Latest news with #ThomasBarrack

Israel attacks western Syria despite recent indirect talks to calm tensions

Yahoo

5 hours ago

General
Yahoo

Israel attacks western Syria despite recent indirect talks to calm tensions

Israel has struck western Syria, the Israeli military and Syrian state media have reported, in the first such aerial attack on the country in almost a month, the day after the United States envoy to Damascus said conflict between the neighbouring countries is 'solvable'. Syrian state media reported late Friday that one person was killed and three others injured by an Israeli air strike on the coastal city of Latakia. The SANA news agency said earlier that the Israeli military targeted three sites in the countryside of the Latakia and Tartous governorates. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that jets likely to be Israeli struck military sites on the outskirts of Tartous and Latakia, on the Mediterranean coast. The Israeli strike follows Syria acknowledging indirect talks with Israel earlier this month to calm tensions. The Israeli military claimed responsibility for the strike, saying it had 'struck weapon storage facilities containing coastal missiles that posed a threat to international and Israeli maritime freedom of navigation, in the Latakia area of Syria'. 'In addition, components of surface-to-air missiles were struck in the area of Latakia,' it said, adding that it would 'continue to operate to maintain freedom of action in the region, in order to carry out its missions and will act to remove any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens'. The Israeli strike came a day after US envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack's visit to Damascus aimed at rebuilding ties under Syria's new administration, during which he said the conflict between Israel and Syria is 'solvable' and needed to start with 'dialogue'. 'I'd say we need to start with just a non-aggression agreement, talk about boundaries and borders,' Barrack told journalists on Thursday. The two countries have technically been at war since the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948. A state of heightened tension and deep enmity between Israel and Syria accelerated during the 1967 war, which also drew in Egypt and Jordan, and Israel's subsequent occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights. Israel has carried out frequent attacks in Syria both during the Bashar al-Assad rule and since his ouster. Shortly before the fall of al-Assad's regime, Israel seized more Syrian territory near the border, claiming it was concerned about President Ahmed al-Sharaa's interim administration, which it has dismissed as 'jihadist'. During a meeting between US President Donald Trump and al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, earlier in May, the US leader urged al-Sharaa to normalise relations with Israel. While al-Sharaa has not commented on possible normalisation with Israel, he has stated his support for returning to the terms of a 1974 ceasefire agreement that created a United Nations buffer zone in the Golan Heights.

Pictures of the week: From an ice factory in Karachi to the Rose Valley in Bulgaria

The National

10 hours ago

General
The National

Pictures of the week: From an ice factory in Karachi to the Rose Valley in Bulgaria

Syrian Foreign Minister Ahmad Al Shibani, second left, watches as Thomas Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey, who was recently also appointed special envoy to Syria, raises the flag of the United States at the American ambassador's residence in Damascus. AFP

Syria signs first reconstruction deal valued at $7B

Yahoo

15 hours ago

Business
Yahoo

Syria signs first reconstruction deal valued at $7B

Syria signed its first major reconstruction deal, sealed weeks after US President Donald Trump decided to lift sanctions in a signal of a shifting regional order. Washington's envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack was present at the signing of the $7-billion gas and solar power project, as were US military officers working alongside predominantly Kurdish forces who had battled against Islamic State militants. Barrack later raised the US flag at the ambassador's residence in Damascus and called for a non-aggression pact with Israel, saying the two sides should start talking about 'boundaries and borders.' The power project includes four gas plants and a solar farm that would generate 5,000 megawatts, and will be executed by Qatari, Turkish, and US companies. It's expected to create more than 50,000 jobs and return almost half of the country's pre-war power capacity.

Syria inks $7bn energy deal with Qatari, Turkish, US firms

Business Recorder

a day ago

Business
Business Recorder

Syria inks $7bn energy deal with Qatari, Turkish, US firms

DAMASCUS: Syria signed a $7 billion energy deal on Thursday with a consortium of Qatari, Turkish and US companies as it seeks to revive the war-torn country's crippled power sector. The agreement was sealed at the presidential palace in Damascus in the presence of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and US ambassador Thomas Barrack. It aims to generate 5,000 megawatts. Syrian Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir called it a 'historic moment' and a 'turning point' for the country's shattered infrastructure. The consortium is led by Qatar's UCC Concession Investments and includes Turkey's Kalyon GES Enerji Yatirimlari and Cengiz Enerji, along with Power International USA. Syria's 14-year civil war wrecked its power grid, leaving people with up to 20 hours of daily blackouts. The project includes four gas-powered plants in central and eastern Syria and a 1,000-megawatt solar farm in the south. Bashir said the plants would use US and European technology. Barrack said US President Donald Trump had lifted sanctions on Syria unconditionally and pledged ongoing support. Trump, he said, offered Syria his 'unceasing commitment' to turn borders 'into a tapestry of commerce and cooperation'. UCC chief executive Ramez al-Khayyat said the deal would create more than 50,000 direct and 250,000 indirect jobs.

Syria signs $7 bn energy deal with Qatari, Turkish, US consortium

Daily Tribune