logo
Syrian presidency says ceasefire in place, urges parties to respect it

Syrian presidency says ceasefire in place, urges parties to respect it

Dubai Eye19-07-2025
The Syrian government said its internal security forces began deploying in Sweida on Saturday as the presidency called on all parties to respect a ceasefire following bloodshed in the predominantly Druze area that has left hundreds dead.
In a statement, the Syrian presidency announced an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire and urged all parties to commit to it and end hostilities in all areas immediately.
The country's interior ministry spokesperson said earlier on Saturday that internal security forces had begun deploying in Sweida, in southern Syria.
US envoy Tom Barrack announced on Friday that Syria and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire. Israel intervened in the conflict earlier this week, hitting government forces and the defence ministry building in Damascus as it declared support for the Druze minority.
Barrack, who is both US ambassador to Turkey and Washington's Syria envoy, said that Israel and Syria agreed to the ceasefire supported by Turkey, Jordan and neighbours.
Syria's Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence which began with clashes between Bedouin fighters and Druze factions, before drawing in government security forces that were sent to the area by Damascus.
Israel has said it aims to protect Syria's Druze minority while also saying it wants areas of south Syria near its border to remain demilitarized. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has accused Israel of seeking to sow division among Syrians.
On Friday, an Israeli official said Israel agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to the Sweida area for the next two days.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Syria says meeting with Israeli officials sought to 'contain escalation'
Syria says meeting with Israeli officials sought to 'contain escalation'

Khaleej Times

time12 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.

Former US soldier tells BBC Israeli troops fired on civilians seeking aid
Former US soldier tells BBC Israeli troops fired on civilians seeking aid

Middle East Eye

time4 hours ago

  • Middle East Eye

Former US soldier tells BBC Israeli troops fired on civilians seeking aid

A former US Army Special Forces officer revealed that he resigned from his role at the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) after witnessing the shelling of aid-seeking civilians in the besieged enclave. Speaking to the BBC in an interview on Friday, Lieutenant-Colonel Anthony Aguilar said he had never seen such "brutality and use of indiscriminate and unnecessary force against a civilian population, an unarmed, starving population". "I've never witnessed that in all the places I've been deployed to war, until I was in Gaza at the hands of the [Israeli forces] and US contractors," he said. "Without question, I witnessed war crimes by the Israeli Defense Forces, without a doubt. Using artillery rounds, mortar rounds, firing tank rounds into unarmed civilians is a war crime." Aguilar, who is a veteran of the US Army's Green Berets, said he saw Israeli troops and US contractors firing live ammunition, artillery, mortar rounds and tank shells at starving, unarmed Palestinians awaiting aid. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters He recalled one incident in which a Merkava tank fired at civilians, destroying a car as it drove away from the aid site. Aguilar added that he witnessed mortar rounds being launched into crowds "to keep them controlled". He described those in charge of the GHF initiative as "amateur, inexperienced, and untrained", noting that they had "no idea of how to conduct operations at this magnitude". 'I witnessed war crimes.' Anthony Aguilar, a former US Green Beret, told the BBC that he witnessed Israeli forces firing artillery shells and mortar rounds into crowds of unarmed, starving Palestinian civilians at aid distribution sites in Gaza — Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) July 26, 2025 More than 100 humanitarian organisations warned on Wednesday that "mass famine" has been spreading across the Gaza Strip since Israel blocked humanitarian aid from entering in early March and began providing inadequate aid through the controversial GHF at the end of May. Middle East Eye reported on Tuesday that renowned famine expert Professor Alex de Waal accused Israel of "genocidal starvation" of Palestinians in Gaza through its ongoing deadly siege on the enclave. With basic food items disappearing from markets and families going days without enough to survive, scenes of people collapsing from hunger and sheer exhaustion have become increasingly common on Gaza's streets. At least 127 Palestinians, including more than 85 children, have died of starvation since Israel's blockade resumed in March, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid at distribution sites operated by the GHF, manned by Israeli soldiers and US security contractors.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store