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Netanyahu to Discuss with Putin Preventing Syria Regime Forces from Entering Quneitra

Israeli soldiers patrol near the border with Syria. (AFP)
Israeli soldiers patrol near the border with Syria. (AFP)
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Netanyahu to Discuss with Putin Preventing Syria Regime Forces from Entering Quneitra

Israeli soldiers patrol near the border with Syria. (AFP)
Israeli soldiers patrol near the border with Syria. (AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he will travel to Moscow later this week to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Israel’s stance on southern Syria.

Speaking at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said Israel "will not tolerate a military deployment of Iran and its proxies in any area of Syria."

"We meet from time to time to ensure security coordination and of course discuss developments in the region," he added.

“At the meeting, I will reiterate the two basic principles of Israel's policy: First, we will not tolerate the establishment of a military presence by Iran and its proxies anywhere in Syria – not close to the border and not far away from it. Second, we will demand that Syria, and the Syrian military, strictly uphold the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement,” he stressed.

The agreement prevents the Syrian regime forces from being present with heavy weapons in a security belt along the border.

This effectively prevents them from entering the region of Quneitra and other border regions, which are currently controlled by the opposition, sources close to Netanyahu explained.

"I also maintain constant contact with the US administration. These ties with the two great powers (Russia and the US) are very important for the security of Israel, especially now," added Netanyahu.

In its statement on Friday, the Israeli military said that, while not involved in Syria’s war, it would “continue to implement the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement that includes maintaining the buffer zone.”

The UN-monitored 1974 armistice bars or limits military build-ups by either side around the Golan.

An Israeli cabinet minister said on Thursday that Israel could fire at any Syrian forces it deems to be violating the truce deal.

According to analyses in Tel Aviv, the Syrian regime operation to take control of the areas adjacent to the ceasefire line will take several weeks and will not be as easy to control as Daraa.

The regime should not escalate tensions before the end of the Russia-hosted World Cup so as not to anger Moscow.

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Palestinians Get Food Aid in Central Gaza, Some for the First Time in Months

Donated flour is distributed to Palestinians at a UNRWA center in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP)
Donated flour is distributed to Palestinians at a UNRWA center in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP)
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Palestinians Get Food Aid in Central Gaza, Some for the First Time in Months

Donated flour is distributed to Palestinians at a UNRWA center in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP)
Donated flour is distributed to Palestinians at a UNRWA center in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP)

Palestinians lined up for bags of flour distributed by the UN in central Gaza on Tuesday morning, some of them for the first time in months amid a drop in food aid entering the territory.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, gave out one 25-kilogram flour bag (55 pounds) to each family of 10 at a warehouse in the Nuseirat refugee camp, as well as further south in the city of Khan Younis.

Jalal al-Shaer, among the dozens receiving flour at the Nuseirat warehouse, said the bag would last his family of 12 for only two or three days.

“The situation for us is very difficult,” said another man in line, Hammad Moawad. “There is no flour, there is no food, prices are high ... We eat bread crumbs.” He said his family hadn’t received a flour allotment in five or six months.

COGAT, the Israeli army body in charge of humanitarian affairs, said it facilitated entry of a shipment of 600 tons of flour on Sunday for the World Food Program. Still, the amount of aid Israel has allowed into Gaza since the beginning of October has been at nearly the lowest levels of the 15-month-old war.

UNRWA’s senior emergency officer Louise Wateridge told The Associated Press that the flour bags being distributed Tuesday were not enough.

“People are getting one bag of flour between an entire family and there is no certainty when they’ll receive the next food,” she said.

Wateridge added that UNRWA has been struggling like other humanitarian agencies to provide much needed supplies across the Gaza Strip. The agency this week announced it was stopping delivering aid entering through the main crossing from Israel, Kerem Shalom, because its convoys were being robbed by gangs. UNRWA has blamed Israel in large part for the spread of lawlessness in Gaza.

The International Criminal Court is seeking to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over accusations of using “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel rejects the allegations and says it has been working hard to improve entry of aid.