Damascus Denounces US-European Statement on Syria

 Boys stand near a damaged site after an airstrike in the Eastern Ghouta town of Misraba, Syria on January 4, 2018. Bassam Khabied/ Reuters
Boys stand near a damaged site after an airstrike in the Eastern Ghouta town of Misraba, Syria on January 4, 2018. Bassam Khabied/ Reuters
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Damascus Denounces US-European Statement on Syria

 Boys stand near a damaged site after an airstrike in the Eastern Ghouta town of Misraba, Syria on January 4, 2018. Bassam Khabied/ Reuters
Boys stand near a damaged site after an airstrike in the Eastern Ghouta town of Misraba, Syria on January 4, 2018. Bassam Khabied/ Reuters

Syria’s Foreign Ministry has denounced the US-European joint statement on the ninth anniversary of the country's crisis, in which thousands were killed, injured and displaced.

“It is neither strange nor surprising what was stated in the US-British-French-German joint statement on the ninth year of the global plot targeting Syria, which is faced by Syrians’ steadfastness and the successive achievements of the Syrian Arab Army,” a Foreign Ministry official source said, Sana news agency reported.

“Developments have proven that what Syria and some Arab countries have faced is a scenario prepared by the renewed old hegemonic and colonial powers to re-impose their control over the world,” the statement read.

“These powers want to take over these countries’ resources and confiscate the national decision to serve their agendas,” it added.

The source pointed out that Israel might have the upper hand in the Arab region, accusing the European countries of “cooperating with the Turkish government to destroy Syria.”

The statement denounced what it described as a “false lamentation and hypocrisy that characterize the West’s colonial rhetoric on human rights in Syria.”

It stressed that these “western parties are stained by Syrians’ blood,” saying they are the reason behind the people’s suffering.

The statement stressed that terrorism and aggression against Syria have displaced millions of citizens.

Syria's war has entered its 10th year in March amid thousands of deaths and injuries, millions of displacements and the destruction of Syrian cities.

The US, Britain, France, and Germany have affirmed that no military solution is available for the Syrian crisis.

“We will not consider providing or supporting any reconstruction assistance until a credible, substantive, and genuine political process is irreversibly underway,” they said in their joint statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed in a video conference with German, British and French leaders the migrant crisis and the situation in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.

He also discussed with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson methods of delivering humanitarian aid to Idlib.



Hezbollah Chief Says Israel Must Fully Withdraw from Lebanon by February 18

 A photo taken from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Hamam shows smoke rising after an explosion during an Israeli army operation in the village of Kfar Shouba near the border on February 16, 2024. (AFP)
A photo taken from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Hamam shows smoke rising after an explosion during an Israeli army operation in the village of Kfar Shouba near the border on February 16, 2024. (AFP)
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Hezbollah Chief Says Israel Must Fully Withdraw from Lebanon by February 18

 A photo taken from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Hamam shows smoke rising after an explosion during an Israeli army operation in the village of Kfar Shouba near the border on February 16, 2024. (AFP)
A photo taken from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Hamam shows smoke rising after an explosion during an Israeli army operation in the village of Kfar Shouba near the border on February 16, 2024. (AFP)

The head of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said on Sunday that Israeli troops must withdraw from Lebanese territory in full by a February 18 deadline, saying it had "no pretext" to maintain a military presence in any post in southern Lebanon.

Under a truce brokered by Washington in November, Israeli troops were granted 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon where they had waged a ground offensive against fighters from Iran-backed Hezbollah since early October.

That deadline was later extended to February 18, but Israel's military requested that it keep troops in five posts in southern Lebanon, sources told Reuters last week.

In a recorded televised speech, Hezbollah secretary general Naim Qassem said: "Israel must withdraw completely on Feb. 18, it has no pretext, no five points or other details... this is the agreement."

Qassem said any Israeli military presence on Lebanese soil after February 18 would be considered an occupying force.

"Everyone knows how an occupation is dealt with," Qassem said, without explicitly threatening that his group would resume attacks against Israel.

Israel's public broadcaster said on Wednesday the US had authorized a "long term" Israeli troop presence in southern Lebanon.

During the broadcast of Qassem's speech, at least three Israeli air strikes hit Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley. Israel's military said it conducted strikes after identifying Hezbollah activity at sites containing rocket launchers and other weapons.

Qassem also called on the Lebanese government to reconsider its ban on Iranian flights landing in Beirut.

Lebanese authorities banned the flights from landing until February 18 following Israeli accusations that Tehran was using civilian aircraft to smuggle cash to Beirut to arm Hezbollah.

The decision stranded dozens of Lebanese nationals in Iran, where they had been on a religious pilgrimage with plans to return via Iran's Mahan Air. Lebanon sent two of its own planes to retrieve them, but Iran barred them from landing in Tehran.

Hezbollah organized a protest outside Beirut airport on Saturday, where its supporters were tear gassed by Lebanese troops.

Qassem described Lebanon's ban on Iranian planes as "the implementation of an Israeli order".

"Let the plane land and we will see what Israel will do," he said.