Efforts to Activate Russian-US Coordination in Syria

Caption: A picture taken on October 3, 2015 shows Russian Sukhoi Su-30 SM jet fighters landing on a runway at the Hmeimim airbase in the Syrian province of Latakia. AFP Photo
Caption: A picture taken on October 3, 2015 shows Russian Sukhoi Su-30 SM jet fighters landing on a runway at the Hmeimim airbase in the Syrian province of Latakia. AFP Photo
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Efforts to Activate Russian-US Coordination in Syria

Caption: A picture taken on October 3, 2015 shows Russian Sukhoi Su-30 SM jet fighters landing on a runway at the Hmeimim airbase in the Syrian province of Latakia. AFP Photo
Caption: A picture taken on October 3, 2015 shows Russian Sukhoi Su-30 SM jet fighters landing on a runway at the Hmeimim airbase in the Syrian province of Latakia. AFP Photo

The Russian and US armies activated their communications days after their forces witnessed the most violent skirmish in months in Syria, when a vehicle collision in the eastern part of the war-torn country left American troops with injuries.

“The two sides activated communications through military channels with an aim of respecting the delicate protocols reached between them and to prevent any future collisions,” a Russian source told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday.

He said that despite a turning up of rhetoric and accusations between the two sides following the incident, Moscow kept its patrols in the agreed areas and informed the US about their itinerary.

“The current contacts between the two sides aim to prevent any escalation and to enhance coordination in the future,” the Russian source said.

On Tuesday, one US official said Russian vehicles sideswiped a light-armored US military vehicle outside of the Syrian town of Al-Malikiyah located near Syria’s northeastern triple border with Turkey and Iraq, injuring four Americans.

Russia blamed the US military for the incident.

Washington then accused the Russian armored vehicle of hitting a US Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle and of violating “de-confliction protocols” worked out between Washington and Moscow since 2015.

Following the incident, a telephone conversation was held between the chief of the Russian military’s General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, and his US counterpart, Gen. Mark Milley, to contain the dispute.

Government-owned Russian media outlets stressed that the Russian forces “had succeeded in sending a clear message to the US to prevent it from continuing to stop Russian patrols in the area.”

Meanwhile, a delegation from the Syrian Democratic Council is in Moscow for expected talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday on the latest developments in eastern Syria.

Separately, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said Friday that a new air defense system will be sent to Syria to counter unmanned aerial vehicles by detecting and jamming the satellite “navigation system” channels.



Netanyahu Says Israel Is Establishing a New Security Corridor across Gaza

An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
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Netanyahu Says Israel Is Establishing a New Security Corridor across Gaza

An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is establishing a new security corridor across the Gaza Strip.

In a statement on Wednesday, he described it as the Morag corridor, using the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, suggesting it would run between the two southern cities.

His comments came as Palestinian officials at hospitals inside Gaza said Israeli strikes overnight and into Wednesday had killed more than 40 people, nearly a dozen of them children.

The Israeli government has long maintained a buffer zone just inside Gaza along its security fence and has greatly expanded since the war against Hamas began in 2023. Israel says the buffer zone is needed for its security, while Palestinians view it as a land grab that further shrinks the narrow coastal territory, home to around 2 million people.