US Says Hamas Solely to Blame for Resumption of Gaza Hostilities

 Dorothy Shea, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, US, March 18, 2025. (Reuters)
Dorothy Shea, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, US, March 18, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Says Hamas Solely to Blame for Resumption of Gaza Hostilities

 Dorothy Shea, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, US, March 18, 2025. (Reuters)
Dorothy Shea, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, US, March 18, 2025. (Reuters)

Responsibility for the resumption of hostilities in Gaza lies solely with Hamas, and the United States supports Israel in its next steps, the acting US ambassador to the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Ambassador Dorothy Shea made the statement to a United Nations Security Council briefing after Palestinian health authorities said Israeli airstrikes pounded Gaza and killed more than 400 people, ending weeks of relative calm after talks to secure a permanent ceasefire stalled.

"The blame for the resumption of hostilities lies solely with Hamas," Shea said, charging that the group had refused every proposal and deadline to extend the ceasefire and allow time to negotiate a framework for a permanent ceasefire.

Shea said US President Donald Trump had made clear that Hamas must release the hostages it is holding immediately or pay a high price.

"We support Israel in its next steps," she said, while rejecting allegations that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were conducting indiscriminate attacks.

"The IDF is striking Hamas positions," she said. "It is well known that Hamas continues to use civilian infrastructure as launching pads, and the United States condemns this practice as should others."



Syria Detains Damascus-Based Leader of Prominent Palestinian Faction

Members of the Syria's security forces deploy during an operation in the edge of the town of Sharaya, south of Damascus, Wednesday April 30, 2025. (AP)
Members of the Syria's security forces deploy during an operation in the edge of the town of Sharaya, south of Damascus, Wednesday April 30, 2025. (AP)
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Syria Detains Damascus-Based Leader of Prominent Palestinian Faction

Members of the Syria's security forces deploy during an operation in the edge of the town of Sharaya, south of Damascus, Wednesday April 30, 2025. (AP)
Members of the Syria's security forces deploy during an operation in the edge of the town of Sharaya, south of Damascus, Wednesday April 30, 2025. (AP)

Syria on Saturday detained a prominent Damascus-based Palestinian official whose group was close to the government of ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

Talal Naji, 79, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, or PFLP-GC, was detained Saturday morning shortly after he left his house with a driver and two guards, a Palestinian official told The Associated Press.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, added that shortly after Naji was detained near his home in the Mazze neighborhood, security officials came to his home and questioned two unarmed guards for about an hour.

A Syrian government official told the AP that Naji was taken for questioning and should be released later. The official spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The PFLP-GC became known for dramatic attacks against Israel, including the hijacking an El Al jetliner in 1968 and the machine gunning of another airliner at Zurich airport in 1969. In 1970, it planted a bomb on a Swissair jet that blew up on a flight from Zurich to Tel Aviv, killing all 47 on aboard.

Naji’s arrest comes nearly two weeks after Syrian authorities detained two members of the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. The group identified the two officials arrested at the time as its leader in Syria Khaled Khaled and another senior official Yasser Zafari. The Islamic Jihad took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that triggered the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Under Assad, several Palestinians factions were based in Syria and some of them remained after the fall of his 54-year Assad family in December.