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Blinken: New Hamas Leader Can Ensure a Ceasefire Deal is Reached

Yahya Sinwar speaking to the press (File photo: Reuters)
Yahya Sinwar speaking to the press (File photo: Reuters)
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Blinken: New Hamas Leader Can Ensure a Ceasefire Deal is Reached

Yahya Sinwar speaking to the press (File photo: Reuters)
Yahya Sinwar speaking to the press (File photo: Reuters)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the newly chosen Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, has the power to ensure that a ceasefire deal is reached for the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Sinwar “has been and remains the primary decider when it comes to concluding the ceasefire, and so I think this (today’s announcement) only underscores the fact that it’s really on him to decide whether to move forward with a ceasefire that manifestly will help so many Palestinians in desperate need, women, children, men who are caught in a crossfire,” Blinken said. "It really is on him.”

The Palestinian group on Tuesday chose Sinwar, its top official in Gaza who masterminded the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, after political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed July 31 in Iran by a presumed Israeli strike.

Regional tensions have soared after Haniyeh's killing, which Iran blamed on Israel, and retaliation has been expected. Concerns are also high after Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander in Lebanon last week.

Amid diplomatic efforts, US President Joe Biden spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Tuesday about their hopes for a ceasefire deal calming tensions in the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet over the weekend that Israel is already in a “multi-front war” with Iran and its proxies.

Gaza faces a severe humanitarian crisis with Israeli restrictions on aid and ongoing fighting limiting access to crucial medical, food and other supplies. The Health Ministry says the death toll in the territory is nearing 40,000.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2 Killed as Pro-Govt Fighters Attack Areas of US-Backed Kurdish Fighters in East Syria

A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stands guard near the village of Bir Fawaz, 20km north of Raqqa on February 8, 2017. Photo: AFP / Delil Souleiman
A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stands guard near the village of Bir Fawaz, 20km north of Raqqa on February 8, 2017. Photo: AFP / Delil Souleiman
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2 Killed as Pro-Govt Fighters Attack Areas of US-Backed Kurdish Fighters in East Syria

A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stands guard near the village of Bir Fawaz, 20km north of Raqqa on February 8, 2017. Photo: AFP / Delil Souleiman
A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stands guard near the village of Bir Fawaz, 20km north of Raqqa on February 8, 2017. Photo: AFP / Delil Souleiman

Fighters backed by Iran and the Syrian government have attacked areas controlled by US-backed fighters in eastern Syria, killing at least two people and wounding others, the main US-backed force in the war-torn country and an opposition war monitor said Wednesday.

The clashes in Syria’s eastern province of Deir Ezzor, which borders Iraq, came amid high tension in the region following last week’s killings of a top military commander of Lebanon’s armed Hezbollah group in Beirut and the leader of the Palestinian Hamas group Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. Israel was blamed for both attacks, and Iran and Hezbollah have vowed to retaliate.

The clashes in eastern Syria are the most intense in nearly a year in areas where hundreds of US troops have been deployed since 2015 to help in the fight against the ISIS group.

Syrian government forces and Iran-backed fighters are deployed on the west bank of the Euphrates River in Deir Ezzor, while members of the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces control the east banks of the river.

The SDF said in a statement that “Syrian regime-backed mercenaries” attacked the villages of Dhiban, Latwa and Abu Hamam starting late Tuesday. It added that fighting was ongoing Wednesday as the SDF tries to bring the situation under control.

Dhiban is few kilometers from al-Omar oil field that houses a base housing SDF fighters and US troops.

Kurdish-led authorities imposed an open-ended curfew in areas they control on the east bank of the river, saying that anyone that violates the order will be referred to judicial authorities.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said that the SDF brought reinforcements to the area as the fighting continues.

The SDF and the Observatory said the clashes and shelling left two people dead and five others wounded.

Pro-government media outlets said that the attacks were carried by local Arab tribesmen against the SDF, saying that several people were wounded in government-held areas.

On Monday, a rocket attack on a base housing US troops in western Iraq left several American personnel wounded.

The rocket attack came days after a strike near a base of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia southwest of Baghdad killed at least one militant and wounded two others.

The attack comes days after an umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militias dubbed “the Islamic Resistance” resumed rocket attacks on US military bases in the country and in eastern Syria.