Syria, Russia under Pressure over Use of Chemical Weapons

A Syrian girl holds an oxygen mask over the face of an infant at a make-shift hospital after a gas attack on Douma in the eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of Damascus on January 22, 2018. (AFP)
A Syrian girl holds an oxygen mask over the face of an infant at a make-shift hospital after a gas attack on Douma in the eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of Damascus on January 22, 2018. (AFP)
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Syria, Russia under Pressure over Use of Chemical Weapons

A Syrian girl holds an oxygen mask over the face of an infant at a make-shift hospital after a gas attack on Douma in the eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of Damascus on January 22, 2018. (AFP)
A Syrian girl holds an oxygen mask over the face of an infant at a make-shift hospital after a gas attack on Douma in the eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of Damascus on January 22, 2018. (AFP)

Syria and Russia faced renewed pressure over allegations of chemical weapons use as member countries of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) met on Monday.

Damascus faced calls for sanctions at the OPCW after investigators accused the Syrian regime of sarin attacks in 2017.

Russia and Syria have repeatedly denied the accusations, alleging that Western powers have politicized the Hague-based OPCW.

Syria had failed to meet 90-day deadline set in July to declare the weapons used in the attacks on the village of Lataminah and to reveal its remaining stocks, OPCW chief Fernando Arias said.

"The Syrian Arab Republic has not completed any of the measures," Arias told the meeting.

He said "gaps, inconsistencies and discrepancies" remained in Syria's account of its progress on its 2013 agreement to give up all chemical weapons following a suspected sarin attack that killed 1,400 people in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta.

France proposed that the OPCW should "suspend the rights and privileges" of Syria for failing to meet the deadline, French ambassador Luis Vassy said, adding that the proposal was backed by 43 states.

These would include Syria's voting rights in the OPCW, depriving it of a voice at a body where it has been deflecting allegations of toxic arms use for years.

Russia meanwhile came under pressure over the poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, which the politician and western governments have blamed on the Kremlin.

The OPCW has confirmed traces of the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok in samples taken from Navalny in hospital in Germany, where he is recovering.

Arias said the OPCW was still in talks with Russia to send a fact-finding team there to investigate the incident, he said.

In a joint statement, 55 countries including the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia and many in Europe said they "condemn in the strongest possible terms" the attack on Navalny.

They urged Russia "to assist... by disclosing in a swift and transparent manner the circumstances of this chemical weapons attack" on Russian territory.

The OPCW has 193 member states and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013 for its work in destroying the world's stocks of chemical weapons.



Hamas Says Delegation Discussed Gaza Truce With Egypt

05 May 2024, Palestinian Territories, Rafah: A Palestinian inspects a damaged house after Israeli warplanes bombed a home for the Al-Shaer family, leading to widespread destruction in the Al-Salam neighborhood, east of the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
05 May 2024, Palestinian Territories, Rafah: A Palestinian inspects a damaged house after Israeli warplanes bombed a home for the Al-Shaer family, leading to widespread destruction in the Al-Salam neighborhood, east of the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
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Hamas Says Delegation Discussed Gaza Truce With Egypt

05 May 2024, Palestinian Territories, Rafah: A Palestinian inspects a damaged house after Israeli warplanes bombed a home for the Al-Shaer family, leading to widespread destruction in the Al-Salam neighborhood, east of the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
05 May 2024, Palestinian Territories, Rafah: A Palestinian inspects a damaged house after Israeli warplanes bombed a home for the Al-Shaer family, leading to widespread destruction in the Al-Salam neighborhood, east of the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa

A Hamas delegation discussed a ceasefire in Gaza with Egyptian intelligence officials, two officials from the Palestinian group told AFP on Monday.

The "delegation met with the head of the Egyptian general intelligence, Major General Hassan Rashad, and a number of Egyptian intelligence officials, and discussed ways to stop the war and aggression, bring in aid, and open the Rafah crossing" at Gaza's border with Egypt, said a senior Hamas official who was part of the Cairo meeting on Sunday evening.

A second Hamas official also present in Cairo told AFP that "Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye are making great efforts to reach an agreement for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange".

"Our Palestinian people are waiting for American and international pressure on (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu to stop the war and reach an agreement as happened in Lebanon," the official said.

The meeting came shortly after Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah agreed on a ceasefire in Lebanon with mediation from the United States and France.

US President Joe Biden would launch a renewed drive for a ceasefire, his national security adviser Jake Sullivan said last week, adding Biden told his envoys to engage with Türkiye, Qatar, Egypt and other actors in the region.

Egyptian authorities did not publicly comment on any meetings with Hamas on Sunday.

The first official said any deal Hamas agrees to should include the conditions the movement has brought forward since the start of the war.

These include a full ceasefire, complete Israeli military withdrawal, unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes, "a serious deal to exchange prisoners in one go or in two stages", and reconstruction of the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

Israel has also repeatedly accused Hamas of delaying talks and not sincerely wanting to reach a deal.

The Hamas senior official also told AFP that "under Egyptian sponsorship" the Hamas delegation met Sunday evening with a delegation from the Fatah movement, Hamas's long-term rival currently in power in the occupied West Bank under the Palestinian Authority.

He said that the meeting focused on "arrangements for the internal Palestinian situation and the management of the Gaza Strip once the war ends".

The talks aimed to agree on the shape of "an independent administrative committee to manage the strip and supervise aid, crossings and reconstruction, in agreement with all Palestinian factions".

Jamal Obeid, a member of Fatah's leadership in Gaza, told AFP that Egypt was making intensive efforts to stop the war.

"The first priority (is) the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the return of the displaced, the opening of the crossings, relief for our afflicted people, and reconstruction under the management and supervision of the Palestinian National Authority," he said.

Obeid said meetings in Cairo between Fatah and Hamas were crucial in order "to stop the war and put the Palestinian house in order", and agree on what shape governance will take in Gaza after the war ends.