Russian Troops Return to Aleppo Countryside after Sudden Withdrawal

Russian military convoy in Aleppo countryside, north Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Russian military convoy in Aleppo countryside, north Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Russian Troops Return to Aleppo Countryside after Sudden Withdrawal

Russian military convoy in Aleppo countryside, north Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Russian military convoy in Aleppo countryside, north Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Russian forces returned to Tal Rifaat and Kashtaar bases, under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), after a sudden withdrawal on Tuesday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that a military convoy of pro-Iranian militias headed near Tal Rifaat, carrying heavy and medium weapons and military and logistical equipment, as well as fighters and armored vehicles.

It entered the area to secure the towns mainly inhabited by Shiites and protect them from any possible military operation by the Turkish forces and the National Army supported by Ankara.

Earlier, Russian forces withdrew from Kashtaar and Tel Rifaat bases in the northern countryside of Aleppo, with four columns of armored and military vehicles, and more than 100 members of the Russian forces.

Activists released videos showing two Russian troop convoys with one leaving Tal Rifaat, and another near Fafeen, withdrawing towards Aleppo.

Local sources suggested the Russian forces withdrew because of “disagreements” with the SDF on providing the regime with fuel, grain, and some goods.

Russia also asked SDF to open three crossings and oversee them, but it refused the proposal, according to Hikmat Khalil, deputy head of the Executive Body of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC).

Other sources suggest the sudden withdrawal precedes a total evacuation from the region, which allows the Turkish forces and its affiliated forces to launch a military operation to control Tal Rifaat and the areas north of Aleppo.

The operation also aims to remove SDF, especially that the contact areas with the National Army are witnessing intermittent clashes and infiltration attempts.

The SDF is trying to carry out military operations and lay landmines in areas under the control of the National Army near Azaz, in north Aleppo.

The town of Tal Rifaat and more than 30 nearby villages are under the control of the Kurdish fighters.

It is a major point that connects Gaziantep in Turkey with Aleppo through Bab al-Salama crossing in Azaz, controlled by Turkish-backed opposition factions.

The Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria indicated in a statement on April 9 that five civilians were killed, and six others injured in artillery shelling by the pro-Turkish factions in Tal Rifaat, under the control of the SDF coalition, which hosts a Russian base and regime positions.



Aid Groups Say Israel Misses US Deadline to Boost Humanitarian Help for Gaza

A driver stands beside a truck part of a World Food Program (WFP) aid convoy passing through the Erez crossing on the border with the northern Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, 11 November 2024. (EPA)
A driver stands beside a truck part of a World Food Program (WFP) aid convoy passing through the Erez crossing on the border with the northern Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, 11 November 2024. (EPA)
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Aid Groups Say Israel Misses US Deadline to Boost Humanitarian Help for Gaza

A driver stands beside a truck part of a World Food Program (WFP) aid convoy passing through the Erez crossing on the border with the northern Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, 11 November 2024. (EPA)
A driver stands beside a truck part of a World Food Program (WFP) aid convoy passing through the Erez crossing on the border with the northern Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, 11 November 2024. (EPA)

Israel has failed to meet US demands to allow greater humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, where conditions are worse than at any point in the 13-month-old war, international aid organizations said Tuesday.

The Biden administration last month called on Israel to "surge" more food and other emergency aid into Gaza, giving it a 30-day deadline that was expiring Tuesday. It warned that failure to comply could trigger US laws requiring it to scale back military support as Israel wages offensives against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel has announced a series of steps toward improving the situation. But US officials recently signaled that Israel still isn’t doing enough, though they haven't said if they will take any action against it.

Israel’s new foreign minister, Gideon Saar, appeared to downplay the deadline, telling reporters on Monday that he was confident "the issue would be solved." The Biden administration may have less leverage after the reelection of Donald Trump, who was a staunch supporter of Israel in his first term.

Tuesday's report, authored by eight international aid organizations, listed 19 measures of compliance with the US demands. It said that Israel had failed to comply with 15 and only partially complied with four.

An Oct. 13 letter signed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called on Israel to, among other things, allow a minimum of 350 truckloads of goods to enter Gaza each day; open a fifth crossing into the besieged territory; allow people in Israeli-imposed coastal tent camps to move inland before the winter; and ensure access for aid groups to hard-hit northern Gaza. It also called on Israel to halt legislation that would hinder the operations of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA.

Despite Israeli steps to increase the flow of aid, levels remain far below the US benchmarks. The promised fifth crossing was set to open Tuesday, but residents remain crammed in the tent camps and access for aid workers to northern Gaza remains restricted. Israel also has pressed ahead with its laws against UNRWA.

"Israel not only failed to meet the US criteria that would indicate support to the humanitarian response, but concurrently took actions that dramatically worsened the situation on the ground, particularly in Northern Gaza," the report said. "That situation is in an even more dire state today than a month ago."

The report was co-signed by Anera, Care, MedGlobal, Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Refugees International and Save the Children.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said last week that Israel had made some progress, but needs to do more to meet the US conditions.

"What's important when you see all of these steps taken is what that means for the results," he said.

Israel launched a major offensive last month in northern Gaza, where it says Hamas fighters had regrouped. The operation has killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands. Israel has allowed almost no aid to enter the area, where tens of thousands of civilians have stayed despite evacuation orders.

Aid to Gaza plummeted in October, when just 34,000 tons of food entered, or less than half the previous month, according to Israeli data.

UN agencies say even less actually gets through because of Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and lawlessness that makes it difficult to collect and distribute aid on the Gaza side.

In October, 57 trucks a day entered Gaza on average, according to Israeli figures, and 81 a day in the first week of November. The UN puts the number lower, at 37 trucks daily since the beginning of October.

COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, said that the drop in the number of aid trucks in October was because of closures of the crossings for the Jewish high holidays and memorials marking the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that triggered the war.

"October was a very weak month," an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity in line with military briefing rules. "But if you look at the November numbers, we are holding steady at around 50 trucks per day to northern Gaza and 150 per day to the rest of Gaza."

Aid distribution is also being hampered by the UN and other agencies' failure to collect aid that entered Gaza, leading to bottlenecks, and looting from Hamas and organized crime families in Gaza, he said. He estimated as much as 40% of aid is stolen on some days.

Israel on Monday announced a small expansion of its coastal "humanitarian zone," where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought shelter in sprawling tent camps. It also has announced additional steps, including connecting electricity for a desalination plant in the central Gaza town of Deir al Balah, and efforts to bring in supplies for the winter.

On Tuesday, COGAT announced a "tactical" delivery of food and water to Beit Hanoun, one of the hardest-hit towns in northern Gaza. Also on Monday night, the Israeli security Cabinet approved increased aid for Gaza, which will increase the number of trucks that enter Gaza each day, according to an official familiar with the matter.

The war began last year when Hamas-led gunmen stormed into southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 people. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel's bombardment and ground invasion have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to local health authorities, who don't say how many of those killed were fighters. Around 90% of the population has been displaced, often multiple times, and hundreds of thousands are packed into squalid tent camps, with little food, water or hygiene facilities.

The United States has rushed billions of dollars in military aid to Israel during the war and has shielded it from international calls for a ceasefire, while pressing it to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. The amount of aid entering Gaza increased under US pressure last spring after Israeli strikes killed seven aid workers before dwindling again.

Trump has promised to end the wars in the Middle East without saying how. He was a staunch defender of Israel during his previous term, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they have spoken three times since his reelection last week.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, whose role is mostly ceremonial, is scheduled to meet with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

Former US State Department official Charles Blaha, who ran the office in charge of ensuring that US military support complies with US and international law, predicted the Biden administration would find that Israel violated US law by blocking humanitarian aid from reaching Palestinians in Gaza.

"It’s undeniable that Israel has done that," Blaha said. "They would really have to torture themselves to find that Israel hasn’t restricted ... assistance."

But he said that the administration would likely cite US national security interests and waive restrictions on military support.

"If the past is prologue — no restrictions, and then kick the can down the road to the next administration."