HRW Warns against ‘Guantanamo on the Euphrates’

Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces hold a meeting inside a house that has become their camp in Raqqa, Syria October 1, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro
Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces hold a meeting inside a house that has become their camp in Raqqa, Syria October 1, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro
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HRW Warns against ‘Guantanamo on the Euphrates’

Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces hold a meeting inside a house that has become their camp in Raqqa, Syria October 1, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro
Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces hold a meeting inside a house that has become their camp in Raqqa, Syria October 1, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro

Any transfers of suspected foreign militants and their relatives out of Syria should be transparent, Human Rights Watch told Agence France Presse, as camps in the northeast fill with families of different nationalities.

With the crumbling of ISIS, France is now considering bringing dozens of accused French militants, as well as their wives and children, back home from the detention centers and camps run by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

"We would definitely like to be present (during the transfer), or at least there should be some transparency," Nadim Houry, HRW's director of counter-terrorism, told AFP in the northern Syrian town of Amuda late Wednesday.

"As we speak, there may already be transfers happening. There's been a total lack of transparency, and bad things happen in the dark," he warned.

Tens of thousands of foreigners are estimated to have joined ISIS since 2014, but they have streamed out of its collapsing territory in recent years.

The SDF, who are bearing down on the shrinking pocket of ISIS territory in east Syria, told AFP they were detaining foreign fighters on a "daily basis."

The SDF are also holding hundreds of women and children who were born to alleged ISIS militants, including French nationals, in two main prison camps in the north.

Authorities at one of the camps, Al-Hol, say they have received more than 1,000 foreign nationals since fighting against ISIS's last positions ramped up in mid-December.

On Wednesday, dozens of foreign women and their young children, who had recently arrived from the battered ISIS pocket further south, could be seen waiting in a reception area in Al-Hol.

The women wore black veils covering everything but their blue eyes and called out to their pale, thin children in English and French.

They were waiting to be assigned tents in the cordoned-off section of the camp where foreigners are held, and were not allowed to speak to reporters.

French sources have told AFP that an estimated 50 adults and 80 children could be brought back to France, but authorities have not confirmed any planned transfer.

"While this debate is taking place in France, it's not clear it has manifested itself in any concrete measures on the ground," said Houry, whose team plans to visit foreigners in the camps. 

HRW is seeking clarity on the numbers that might return, what route they would be transferred through, and whether children would be separated from their parents.

France has a responsibility not to leave its citizens, including children under seven years old, in legal limbo in a "Guantanamo on the Euphrates," Houry said.

"We are confident that once they actually hit France, there is a mechanism in place," he said. 

"What we're concerned about is what is going to happen between now and then. We're in a grey zone."



Aid Trucks Move from Egypt to Gaza after Israel Said it Began Airdrops

Palestinians carry sacks of flour unloaded from a humanitarian aid convoy that reached Gaza City from the northern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians carry sacks of flour unloaded from a humanitarian aid convoy that reached Gaza City from the northern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
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Aid Trucks Move from Egypt to Gaza after Israel Said it Began Airdrops

Palestinians carry sacks of flour unloaded from a humanitarian aid convoy that reached Gaza City from the northern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians carry sacks of flour unloaded from a humanitarian aid convoy that reached Gaza City from the northern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Aid trucks started moving towards Gaza from Egypt, the Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said on Sunday, after months of international pressure and warnings from relief agencies of starvation spreading in the Palestinian enclave.

Israel said that it began aid airdrops to Gaza on Saturday and was taking several other steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, reported Reuters.

The Israeli military said "humanitarian corridors" would be established for safe movement of United Nations convoys delivering aid to Gazans and that "humanitarian pauses" would be implemented in densely populated areas.

Dozens of trucks carrying tons of humanitarian aid moved towards the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in southern Gaza, the Al Qahera correspondent said from the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

International aid organizations say there is mass hunger among Gaza's 2.2 million people, with food running out after Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March, before resuming it in May with new restrictions.

Israel says it has let enough food into Gaza and accuses the United Nations of failing to distribute it. The United Nations says it is operating as effectively as possible under Israeli restrictions.

Israel's announcement on airdrops came after indirect ceasefire talks in Doha between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas were broken off with no deal in sight.

The Israeli military said in a statement that the airdrops would be conducted in coordination with international aid organizations and would include seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar, and canned food.

Palestinian sources confirmed that aid had begun dropping in northern Gaza.

Israel's foreign ministry said the military would "apply a 'humanitarian pause' in civilian centers and in humanitarian corridors" on Sunday morning. It provided no further details.

The Israeli military said in its Saturday statement that the Israeli army “emphasizes that there is no starvation in the Gaza Strip; this is a false campaign promoted by Hamas”.

"Responsibility for food distribution to the population in Gaza lies with the UN and international aid organizations. Therefore, the UN and international organizations are expected to improve the effectiveness of aid distribution and to ensure that the aid does not reach Hamas."

AID SHIP INTERCEPTED

The Israeli military stressed that despite the humanitarian steps, "combat operations have not ceased" in the Gaza Strip.

Separately, international activists on an aid ship that set sail from Italy en route to Gaza said in a post on X that the vessel had been intercepted.

The Israeli foreign ministry said on X that naval forces "stopped the vessel from illegally entering the maritime zone of the coast of Gaza," that it was being taken to Israeli shores and all passengers were safe.

The UN said on Thursday that humanitarian pauses in Gaza would allow "the scale up of humanitarian assistance" and said Israel had not provided enough route alternatives for its convoys hindering aid access.

Dozens of Gazans have died of malnutrition in the past few weeks, according to the Gaza Health Ministry while 127 people have died due to malnutrition, including 85 children, since the start of the war, which began nearly two years ago.

On Wednesday, more than 100 aid agencies warned that mass starvation was spreading across the enclave.

The military also said on Saturday that it had connected a power line to a desalination plant, expected to supply daily water needs for about 900,000 Gazans.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas-led fighters stormed Israeli towns near the border, killing some 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages on October 7, 2023. Since then, Israeli forces have killed nearly 60,000 people in Gaza, health officials there say, and reduced much of the enclave to ruins.