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Shafaq News
an hour ago
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Suwayda clashes ignite Druze responses, international concerns
Shafaq News - Suwayda/Golan/ Beirut/Washington On Tuesday, the Israeli military announced that several Druze residents of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights crossed the border fence into Syria, stating that Israeli forces are working to return them to their village. The border crossing appeared to be an act of solidarity with residents of Suwayda, a city in southern Syria that has recently experienced deadly clashes between local armed groups and government security forces, resulting in dozens of casualties. The Israeli military released footage it claims shows airstrikes targeting Syrian military vehicles in the area. #عاجل 🔴 فيديو من الغارات التي شنها سلاح الجو اليوم والتي استهدفت آليات عسكرية تابعة للنظام السوري في منطقة #السويداء جنوب سوريا. 🔴يواصل جيش الدفاع مراقبة ومتابعة التطورات ويبقى في حالة تأهب دفاعيًا وللتعامل مع السيناريوهات المختلفة. — افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) July 15, 2025 Syria's Foreign Ministry condemned what it referred to as 'Israeli aggression,' claiming the strikes led to the deaths of military personnel, security officers, and civilians. It called on the United Nations, the Security Council, and the broader international community to denounce the attack and reaffirmed Syria's 'legitimate right to defend its territory through all means permitted under international law.' In Lebanon, members of the Druze community organized demonstrations. Prominent Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jounblat urged a political resolution to the conflict, disarmament through coordination with the state, and reconciliation with local Bedouin groups. He warned against 'Israeli incitement and efforts to provoke division,' noting he was informed of an agreement involving the withdrawal of Syrian army forces and the transfer of control at key access points to internal security units. Another leading Druze figure in Lebanon, Talal Arslan, head of the Lebanese Democratic Party, described the conflict as a confrontation with 'gangs and terrorism, not a state.' In an interview with Al Mayadeen TV, he called the events 'a barbaric assault,' drawing comparisons to previous violence along Syria's coastline. Meanwhile, US Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said Washington remains engaged with all parties in pursuit of de-escalation and a peaceful resolution. He described the fighting in southern Syria as concerning and emphasized the importance of a solution that accounts for the positions of the Druze, tribal communities, the Syrian government, and Israel. We are actively involved with all constituencies in Syria to navigate towards calm and continued productive integration discussions. The recent skirmishes in Suwayda are worrisome on all sides, and we are attempting to come to a peaceful, inclusive outcome for Druze, Bedouin… — Ambassador Tom Barrack (@USAMBTurkiye) July 15, 2025 Iran and Saudi Arabia condemned recent Israeli military strikes on Syrian territory, calling for support of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
United News of India
2 hours ago
- Politics
- United News of India
Russian FM urges for peaceful resolution of Iranian nuclear deal during talks with Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi
Moscow/Tehran, July 15 (UNI) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi today, emphasised the importance of resolving the crisis over Iran's nuclear program through political and diplomatic efforts, in an official statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry. "The sides continued to exchange views on issues of mutual interest on the regional and international agenda. The importance of resolving the crisis over the Iranian nuclear program exclusively through political and diplomatic means in accordance with the norms of international law was once again emphasised. The ministers agreed on upcoming contacts at various levels.' Moscow has repeatedly urged a peaceful resolution of Iran's nuclear deal, noting that the unresolved issue is ever plunging the already war-torn region of West Asia region into a deeper crisis. Despite its clear support for Iran during its war with Israel, as well as its condemnation of the US strikes on the country's nuclear sites on June 22, Russia has even backed the non-enrichment of uranium condition imposed by the US and Israel, urging Iran to accept if possible. However, Iran has flat out rejected any proposal regarding non uranium enrichment, stating that Tehran is always willing to negotiate, but zero enrichment is unacceptable. UNI XC ANV GNK
Roya News
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Roya News
Syria condemns 'Israeli' strikes on Suwayda, vows to defend its sovereignty
Syria's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday strongly condemned what it called a 'treacherous Israeli aggression' following a series of coordinated airstrikes and attacks on southern Syrian territory, accusing 'Israel' of deliberately escalating tensions in the region and pledging to defend the country through all legal means. In an official statement, the ministry said the strikes had resulted in the deaths of both military personnel and civilians. 'This aggression represents a new escalation, carried out through deliberate air raids and coordinated attacks on Syrian land,' the ministry said, calling it part of a continued pattern of 'Israeli' violations of Syrian sovereignty. 'The attacks occurred at a calculated time and within a suspicious context aimed at undermining Syria's national stability and increasing tensions in the region,' the statement added. The Foreign Ministry stressed that Syria reserves its full right to defend its land and people, affirming that it will use all tools guaranteed by international law to confront aggression and protect national security. It also reaffirmed the government's commitment to safeguarding all Syrians, including members of the Druze community, who it said are now facing direct threats as a result of 'Israeli' attacks. The strikes come amid ongoing violence in the southern governorate of Suwayda, home to Syria's Druze minority, where deadly clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes erupted over the weekend. On Tuesday, Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra announced a complete ceasefire in the city following talks with local leaders. Government forces had entered Suwayda earlier in the day and raised the Syrian flag at key checkpoints. Shortly afterward, 'Israel' announced that its military had begun striking Syrian regime positions in the Suwayda region, citing the need to protect the Druze minority and ensure the demilitarization of the border zone. In a joint statement, 'Israeli' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strikes targeted forces and weapons 'brought into Suwayda to carry out operations against the Druze.' 'We are acting to prevent the Syrian regime from harming them,' the statement read. The 'Israeli' military claimed it struck several vehicles in the area, and Syrian state media confirmed the attacks. The Syrian government, however, rejected 'Israel's' stated justification. The Foreign Ministry's statement denounced the attempt to use the Druze as a pretext for foreign interference and stressed Damascus' commitment to protecting all of its citizens. The recent clashes in Suwayda have left more than 100 people dead, including Druze fighters, civilians, and members of the Bedouin community, according to war monitors and Syrian officials. Government forces were deployed to restore order but quickly became entangled in the fighting.
3 hours ago
- Politics
Japan calls China's military activity its biggest strategic challenge
TOKYO -- Japan cautioned against China's rapid acceleration of military activity stretching from its southwestern coasts to the Pacific, describing the moves in a new defense report Tuesday as the biggest strategic challenge. China's growing military cooperation with Russia also poses serious security concerns to Japan, along with increasing tension around Taiwan and threats coming from North Korea, the Defense Ministry said in the annual report submitted to the Cabinet. 'The international society is in a new crisis era as it faces the biggest challenges since the end of World War II,' the report said, citing significant changes to the global power balance while raising concerns about an escalation of the China-U.S. rivalry. The security threats are concentrated in the Indo-Pacific, where Japan is located, and could get worse in the future, the report said. China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian criticized the white paper, saying it "adopts a wrongful perception of China, unjustifiably interferes in China's internal affairs, and plays up the so-called China threat.' Beijing has lodged protests with Japan, Lin said, defending China's military activities as 'legitimate and reasonable.' He urged Japan to reflect on its wartime past and 'stop hyping tension in the region and China-related issues as a pretext to justify its military buildup.' Japan has strengthened its military forces on southwestern islands in recent years and was preparing to deploy long-distance cruise missiles, as it worries about a conflict in Taiwan, which China claims as its territory to be annexed by force if necessary. The presence of Chinese warships in the Pacific has steadily increased and the frequency of their passage off southwestern Japan has tripled in the past three years, including in waters between Taiwan and the neighboring Japanese island of Yonaguni, the report said. It comes days after Japan demanded China stop flying its fighter jets unusually close to Japanese intelligence-gathering aircraft, which it said was happening repeatedly and could cause a collision. Beijing in turn accused Japan of flying near Chinese airspace for spying purposes. China's increasing dispatch of aircraft carriers in the Pacific underscores the country's attempt to advance its sea power in distant waters, the report said. The Defense Ministry also noted two cases last year in which a Chinese warplane briefly violated Japanese airspace off islands near Nagasaki, and an aircraft carrier's entry into a zone just outside of Japan's territorial waters southwest of the Nansei island chain, which stretches from the southern coast of Kyushu to Taiwan. North Korea poses 'an increasingly serious and imminent threat,' the report said, noting the North's development of missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads and solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach the U.S. mainland.
Miami Herald
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
China and India's Top Officials Meet Amid Tensions Over Pakistan, Border
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India's top diplomat, met with senior Chinese leaders in Beijing ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's (SCO) foreign ministers' summit. The trip marks Jaishankar's first to China since 2019, before the deadly June 2020 clash in the Galwan Valley in the porous, de facto Sino-Indian border in the Himalayas. Newsweek contacted the Chinese Foreign Ministry for comment via email. The 2020 incident sharply escalated tensions, though ties have seen some improvement following a series of military-to-military talks, which culminated in Indian Defense Chief Rajnath Singh's meeting with Chinese counterpart Dong Jun in late June. Yet friction remains over the frontier, the geopolitical rivalry in the broader Asia Pacific and China's role in India's four-day conflict with Pakistan in the contested Kashmir region in May. Singh accused Beijing of providing its Pakistani ally "all possible support" during the hostilities. During his meeting with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng on Sunday, Jaishankar "conveyed India's support for China's SCO presidency," the foreign minister wrote on X, formerly Twitter. He "noted the improvement in our bilateral ties and expressed confidence that discussions during my visit will maintain that positive trajectory." According to a Chinese Foreign Ministry readout, Zheng said it was Chinese President Xi Jinping's "successful" meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during October's BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, that led to a resumption of ties. Zheng added that it is the "right choice" for China and India, as major developing nations, to pursue a partnership of win-win achievement in a "dance of dragons and elephants." During Jaishankar's meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that same day, the Indian official called for continued efforts to de-escalate tensions along the border, per an Indian Foreign Ministry news release. He warned against "restrictive trade measures" as both sides work toward normalization. Jaishankar also emphasized the need for cooperation on rivers that cross the border and urged China to resume providing hydrological data. Rajan Menon, the Spitzer professor emeritus of international relations at the City College of New York and a senior research fellow at Columbia University's Saltzman Institute, told Newsweek: "Both foreign ministers said the right things about avoiding confrontations along the border; but the fact remains that the long-standing dispute over the 2,400-mile-long India-China border remains in dispute, and there's no sign that that will change. "Plus, China continues to be India's primary security threat and has every reason to maintain, on India's flank, its strong, decades-long security ties with Pakistan so as to complicate India's overall security environment. Nothing that happened in the meeting between Jaishankar and Wang Yi changes this larger reality." China, Russia and several Central Asian countries founded the SCO in 2001 to promote cooperation on security and economic development. India and Pakistan joined as full members in 2017. The group, which is touted as a platform for dialogue and collaboration among major regional powers, is holding its summit in Tianjin on Tuesday. Related Articles FAA, Boeing Say Fuel Switch Locks Safe After Fatal Air India Crash-ReportNeighbor Intrigued by Woman's Mysterious Artwork on Doorway: 'What Is It?'China's Quiet Role in Pakistan's Air War With IndiaThousands Gather for Dalai Lama's 90th Birthday in India 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
