carried out 26 targeted killings of journalists in that period, the CPJ said, describing them as murders. Israel has produced an unconvincing dossier of unverified evidence on Sharif's purported Hamas links, and failed to address how he would have juggled a military command role with regular broadcast duties in one of the most heavily surveilled places on Earth. Israel did not attempt to justify killing his three colleagues. Before the attack, press freedom groups and Sharif himself had warned that Israeli accusations of Hamas links, first made in 2024, were designed to 'manufacture consent to kill'. They had been revived and repeated with increasing frequency after his reporting on famine in Gaza went viral. Intelligence sources told +972 magazine that the 'legitimisation cell' worked to undermine the work done by Palestinian journalists as well as their protected status under international law. Officers were eager to find a media worker they could link to Hamas, because they were convinced Gaza-based journalists were 'smearing [Israel's] name in front of the world', a source was quoted saying. In at least one case, they misrepresented evidence to falsely claim a reporter was an undercover militant, two sources said, although the designation was reversed before an attack was ordered. 'They were eager to label him as a target, as a terrorist, to say it's OK to attack him,' one recalled. 'They said: during the day he's a journalist, at night he's a platoon commander. Everyone was excited. But there was a chain of errors and corner-cutting.' 'In the end, they realised he really was a journalist,' the source added, and the reporter was taken off the target list. Israel's government often gave the army orders about where the unit should focus their work, and the primary motive of the 'legitimisation cell' was public relations, not national security, the sources said. When media criticism of Israel over a particular issue intensified the cell would be tasked with finding intelligence that could be declassified and used to counter the narrative, the magazine reported. 'If the global media is talking about Israel killing innocent journalists, then immediately there's a push to find one journalist who might not be so innocent, as if that somehow makes killing the other 20 acceptable,' the article quoted an intelligence source saying. The cell also reportedly sought information on Hamas's use of schools and hospitals for military purposes, and failed attacks by Palestinian armed groups that harmed civilians there. Some in the unit were reportedly concerned about publishing classified material for public relations reasons rather than military or security objectives. Officers were told their work was crucial to Israel's ability to keep fighting, one source said. 'The idea was to (allow the military to) operate without pressure, so countries like America wouldn't stop supplying weapons,' a second source said. 'Anything that could bolster Israel's international legitimacy to keep fighting.' The IDF has been approached for comment. On Friday, at least 16 Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza, including five who were trying to get food aid, medical sources told Al Jazeera. Israel also issued evacuation orders for northern parts of Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood, as it intensified military operations before a planned escalation of the ground war in Gaza, which has been widely criticised domestically and abroad.
Telegraph
7 minutes ago
- Telegraph
What Trump and Putin actually want from their Alaska meeting
Donald Trump says that within two minutes of meeting Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, he will know 'exactly whether or not a deal can get done' to end the war in Ukraine. For the Ukrainians and Europeans, there is more than just a whiff of Munich about this summit, with neither party receiving an invitation for the crunch talks. In 1938, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Édouard Daladier and Neville Chamberlain agreed to carve up Czechoslovakia without representation from the Czech government. The concern is that this could happen once again with Mr Trump and his Maga acolytes busy discussing ' land swaps ' and criticising Volodymyr Zelensky for arguing that his constitution bars him from doing so. On the other end of the negotiation is Putin, an autocrat who believes Ukraine is a work of fiction and a mortal threat to his country. The Telegraph has spoken to a host of former officials and diplomats who have first-hand experience dealing with both the Russian and American presidents. Mr Trump characterised his goals for the high-stakes meeting as an opportunity to stare into his Russian counterpart's eyes to judge his plan to end the war in Ukraine. 'I'm going to see what he has in mind,' the US president told reporters. 'I may leave and say good luck, and that'll be the end,' he added. 'Probably in the first two minutes I'll know exactly whether or not a deal can get done,' the US president declared in the White House briefing room on Monday. If he is prepared to walk away at the slightest demonstration that Putin isn't ready to end the war – Mr Zelensky says Russia is gearing up for more conflict – then what does Mr Trump want? It has long been thought that he is desperate for a Nobel Peace Prize and has a particular grudge against Barack Obama for being decorated only eight months into his first term. The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited Mr Obama's 'extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples', which seemed to be more about Mr Obama's promise as an international leader than his actual accomplishments. Mr Trump is the self-styled 'president of peace'. 'As president, he has brokered peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Cambodia and Thailand, Israel and Iran, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India and Pakistan, Egypt and Ethiopia, Serbia and Kosovo, and with the Abraham Accords,' the White House said. 'Trump and certainly [JD] Vance, they don't care about the future of Ukraine particularly,' Anthony Gardner, who served as Mr Obama's US ambassador to the EU, said. 'I'm convinced Trump does want to position himself as the person who, quote, unquote, brought a sort of form of peace to get a Nobel Peace Prize,' Mr Gardner added. Ending the bloodshed in Ukraine could do that. Others say he's looking for yet another deal to sell as a demonstration of business acumen. There are significant rare earth mineral deposits in eastern Ukraine. That territory is on the table, and Mr Trump has already made a play for it by signing an agreement with Mr Zelensky to be able to mine it. 'Trump wants to bag a win… period,' Mr Gardner said. In his office in the Kremlin, where Putin will be preparing for his meeting with Mr Trump, sits a bust of Catherine the Great. The significance of the monument should not be lost. As Russia's longest-serving female monarch, Catherine dragged the country into the 18th century and during her reign, doubled the size of its empire. David Lidington, a former deputy prime minister, said Putin also compares himself to Peter the Great, 'somebody who is going to restore Russia's greatness and grow Russia's territory, at least its effective empire'. And Putin is likely to double down on his positions, in an attempt to at least cement his control over the Ukrainian territory already seized by his invasion forces. He will leave little of the planning up to his aides, who are mostly believed to be yes men there for affirmation rather than assistance. 'President Putin is secretive, well-scripted and always eager to press an argument that reaffirms his positions rather than his willingness to settle. He reflects the attitudes of someone who's familiar with power play, intelligence and security considerations, not the transactional, commercial kind of negotiation playbook,' Margaritis Schinas, a former European Commission vice president, said. According to Bobby McDonagh, a former Irish ambassador to the UK, Italy and EU, Putin is 'utterly predictable'. 'He will relentlessly and ruthlessly pursue his very narrowly defined idea of Russian interests,' Mr McDonagh added. Those who have been in the room before say the Russian president will likely try to corner his American counterpart by demanding that the structure of their meeting plays out in a specific fashion. 'He prefers meetings structured in two parts: first, with delegations and interpreters that mainly serve as an audience to listen to his position on a particular subject, usually peppered with aggressive comments on those who think otherwise; then, a more closed – usually tête à tête – discussion of principals where he may show some margin of openness,' Mr Schinas said. It is in the latter section of the meeting in which Putin will try to hammer home any wriggle room he has made for himself. 'Putin will keep his eye on the strategic prize. He will look for opportunities to lessen the economic pressure on Russia and the Russian economy,' Mr Lidington said. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office estimates that sanctions on Russia have deprived the Russian state of at least £333bn in war funds between February 2022 and June 2025. Any easing would give Putin a significant win. John Bolton, Mr Trump's former national security advisor, told The Telegraph that Putin will use his KGB skills to manipulate the US president. 'That's one reason why Putin really did not want Zelensky or the Europeans there. He doesn't want Trump to be distracted with all these other players,' Mr Bolton said. 'Putin will try to get Trump back into feeling that they're friends again. I think Trump has been disappointed that his friend, over the first six months of the administration, has not helped him reach this deal.' According to Mr Bolton, Putin has 'manipulated Trump on Ukraine really right from the beginning of the administration, but back before the disaster with Zelensky in the Oval Office.' The Russian president is 'going to try and get Trump back on side,' Mr Bolton said, adding: 'He's got to work fast.' 'The outcome will depend entirely on whether Trump resists Putin's known and entirely unacceptable demands,' Mr McDonagh added – referring to a stripped-back Ukrainian army, no prospect of them joining Nato and the recognition of Russian sovereignty over the Ukrainian regions of Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. The US president is much happier to consult with advisers on his positions in the meeting, but those don't bode well for Ukraine. Tulsi Gabbard, his intelligence chief, is known to not care much for Kyiv. Mr Vance and Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, have vocalised the need for Ukraine to surrender territory. 'He likes to be surrounded by his team and advisers, allowing them space for contributions, but under no circumstances margin for decision,' Mr Schinas said. This means the US president is unlikely to listen to the European leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer, who held talks with him on Wednesday. There is one hope among the European and Ukrainian onlookers ahead of Friday. Is Mr Trump prepared to let himself be embarrassed at the hands of Putin? Will he attempt to emulate Ronald Reagan, the former US president credited for the invention of 'Make America Great Again'? Sir Julian King, Britain's last-ever European Commissioner, said: 'You can get unexpected outcomes. 'Reagan at Reykjavik blindsided his allies,' he said, referring to the 1986 summit between the US president and Mikhail Gorbachev which ushered in the end of the Cold War. 'But as they meet for the first time in years, with Putin's maximalist negotiating and Trump's unpredictability, anything could happen.' 'The one potential saving grace, Trump won't want to come out looking like a chump,' he concluded.
Reuters
37 minutes ago
- Reuters
Zelenskiy says Russia continues attacking Ukraine ahead of summit
KYIV, Aug 15 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday Russia was continuing to attack Ukraine ahead of a summit in Alaska between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, but its attempt to "show strength" with a new assault in the east had failed. "On the day of the negotiations, they also kill people. And that says a lot," Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app. "The war continues. It continues precisely because there is no order, nor any indication that Moscow is preparing to end this war," he added. Earlier, Ukrainian regional officials said Russia had launched a ballistic missile into Dnipropetrovsk region in eastern Ukraine, killing one person and wounding at least one other, while a drone damaged civilian infrastructure and caused a fire in Sumy region in the northeast. The city of Dnipro is a logistics hub for Ukrainian forces, and the Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions border the combat zone and are regularly shelled by Russian forces. Ukraine said this week that small groups of Russian infantry had thrust some 10 kilometres (six miles) towards the main defensive line near the eastern town of Dobropillia, raising fears of a wider breakthrough that would further threaten key cities. However, officials said on Thursday that Ukrainian troops had managed to stabilise the battlefield in the area. Commenting on the matter on Friday, Zelenskiy said: "The Russian intention was to show strength ahead of Alaska but in fact, for the occupiers, this is ending with their destruction."
