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Arab World

Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Holds, UN to Launch Gaza Aid Appeal

Flames and smoke rise during Israeli airstrikes amid a flare-up of Israel-Palestinian violence, in the southern Gaza Strip May 11, 2021. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Flames and smoke rise during Israeli airstrikes amid a flare-up of Israel-Palestinian violence, in the southern Gaza Strip May 11, 2021. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
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Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Holds, UN to Launch Gaza Aid Appeal

Flames and smoke rise during Israeli airstrikes amid a flare-up of Israel-Palestinian violence, in the southern Gaza Strip May 11, 2021. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Flames and smoke rise during Israeli airstrikes amid a flare-up of Israel-Palestinian violence, in the southern Gaza Strip May 11, 2021. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas held into a third day on Sunday as mediators spoke to all sides about extending the period of calm after the worst outbreak of fighting in years.

Egyptian mediators have been shuttling between Israel and the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas, to try to sustain the ceasefire and have also met the Islamist group's rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in the occupied West Bank.

Lynn Hastings, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said on Sunday the UN would launch an appeal to repair the damage in densely populated Gaza, where there is a threat of COVID-19 spreading.

"The escalation has exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, generated by nearly 14 years of blockade and internal political divisions, alongside recurrent hostilities," she said in a statement issued from the Palestinian enclave.

"We must also ensure support to continue addressing needs that already existed, including those arising from the ongoing pandemic,” Reuters quoted her as saying.

US President Joe Biden has said Washington will work with UN agencies on expediting humanitarian aid for Gaza "in a manner that does not permit Hamas to simply restock its military arsenal.”

Israel has blockaded Gaza since 2007, saying this prevents Hamas bringing in arms. Hastings said the United Nations had long been asking Israel to stop the blockade and would continue doing so.

Palestinian officials put reconstruction costs at tens of millions of dollars in Gaza, where medical officials said that 248 people were killed during the 11 days of fighting.

Medics said rocket fire and a guided missile attack killed 13 people in Israel during the hostilities.

Economists said Israel's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic could be curbed by the hostilities. Israel reopened its borders to foreign tourists on Sunday but said it would take time to revive the tourism industry.

Israel has fully vaccinated about 55% of its population and COVID-19 cases have dropped sharply.

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Arab World

One Syrian Security Member Killed in ISIS Attack in Raqqa

Syrian Internal Security vehicles patrol near Ain al-Arab in eastern Aleppo province after authorities said 20 suspects were arrested in connection with attacks on security checkpoints and facilities. (SANA file)
Syrian Internal Security vehicles patrol near Ain al-Arab in eastern Aleppo province after authorities said 20 suspects were arrested in connection with attacks on security checkpoints and facilities. (SANA file)
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One Syrian Security Member Killed in ISIS Attack in Raqqa

Syrian Internal Security vehicles patrol near Ain al-Arab in eastern Aleppo province after authorities said 20 suspects were arrested in connection with attacks on security checkpoints and facilities. (SANA file)
Syrian Internal Security vehicles patrol near Ain al-Arab in eastern Aleppo province after authorities said 20 suspects were arrested in connection with attacks on security checkpoints and facilities. (SANA file)

Syria's Interior Ministry said on Monday that one of its security personnel had been killed as its forces thwarted an attack by two ISIS militants on a command headquarters of the country's internal security forces in the city of Raqqa.

According to a ministry statement, two suicide attackers attempted to storm the facility. Security ‌personnel engaged the pair, ‌neutralizing one of them, ‌while ⁠the second detonated ⁠an explosive vest after being surrounded.

Three security personnel were also wounded in the attack, the statement added.

Earlier, the Syrian state news agency had cited the Interior Ministry's spokesperson as saying that preliminary information indicated at least ⁠two ministry personnel were killed in ‌a suicide attack on ‌a ministry camp in Raqqa.

In February, ISIS ‌declared a new phase of operations against ‌the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa and has since carried out a spate of attacks, including one that killed four Syrian security personnel near ‌Raqqa.

Last year, Sharaa's government joined the US-led coalition fighting ISIS.

At the peak of its power during the Syrian civil war a decade ago, ISIS controlled around a quarter or more of Syria, before being driven out of the territory by a US-led coalition and other foes.

Arab World

Dutch Court Jails ‘Assad Torturer’ for 26 Years for Torture, Rape

A demonstrator stands on a photograph of President Bashar al-Assad during a protest outside the Syrian consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Getty Images/AFP)
A demonstrator stands on a photograph of President Bashar al-Assad during a protest outside the Syrian consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Dutch Court Jails ‘Assad Torturer’ for 26 Years for Torture, Rape

A demonstrator stands on a photograph of President Bashar al-Assad during a protest outside the Syrian consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Getty Images/AFP)
A demonstrator stands on a photograph of President Bashar al-Assad during a protest outside the Syrian consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Getty Images/AFP)

A Dutch court Monday sentenced a Syrian man to 26 years in jail for the torture and rape of opponents of former president Bashar al-Assad during the country's civil war.

The 58-year-old man, identified as Rafik A., was head of the interrogation unit of the National Defense Force (NDF) in the western Syrian city of Salamiyah in 2013 and 2014.

The paramilitary NDF violently suppressed dissent against the Assad regime and imprisoned and tortured opponents.

The court said victims were "handcuffed and blindfolded, beaten with various objects and kicked for prolonged periods, folded up inside a car tire, hung upside down, or electrocuted, often being forced to be naked."

A. was also found guilty of sexually abusing multiple victims and raping one of them, the court said.

"Time and again, the suspect created conditions of mortal terror, threat, pain, hopelessness and powerlessness," said the court in The Hague.

He was convicted of 19 counts of crimes against humanity against eight victims.

The court said the sentence was justified by "the exceptional gravity of the offences and the suffering of the victims".

It was the first time anyone had been tried in the Netherlands for sexual violence as a crime against humanity.

A. arrived in the Netherlands in 2021 and won temporary asylum, settling in the central town of Druten with his family.

Police arrested him shortly afterwards following a tip.

During his trial, A. denied the charges against him which he dismissed as a "conspiracy".

His lawyers said A. himself was tortured by militias and is suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Several European countries are trying suspects from the Syrian civil war under the legal tool of universal jurisdiction, allowing judges to rule on alleged serious crimes committed abroad.

Similar cases have been heard in France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium and Austria.

Arab World

Palestinian Leader Abbas Announces Presidential Election in Early 2027

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP file photo)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP file photo)
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Palestinian Leader Abbas Announces Presidential Election in Early 2027

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP file photo)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP file photo)

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has issued a decree calling for presidential elections in early 2027 and for legislative elections to be held in November of this year, official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, without saying if he would run. 

Abbas, 90, won the last Palestinian presidential election in 2005 with a mandate of four years, meaning his term should have expired in 2009. 

However his term was extended and no presidential election has been held since, with Abbas ruling by presidential decrees, courting criticism at home and abroad. 

"President Mahmoud Abbas announced that presidential elections will be held in early 2027," Wafa said, citing a statement from the presidency. 

The nonagenarian leader's decree also calls for legislative elections to take place in November of this year, it added. 

In his decree, Abbas emphasized he was "fully prepared to organize the Palestinian National Council elections scheduled for November, which include the general legislative elections in the homeland and elections abroad". 

The Palestinian National Council (PNC) is the parliament of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which has over 700 members from the Palestinian territories and abroad. 

The last legislative elections in the Palestinian territories were held in 2006, when Hamas won, defeating Abbas' Fatah party, which had previously dominated Palestinian politics. 

As a result, the Palestinian Legislative Council, which is the parliament of Abbas' Palestinian Authority, has not met since 2007. 

Holding elections is part of the reforms demanded by the international community, which supports the Palestinian Authority financially. 

Palestinian legal researcher Mahmud Al-Afranji said there was both political will and international pressure on the Palestinian Authority to hold the elections. 

But he told AFP that a lack of guarantees that elections would be held in occupied east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip remained "an obstacle to holding the legislative elections". 

In 2021, Abbas announced legislative and presidential elections to be held in May and July of that year respectively. 

They were then postponed indefinitely due to the absence of guarantees that voting could take place in east Jerusalem, which Israel has occupied since 1967. 

In April, Palestinians went to the polls to elect municipal council heads in the occupied West Bank, in the first vote since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023.