Syria Opposition Rejects US-Backed Border Force

Kurdish People’s Protection Units fighters. (AFP)
Kurdish People’s Protection Units fighters. (AFP)
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Syria Opposition Rejects US-Backed Border Force

Kurdish People’s Protection Units fighters. (AFP)
Kurdish People’s Protection Units fighters. (AFP)

The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces rejected on Wednesday Washington’s efforts to form a border force on Syria’s border.

The Coalition condemned the move, adding that it opposes Kurdish presence in the areas that have been liberated from the ISIS terrorist group.

The US-led coalition announced on Sunday that it is working on forming a force of 30,000 members in eastern Syria. Ankara, Damascus and Tehran have rejected the move.

The Syrian Coalition added: “It is unacceptable to place lands liberated from ISIS under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) or any other organizations that have agendas that contradict the goals of the Syrian revolution and are instead linked to the regime and occupation forces.”

The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) acted as the backbone of the SDF. Backed by the US the YPG achieved major victories against ISIS, the last of which was expelling the group from Raqqa.

The Syrian opposition criticizes Kurdish fighters for their “neutral” stance since the eruption of the Syrian conflict in 2011 and their failure to confront regime forces.



Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
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Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli airstrikes on Sunday killed at least 29 Palestinians, including six children near a water distribution point.

The attacks came with apparent deadlock in a week of indirect talks in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas for a ceasefire in the territory.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Gaza City was hit by several strikes overnight and in the early morning, killing eight, "including women and children" and wounding others.

An Israeli airstrike hit a family home near the Nuseirat refugee camp, south of Gaza City, resulting in "10 martyrs and several injured", Bassal said.

In central Gaza, six children were among eight people killed when a drone "hit a potable water distribution point in an area for displaced people" in the Nuseirat camp, he added.

Several other people were wounded, he said.

In the territory's south, three people were killed when Israeli jets hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the coastal Al-Mawasi area, according to the civil defense spokesman.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has recently intensified its operations across Gaza, more than 21 months into the war triggered by Hamas's October 2023 attack.

On Saturday, the military said fighter jets had hit more than 35 "Hamas terror targets" around Beit Hanun in northern Gaza.

The vast majority of Gaza's population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions in the territory.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency and other parties.