Russia's Top Diplomat Says Dividing Syria Is A Serious Threat

 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addresses the UN Human Rights Council on February 28, 2018 in Geneva (Fabrice Coffrini, AFP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addresses the UN Human Rights Council on February 28, 2018 in Geneva (Fabrice Coffrini, AFP)
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Russia's Top Diplomat Says Dividing Syria Is A Serious Threat

 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addresses the UN Human Rights Council on February 28, 2018 in Geneva (Fabrice Coffrini, AFP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addresses the UN Human Rights Council on February 28, 2018 in Geneva (Fabrice Coffrini, AFP)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Wednesday of the consequences of dividing Syria if Washington continues to encourage separatism in the war-torn country.

Speaking at a special session of the Valdai International Discussion Club’s Middle East Conference, Lavrov said the frozen state of the Syrian conflict is fraught with a breakup of the country, stressing that Russia is exerting efforts to avert this issue.

"It is fraught with a collapse of the country, which would be particularly tragic not just because of the Kurdish factor that will immediately acquire regional dimension. There could be unpredictable consequences," said Lavrov.

"We are making every effort to avoid it, but it does look like a frozen conflict," he said when asked about the state of the conflict in Syria.

Lavrov also strongly lashed out at the US, accusing Washington of exploiting Syria’s resources and using ISIS terror group to hinder settlement in the country.

"ISIS was actively used and continues to be used by the US to hinder the processes that will lead to a settlement in Syria with the full participation of the current government,” the FM said.

He accused the US of exploiting the hydrocarbons and grain that is produced in Syria.

“They make business to pay for the separatist actions of some Kurdish organizations to block dialogue between Kurds and Damascus.”

The Russian top diplomat reiterated the need to resolve the Syrian crisis by implementing the UNSC Resolution 2254.



Israeli War Planes Pound Beirut Suburb, Hezbollah Strikes Back

 Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburb of Beirut known as Dahiyeh, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburb of Beirut known as Dahiyeh, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP)
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Israeli War Planes Pound Beirut Suburb, Hezbollah Strikes Back

 Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburb of Beirut known as Dahiyeh, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburb of Beirut known as Dahiyeh, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP)

The Israeli military pounded Beirut's southern suburbs with airstrikes on Tuesday, mounting one of its heaviest daytime attacks yet on the Hezbollah-controlled area after the defense minister ruled out a ceasefire until Israeli goals were met.

Smoke billowed over Beirut as around a dozen strikes hit the southern suburbs from mid-morning. After posting warnings to civilians on social media, the Israeli military said it had struck Hezbollah targets in the Dahiyeh area of southern Beirut, including command centers and weapons production sites.

It said it had taken steps to reduce harm to civilians and repeated its standing accusation that Hezbollah deliberately embeds itself into civilian areas to use residents as human shields, a charge Hezbollah rejects.

In northern Israel, two people were killed in the city of Nahariya when a residential building was hit by a missile, Israeli police said.

Israelis were forced to take shelter across the north as attack drones were launched from Lebanon, the military said. One hit the yard of a kindergarten in a Haifa suburb, where the children had been rushed into a shelter, rescue workers said. None were hurt.

An Israeli strike back across the border killed five people in the Lebanese village of Baalchmay southeast of Beirut, and five more were killed in a strike on the town of Tefahta in the south, Lebanon's health ministry said. Another person was killed in a strike in Hermel in the northeast, it said.

Beirut residents have largely fled the southern suburbs since Israel began bombing it in September. Footage of one strike shared on social media showed two missiles slamming into a building of around 10 storeys, demolishing it and sending up clouds of debris.

Ignited by the Gaza war, the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah had been rumbling on for a year before Israel went on the offensive in September, pounding wide areas of Lebanon with airstrikes and sending troops into the south.

Israel has dealt Hezbollah heavy blows, killing many of its leaders including Hassan Nasrallah, flattening large areas of the southern suburbs, destroying border villages in the south, and striking more widely across Lebanon.

Since hostilities erupted a year ago, Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,287 people in Lebanon, the majority in the last seven weeks, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Its figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Hezbollah attacks have killed about 100 civilians and soldiers in northern Israel, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and southern Lebanon over the last year.

WAR GOALS

Israel's new defense minister Israel Katz said on Monday there would be no ceasefire in Lebanon until Israel achieves its goals.

"Israel will not agree to any arrangement that does not guarantee Israel's right to enforce and prevent terrorism on its own, and meet the goals of the war in Lebanon - disarming Hezbollah and its withdrawal beyond the Litani River and returning the residents of the north safely to their homes," he said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar had said earlier on Monday there had been "a certain progress" in ceasefire talks but the main challenge facing any ceasefire deal would be enforcement.

The Lebanese government, which includes Hezbollah, has repeatedly called for a ceasefire based on the full implementation of a UN resolution that ended a war between the group and Israel in 2006.

The resolution calls for the area south of the Litani to be free of all weapons other than those of the Lebanese state. Lebanon and Israel have accused each other of violating the resolution.

Israel's offensive has driven more than 1 million people from their homes in Lebanon, causing a humanitarian crisis.

Hezbollah rocket fire into northern Israel has forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate the area over the last year.