
Syria sees 'cautious calm' in Suweida after deadly clashes
"Activists have reported that Suweida has been experiencing a cautious calm since the early hours of Sunday morning," the monitoring group said. "Meanwhile, the Syrian government security forces closed roads leading to Suweida to tribes, using soil barriers to prevent vehicles from crossing, except for ambulances, in a move to contain tensions." SOHR added that the city remains under the control of local Druze fighters, while tribal gunmen have withdrawn from several areas within the province.Long-running tensions between Druze and Bedouin tribes erupted into deadly sectarian clashes a week ago, after the abduction of a Druze merchant on the road to the capital Damascus. Both Druze and Bedouin fighters have been accused of atrocities over the past seven days.On Saturday, Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced a ceasefire and sent security forces to Suweida to end the fighting. It has been reported that Druze fighters pushed Bedouin gunmen out of the city on Saturday evening - but violence continued in other parts of the province. This has not been verified by the BBC.On Sunday morning, fighting could not be heard, AFP correspondents near Suweida reported.Meanwhile, the SOHR warned that the humanitarian situation in the city was worsening, pointing to a "severe shortage" of basic medical supplies. An unnamed resident said that aid was needed immediately, telling the Reuters news agency: "The smell of corpses is spread throughout the national hospital."Kenan Azzam, a local dentist speaking as the city was gripped by what he called a "tense calm", said the hospitals were "a disaster and out of service".A Suweida medic told AFP that "no relief or medical assistance" had entered the city before Sunday.

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The Guardian
20 minutes ago
- The Guardian
At least 57 killed in Gaza in 24 hours as Israel withdraws from ceasefire talks
At least 57 people were killed in Gaza over the last 24 hours, many killed while seeking aid as well as by Israeli airstrikes, with ceasefire talks appearing to have hit a dead end amid a worsening starvation crisis. Many were shot dead as they were waiting for trucks carrying aid close to the Zikim crossing into Israel . It has become common for hungry crowds to gather and wait for aid trucks to enter Gaza as mass starvation spreads, which humanitarians widely blame on Israel's blockade on the territory. At least 124 people have died from starvation in Gaza, 84 of them children, the Palestinian news agency reported. On Saturday morning, an infant died from malnutrition, the third baby to die in 24 hours from hunger. Israeli strikes killed more people across the Gaza Strip, including four people in an apartment building in Gaza City on Saturday. The killings come as ceasefire talks have appeared to stall, with the US and Israel withdrawing their negotiating teams from Doha on Thursday. The US president, Donald Trump, blamed Hamas for the collapse in talks, saying that he did not think the group wanted a deal. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Friday that he was considering 'alternative options' to ceasefire discussions, without elaborating what those options could be. Hamas officials have rebuffed claims that they are to blame for the haltering ceasefire talks, and instead have dismissed the Israeli and US withdrawal as a negotiating tactic. Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating the talks, suggested that talks could resume soon. 'Trump's remarks are particularly surprising, especially as they come at a time when progress had been made on some of the negotiation files,' the senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP. The break in talks came after Hamas gave its response to an earlier ceasefire proposal. The two parties are at odds over where Israeli troops would be stationed during the ceasefire, as well as aid access in Gaza and the number of Palestinian prisoners exchanged for Israeli hostages. As ceasefire talks dragged on, Gaza's population has suffered from mass starvation. More than 90,000 women and children were in 'urgent need' of treatment for malnutrition, with one in three people in Gaza going for days without eating, the World Food Programme warned. Rania al-Sharahi, a 44-year-old mother of six who is pregnant, said she has lost 22 kg, despite her pregnancy. She struggles to find food for her children, who are often forced to scrounge for water and beg for scraps of food from neighbours. 'As for bread, we don't even talk about it any more. It has become a luxury. We haven't had any in over 10 days. I dream of eating something sweet, anything sugary that might give me some energy,' al-Sharabi said. Her husband and children do not go to aid distribution points run by the private US Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), where more than 1,000 people have been killed while trying to get aid in the last two months. Al-Sharahi and her children are at the mercy of the kindness of strangers and do not know when or from where their next meal will come. 'I see my children every day suffering from hunger and searching for water. How am I supposed to feel? Our tears have dried from crying so much,' al-Sharahi said. Israel has downplayed the starvation crisis, suggesting a coordinated media campaign is tarnishing its image. It has said that aid is waiting to be distributed but blames the UN for failing to do so. The UN has said that distributing aid in Gaza has become impossible owing to the litany of restrictions Israel puts on the organisation. It also said the majority of their requests to distribute aid are rejected by Israel and complain of regular delays by Israel to respond to their requests. Israel has boasted that it has let in 4,500 aid lorries into Gaza since ending its total blockade on the strip in May. But this amounts to about 70 truckloads each day, a number the UN says is inadequate and a far cry from the prewar total of 500 each day. Israel has come under immense global pressure as images of starving babies are circulated around the world. It has said that it will allow airdropped aid to resume for the first time in months. Jordan, which will conduct airdrops, said that it will be dropping mostly food and milk formula. The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, said that he was 'working urgently' with Jordan to get British aid into Gaza, as he comes under increasing pressure to recognise a Palestinian state. The head of Unrwa, the main UN agency serving Palestinians, Philippe Lazzarini criticised the airdrops, calling them a 'distraction'. 'Airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation. They are expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians. It is a distraction and screensmoke,' Lazzarini said in a post on X. France announced on Thursday that it would recognise a Palestinian state at the UN general assembly in September, a move meant as a show of public disapproval toward Israeli actions in Gaza. France is expected to try to rally other European nations to also recognise the Palestinian state before the assembly. On Saturday, the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, said that Italy would not recognise the Palestinian state, suggesting it would be 'counterproductive'. 'I am very much in favour of the state of Palestine but I am not in favour of recognising it prior to establishing it,' Meloni told Italian newspaper La Republica. Nearly 60,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched a military operation there in response to the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023 which killed about 1,200 people.


Reuters
20 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump says he is seeking a ceasefire between Thailand, Cambodia
WASHINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was calling the leaders of Cambodia and Thailand to press for a ceasefire as fighting along the border continued into a third day. "The call with Cambodia has ended, but expect to call back regarding War stoppage and Ceasefire based on what Thailand has to say. I am trying to simplify a complex situation!" Trump wrote on his social media platform, adding that the call to Thailand's leader "is being made momentarily."


BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Guernsey deputies urge chief minister to call for Gaza ceasefire
Pressure has been put on Guernsey's chief minister to write to the UK government to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Twelve of 38 Guernsey deputies have written to Chief Minister Deputy Lindsay de follows a move by Jersey's chief minister earlier this week, in which he wrote to UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy urging British pressure be maintained to end the conflict and "immediate cessation of violence against civilians and the release of all hostages." De Sausmarez said she will reply to the letter early next week. Guernsey's lead on external relations for the past nine years, Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq, is currently not working in the role after he was arrested on suspicion of telecomunications offences earlier this week. Responsibility for external relations is now being shared among members of the executive Policy and Resources Committee. 'Humanitarian access' The letter calls for Deputy de Sausmarez to lobby the UK government to allow "full and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza", and the rapid recognition of a Palestinian state. "Guernsey has a proud history of standing up for humanitarian values, especially in times of profound injustice," the letter says."While we may not have direct responsibility for foreign policy, we do have a moral voice. "As chief minister, you are in a unique position to convey the deep concern felt by many islanders and to call for urgent action." The letter has been signed by Deputies David Dorrity, Tina Bury, Andrew Niles, Jayne Ozanne, Jennifer Strachan, Neil Inder, Rhona Humprhries, Garry Collins, Hayley Camp, Marc Lainé, Marc Leadbeater and Andy Cameron. It comes as a letter from more than a third of UK MPs to Sir Keir Starmer called for the UK recognise a Palestinian lead signatory of that letter was Sarah Champion MP, who heads the All Party Parliamentary Group with responsibility for the Channel Islands, and piles pressure on the UK's prime minister after France committed to recognising a Palestinian statehood within months. Israel, which controls border crossings into Gaza, has been urged to let more aid into the Gaza Strip as humanitarian organisations increasingly warn of spreading has said foreign nations will be able to send supplies into Gaza via air drop in the coming days. But head of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency Unwra, Philippe Lazzarini, says air drops will not "reverse the deepening starvation" in Gaza and that they are "expensive, inefficient, and can even kill starving civilians".Instead, he says political will is required to "lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need". 'Gravity of situation' Israel also says "hundreds of trucks still await pick up" at crossings into Gaza as it insists there are no restrictions on aid getting into the the letter from Guernsey politicians, they urge Deputy de Sausmarez to "impress upon" the UK government "the gravity of the situation". They wrote: "The people of Guernsey expect their leaders to stand on the side of humanity, international law, and basic human decency."Referring to Jersey's letter to the UK government, the Guernsey letter added: "I hope that Guernsey, too, can raise its voice in solidarity with all those calling for an end to the devastation. "As civilians, and in particular children, continue to suffer the devastating effects of ongoing conflict and siege, I implore you, as a respected leader of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, to lend your voice to calls for justice, peace, and decisive action."