De Mistura Calls for New Round of Syria Talks in About a Month

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura speaks during a meeting in Geneva 2016 on February 25, 2016 (AFP Photo/Jean-Marc Ferre)
UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura speaks during a meeting in Geneva 2016 on February 25, 2016 (AFP Photo/Jean-Marc Ferre)
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De Mistura Calls for New Round of Syria Talks in About a Month

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura speaks during a meeting in Geneva 2016 on February 25, 2016 (AFP Photo/Jean-Marc Ferre)
UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura speaks during a meeting in Geneva 2016 on February 25, 2016 (AFP Photo/Jean-Marc Ferre)

UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura said Wednesday that he hopes to convene a new round of talks between the Syrian regime and opposition in Geneva in the coming weeks.

"I am calling on both sides to assess the situation with realism and responsibility to the people of Syria and to prepare seriously to participate in the Geneva talks," de Mistura said at the UN Security Council.

He said he intends to convene an eighth round of talks on the bloody more than six-year conflict no later than the end of October or early November.

De Mistura has already hosted seven rounds of largely unsuccessful talks in Geneva, with the fate of the head of the regime, Bashar Assad, one of the main obstacles to progress.

Syrian opposition groups and various Western powers insist that Assad must go. But he has little motivation to make concessions.

At the same time, there is a second process of negotiations in Kazakh capital Astana that has led to the establishment of multiple "de-escalation zones" that have contributed to a reduction in violence.

De Mistura said these zones should be a precursor "to a truly nationwide cease-fire" and action to provide humanitarian aid to all in need.

He stressed the opposition has "a duty to signal that it wants to speak with one voice and a common platform in genuine negotiations with the government." The regime has a duty "to genuinely negotiate with the opposition," he said.

De Mistura added both sides should show readiness to negotiate on four key issues: "credible" and "inclusive" local and central governance; a schedule and process for drafting a new constitution; UN supervised elections; and combating terrorism.

On the humanitarian front, the creation of the de-escalation zones “have had a positive impact on civilians," said Mark Lowcock, the UN's head of humanitarian affairs and emergency relief.

But "we continue to receive reports of violations of international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict," he said.



52 Palestinians Including Children Killed in Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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52 Palestinians Including Children Killed in Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four children, hospital officials said Saturday. Also, 24 others were fatally shot on their way to aid distribution sites.

The children and two women were among at least 13 people who were killed in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes pounded the area starting late Friday, officials in Al-Aqsa Martyr's Hospital said. Another four people were killed in strikes near a fuel station, and 15 others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.

The Israeli military said in a statement that over the past 48 hours, troops struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip, including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional Hamas infrastructure sites. The military did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment on the civilian deaths.

The Hamas-led group killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and abducted 251. They still hold 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

US President Donald Trump has said that he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war. But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu there were no signs of a breakthrough.