Sectarian violence erupts again in Syria, leaving at least 160 dead
The strife in recent days adds to the challenges facing Syria's fledgling government, which is headed by a one-time Al Qaeda-affiliated rebel faction that ousted former Syrian President Bashar Assad late last year. The government has sought to reassure minority communities in the country that it has abandoned its hardline past, even as fighters working under its aegis have engaged in several bouts of sectarian violence.
This week's violence, which pitted local Sunni Bedouin tribes against armed factions for the Druze religious community, is likely to add to minorities' fears. Israel, which has its own Druze community, has portrayed itself as the defender of Druze in Syria.
Despite U.S. efforts to broker diplomatic openings between the two countries, Israel still counts Syria's new authorities a threat. After Assad's fall, Israel grabbed swaths of Syrian territory — including a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone — and launched airstrikes to destroy military equipment it said could be used against its territory.
Earlier on Tuesday, Druze religious leaders called on local armed factions to surrender to the authorities when the authorities entered Sweida. And the government's defense minister, Murhaf Abu Qasra, announced a ceasefire that he said was brokered with the city's 'notables and dignitaries.'
But a few hours later, clashes began anew as Sheikh Hijmat Al-Hijri, a prominent Druze leader who has long resisted cooperating with the new government, issued a statement accusing it of continuing 'indiscriminate shelling of unarmed civilians.' He called on local fighters to defy state security forces.
Syria's Interior Ministry said on Monday that more than 30 people were killed and 100 others wounded. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said on Tuesday that 166 people have been killed since fighting erupted on Sunday.
Videos published on social media and local news outlets depicted gunmen dashing through abandoned streets in Sweida's downtown districts as shooting can be heard in the background; several storefronts in the city's main market appear to have been torched or vandalized. Another video depicts government-affiliated gunmen cheering and shooting in the air as they claim to have seized control of Sweida.
Accusations of sectarian violations against civilians have dogged government forces operating in minority-dominated areas. In March, pro-government factions committed what rights groups called a pogrom in Syria's coastal region, torturing, kidnapping and killing some 1,500 people from the Alawite community.
In his statement, Qasra, the defense minister, warned security personnel that any transgression and vandalism would face 'harsh legal measures.' But the Observatory, which relies on a network of activists in the country, accused government-affiliated fighters of engaging in field executions that killed 21 people in Sweida, including three women. Later, a video said to be taken at the site of those executions shows men in civilian clothing lying on the ground, with streaks of blood on the ground around their corpses.
Other videos emerged showing government-affiliated gunmen beating up captured Druze fighters and mutilating the corpses of those killed, as well as humiliating Druze men they encountered around Sweida.
The clashes in Sweida initially broke out Sunday after a wave of kidnapings and robberies between Bedouin and Druze in southern Syria. But they reflect a longer grievance: Druze factions have so far refused to surrender their areas to the government, which they say does not represent Syria's multi-ethnic and religious makeup.
As the clashes stretched into the late afternoon, Israeli warplanes conducted several airstrikes, including on a police headquarters inside the city and a tank, activists said.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement Tuesday that 'Israel is committed to preventing harm to the Druze in Syria due to the deep brotherly alliance with our Druze citizens in Israel, and their familial and historical connection to the Druze in Syria.'
'We are acting to prevent the Syrian regime from harming the Druze and to ensure the demilitarization of the area adjacent to our border with Syria,' he added.
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Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Dehumanizing and starving Gazans has been a strategy all along
An Israeli soldier would position his leg against the wall in the narrow corridor to our school, then order us: 'Pass under my leg, or no school.' That was a recurring event for us children during the early 1990s in our Al-Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza, the 'beach camp.' It took us some growing up to understand it as systematic humiliation, an experience that would define most of our encounters with the Israeli army. That left many of us feeling helpless and outraged, as it seemed an attack on our humanity. This is why when former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant called us 'khayot adam' (human animals) after Hamas' bloody attack on Oct. 7, 2023, it was not a surprise. Yet, this time, there was an eerie feeling that Gallant was thinking beyond the typical Israeli dehumanization of us. 'It was a prelude to dismantling what was left of us as a people,' Yousri al-Ghoul, a novelist from Gaza, told me over Whatsapp, in one of many ongoing conversations I maintain with contacts, friends and family in Gaza. Throughout history, dehumanization preceded and justified atrocities. The Nazis before the Shoah, and the Hutu against the Tutsi before the 1994 Rwanda genocide. Before Israel's 1948 inception, the Zionist movement in Palestine negated our national consciousness, calling us merely 'Arabs,' suggesting an absence of a unique identity. And by viewing us much as colonial powers viewed their subjects, we were perceived as inferior and less worthy of statehood. Many Israelis today see Palestinians as Palestinians — a people with an identity — but still hang on, at least unconsciously, to the notion of superior Israeli Jews. This hierarchical thinking has normalized the occupation, so that Palestinian resistance against it is perceived as aggression against the natural order. Decades of undermining our agency has evolved to a monstrous level, destroying what was left of our physical existence. Seemingly, it's now not enough to besiege, indiscriminately bomb, displace and starve us. We're now asked to die for food. 'We were lured into death traps labeled as humanitarian aid,' says Ahmed, a history teacher in Gaza, referring to the new system of food distribution under the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. 'Even our bodies, the last pasture of dignity, are reduced to breathing corpses,' he added. 'Corpses' is the word the commissioner-general of the U.N. aid agency for Palestinians, Philippe Lazzarini, used to describe Gazans. Quoting a colleague in Gaza, he said they 'are neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses.' This is a metaphor my uncle, a professor of English literature, has used to describe Gazans under Israeli siege since 2007. He quoted T.S. Eliot's 'The Waste Land' to paint an image of a Gaza engulfed with despair and spiritual aridity. To Ahmed, 'corpses are not people, so no compunction killing them.' Indeed, the Gaza war is the bloodiest in recent memory. Palestinian numbers point to 59,000, including 18,000 children, killed by the Israeli military as of July. A study by the University of London estimates the death toll to be 100,000. More than 85% of those who remain alive are displaced, squeezed into only 20% of the narrow strip of land. Many of them are facing famine, while the rest are months into sustained malnutrition. A dire situation has weakened many Gazans' sense of self. No longer do they care if they live or die, many have told me. Over a thousand aid-seekers were killed as they tried to reach Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution sites, but people still went knowing they may not come back. 'The U.S. contractors manning the aid treat our desperation as savagery, and the IDF shoots us like rats,' Ahmed angrily said, referring to Israel Defense Forces. And the hungrier and more deprived people become, the less 'like us' they appear. Al-Ghoul, the novelist, lamented how the 'hunger games' turned some people against each other, driven by basic survival instincts. He added: 'Don't talk to me about civility when my children are fading to skin and bone.' Meanwhile, Gaza writer Mahmoud Assaf told me that as the war fractures Gaza's society, 'personal survival tops everything. Very few people are now concerned with culture, education or morality, things that Palestinians typically took pride of.' Assaf was offered money to sell his cherished library to be burned as fuel in the absence of basic petroleum-based products or wood. 'I actually considered the offer to feed my children,' he said. 'You lose your soul hopping hungry from a displacement tent to another while herded by Israeli drones and tanks. You feel you don't deserve to live,' he added. But in the ocean of despair, there are those who find salvation in faith to reclaim some of their humanity. My mother, 65, is losing the strength to walk because of malnutrition, as I watch helplessly from the U.K. But she tells everyone to keep faith, because through faith 'she feels complete as a human being.' A comforting outlook for many Palestinians, in a world they feel has abandoned them. 'The world says the Holocaust happened because they didn't know about it. But the Gaza bloodshed is live-streamed,' my friend Murad told me. He added, 'What can I do to prove my humanity to be worthy of saving?' 'Shall I show them my blond blue-eyed daughter so they can relate to us? How about our malnourished cats?' Our conversation was after an Israeli airstrike killed Murad's sister and her family in Al-Shuja'iyya, a neighborhood in eastern Gaza City. We spoke as he searched for water to wash up following hours digging out his sister's family from the rubble. Murad's niece, 5, died from malnutrition a week ago. And like all Gazans, he's deprived of grieving his loved ones. 'No time to grieve,' he said, because one has to shut down such natural human instincts to physically survive. And in doing so, one loses part of their soul, the sense of self as a human being. To close the circle of dehumanization, they deny our right to feel pain. Emad Moussa is a Palestinian British researcher and writer specializing in the political psychology of inter-group and conflict dynamics.
UPI
an hour ago
- UPI
U.N. meeting looks at 2-state solution for Israel, Palestine
1 of 5 | Dignitaries attend a high-level international conference examining two states of Israel and Palestine in the Middle East. It took place at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on Monday. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo July 28 (UPI) -- Government ministers from more than 100 countries on Monday gathered at the United Nations to consider a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. The two-day conference, which is called the "Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the two-State Solution" was delayed from June because of the war between Israel and Iran. In remarks, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said separate Israel and Palestine nations "remains the only framework rooted in international law, endorsed by this assembly, and supported by the international community." In December 2024, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution backing two states. Israel has been a U.N. member since May 11, 1949. Palestinians' bid for full U.N. membership was vetoed by the United States in the 15-member Security Council in 2024. Ultimately, the 193-member General Assembly overwhelmingly upgraded Palestine's rights as an observer state. Israel and the United States are boycotting the two-day meeting hosted by France and Saudi Arabia. Israel, which was recognized as an independent state in 1948, has opposed separate states, and the United States sees no benefit in the summit The issue is more pronounced since the war between Israel and Hamas when the militants invaded on Oct. 7, 2023. But the debate has been going on for decades. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot opened the conference and agreed with French President Emmanuel Macron's commitment last week urging a "decisive step" toward resolving the conflict with separate nations. "We must move from the end of the war in Gaza to the end of the entire conflict, which threatens regional stability," Barrot said. "Only the two-state solution will meet the legitimate aspirations of both peoples. There is no alternative." Barrot said "concrete steps" include the official recognition of Palestine, normalized relations with Israel, Palestinian institutions reforms and Hamas disarmament. Antonio Guterres then addressed the group. "We are here today with our eyes wide open -- fully aware of the challenges before us," he said. "We know that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has endured for generations -- defying hopes ... defying diplomacy ... defying countless resolutions and defying international law. We know that the conflict continues to take lives, destroy futures, and destabilize the region and our world." But he said it can be resolved. "That demands political will and courageous leadership," he said. "And it demands truth. The truth is: We are at a breaking point. The two-state solution is farther than ever before." He noted the terror attacks by Hamas, Israeli hostages taken, the killing of tens of thousands of citizens and starvation in Gaza. Guterres also described Israel's "relentless expansion of settlements," including in the West Bank and Israel's Knesset declaration last week to annex the territory. "They are part of a systemic reality that is dismantling the building blocks of peace in the Middle East," he said. "And yet, precisely because of the grim realities, we must do even more to realize the two-state solution. "Today's conference is a rare and indispensable opportunity." He said it "it is the only credible path to a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians." Guterres added: "Specifically -- Israel and Palestine -- living side-by-side in peace and security, within secure and recognized borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the capital of both States -- in line with international law, UN resolutions and other relevant agreements." During an address on April 25, Guterres warned "the promise of a two-state solution is at risk of vanishing altogether." Bob Rae, Canada's ambassador to the U.N., said it is "not a peace conference." Before the summit, he told U.N. News: "It's a way of trying to maintain the debate and get beyond the sticking points to the solutions. We hope there'll be some listening, and we hope there'll be some learning on the basis of what we hear." Israel, with a population of 9.8 million, including 7.2 million Jews, is surrounded by Arab nations: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia. And Palestinians include 2.2 million people on the Gaza Strip, and 3 million in the West Bank. The idea for two states predates the U.N. founding in 1945. In 1947, Britain's mandate over Palestine ended with a U.N. partition plan in 1947 to divide the territory into Jewish and Arab states. Israel accepted the plan but Arab nations declared war without the two-state solution implemented. Jordan took control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and Egypt had oversight of Gaza. In the 1967 Mideast war, Israel captured those territories. Palestinians receive aid in Gaza Palestinians carry sacks of flour after trucks with humanitarian aid entered through the Zikim crossing in northern Gaza on July 27, 2025. Photo by Mahmoud Issa/UPI | License Photo
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
What to expect, and what not to, at the UN meeting on an Israel-Palestinian two-state solution
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Body The U.N. General Assembly brought high-level officials together Monday to promote a two-state solution to the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict that would place their peoples side by side, living in peace in independent nations. Israel and its close ally the United States are boycotting the two-day meeting, co-chaired by the foreign ministers of France and Saudi Arabia. Israel's government opposes a two-state solution, and the United States has called the meeting 'counterproductive' to its efforts to end the war in Gaza. France and Saudi Arabia want the meeting to put a spotlight on the two-state solution, which they view as the only viable road map to peace, and to start addressing the steps to get there. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres told ministers and diplomats at the opening of the meeting that a two-state solution is further away than ever before, pointing to 'the obliteration of Gaza that has unfolded before the eyes of the world' and Israel's threatened annexation of the West Bank — the key parts that could make up a Palestinian state. 'Because of the grim realities, we must do even more to realize the two-state solution,' he said. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa called for all countries who haven't yet recognized statehood to do so 'without delay,' welcoming France's recent decision to do so in September. 'The path to peace begins by recognizing the state of Palestine and preserving it from destruction,' Mustafa told minsters and diplomats at the start of the gathering. The meeting was postponed from late June and downgraded from a four-day meeting of world leaders amid surging tensions in the Middle East, including the 12-day Israel-Iran war, and the war in Gaza. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that 'this must be a turning point and a transformational juncture for the implementation of the two-state solution. We must work on the ways and means to go from the end of the war in Gaza to the end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." His co-chair, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, called the meeting a 'historic stage' not only to end the deadly, nearly two-year war but to also 'settle the international atmosphere towards a two-state solution.' Here's what's useful to know about the upcoming gathering. The history The concept of dividing the Holy Land goes back decades. When the British mandate over Palestine ended, the U.N. partition plan in 1947 envisioned dividing the territory into Jewish and Arab states. Israel accepted the plan, but upon Israel's declaration of independence the following year, its Arab neighbors declared war and the plan was never implemented. Under a 1949 armistice, Jordan held control over the West Bank and east Jerusalem, and Egypt over Gaza. Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those lands for a future independent state alongside Israel, and this idea of a two-state solution based on Israel's pre-1967 boundaries has been the basis of peace talks dating back to the 1990s. The two-state solution has wide international support. The logic behind it is that the populations of Israel, east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza are divided equally between Jews and Palestinians. The establishment of an independent Palestinian state would leave Israel as a democratic country with a solid Jewish majority and grant the Palestinians their dream of self-determination. Timing of the conference France and Saudi Arabia have said they want to put a spotlight on the two-state solution as the only viable path to peace in the Middle East — and they want to see a road map with specific steps, first ending the war in Gaza. The co-chairs said in a document sent to U.N. members in May that the primary goal of the meeting is to identify actions by 'all relevant actors' to implement the two-state solution — and 'to urgently mobilize the necessary efforts and resources to achieve this aim, through concrete and time-bound commitments.' Saudi diplomat Manal Radwan, who led the country's delegation to the preparatory conference, said that the meeting must 'chart a course for action, not reflection.' It must be 'anchored in a credible and irreversible political plan that addresses the root cause of the conflict and offers a real path to peace, dignity and mutual security,' she said. French President Emmanuel Macron has pushed for a broader movement toward a two-state solution in parallel with a recognition of Israel's right to defend itself. He announced late Thursday that France will officially recognize a Palestinian state at the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly in late September. About 145 countries have recognized a Palestinian state. But Macron's announcement, before Monday's meeting and amid increasing global anger over desperately hungry people in Gaza starting to die from starvation, makes France the most important Western power to do so. Israel's view Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects the two-state solution on both nationalistic and security grounds. Netanyahu's religious and nationalist base views the West Bank as the biblical and historical homeland of the Jewish people, while Israeli Jews overwhelmingly consider Jerusalem their eternal capital. The city's eastern side is home to Judaism's holiest site, along with major Christian and Muslim holy places. Hard-line Israelis like Netanyahu believe the Palestinians don't want peace, citing the second Palestinian uprising of the early 2000s, and more recently the Hamas takeover of Gaza two years after Israel withdrew from the territory in 2005. The Hamas takeover led to five wars, including the current and ongoing 21-month conflict. At the same time, Israel also opposes a one-state solution in which Jews could lose their majority. Netanyahu's preference seems to be the status quo, where Israel maintains overall control, and Israelis have fuller rights than Palestinians, Israel deepens its control by expanding settlements, and the Palestinian Authority has limited autonomy in pockets of the West Bank. Netanyahu condemned Macron's announcement of Palestinian recognition, saying it 'rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became." The Palestinian view The Palestinians, who label the current arrangement 'apartheid,' accuse Israel of undermining repeated peace initiatives by deepening settlement construction in the West Bank and threatening annexation. That would harm the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state and their prospects for independence. Ahmed Majdalani, a member of the PLO Executive Committee and close associate of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the meeting will serve as preparation for a presidential summit expected in September. It will take place either in France or at the U.N. on the sidelines of the high-level meeting, U.N. diplomats said. Majdalani said that the Palestinians have several goals, first a 'serious international political process leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state.' The Palestinians also want additional international recognition of their state by major countries, including the United Kingdom. But expect that to happen in September, not at Monday's meeting, Majdalani said. And he said that they want economic and financial support for the Palestinian Authority and international support for the reconstruction and recovery of the Gaza Strip. Attendance at the meeting All 193 U.N. member nations have been invited to attend the meeting and a French diplomat said that about 40 ministers were expected. The United States and Israel are the only countries who are boycotting. The co-chairs have circulated an outcome document which could be adopted, and there could be some announcements of intentions to recognize a Palestinian state. But with Israel and the United States boycotting, there is no prospect of a breakthrough and the resumption of long-stalled negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on an end to their conflict. Guterres urged participants after the meeting was announced 'to keep the two-state solution alive.' And he said that the international community must not only support a solution where independent Palestinian states and Israel live side-by-side in peace but 'materialize the conditions to make it happen.' ___ Josef Federman reported from Jerusalem. Angela Charlton in Paris, and Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations, contributed to this report. Edith M. Lederer And Josef Federman, The Associated Press Sign in to access your portfolio
