US Lists Demands at UN as Syria Seeks Sanctions Relief

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani raises the new Syrian flag during a flag raising ceremony at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on April 25, 2025. (AFP)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani raises the new Syrian flag during a flag raising ceremony at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on April 25, 2025. (AFP)
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US Lists Demands at UN as Syria Seeks Sanctions Relief

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani raises the new Syrian flag during a flag raising ceremony at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on April 25, 2025. (AFP)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani raises the new Syrian flag during a flag raising ceremony at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on April 25, 2025. (AFP)

The United States publicly spelled out at the United Nations on Friday the steps it wants Syria to take before Washington will change its stance toward the country, as Syria's foreign minister appealed for tough sanctions to be lifted.

Reuters reported last month that Washington had handed Syria a list of conditions it wants Damascus to fulfill in exchange for partial sanctions relief. On Friday, acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea listed them publicly.

She said the US wants Syria's authorities to fully renounce and suppress terrorism, adopt a policy of non-aggression to neighboring states, exclude foreign terrorist fighters from any official roles, prevent Iran and its proxies from exploiting Syrian territory, destroy weapons of mass destruction, assist in the recovery of US citizens disappeared in Syria, and ensure the security and freedoms of all Syrians.

"The United States continues to observe the actions of the interim authorities and will determine our actions based on a pattern of behavior. The core leadership must move beyond its past," Shea told the 15-member Security Council.

Former President Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December by a lightning opposition offensive after a brutal 14-year civil war and there is now a new leadership in Damascus. The newly adopted Syrian flag was raised at the UN on Friday.

SYRIA SEEKS TO SHOW PROGRESS

Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, addressing the Security Council for the first time, sought to show that Syria was addressing some of the demands listed by the US and appealed for sanctions to be lifted.

"Those who demand more from Syria are the same ones who insist on maintaining many sanctions imposed against it. These sanctions force Syria to play the role of an aid dependent country rather than being a partner in global economic growth," he told the Security Council.

Tough US sanctions imposed during Assad's rule remain in place. In January, the US issued a six-month exemption for some sanctions to encourage aid, but this has had limited effect and Reuters reported in February that efforts to pay public sector salaries with foreign financing had been hampered by uncertainty over whether it could breach US sanctions.

"These restrictive measures imposed against the previous regime prevent capital and expertise from entering our country while allowing illicit networks to flourish," al-Shaibani said.

He said Syria was combating ISIS militants, working constructively with the UN chemical weapons watchdog, uniting military factions, preserving state institutions and taking steps toward constitutional reform. It had also launched a national dialogue, he said.

"We will also announce genuine steps towards a national parliament that represents the Syrian people," al-Shaibani said.

He said Syria would establish a commission for missing persons and was ready to coordinate with the US to also search for Americans missing in Syria.



Israeli Strikes Across Gaza Kill at Least 66 People, Hospitals and Medics Say

A picture taken from a position at the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing due to Israeli bombardment in the besieged Palestinian territory on May 18, 2025. (AFP)
A picture taken from a position at the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing due to Israeli bombardment in the besieged Palestinian territory on May 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Israeli Strikes Across Gaza Kill at Least 66 People, Hospitals and Medics Say

A picture taken from a position at the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing due to Israeli bombardment in the besieged Palestinian territory on May 18, 2025. (AFP)
A picture taken from a position at the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing due to Israeli bombardment in the besieged Palestinian territory on May 18, 2025. (AFP)

Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 66 people overnight and into Sunday, hospitals and medics in the battered enclave said as Israel launches an escalation of its war in the territory, which it says is meant to ramp up pressure on Hamas to agree to a temporary ceasefire.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

The Nasser hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis said it received the bodies of 20 people who were killed in multiple overnight airstrikes that hit houses and tents sheltering displaced families in the Muwasi area.

In northern Gaza, at least 36 people were killed in multiple strikes, according to first responders from the health ministry and the civil defense.

The dead included nine people from a single family who were killed when an airstrike hit their house in the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp, according to the health ministry’s emergency services.

Another strike hit the house of the Berawi family, also in Jabaliya, killing 10 people including seven children and a woman, according to the civil defense, which operates under the Hamas-run government. Among the dead were two parents and their three children and a father and his four children, it said.

In central Gaza, at least 10 people were killed in two separate strikes, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the town of Deir al-Balah. One strike in the Zweida town killed seven people, including two children and four women. The second hit an apartment in Deir al-Balah, killing two parents and their child, the hospital said.