logo
US officials express anger over Israel's Syria strikes

US officials express anger over Israel's Syria strikes

Arab News5 days ago
LONDON: White House officials have expressed frustration over Israel's bombing of Syria, The Times reported.
Israel carried out a series of attacks on government targets in the Syrian Arab Republic last week, including a strike on a tank convoy and the shelling of the Defense Ministry in Damascus.
US diplomats warned Israel to cease its intervention, which it claimed to be conducting in support of Syria's Druze minority.
Clashes between local Bedouin and Druze forces had broken out in Syria's southern province of Sweida, with the country's government sending troops to quell the violence.
One White House official told Axios that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 'acted like a madman. He bombs everything all the time. This could undermine what (US President Donald) Trump is trying to do.'
Trump lifted sanctions on Syria earlier this year after meeting President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, who has pledged to unite his country and bring an end to more than a decade of violence.
The US brokered a ceasefire last week that appeared to stop the clashes in Sweida, where more than 1,000 people were killed over seven days, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The violence was reportedly sparked by a series of kidnappings targeting members of various faiths, clans and tribal groups in the province.
Before launching strikes, Israel claimed that Syrian government forces were involved in targeting the Druze.
Israel has its own community of Druze, numbering about 130,000, and some Syrian members of the faith traveled to meet family members there to escape the violence in Sweida.
After the overthrow of Bashar Assad's regime last year, Israel sent forces into Sweida to establish a buffer zone. The province borders Syria's Golan Heights, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
Another US official told Axios: 'Netanyahu is sometimes like a child who just won't behave.'
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday urged Al-Sharaa to halt the violence in his country, which he described as 'horrifying and dangerous.'
The 'rape and slaughter of innocent people, which has and is still occurring, must end,' Rubio said on X, adding that Syrian authorities 'must hold accountable and bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks.'
White House officials also described growing consternation over Israel's war on Gaza, especially after the shelling of the Palestinian enclave's only Catholic church last week. The attack killed three Palestinians.
A senior American official told Axios after the church strike: 'The feeling is that every day there is something new … what the f***?'
Mike Huckabee, US ambassador to Israel, also delivered surprise public criticism in the wake of an arson attack on a Byzantine-era church in the occupied West Bank over the weekend.
'To commit an act of sacrilege by desecrating a place that is supposed to be a place of worship, it is an act of terror, and it is a crime,' he said. 'There should be consequences.'
He also demanded 'accountability' from Israel after a Palestinian American was killed in the West Bank last week.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Trade on Agenda as Trump Heads to Scotland for Diplomacy and Golf
Trade on Agenda as Trump Heads to Scotland for Diplomacy and Golf

Asharq Al-Awsat

timean hour ago

  • Asharq Al-Awsat

Trade on Agenda as Trump Heads to Scotland for Diplomacy and Golf

US President Donald Trump departed for Scotland on Friday for a mix of diplomacy, business and leisure, as a huge UK security operation swung into place amid planned protests near his family-owned golf resorts. The president, whose mother was born in Scotland, is expected to split his time between two seaside golf courses bearing his name, in Turnberry on the southwestern coast and Aberdeen in the northeast. Air Force One was due to arrive around at 8:20 pm local time (1920 GMT) with the president and White House staff, and Trump has no public events scheduled for Saturday or Sunday, the White House said. However, he is due to meet with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the trip. "We're going to do a little celebrating together, because we got along very well," Trump told reporters as he left the White House Friday, calling Starmer "a good guy" doing "a very good job". He said they would discuss "fine tuning" the bilateral trade deal struck in May, and would "maybe even improve it". But the unpredictable American leader appeared unwilling to cede to a UK demand for flexibility over reduced steel and aluminium tariffs. Trump has exempted London from blanket 50 percent tariffs on imports of both metals, but the fate of that carve-out remains unclear. "If I do it for one, I have to do it for all," Trump told reporters, when asked if he had any "wiggle room" for the UK on the issue. The international outcry over the conflict in Gaza may also be on the pair's agenda, as Starmer faces growing pressure to follow French President Emmanuel Macron and announce that Britain will also recognize a Palestinian state. - Protests - Trump is expected to return to the UK in September for a state visit -- his second -- at the invitation of King Charles III, which promises to be lavish. During a 2023 visit, Trump said he felt at home in Scotland, where his mother Mary Anne MacLeod grew up on the remote Isle of Lewis before emigrating to the United States at age 18. Residents, environmentalists and elected officials have voiced discontent over the Trump family's construction of a new golf course, which he is expected to open before he departs the UK on Tuesday. Police Scotland, which is bracing for mass protests in Edinburgh and Aberdeen as well as close to Trump's golf courses, have said there will be a "significant operation across the country over many days". Scottish First Minister John Swinney, who will also meet Trump during the visit, said the nation "shares a strong friendship with the United States that goes back centuries". He added it would provide Scotland with a "platform to make its voice heard on the issues that matter, including war and peace, justice and democracy". Trump has also stepped into the sensitive debate in the UK about green energy and reaching net zero, with Aberdeen being the heart of Scotland's oil industry. In May, he wrote on his Truth Social platform that the UK should "stop with the costly and unsightly windmills" as he urged incentivizing drilling for oil in the North Sea.

Israel says it is considering alternatives to ceasefire talks with Hamas, deepening uncertainty
Israel says it is considering alternatives to ceasefire talks with Hamas, deepening uncertainty

Arab News

time2 hours ago

  • Arab News

Israel says it is considering alternatives to ceasefire talks with Hamas, deepening uncertainty

ICAIRO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday his government was considering 'alternative options' to ceasefire talks with Hamas after Israel and the US recalled their negotiating teams, throwing the future of the negotiations into further uncertainty. Netanyahu's statement came as a Hamas official said negotiations were expected to resume next week and portrayed the recall of the Israeli and American delegations as a pressure tactic. Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating the talks alongside the United States, said the pause was only temporary and that talks would resume, though they did not say when. The teams left Qatar on Thursday as President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said Hamas' latest response to proposals for a deal showed a 'lack of desire' to reach a truce. Witkoff said the US will look at 'alternative options,' without elaborating. In a statement released by his office, Netanyahu echoed Witkoff, saying, 'Hamas is the obstacle to a hostage release deal.' 'Together with our US allies, we are now considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas's terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region,' he said. He did not elaborate. Israel's government didn't immediately respond to whether negotiations would resume next week. Stall in talks comes as hunger worsens A breakthrough on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has eluded the Trump administration as experts warn Gaza is being pushed closer to famine, after months of Israel entirely blocking food or letting in only limited amounts. This month, deaths related to malnutrition have accelerated. More then two dozen Western-aligned countries and more than 100 charity and human rights groups have called for an end to the war, harshly criticizing Israel's blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out. The charities and rights groups said even their own staff were struggling to get enough food. On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognize Palestine as a state. 'The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved,' he said. Jordan has requested to carry out airdrops of aid into Gaza 'due to the dire situation,' a Jordanian official said. The official said the airdrops will mainly be food and milk formula. An Israeli security official said the military was coordinating the drops, which were expected in the coming days. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the yet-to-be-finalized plans. Desperate Palestinians gathered at a charity kitchen in Gaza City on Friday, clutching empty pots waiting for a share of watery lentil soup. Such kitchens distributing cooked meals have been a main source of food for many Palestinians, but the number of meals they produce every day has plummeted to 160,000 from more than a million in April, according to the UN 'We've been living three months without bread,' said one woman in line, Riham Dwas. 'We're relying on charity kitchens, surviving on a pot of lentils and there are many times when we don't even have that.' When she can't find food, she takes her children to a hospital to be put on saline IV drips for sustenance. Mourners carry the bodies of strike victims An Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter for displaced people in Gaza City, killing at least five people, including an 11-year-old boy, according to hospital officials. Afterwards, dozens of mourners marched carrying the bodies from Shifa Hospital as women nearby screamed and wept. 'Enough!' screamed Taraji Adwan, whose son and grandson were among the dead. She said the strike hit as she was filling up water jugs. 'Stop the war! Our children are dying from starvation, malnutrition, dehydration, lack of food, strikes, and dying from fear and destruction. Enough, Hamas! Enough, Israel! Enough, world!' she said. The Gaza Health Ministry said around 80 people were killed since Thursday night, mostly in strikes but including nine killed while seeking aid. Talks have struggled over issue of ending the war Hamas official Bassem Naim said Friday that the group was told that the Israeli delegation returned home for consultations and would return early next week to resume ceasefire negotiations. Hamas said that Witkoff's remarks were meant to pressure the group for Netanyahu's benefit during the next round of talks and that in recent days negotiations had made progress. Naim said several gaps had been nearly solved, such as the agenda of the ceasefire, guarantees to continue negotiating to reach a permanent agreement and how humanitarian aid would be delivered. In a joint statement, Egypt and Qatar also said progress had been made. 'It is a natural to pause talks to hold consultations before the resumption of the dialogue once more,' they said. The sides have held weeks of talks in Qatar, reporting small signs of progress but no major breakthroughs. Officials have said a main sticking point is the redeployment of Israeli troops from positions in Gaza after any ceasefire takes place. The deal under discussion is expected to include an initial 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Aid supplies would be ramped up, and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting ceasefire. The talks have been bogged down over competing demands for ending the war. Hamas says it will only release all hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal and end to the war. Israel says it will not agree to end the conflict until Hamas gives up power and disarms. The militant group says it is prepared to leave power but not surrender its weapons. Hamas is believed to be holding the hostages in different locations, including tunnels, and says it has ordered its guards to kill them if Israeli forces approach. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza but fewer than half are believed to be alive. Their families say the start-stop talks are excruciating. 'I thought that maybe something will come from the time that the negotiation, Israeli team were in Doha,' said Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is being held hostage. 'And when I heard that they're coming back, I ask myself: When will this nightmare end?'

Gaza civil defense says Israeli forces kill 28 people
Gaza civil defense says Israeli forces kill 28 people

Arab News

time5 hours ago

  • Arab News

Gaza civil defense says Israeli forces kill 28 people

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli military operations killed at least 23 people on Friday across the Palestinian territory, with another five killed in an overnight air strike. Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that five people were killed in a strike on Gaza City that hit a school building sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war, now in its 22nd month. Bassal said five others were killed when an Israeli strike hit a tent used by displaced Palestinians also in Gaza City, in the territory's north. The Israeli military said that strike was carried out late Thursday, targeting 'a key terrorist in the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization,' a militant group that has fought alongside Hamas in Gaza. According to the civil defense agency, more than a dozen other Palestinians were killed in several strikes in Gaza's north, center and south on Friday. The toll includes at least eight people killed by Israeli fire while waiting to collect humanitarian aid, Bassal said. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military did not comment on the agency's reports. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency and other parties. Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza after a deadly attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023. The Israeli campaign has killed 59,676 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Hamas's October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

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