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The Irish Sun
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
Israel and Syria agree to ceasefire, US envoy says after days of airstrikes amid mounting tensions
ISRAEL and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire, a US envoy has said, after days of airstrikes amid mounting tensions. US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack revealed on Friday the two countries agreed to a ceasefire supported by Turkey, Jordan and neighbours. Advertisement 4 Damaged property is seen following clashes between Bedouin and Druze groups Credit: Getty 4 Bedouin fighters ride on a vehicle along a street as Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence Credit: Reuters 4 A gunman is seen in front of burning grass as clashes between the alliance of Bedouin Arabs and tribal forces and armed Druze factions continue Credit: Getty 4 US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack announced a ceasefire was reached Credit: AP On Wednesday, Israel launched airstrikes in Damascus, while also hitting government forces in the south. The country demanded they withdraw and saying that Israel aimed to protect Syrian Druze - part of a small but influential minority that also has followers in Lebanon and Israel. "We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity," Barrack said in a post on X. A rebel offensive led by Islamist insurgent groups ousted Syria's longtime leader, Bashar Assad, in December - bringing a dramatic end to a nearly 14-year civil war. Advertisement Since then, the country's new rulers have struggled to unite to establish complete control. The primarily Sunni Muslim leaders have faced suspicion from religious and ethnic minorities. And fears increased after clashes between government forces and pro-Assad armed groups in March spiralled into separatist revenge attacks. Hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority, to which ousted Assad belongs, were killed. Advertisement Most read in The US Sun In Israel, the Druze are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the military. Meanwhile in Syria, the Druze have been divided over how to deal with the country's new leaders. Some have advocated for integrating into the new system. But others remained suspicious and pressed for an autonomous Druze region. Advertisement
Scottish Sun
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
Israel and Syria agree to ceasefire, US envoy says after days of airstrikes amid mounting tensions
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) ISRAEL and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire, a US envoy has said, after days of airstrikes amid mounting tensions. US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack revealed on Friday the two countries agreed to a ceasefire supported by Turkey, Jordan and neighbours. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Damaged property is seen following clashes between Bedouin and Druze groups Credit: Getty 4 Bedouin fighters ride on a vehicle along a street as Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence Credit: Reuters 4 A gunman is seen in front of burning grass as clashes between the alliance of Bedouin Arabs and tribal forces and armed Druze factions continue Credit: Getty 4 US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack announced a ceasefire was reached Credit: AP On Wednesday, Israel launched airstrikes in Damascus, while also hitting government forces in the south, demanding they withdraw and saying that Israel aimed to protect Syrian Druze - part of a small but influential minority that also has followers in Lebanon and Israel. "We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity," Barrack said in a post on X. A rebel offensive led by Islamist insurgent groups ousted Syria's longtime leader, Bashar Assad, in December - bringing a dramatic end to a nearly 14-year civil war. Since then, the country's new rulers have struggled to unite to establish complete control. The primarily Sunni Muslim leaders have faced suspicion from religious and ethnic minorities. And fears increased after clashes between government forces and pro-Assad armed groups in March spiralled into separatist revenge attacks. Hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority, to which ousted Assad belongs, were killed. In Israel, the Druze are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the military. Meanwhile in Syria, the Druze have been divided over how to deal with the country's new leaders. Some have advocated for integrating into the new system. But others remained suspicious and pressed for an autonomous Druze region.
New Statesman
17-07-2025
- Politics
- New Statesman
Israel's calculus on Syria
Photo by AliIn the southwestern Syrian town of Sweida recent bloody clashes between Bedouin Arabs and the Druze have left at least 200 dead. Syria's military was dispatched to stop the fighting, but it struggled to quell the violence. Many Syrian Druze believe that the central government, led by former rebel-turned-president Ahmed al-Sharaa, is tied to the very groups attacking them. Israel agrees: it has accused the Syrian government of attacking the Druze and using Arab militias as cover. The Israeli Air Force has spent the last two days striking Syrian military positions in Syria's southwest, with the Jerusalem Post reporting that 160 'aerial attacks' had been conducted as of midday on 16 July. Israel also bombed the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters and areas near the presidential palace in Damascus. If this sounds familiar, that's because Israel conducted a similar operation in May following another round of violence between Druze and Arabs in Jaramana and Sahnaya (both Damascus suburbs) as well as in Sweida, which left 100 dead. On that occasion, Israel conducted 20 airstrikes across Syria and hit multiple targets, including sites close to the presidential palace. The Trump administration will welcome reports of a ceasefire ending the latest round of fighting. The US president remains fixated on expanding the 2020 Abraham Accords — aimed at advancing the normalisation of relations between Israel and Arab states — by making Syria a signatory. After Sharaa helped to bring down the Assad regime in December, this has become a distinct possibility. In May, during a trip to Saudi Arabia, Donald Trump met with Sharaa and praised him as a 'young, attractive guy'. The following month, Trump issued an executive order that rescinded some US sanctions against Syria and waived others. His administration even served as a go-between for backchannel talks between Syria and Israel, decades-long enemies. Seen alongside Trump's 2019 decision to partially withdraw American troops from Kurdish-majority northeastern Syria, where they were shielding the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces from Turkey, these steps represent a big shift in US policy toward Syria, a country convulsed by nearly a decade and a half of civil war. Israel has a different strategy. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu portrays Syria's post-Assad government as dominated by jihadists. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz described Sharaa as no better than the masked men of Isis who beheaded prisoners in the middle of the desert. Another Israeli minister was even more harsh: 'Anyone who thinks Ahmad al-Sharaa is a legitimate leader is gravely mistaken – he is a terrorist, a barbaric murderer who should be eliminated without delay.' Israel may justify the latest incursion into Syria as a humanitarian operation. Israel itself is home to around150,000 Druze, concentrated in the country's north: the Galilee, Carmel, and the Golan Heights. Druze make up roughly 1.6 per cent of the total population and are considered loyal citizens, whose young men are subject to the military draft. But Israel's larger strategic objective is evident: exploit the weakness of Syria's new government to create a demilitarised security zone across southern Syria from which the Syrian armed forces are excluded so that Israel has a free hand. The clashes in Sweida enable Netanyahu to advance that agenda, even as he presents himself as the protector of the Druze. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Israel's hardnosed strategy can be traced back to the Assad regime's collapse. With the Syrians in disarray, Israel was quick to strike hundreds of Syrian military targets, including airfields, missile bases, munitions depots, and air defense sites across the country. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soon crossed the 1974 UN-demarcated border line with Syria, entered the buffer zone and pushed it deeper into Syrian territory. Israeli troops also occupied the Syrian side of Mount Hermon. Israeli officials asked the Trump administration to keep Syria weak by maintaining sanctions and even proposed allowing Russia to retain its bases to keep Turkey in check. Israel believes that the regional context favours its strategy. Iran is on the backfoot. Hezbollah, Tehran's ally in Lebanon, has been decapitated. Iran-aligned Assad is gone. And Syria's new rulers face myriad problems as they struggle to extend governance to the entire country, a task made even harder because the military and security forces remain weak. Syria's economy is in a dismal state: GDP has fallen by more than 50 per cent since the civil war started in 2011. Sectarian violence including violence against the Alawites — who dominated Assad's government — and the Druze continues. Seen against this backdrop, Israel's latest intervention isn't driven solely by humanitarianism; it's part of a realpolitik-driven strategy aimed at dominating its northern neighbours. But this is not the only feasible strategy available to Israel. Sharaa, for all his faults, has made it clear that he has no interest in confrontation with Israel (he couldn't possibly come out ahead, militarily or politically). He is committed to coexistence and will abide by the terms of the 1974 agreement. He knows that conflict with Israel would alienate the US and Europe and deprive Syria of the foreign investment it desperately needs to help the long process of economic reconstruction. Israel could therefore chart a different course by engaging in talks with Sharaa's government toward a comprehensive security agreement that includes pulling back their military forces and creating a weapons and troop-free zone on either side of the border. (As part of this accord, Israel would recommit to the 1974 agreement.) They could create political forums to foster cooperation on shared problems. Israel could help forge an agreement between the Druze and the central government based on local autonomy. Alternatively, Israel, trusting in its military superiority, could let Syrians sort out their own affairs. A debilitated, conflict-ridden Syria may well give Israel a stronger hand. But it could also enable hostile forces to sink roots and pose a long-term security threat from a neighbouring country. After the latest strikes, it's hard to see Israel doing anything other than sticking to its current strategy — one in which diplomacy plays no role. [See more: Syria may be broken but it's energised by hope] Related
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The watchers who prey on Israel's falcon poachers
For the volunteer watchers scanning southern Israel's wheatfields, protecting migratory falcons from poachers is a highly coordinated security operation. The raptors may top the food chain in the wild, but here the predators can themselves become the prey. Many protected species of migratory birds spend their winters in this agricultural area close to the Gaza Strip. And some species are big business. A single falcon can fetch up to tens of thousands of dollars on the black market, especially in Gulf countries where falconry is a treasured tradition. Meidad Goren, director of the Ramat Hanegev Birding Center, told AFP that poaching has soared in recent years. Falcons are captured alive by Bedouin Arabs living in Israel's Negev desert to be domesticated or smuggled to neighbouring countries, he said. Using binoculars to observe one bird perched on a nearby pylon, Goren noted: "It has a ring. It's a peregrine falcon that was captured and escaped." The raptors feed on small birds attracted to the wheat, waiting motionless and watching from power lines that cross the fields. The number of cases of birds of prey, especially falcons, found with ties around their legs, sometimes tangled in power lines, led Goren to set up groups of volunteer watchers. The area is also patrolled by rangers from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. - 'Like watching a child' - This winter, a saker falcon took up residence around Kibbutz Urim. The saker falcon is an endangered species popular with falconers in eastern Europe, Central Asia and Arab states. After observing several attempts by poachers to capture the bird, Goren put in place what he calls a "special surveillance system". "Dozens of people, ornithologists, nature lovers, retirees, guides, farmers," responded to his appeal for help to reinforce regular volunteer patrols, said Goren. His centre operates under both the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. Mirit Keshales is 47 and a regular "falcon guardian" volunteer. "It's really like watching a child, a very methodical organisation with a well-defined schedule... we make sure someone is always there during the day," she said. The poachers come mostly from Bedouin villages, said Ofir Bruckenstein, a ranger with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. "For them, hunting with falcons and owning falcons are cultural practices rooted in their traditions," he said. "Owning a falcon and displaying it in their living space is a symbol of status and prestige." - Sold for $19,000 - Bruckenstein criticised what he called lenient penalties for poaching, in particular of falcons, saying fines were of "a few thousand shekels", even if repeat offenders faced jail terms. The especially lucrative black market for falcons smuggled via Jordan and Egypt to the Gulf encourages the illegal trade, he added. "Saker falcons and peregrine falcons are easily sold for 50,000 or 70,000 shekels ($14,000 to $19,000)," he said. Falconry is inscribed on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, and is hugely popular in the Gulf. In the United Arab Emirates, passports for falcons were introduced in 2002 in an effort to combat smuggling, and tens of thousands have since been issued. But poaching remains a regional problem in the Middle East, and the demand for falcons captured from the wild has exploded in recent years, with the growth in clubs which stage contests for beauty and falconry. While falcons are farmed, especially in the UAE which permits only captive-bred and registered birds to be used in sport falconry, wild falcons are considered better hunters and are thus more desirable. "They lack falcons because those that arrive (in the Gulf region) in winter have nearly all been caught. That's why they are now trying to capture them elsewhere," said Goren. AFP contacted several international falconry organisations based in Europe, but they declined to comment on the illegal trade to Gulf countries, citing the "sensitivity of the issue". Meanwhile, the watchers in southern Israel do what they can to prevent more of these beautiful birds from falling into human hands. dms/cyj/dcp/srm/ser/fox
