Syria Opposition Presents ‘Roadmap’ for Peace

Destruction in Syria. (Reuters)
Destruction in Syria. (Reuters)
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Syria Opposition Presents ‘Roadmap’ for Peace

Destruction in Syria. (Reuters)
Destruction in Syria. (Reuters)

The Syrian opposition announced on Monday a “roadmap” for peace that will be presented to key players in the conflict over the next two weeks.

The initiative includes steps to be taken ahead of an election and guidelines for a plan to write the country's post-war constitution.

The roadmap was drawn up by representatives of the opposition invited to Rome by the Catholic Sant'Egidio community.

The roadmap presented by the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), the main opposition force, as well as several minor groups, details the shape a new government and parliament could take.

It calls for the make-up of the committee to "reflect the composition of the country" and says all "arrangements/rules/law aiming at dissolving/obstructing/impeding the political activities of the opposition" must be scrapped.

The commission, within a nine-month timeframe, should not only prepare the constitution but also draft party and electoral law.

A new transitional government should organize general and presidential elections through an election commission set up by the committee under the supervision of the UN, it said.

It also called for a "general amnesty" and the "abolition of all laws, legislations and procedures aimed at prosecuting and punishing the participants of the events in Syria" since 2011, as well as the safe and voluntary return of refugees.

The leaders of Turkey, Russia, France and Germany on Saturday called for a political solution to the devastating seven-year civil war and a lasting ceasefire in the last major opposition-held bastion of Idlib.

Their statement called for a committee to be established to draft Syria's post-war constitution before the end of the year, "paving the way for free and fair elections" in the war-torn country.

A rival UN plan for a committee to write the constitution ran aground last week, with UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura saying Damascus rejected the UN having a role in the selection process.

Over 360,000 people have been killed in the conflict since 2011.



Israel Army Says Troops Capture Hezbollah Fighter, Strike Kills 2 in Lebanon

 Smoke rises in Lebanon as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, in northern Israel, July 5, 2026. (Reuters)
Smoke rises in Lebanon as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, in northern Israel, July 5, 2026. (Reuters)
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Israel Army Says Troops Capture Hezbollah Fighter, Strike Kills 2 in Lebanon

 Smoke rises in Lebanon as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, in northern Israel, July 5, 2026. (Reuters)
Smoke rises in Lebanon as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, in northern Israel, July 5, 2026. (Reuters)

The Israeli military on Wednesday said its troops had seized a Hezbollah fighter during an encounter in southern Lebanon a day earlier and transferred him to Israel for questioning.

The fighter was captured in the Bint Jbeil area on Tuesday, where Israeli troops clashed with Hezbollah combatants.

"The apprehended terrorist is a member of Hezbollah's Radwan Force ... responsible for carrying out attacks against Israeli soldiers and Israeli civilians throughout the war," the military said in a statement, adding that he had been brought to Israel.

Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed two people on Wednesday, Lebanese state media reported, the latest attack despite a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

"Two young men were martyred after being targeted by an enemy drone... while they were walking in the vicinity of Ghandour Hospital in Nabatieh al-Fawqa," Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said, two days after a strike on the same town killed four civilians including a school principal.

Israel has kept up intermittent strikes on south Lebanon, despite a two-week-old truce, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah sites and operatives.

Both sides accuse each other of violating the ceasefire.

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the wider Middle East war with rocket attacks on Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, in US-Israeli strikes.

Last month, Israel and Lebanon signed a US-mediated agreement aimed at paving the way for a permanent end to hostilities.

Israeli forces remain deployed in what the military describes as a security zone extending roughly 10 kilometers (six miles) into Lebanese territory.

Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have repeatedly said that forces would remain in the occupied area "as long as necessary" to protect communities in northern Israel.

Lebanese authorities say Israeli attacks since March 2 have killed around 4,300 people.

The Israeli military says it has lost 38 soldiers and a civilian contractor in the fighting in southern Lebanon over the same period.


Arab League Chief Says Blocked by Israel from Visiting West Bank

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy. (Arab League)
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy. (Arab League)
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Arab League Chief Says Blocked by Israel from Visiting West Bank

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy. (Arab League)
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy. (Arab League)

The new secretary-general of the Arab League, Nabil Fahmy, said Wednesday Israel had blocked him from visiting Ramallah, in what would have been his first foreign visit since taking office this month.

The regional bloc's secretariat was informed by Palestinian authorities "of the Israeli occupation authorities' rejection of a visit... to the occupied Palestinian territories" to visit Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, Fahmy's office said in a statement.


RSF Drone Strikes on Civilian Vehicles Kill at Least 20 in Sudan, Rights Groups Say

Sudanese women gather for a hot meal in al-Rahmaniyah camp for displaced people, near the city of el-Obeid in the southern Kordofan region on July 7, 2026. (AFP)
Sudanese women gather for a hot meal in al-Rahmaniyah camp for displaced people, near the city of el-Obeid in the southern Kordofan region on July 7, 2026. (AFP)
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RSF Drone Strikes on Civilian Vehicles Kill at Least 20 in Sudan, Rights Groups Say

Sudanese women gather for a hot meal in al-Rahmaniyah camp for displaced people, near the city of el-Obeid in the southern Kordofan region on July 7, 2026. (AFP)
Sudanese women gather for a hot meal in al-Rahmaniyah camp for displaced people, near the city of el-Obeid in the southern Kordofan region on July 7, 2026. (AFP)

Drone strikes on civilian vehicles headed to social gatherings in Sudan have killed more than 20 people in recent days, rights groups said, as the use of unmanned aircraft becomes increasingly common in the northeastern African country’s war.

A drone strike on a road west of Omdurman on the outskirts of Khartoum on Tuesday killed 10 civilians, including five women from the same family, as they drove to a wedding, the Sudan Doctors Network said Wednesday.

The medical aid group, which has been tracking violence been the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces throughout the more than three-year war, blamed the attack on the RSF.

The vehicle immediately caught fire after the strike and all 10 people inside died, a witness told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

The doctors group said the strike “was deliberate and carried out using a guided drone” and called for the international community to pressure RSF leadership to stop targeting civilians.

A separate drone strike on Tuesday hit a transport vehicle near a water facility in the province, killing two people, according to Emergency Lawyers, which tracks violence in Sudan.

The previous day, 13 civilians, including five women, were killed when a drone hit their vehicle as they headed to a wedding in al-Shaatout town, in North Kordofan province, Emergency Lawyers said.

“This attack is part of an escalating pattern of drone attacks on civilians as drones continue to fly over the northern parts of the province ... monitoring residents’ movements,” the group said in a statement.

North Kordofan has seen a surge in drone strikes amid international concerns about the RSF closing in on the strategic city of el-Obeid, which is home to the army’s 5th Infantry Division.

Drone strikes on the city have destroyed civilian infrastructure, including power facilities and neighborhoods, and targeted bridges and key supply routes, according to the UN.

The war in Sudan, which started in April 2023 after long-simmering tensions between the army and the RSF, has killed at least 59,000 people, displaced some 13 million and pushed many parts of the country into famine. More than 30 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Kordofan and Darfur have been the epicenters of the war, but heavy fighting also has broken out across the Blue Nile State.

The army said in a statement Wednesday that it had recaptured the strategic border town of Kurmuk in Blue Nile State after heavy fighting with the RSF, claiming the paramilitary withdrew from the area, leaving behind weapons and military vehicles. The Associated Press couldn't indecently verify the army's claim.