Russia Concedes ‘Syrian Constitution’ to Attract the US

United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen arrives at a hotel in Syria on Saturday. (Reuters)
United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen arrives at a hotel in Syria on Saturday. (Reuters)
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Russia Concedes ‘Syrian Constitution’ to Attract the US

United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen arrives at a hotel in Syria on Saturday. (Reuters)
United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen arrives at a hotel in Syria on Saturday. (Reuters)

The envoys of Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden are expected to meet in Geneva on Wednesday, which will likely outline the shape of Russian-American understandings on Syria for the coming period.

Moscow has succeeded in reaping political concessions, albeit symbolic ones, from Damascus, and imposing “a military status quo” on the ground in wake of the Daraa settlement and recent escalation in Idlib.

These elements will be on the table when the Russian envoy meets his American counterpart with Moscow demanding a “political price” for its efforts.

On Damascus’ end, the “political concession” was its agreement to receive United Nations envoy Geir Pedersen after nearly two months of putting off his visit. The meeting was held after Russia directly intervened and after Iran “advised” Syrian officials to agree to it.

The second breakthrough was the agreement of head of the government delegation to the Constitutional Committee to kick off the UN-proposed efforts to “draft” the new constitution. A sixth round of committee talks will be held in Geneva on October 6.

Damascus had previously said it was upset with Pedersen for agreeing to meet with a Daraa delegation while negotiations were still ongoing between local committees and the regime to avert military escalation. It was also upset with his failure to discuss a regime proposal at the Constitutional Committee. These two factors, however, were forgotten once Russia “advised” Damascus to receive Pedersen.

In return, however, Damascus received UN “silence” over the statement its foreign ministry had issued in wake of the envoy’s meeting. The statement said the talks focused on the “actual developments on the ground in Daraa and the Syrian state’s satisfaction with the solutions that were reached.” It also spoke of “pressuring” the UN to declare a clearer stance on the “unilateral sanctions”, the “Turkish and American occupations”, and “foreign interference.”
As for the new military facts on the ground, they were represented with the regime’s return to Daraa, “the cradle of the revolution”, for the first time in ten years. A western official said this was possible after Russia, the US and Jordan – the parties of the 2018 deal on southern Syria – sponsored the completion of the implementation of the agreement, which calls for the regime’s full return to the region and easing Iran’s influence there.

With calm returning to Daraa, Russia began to escalate its military actions in the northwestern opposition-held Idlib province. This coincided with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declaring that Turkey had “failed to meet its commitments” in northwestern Syria. This was followed by Russian jet strikes on southern Idlib. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar responded by saying that it was Russia that had failed to meet its promises.

Of course, Moscow is eying in Idlib the reopening of the Aleppo-Latakia highway. It wants the ceasefire to hold, stop the military operations there and root out the extremists. As long as Russia and Turkey are deploying joint patrols in the region, then these goals will likely be met and the ground will be paved for new understandings between them. Perhaps the reopening of the Aleppo-Latakia highway could be exchanged for a Turkish incursion against the Kurds in the region east of the Euphrates.

Ultimately, the Russian escalation in Idlib is aimed at extracting American offers against the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham extremist group that Washington has blacklisted as terrorist.

All these issues and more will be discussed in Geneva between Russian envoy Alexander Lavrentiev and American envoy Brett McGurk. All signals point to Washington leaning towards adopting the Russian reading of the situation in Syria. McGurk’s primary concern would be seeking an alliance of parties seeking to combat terrorism and preventing the resurgence of ISIS, especially in wake of the US pullout from Afghanistan.

He will likely encourage arrangements between Damascus and Qamishli, with Moscow’s guarantees, reduce Turkey’s interest in the region east of the Euphrates and offer incentives to the Russians about funding Syria’s early recovery, providing exemptions from the Caesar Act and fighting terrorism.



Gazans’ Daily Struggle for Water After Deadly Israeli Strike

 Palestinians wait for donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians wait for donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
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Gazans’ Daily Struggle for Water After Deadly Israeli Strike

 Palestinians wait for donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians wait for donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)

The al-Manasra family rarely get enough water for both drinking and washing after their daily trudge to a Gaza distribution point like the one where eight people were killed on Sunday in a strike that Israel's military said had missed its target.

Living in a tent camp by the ruins of a smashed concrete building in Gaza City, the family say their children are already suffering from diarrhea and skin maladies and from the lack of clean water, and they fear worse to come.

"There's no water, our children have been infected with scabies, there are no hospitals to go to and no medications," said Akram Manasra, 51.

He had set off on Monday for a local water tap with three of his daughters, each of them carrying two heavy plastic containers in Gaza's blazing summer heat, but they only managed to fill two - barely enough for the family of 10.

Gaza's lack of clean water after 21 months of war and four months of Israeli blockade is already having "devastating impacts on public health" the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA said in a report this month.

For people queuing at a water distribution point on Sunday it was fatal. A missile that Israel said had targeted fighters but malfunctioned hit a queue of people waiting to collect water at the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Israel's blockade of fuel along with the difficulty in accessing wells and desalination plants in zones controlled by the Israeli military is severely constraining water, sanitation and hygiene services according to OCHA.

Fuel shortages have also hit waste and sewage services, risking more contamination of the tiny, crowded territory's dwindling water supply, and diseases causing diarrhea and jaundice are spreading among people crammed into shelters and weakened by hunger.

"If electricity was allowed to desalination plants the problem of a lethal lack of water, which is what's becoming the situation now in Gaza, would be changed within 24 hours," said James Elder, the spokesperson for the UN's children's agency UNICEF.

"What possible reason can there be for denying of a legitimate amount of water that a family needs?" he added.

COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last week, an Israeli military official said that Israel was allowing sufficient fuel into Gaza but that its distribution around the enclave was not under Israel's purview.

THIRSTY AND DIRTY

For the Manasra family, like others in Gaza, the daily toil of finding water is exhausting and often fruitless.

Inside their tent the family tries to maintain hygiene by sweeping. But there is no water for proper cleaning and sometimes they are unable to wash dishes from their meager meals for several days at a time.

Manasra sat in the tent and showed how one of his young daughters had angry red marks across her back from what he said a doctor had told them was a skin infection caused by the lack of clean water.

They maintain a strict regimen of water use by priority.

After pouring their two containers of water from the distribution point into a broken plastic water butt by their tent, they use it to clean themselves from the tap, using their hands to spoon it over their heads and bodies.

Water that runs off into the basin underneath is then used for dishes and after that - now grey and dirty - for clothes.

"How is this going to be enough for 10 people? For the showering, washing, dish washing, and the washing of the covers. It's been three months; we haven't washed the covers, and the weather is hot," Manasra said.

His wife, Umm Khaled, sat washing clothes in a tiny puddle of water at the bottom of a bucket - all that was left after the more urgent requirements of drinking and cooking.

"My daughter was very sick from the heat rash and the scabies. I went to several doctors for her and they prescribed many medications. Two of my children yesterday, one had diarrhea and vomiting and the other had fever and infections from the dirty water," she said.