Autonomous Administration Refuses to Implement Decisions of New Syrian Govt

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 30, 2025, shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (6th-R) and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Sahibani (6th-L) posing for a picture with the new transitional government in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 30, 2025, shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (6th-R) and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Sahibani (6th-L) posing for a picture with the new transitional government in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)
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Autonomous Administration Refuses to Implement Decisions of New Syrian Govt

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 30, 2025, shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (6th-R) and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Sahibani (6th-L) posing for a picture with the new transitional government in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 30, 2025, shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (6th-R) and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Sahibani (6th-L) posing for a picture with the new transitional government in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)

The Kurdish Autonomous Administration in northeastern Syria criticized on Sunday the new Syrian transitional government, saying it does not reflect the diversity in the country.

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced the new 23-minister government lineup on Saturday, vowing to rebuild a “strong and stable state” that was destroyed by years of war.

The cabinet included Yarub Badr, an Alawite who was named transportation minister, while Amgad Badr, who belongs to the Druze community, will lead the agriculture ministry.

Hind Kabawat, a Christian woman and part of the previous opposition to Assad who worked for interfaith tolerance and women's empowerment, was appointed as social affairs and labor minister.

The autonomous authorities said the new government failed in “providing fair and real representation” for all the Syrian people, saying it will not abide by its decisions.

In a statement, it said the new cabinet “was very similar to its predecessors in that it does not take into account the diversity in the country.”

“It won’t be able to run the country smoothly and help it end its crisis. Rather, it will deepen the crisis and fail in addressing the problems that caused it in the first place,” it charged.

“Insistence on repeating past mistakes will harm the Syrians and will not lead to the launch of a comprehensive political process that can reach solutions to pending problems,” it went on to say.

The statement called for an end to “policies of marginalization and elimination,” urging that Syrians of all segments, religions and sects be represented.

The government announcement was welcomed by the Syrian people, Arab and international community, which has offered to help the country in its reconstruction process.



Israeli Strikes Hit Dozens of Targets in Gaza as Ceasefire Efforts Stall

A man looks through the rubble to inspect a destroyed building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 18, 2025. (AFP)
A man looks through the rubble to inspect a destroyed building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Israeli Strikes Hit Dozens of Targets in Gaza as Ceasefire Efforts Stall

A man looks through the rubble to inspect a destroyed building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 18, 2025. (AFP)
A man looks through the rubble to inspect a destroyed building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 18, 2025. (AFP)

Israeli airstrikes hit around 40 targets across the Gaza Strip over the past day, the military said on Friday, hours after Hamas rejected an Israeli ceasefire offer that it said fell short of its demand to agree a full end to the war.

Last month, the Israeli military broke off a two-month truce that had largely halted fighting in Gaza and has since pushed in from the north and south, seizing almost a third of the enclave as it seeks to pressure Hamas into agreeing to release hostages and disarm.

The military said troops were operating in the Shabura and Tel Al-Sultan areas near the southern city of Rafah, as well as in northern Gaza, where it has taken control of large areas east of Gaza City.

Egyptian mediators have been trying to revive the January ceasefire deal, which broke down when Israel resumed airstrikes and sent ground troops back into Gaza, but there has been little sign that the two sides have moved closer on fundamental issues.

Late on Thursday, Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas' Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.

But he dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing "impossible conditions".

Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya's comments but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. The ceasefire offer it made through Egyptian mediators includes talks on a final settlement to the war but no firm agreement.

Defense Minister Israel Katz also said this week that troops would remain in the buffer zone around the border that now extends deep into Gaza and cuts the enclave in two, even after any settlement.