US Begins Withdrawing Forces from Syria, Cites ISIS Defeat

A member of U.S forces rides on a military vehicle in the town of Darbasiya next to the Turkish border, Syria April 28, 2017. (Reuters)
A member of U.S forces rides on a military vehicle in the town of Darbasiya next to the Turkish border, Syria April 28, 2017. (Reuters)
TT
20

US Begins Withdrawing Forces from Syria, Cites ISIS Defeat

A member of U.S forces rides on a military vehicle in the town of Darbasiya next to the Turkish border, Syria April 28, 2017. (Reuters)
A member of U.S forces rides on a military vehicle in the town of Darbasiya next to the Turkish border, Syria April 28, 2017. (Reuters)

The United States began on Wednesday withdrawing its troops from Syria, citing the defeat of the ISIS terrorist group.

"We have started returning United States troops home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement issued after President Donald Trump tweeted that "We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there."

"We have started returning United States troops home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement issued after President Donald Trump tweeted that "We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there."

It was not immediately clear from Sanders' statement whether all of the roughly 2,000 US troops in the country would leave and if so, by when.

Sanders suggested that the United States would remain engaged to some degree.

"The United States and our allies stand ready to re-engage at all levels to defend American interests whenever necessary, and we will continue to work together to deny radical terrorists territory, funding, support," she said.

The US will withdraw all of its troops from Syria, a US official told AFP

"We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency," the Republican leader tweeted.

The US official told AFP that Trump's decision was finalized Tuesday.

"Full withdrawal, all means all," the official said when asked if the troops would be pulled from across all of Syria.

Currently, about 2,000 US forces are in Syria, most of them on a train-and-advise mission to support local forces fighting ISIS.

Most US troops are stationed in northern Syria, though a small contingent is based at a garrison in Al-Tanaf, near the Jordanian and Iraqi borders.

A decision to pull out completely would upend assumptions about a longer-term US military presence in Syria, which senior US officials have advocated to help ensure ISIS cannot reemerge.

It could also undercut US leverage in the region and undermine diplomatic efforts to end a war in Syria that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced around half of the country's pre-war 22 million population.

The US State Department is evacuating all of its personnel from Syria within 24 hours, a US official told Reuters.

The official said the US plans to pull military forces out of the country once the final stages of the last operation against ISIS is complete, and that the time-frame for the troop pullout is expected to be between 60 to 100 days.

The decision came after a phone call between Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday.

"Everything that has followed is implementing the agreement that was made in that call," the official said.

Just last week, the US special envoy to the anti-ISIS coalition, Brett McGurk, said US troops would remain in Syria even after the ISIS was driven from its strongholds.

"I think it's fair to say Americans will remain on the ground after the physical defeat of the 'caliphate', until we have the pieces in place to ensure that that defeat is enduring," McGurk told reporters on December 11. "Nobody is declaring a mission accomplished. Defeating a physical caliphate is one phase of a much longer-term campaign."

And two weeks ago Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the US still has a long way to go in training local Syrian forces to prevent a resurgence of ISIS and stabilize the country. He said it will take 35,000 to 40,000 local troops in northeastern Syria to maintain security over the long term, but only about 20 percent of them have been trained.

Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, said in September that the US would keep a military presence in Syria as long as Iran is active there. "We're not going to leave as long as Iranian troops are outside Iranian borders and that includes Iranian proxies and militias," he said.



Jerusalem Patriarch Hails Pope’s Commitment to Gaza

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks during a press conference at the Latin Catholic patriarchate at the Old City of Jerusalem, 22 April 2025. (EPA)
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks during a press conference at the Latin Catholic patriarchate at the Old City of Jerusalem, 22 April 2025. (EPA)
TT
20

Jerusalem Patriarch Hails Pope’s Commitment to Gaza

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks during a press conference at the Latin Catholic patriarchate at the Old City of Jerusalem, 22 April 2025. (EPA)
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks during a press conference at the Latin Catholic patriarchate at the Old City of Jerusalem, 22 April 2025. (EPA)

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, on Tuesday hailed Pope Francis's support for Gazans and engagement with the small Catholic community in the war-battered Palestinian territory.

The Catholic church's highest authority in the region, who is considered a potential successor to the late pontiff, Pizzaballa told journalists in Jerusalem that "Gaza represents, a little bit, all what was the heart of his pontificate".

Pope Francis, who died on Monday aged 88, advocated peace and "closeness to the poor... and to the neglected one", said the patriarch.

These positions became particularly evident in Francis's response to the Israel-Hamas war which broke out in October 2023, Pizzaballa said.

"He was very close to the community of Gaza, the parish of Gaza, he kept calling them many times -- for a certain period, also every day, every evening at 7 pm," said the patriarch.

He added that by doing so, the pope "became for the community something stable, and also comforting for them, and he knew this".

Out of the Gaza Strip's 2.4 million people, about 1,000 are Christians. Most of them are Orthodox, but according to the Latin Patriarchate, there are about 135 Catholics in the territory.

Since the early days of the war, members of the Catholic community have been sheltering at Holy Family Church compound in Gaza City, and some Orthodox Christians have also found refuge there.

Pope Francis repeatedly called for an end to the war. The day before his death, in a final Easter message delivered on Sunday, he condemned the "deplorable humanitarian situation" in the besieged territory.

"Work for justice... but without becoming part of the conflict," said Pizzaballa of the late pontiff's actions.

"For us, for the Church, it leaves an important legacy."

The patriarch thanked the numerous Palestinian and Israeli public figures who have offered their condolences, preferring not to comment on the lack of any official message from Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Even as "the local authorities... were not always happy" with the pope's positions or statements, they were "always very respectful", he said.

Pizzaballa said he will travel to Rome on Wednesday, after leading a requiem mass for the pope at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem in the morning.

As one of the 135 cardinal electors, the Latin patriarch will participate in the conclave to elect a new pope.

Pizzaballa, a 60-year-old Italian Franciscan who also speaks English and Hebrew, arrived in Jerusalem in 1990 and was made a cardinal in September 2023, just before the Gaza war began.

His visits to Gaza and appeals for peace since then have attracted international attention.