Biden Administration Remains Silent over Talks on American Hostages in Syria

President Joe Biden speaks in Warren, Michigan, US, on September 9, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis
President Joe Biden speaks in Warren, Michigan, US, on September 9, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis
TT
20

Biden Administration Remains Silent over Talks on American Hostages in Syria

President Joe Biden speaks in Warren, Michigan, US, on September 9, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis
President Joe Biden speaks in Warren, Michigan, US, on September 9, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis

A number of US officials have remained silent on negotiations with the Syrian regime to release American hostages arrested in Syria.

Commenting on a report published by The Associated Press on a visit carried out by two US officials last summer to Syria, a source from the Syrian opposition said that this might bring the issue back to the surface.

Yet, a diplomatic source from the opposition said that progress is unlikely at a time when American officials are publicly criticizing the Syrian regime.

Yet the trip was ultimately fruitless, with the Syrians raising a series of demands that would have fundamentally reshaped Washington’s policy toward Damascus, including the removal of sanctions, the withdrawal of troops from the country and the restoration of normal diplomatic ties.

Equally as problematic for the American negotiators: Syrian officials offered no meaningful information on the fate and whereabouts of American hostage Austin Tice and others.

“Success would have been bringing the Americans home and we never got there,” Kash Patel, who attended the meeting as a senior White House aide, said in his first public comments about the effort.

The White House acknowledged the meeting in October but said little about it.

The AP has also learned about the US attempts to build goodwill with Syria well before the talks took place, with Patel describing how an unidentified US ally in the region offered assistance with cancer treatment for the wife of President Bashar Assad.

The details shed light on the sensitive and often secretive efforts to free hostages held by the US adversaries, a process that yielded high-profile successes for former President Donald Trump but also dead ends. It’s unclear how aggressively the new Biden administration will advance the efforts to free Tice and other Americans held around the world, particularly when demands at a negotiating table clash with the White House’s broader foreign policy goals.

The August meeting in Damascus represented the highest-level talks in years between the US and the Assad government.



UN Calls for Independent Probe into Civilians Harmed Trying to Get Food in Gaza

 Palestinians carry bags filled with food and humanitarian aid provided by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed organization approved by Israel, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians carry bags filled with food and humanitarian aid provided by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed organization approved by Israel, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
TT
20

UN Calls for Independent Probe into Civilians Harmed Trying to Get Food in Gaza

 Palestinians carry bags filled with food and humanitarian aid provided by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed organization approved by Israel, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians carry bags filled with food and humanitarian aid provided by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed organization approved by Israel, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday slammed as "unacceptable" the deaths of Palestinians seeking food aid in Gaza, a spokesman said, calling the loss of life in the territory "unthinkable".

"The Secretary-General continues to call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for the perpetrators to be held to account," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

"We are witnessing unthinkable loss of life in Gaza (and) the secretary-general condemns the loss of lives and injuries of Palestinians seeking aid," he said. "It is unacceptable civilians are risking and in several instances losing their lives just trying to get food."

At least 27 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire near a food distribution site in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, local health authorities said, in the third day of chaos and bloodshed to affect the aid operation.

A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross told Reuters that its field hospital in Rafah received 184 casualties, adding that 19 of those were declared dead upon arrival, and eight died of their wounds shortly after.

The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation launched its first distribution sites last week in an effort to alleviate widespread hunger amongst Gaza's war-battered population, most of whom have had to abandon their homes to flee fighting.

The Foundation's aid plan, which bypasses traditional aid groups, has come under fierce criticism from the United Nations and established charities which say it does not follow humanitarian principles.

The private group, which is endorsed by Israel, said it distributed 21 truckloads of food early on Tuesday and that the aid operation was "conducted safely and without incident within the site".

However, there have been reports of repeated killings near Rafah as crowds gather to get desperately needed supplies.

On Sunday, Palestinian and international officials reported that at least 31 people were killed and dozens more injured. On Monday, three more Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli fire.

The Israeli military has denied targeting civilians gathering for aid and called reports of deaths during Sunday’s distribution "fabrications" by Hamas.