Trump says Israel agrees to 60-day Gaza ceasefire
US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that Israel has agreed to the terms of a proposed 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, urging Hamas to accept the deal or face harsher conditions.
The announcement comes just days before Trump is set to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, as the US intensifies efforts to end the war and secure a broader agreement involving hostages and humanitarian access.
'My representatives had a long and productive meeting with the Israelis today on Gaza,' Trump wrote on social media. 'Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalise the 60-day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the war.' He added that Qatar and Egypt would deliver the final proposal to Hamas.
'I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,' Trump warned.
Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer held talks in Washington with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and special envoy Steve Witkoff. The discussions reportedly covered the ceasefire, regional tensions, and Iran.
The ceasefire push comes amid mounting humanitarian alarm. Over 150 aid organisations, including Oxfam, Save the Children, and Amnesty International, have demanded an end to a US- and Israeli-backed aid distribution mechanism in Gaza, citing chaos and deadly incidents. Witnesses said at least 10 Palestinians were killed while seeking food.
At the same time, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 37 people in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital. 'Tents, tents—they are hitting with two missiles?' cried Um Seif Abu Leda, whose son was among the dead.
Adding to the turmoil, projectiles were fired at Israel from both Gaza and Yemen. Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, warned Yemen could face serious consequences after a missile was launched by Houthi rebels, marking the first such attack since a 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran. The Houthis vowed continued strikes until the Gaza siege is lifted.
Netanyahu, addressing his Cabinet, did not elaborate on his Washington visit, but confirmed trade and Iran would be on the agenda. Trump is also reported to have helped mediate a recent ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
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EVN Report
9 hours ago
- EVN Report
Syria's Disintegration
The massacre of hundreds of Druze civilians in Syria since July 13, 2025, carried out by Sunni jihadist groups affiliated with or supported by the country's new authorities and local Bedouin tribes, is another warning of Syria's deepening sectarian fragmentation. The Druze are Arabs practicing an esoteric Abrahamic religion closely related to Ismaili Shiism. To Sunni Islamist extremists, the Druze are viewed as heretics. This millennia-old Middle Eastern minority includes approximately 600,000 in Syria, 350,000 in Lebanon, and 130,000 in Israel. For survival, the Druze have historically maintained loyalty to the state in which they reside. In Israel, for example, they have served in the military since 1957, with many now holding senior positions in the army and police. They maintain strong transnational ties, particularly through endogamous marriage practices. The Mountain of the Druze (Jabal al-Druze) lies near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, territory seized from Syria after the 1967 war. Many Druze civilians have fled across the border seeking protection from the Israeli army. Due to both domestic political considerations and geographic proximity, Israel will not allow Sunni Islamists to commit genocide against the Druze. As a warning, the Israeli Defense Forces bombed the Syrian Ministry of Defense in Damascus on July 16. Current Israeli authorities are likely considering the establishment of a new security buffer zone in the Druze Mountain, though they have not publicly acknowledged this. By contrast, when the Alawite community (a secretive sect of Shiism) faced mass killings by Sunni jihadists in Syria's northwestern Latakia region in March 2025, neither Turkey nor Israel—the two closest regional powers—intervened. Syria's Christian community, which predates the arrival of Islam by five centuries, has also been targeted by Sunni extremists. The bombing of the Greek Orthodox Mar Elias Church in Damascus on June 23, 2025, killed 25 people. Amid these massacres targeting Syria's religious minorities, what position has the new president taken? Ahmed al-Sharaa seized control of Damascus on December 9, 2024, backed by Turkish President Erdogan's government, which shares ideological affinities with the Muslim Brotherhood. Is al-Sharaa complicit in these sectarian atrocities, willfully indifferent, or simply overwhelmed by forces beyond his control? One hopes it's the latter, as this former al-Qaeda militant—who now wears suits and delivers unifying nationalist speeches—has been endorsed by Presidents Trump and Macron. Cycle of Vengeance Since 2010, Syria's Christians have left the country in significant numbers, exhausted by a decade of war, eight years of sanctions, economic collapse, and mafia rule. Of the 1.2 million Christians who lived in Syria at the start of the civil war, an estimated 70-80% have since fled. Those who remain include the elderly, those without the means to flee, and those with nowhere else to go. Armenian Christians, like their fellow believers, were traumatized by the massacres along the Alawite coast. In the south, the roughly 250 Christian families of Suwayda were evacuated to Damascus, but their convoy was ambushed by Bedouin tribes seeking revenge against minorities they associated with the deposed Assad regime. This exodus represents more than just a demographic crisis—it's a cultural and economic blow. Syria's Christians have long been disproportionately represented in the country's professional class including medicine, law, education and business. Among the few thousand Armenians who remain in Syria—roughly 5,000 to 7,000 in Aleppo, about 1,000 in Damascus, some 500 in Kessab, a scattering of families in coastal cities like Tartus and Latakia, and others in Al-Qamishli (which is part of the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria), the foremost concern is insecurity. Many fear that they may be next. They have received this message repeatedly. Skeptical of any genuine reconciliation efforts, they recognize that Al-Sharaa's regime has relied on empty reassurances, particularly during the national dialogue conference held in February. This event gathered over a thousand delegates from across Syria for just one day, yet it offered nothing meaningful to address the decades of violence, brutality and injustice. Amid mounting unease, many Christians have adopted an attitude of anxious vigilance as the current regime pushes for the Islamization of Syrian society. This trend has manifested in growing restrictions: young girls being kidnapped and banning alcohol in many stores. Christian schools face particular pressure, as the new Ministry of Education attempts to impose mandatory curricula rooted in Islamic law . In working-class neighborhoods across Syria, Islamist preachers have grown increasingly aggressive, openly calling for Christians to convert to Islam. Meanwhile gender segregation is gradually being enforced in public spaces, including schools, transportation, and government offices. The Omnipresence of Turkey The second major concern for Armenians is Turkey's de facto control of much of Syria. Turkey has entered an undeclared conflict with Israel over the division of a zone of influence abandoned by Iran and Russia. In summer 2024, Syrian opposition militias shared plans for an Aleppo offensive with Turkey. Islamist rebels couldn't act without informing Ankara, which has been the Syrian opposition's primary backer since the war's early days. Both Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Syrian National Army (SNA, controlled by Turkish intelligence service, MIT) believed they had received at least tacit approval from Ankara before launching operations. President Erdogan had long opposed a major offensive, fearing it would trigger a new wave of refugees into Turkey. However, by early 2024, Islamist rebels sensed a hardening in Ankara's stance toward Assad after Damascus repeatedly rejected Erdogan's attempts to negotiate a political solution to the military stalemate. After Ankara's efforts to persuade Assad failed, HTS commanders presented operation details to Turkish generals. HTS founder Ahmed al-Sharaa (whose nom de guerre is Abu Mohammed al-Joulani), sent a clear message to Ankara : 'This path hasn't worked for years—so try ours. You don't need to do anything, just stay out of the way.' In the initial offensive, the Turkish-backed SNA seized large areas, including Tel Rifaat, from U.S.-backed Kurdish forces. After the fall of the Assad regime, MIT director Ibrahim Kalin became the first intelligence chief to visit the Syrian capital. He arrived in Damascus on December 12, 2024—just four days after Bashar al-Assad's fall––and prayed at the Umayyad Mosque. When Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa personally drove the car that Kalin entered upon leaving the mosque, it sent a strong message about the close relationship between HTS and Turkish intelligence. Turkey's involvement in Syria runs deep. The Suleiman Shah Brigade was a central component of the anti-Assad armed opposition and part of the Syrian National Army, formerly Turkey's proxy militia. Until 2024, it operated in the Afrin region of northern Syria, exercising significant control over the local population. The brigade became notorious for kidnappings and extortion, particularly targeting Afrin's Kurdish residents, who were harassed, forced from their homes, or coerced into paying large ransoms to recover property or loved ones. Mohammad Hussein al-Jasim (nom de guerre Abu Amsha), an ethnic Turkmen and the head of the Suleiman Shah Brigade, holds Turkish citizenship. Under his leadership, brigade members forcibly displaced Kurdish residents and seized their homes, giving the properties to Syrians from outside the region. Al-Jasim is responsible for dozens of assassinations and abuses, including crimes committed in 2018 in Afrin, this according to a UN report. His younger brother, Walid Hussein al-Jasim, also held a leadership role in the Suleiman Shah Brigade, where he coordinated kidnappings, robberies, ransom operations, and money laundering from ransom payments through business run in several locations in Southern Turkey. The Hamza Division, led by Sayf Boulad (also known as 'Abu Bakr'), is another armed group within the Turkish-backed SNA. This militia has conducted torture in detention centers where kidnapped individuals were held for extended periods. Many of these detainees suffered sexual abuse. This brigade sent mercenaries to Azerbaijan to fight against the Armenians in 2020. In July 2024, Abu Bakr, Abu Amsha, and Turkish politician Devlet Bahçeli—leader of the ultranationalist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Erdogan's coalition partner—met at the Grey Wolves' headquarters in Ankara to discuss the evolving situation in Syria. By December 2024, following the Assad regime's collapse, Abu Bakr and Abu Amsha met Bahçeli again, this time as victors. Both Turkmen leaders maintain connections to Alaattin Çakıcı, a former Grey Wolves member known as the head of the Turkish mafia. In July 2024, Çakıcı posted a photo on X (formerly Twitter) showing himself dining on his yacht with Abu Bakr and Abu Amsha . The accompanying caption urged Turks worldwide to support the Turkmen struggle.[1] On January 27, 2025, the city of Manbij witnessed some of the fiercest fighting involving pro-Turkish armed groups. The Hamza Division, refusing to disarm, clashed with the local branch of Ahrar al-Sham, an Arab group affiliated with HTS. On March 8, 2025, SNA Turkmen leaders Abu Amsha and Abu Bakr participated in massacres of Alawites along the Syrian coast. These MIT-linked operatives faced no consequences for their involvement. In December 2024, Turkey began negotiations to take control of the Tiyas airbase (T4) , located near Palmyra in central Syria. Ankara and Damascus are discussing a defense pact that would provide air cover and military protection to the new Syrian government, which currently lacks a functioning army. Turkey has already begun moving assets to secure T4. Their plan involves rebuilding and expanding the base once air defense systems are in place. Ankara intends to deploy surveillance and strike-capable drones, which would grant Turkey regional air dominance. The ultimate goal is to establish a layered air defense system at and around T4, with short-, medium-, and long-range capabilities. Regarding Syria's reconstruction, the leader of HTS told the pro-government Turkish daily 'Yeni Şafak' that Turkey—which sheltered millions of Syrians during the civil war—would be given priority over other nations. 'We trust Turkey to share its expertise in economic development with Syria. We will preserve our social bond. This victory is not just for the Syrian people but also for the Turkish people, as it is a triumph of the oppressed over the oppressor,' declared Ahmed al-Sharaa. Onur Genç, a Turkish national and CEO of BBVA (Spain's second-largest bank and the second-largest private bank in Turkey), added : 'For Turkey, this will be positive, as there is a lot of rebuilding to be done in Syria. Who will take charge? Turkish companies. The lifting of sanctions allows Turkish firms to go in more easily and Turkish banks to finance them—so this will help.' Since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office, Erdogan has urged him to lift sanctions on Syria. Trump announced the decision on May 13, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio later confirmed a six-month suspension of the 'Caesar' sanctions on May 23. The two presidents maintained a strong relationship during Trump's first term, with Trump describing himself as a 'big fan' of Erdogan. Turkey's behind-the-scenes diplomacy forms part of its broader strategy to fill the vacuum left by Assad's downfall. This approach not only strengthens Erdogan's status as a regional power broker but also advances his domestic agenda. Ankara, which still controls vast swathes of northern Syria, has accepted Syria's plan to integrate the YPG—the armed wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)—into the new Syrian army. The repatriation of approximately 3.2 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, depends on rapid and stable infrastructure and housing development in Syria. With the lifting of U.S. sanctions and the partial removal of EU economic restrictions on May 28 (excluding those based on security grounds), Turkey stands to reap the rewards of its long-term policy of regional influence through Syria's reconstruction. What Should Be Done? For Syria, one thing is now certain: the authority of a central and inclusive state must be quickly restored across the entire territory. Otherwise, this magnificent country, home to extraordinarily hospitable people, risks plunging into a spiral of disintegration and all-out civil war. When Syrian Christian Michel Aflaq founded the Baath Party in 1940, he understood that Levantine societies needed unifying nationalism to escape fragmentation. Ethnic and religious minorities in any country need the protection of a strong state with a functioning system that, in practice, protects their rights. The late dictatorial Syrian Baathist regime had many flaws, but it did have one merit: it protected Christian minorities and guaranteed freedom of worship. If you are a minority and your children are threatened by bands of fanatical militants, you are left with only two options: exile or the creation of a stronghold. The question of minority rights is the dilemma that now keeps Syria's Kurdish, Alawite, Druze and Christian populations awake at night. Kurdish and Druze strongholds could likely endure for some time—Kurds drawing on limited support from Iraqi Kurdistan, while Druze areas are informally shielded by Israel. However, the Kurdish regions in Syria no longer benefit from support across the Turkish border, which is now tightly sealed, with Ankara closely monitoring and disrupting cross-border connections. The Alawite stronghold around Latakia, meanwhile, would likely not withstand sustained Sunni militancy for long, especially after Russia's withdrawal from its military bases in Tartus and Hmeimim. Syria's Christians, too few and too scattered, cannot even contemplate establishing a defensible bastion, unlike the Maronites in Lebanon's mountains. Since 2011, many Western analyses of the Syrian tragedy have been marked by a mixture of historical ignorance, political Manichaeism, and diplomatic wishful thinking. Armenians, as other remaining Christians, are paying the price. Footnotes: [1] In 1981, Çakıcı was arrested on suspicion of murdering 41 people as a member of the Grey Wolves. He briefly worked with Turkish intelligence while simultaneously engaging in drug trafficking, political assassinations—including the murder of his ex-wife—and targeted killings of Kurdish businessmen and journalists. Although imprisoned, he was pardoned in 2020 by Erdoğan, allegedly due to pressure from Bahçeli. Since his release, Çakıcı has issued threats against several opposition politicians.
Libyan Express
2 days ago
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Israel, Syria reopen backchannel
Israeli and Syrian ministers meet amid Gaza and Sweida turmoil. Photo via AFP Senior officials from Syria and Israel are set to meet in Azerbaijan's capital on Thursday to discuss mounting security concerns in southern Syria, a diplomat familiar with the matter told AFP . The meeting between Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer follows a quiet diplomatic engagement between the two officials in Paris last week. According to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the discussions, the Baku talks aim to prevent further escalation following recent clashes in Syria's southern province of Sweida. Al-Shaibani is scheduled to travel to Moscow earlier the same day, where he will meet with Russian officials to discuss bilateral ties and the future of Russian military installations in Syria. The visit comes amid renewed Russian efforts to maintain its strategic foothold in the country, especially at its Tartus naval facility and the Hmeimim air base near Latakia. The talks in Baku will primarily focus on the security situation near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, an area of long-standing tension. Israel seized the Golan in 1967 and later annexed it in 1981—a move unrecognised by most of the international community. Despite the 1974 disengagement agreement, the region has witnessed frequent flare-ups and a growing Israeli military presence, particularly since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad in December. The recent violence in Sweida, a majority-Druze region, saw fighting erupt between local Druze groups and Sunni Bedouin tribes before drawing in Syrian government forces and, ultimately, Israeli airstrikes. Israeli jets targeted both the presidential palace and army headquarters in Damascus, citing the protection of the Druze community as justification. The United States helped broker a ceasefire between the parties on July 18. Syria and Israel remain officially in a state of war since 1948, but a series of discreet meetings, including one in Baku on July 12, suggest growing efforts to prevent a broader regional confrontation. Syrian state media said last week's Paris meeting focused on 'recent security developments and efforts to de-escalate the situation in southern Syria.' The upcoming Baku session is expected to build on that dialogue. Al-Shaibani's Moscow agenda will also include discussions on foreign fighters, domestic security reform, and the revitalisation of diplomatic and security coordination with Russia. Despite the departure of the Assad regime, the new Syrian leadership under President Ahmed al-Sharaa has maintained close ties with Moscow. In January, Russia's then-deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov held talks with al-Sharaa in Damascus. Russia, which intervened militarily in Syria in 2015 in support of Assad's government, has been reassessing its regional posture amid shifting alliances. Thursday's talks could play a key role in shaping the next phase of Syria's security landscape and in recalibrating Israel's posture along its northeastern frontier.
Libyan Express
2 days ago
- Libyan Express
Gaza faces risk of famine, UN torture rapporteur warns
Empty hands. Empty stomachs. Empty promises The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, has voiced deep alarm over the growing number of starvation-related deaths among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, urging all sides to uphold their humanitarian responsibilities under international law. In a statement issued Wednesday, Edwards described the deliberate starvation of civilians as 'lethal, inhumane, and degrading,' stressing that the denial of basic necessities like food and water must end immediately. 'Denying people food, water and dignity has become a tragic hallmark of this war,' she said. 'Reports of people being shot while queuing for bread, and of widespread hunger and malnutrition, are nothing short of shocking.' Edwards warned that the risk of full-scale famine in Gaza is increasing by the day, with children, pregnant women, and the elderly especially vulnerable. She stressed that international humanitarian law obliges all parties to ensure access to essential supplies and to facilitate the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance. 'They must not obstruct or manipulate the flow of aid,' she said, adding that the effects of prolonged hunger—including malnutrition, organ failure, and death—are devastating. Beyond the physical toll, Edwards highlighted the psychological suffering endured by civilians. 'The uncertainty, the shifting rules, the militarised aid distributions—this is creating deep despair and trauma among an already exhausted population,' she said. The UN expert welcomed Israel's recent announcement of limited humanitarian pauses to allow the World Food Programme to distribute aid in Gaza over a planned three-month period. However, she stressed that such measures, while important, fall short of what is needed to protect civilians and restore hope. 'True relief will only come when there is a just and lasting peace, anchored in a political solution,' she said, renewing support for a two-state resolution to the conflict. 'No one should be forced to beg for food while supplies sit waiting to be delivered,' Edwards added. She also called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, the release of arbitrarily detained Palestinians, and independent investigations into allegations of torture, mistreatment, and other potential war crimes by all sides. Edwards noted that she has raised her concerns with relevant authorities and continues to press for accountability. As part of the UN's independent special procedures, Edwards works on a voluntary basis and does not represent the official position of the UN. Her mandate is to monitor and report on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment worldwide.
