Report: Germany to Spend 10 mln Euros to Help Clear Mines in Raqqa

Smoke rises after an air strike during fighting between members of the Syrian Democratic Forces and ISIS militants in Raqqa, Syria. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Smoke rises after an air strike during fighting between members of the Syrian Democratic Forces and ISIS militants in Raqqa, Syria. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
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Report: Germany to Spend 10 mln Euros to Help Clear Mines in Raqqa

Smoke rises after an air strike during fighting between members of the Syrian Democratic Forces and ISIS militants in Raqqa, Syria. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Smoke rises after an air strike during fighting between members of the Syrian Democratic Forces and ISIS militants in Raqqa, Syria. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Germany will spend an initial 10 million euros to help remove mines from the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, a German newspaper reported Friday.

According to Handelsblatt daily, the foreign ministry is set to announce the increased funding as part of a pact with Washington.

The agreement calls for Germany to help fund Tetra Tech, a US government contractor working to clear mines from Raqqa, where US-backed militias last month declared victory over ISIS extremist group, the daily said.

The US military continues to press Germany for additional aid in Syria, but Berlin is waiting for measures on how to stabilize Syria, said the report.

Norbert Roettgen, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, told the paper that financial aid for rebuilding must be "combined with a reliable solution and political stability for Syria.”

The paper said the German contribution to the effort to de-mine Raqqa could be stepped up if the situation stabilized.



Israeli Forces and Drones Fire on Hundreds of Palestinians Waiting for Aid

Palestinians carry the body of a man killed a day earlier while attempting to get aid at a distribution point near the Israeli-controlled Zikim border crossing, during a funeral procession at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on June 23, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinians carry the body of a man killed a day earlier while attempting to get aid at a distribution point near the Israeli-controlled Zikim border crossing, during a funeral procession at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on June 23, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Israeli Forces and Drones Fire on Hundreds of Palestinians Waiting for Aid

Palestinians carry the body of a man killed a day earlier while attempting to get aid at a distribution point near the Israeli-controlled Zikim border crossing, during a funeral procession at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on June 23, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinians carry the body of a man killed a day earlier while attempting to get aid at a distribution point near the Israeli-controlled Zikim border crossing, during a funeral procession at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on June 23, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Israeli forces and drones opened fire toward hundreds of Palestinians waiting for aid trucks in central Gaza early Tuesday, killing at least 25 people, Palestinian witnesses and hospitals said.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment.

The Awda hospital in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp, which received the victims, said the Palestinians were waiting for the trucks on the Salah al-Din Road south of Wadi Gaza.

Witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli forces opened fire as people were advancing eastward to be close to the approaching trucks.