Syrian Opposition Discusses in Riyadh Assad’s Fate

Smoke rises after shelling on a rebel-held area of Daraa, Syria, June 4, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Faqir
Smoke rises after shelling on a rebel-held area of Daraa, Syria, June 4, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Faqir
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Syrian Opposition Discusses in Riyadh Assad’s Fate

Smoke rises after shelling on a rebel-held area of Daraa, Syria, June 4, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Faqir
Smoke rises after shelling on a rebel-held area of Daraa, Syria, June 4, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Faqir

A series of rescheduled meetings among the Syrian warring parties launched on Monday.

The meetings were postponed as the Russian-sponsored representatives failed to arrive on time to the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

The tripartite bringing together the Syrian High Negotiations Committee, the Cairo-backed delegation and representatives supported by Moscow will tackle the Syrian crisis, especially the future of Syrian regime head Bashar al Assad.

After producing a uniform Syrian opposition delegation, the group will then participate at the upcoming Geneva talks.

Syrian opposition sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that a compromise may be proposed, which is that Assad will remain in power for a period of six months before holding presidential elections.

In context, the HNC spokesman Salem al-Musalla said that the meetings will end by naming opposition representatives that would be sent to the Geneva negotiations.

"Until now, the dispute between us and Moscow-backed platform over the fate of Assad is still unresolved, but we are counting on a change in the Russian position,” opposition spokesman Yahya al-Aridi told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The Moscow-backed delegation had before refused to partake in the Riyadh meetings, but later changed its objections. A change in Russia’s stance is believed to be the reason behind the delegation.

The HNC refused for Assad to remain in power even if for a transitional phase. More so, Cairo expressed its objection to Assad or the regime playing any part in Syria’s future.

On the other hand, Qadri Jamil, heading the Moscow-backed delegation suggested keeping Assad in power and appointing five deputies. The proposal found no approval among opposition forces.

Salim al-Musallat, in a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, reaffirmed that the HNC rejects Assad or the old regime playing any part in Syria’s future, or the transitional period.

Musallat says that the difference among opposition representatives is over the timing of Assad’s departure, whether it would take place at the beginning or at the end of the interim government.

On the other hand, Al-Aridi said that the HNC is acting responsibly and opening the door to all other parties in order to bring views closer and form a single delegation while safeguarding principles of the revolution and persistence.



Israeli Strike Kills Children Near Gaza Clinic with No Immediate Truce in Sight

 A beam of light amid smoke and flames is seen resulting from an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, July 10, 2025. (Reuters)
A beam of light amid smoke and flames is seen resulting from an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, July 10, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israeli Strike Kills Children Near Gaza Clinic with No Immediate Truce in Sight

 A beam of light amid smoke and flames is seen resulting from an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, July 10, 2025. (Reuters)
A beam of light amid smoke and flames is seen resulting from an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, July 10, 2025. (Reuters)

An Israeli airstrike hit Palestinians near a medical center in Gaza on Thursday, killing 10 children and six adults, local health authorities said, as ceasefire talks dragged on with no immediate deal expected.

Verified video footage from the strike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip showed the bodies of women and children lying in pools of blood amid dust and screaming. One clip showed several motionless children lying on a donkey cart.

"She didn't do anything, she was innocent, I swear. Her dream was for the war to end and that they announce it today, to go back to school," said Samah al-Nouri, sitting by the body of her daughter who was killed in the blast.

"She was only getting treatment in a medical facility. Why did they kill them?" she said, with other bodies laid out around her at a nearby hospital.

Israel's military said it had struck a militant who took part in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. It said it was aware of reports regarding a number of injured bystanders and that the incident was under review.

US-based Project HOPE said the strike had hit right outside its Altayara health clinic. "Horrified and heartbroken cannot properly communicate how we feel anymore," the aid group said in a statement.

The Deir al-Balah missile strike came as Israeli and Hamas negotiators hold talks with mediators in Qatar over a proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal aimed at building agreement on a lasting truce.

A senior Israeli official said on Wednesday that an agreement was not likely to be secured for another one or two weeks, however, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday he was hopeful of a deal.

"I think we're closer, and I think perhaps we're closer than we've been in quite a while," Rubio told reporters at the ASEAN summit in Malaysia.

Several rounds of indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas have failed to produce a breakthrough since the Israeli military resumed its campaign in March following a previous ceasefire.

Repeated attacks by Israeli forces in recent weeks have killed hundreds of Gazans, many of them civilians, and injured thousands, according to local health authorities, putting an enormous strain on the enclave's few remaining hospitals.

Dwindling fuel supplies risk further disruption in the semi-functioning hospitals, including to incubators at the neonatal unit of al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, doctors there said.

"We are forced to place four, five or sometimes three premature babies in one incubator," said Dr. Mohammed Abu Selmia, the hospital director, adding that premature babies were now in a critical condition.

An Israeli military official said that fuel destined for hospitals and other humanitarian facilities was let into the enclave on Wednesday and on Thursday.

However, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that far more fuel was needed to keep essential life-saving and life-sustaining services operating.

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US President Donald Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week to discuss the situation in Gaza amid reports that Israel and Hamas were nearing agreement on a US-brokered ceasefire proposal after 21 months of war.

Netanyahu said that if the two sides reach agreements on the US 60-day truce plan, Israel will begin negotiations on a permanent ceasefire.

In a statement from Washington, he reiterated Israel's terms for ending the war, including Hamas disarming and no longer ruling Gaza. Hamas has rejected calls to lay down its weapons.

"If this can be achieved through negotiations - that's good. If it's not achieved through 60-day negotiations then we will achieve it by other means, by use of force," Netanyahu said.

A Palestinian official said the talks in Qatar were in crisis and that issues under dispute, including whether Israel would continue to occupy parts of Gaza after a ceasefire, had yet to be resolved.

The two sides previously agreed a ceasefire in January, but it did not lead to a deal on ending the war and Israel resumed its military assault two months later, stopping all aid supplies into Gaza for 11 weeks and telling civilians to leave the north of the tiny territory.

Israel's military campaign in Gaza has now killed more than 57,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities. It has destroyed swathes of the territory and driven most Gazans from their homes.

The Hamas attack on Israeli border communities that triggered the war in 2023 killed around 1,200 people and the group seized 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. At least 20 are believed to still be alive.

There has also been repeated violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. An Israeli man was killed at a shopping center in the territory on Thursday by two Palestinian gunmen, who were then shot dead, police said.

In a separate incident, a Palestinian man was shot dead after he stabbed and injured a soldier, the army said.