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Turkey Warns Against Disturbing North Syria’s Fragile Balance

Smoke billows after an attack on the Idlib countryside in northwestern Syria. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Smoke billows after an attack on the Idlib countryside in northwestern Syria. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Turkey Warns Against Disturbing North Syria’s Fragile Balance

Smoke billows after an attack on the Idlib countryside in northwestern Syria. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Smoke billows after an attack on the Idlib countryside in northwestern Syria. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Turkey has warned that targeting civilians and harming stability in Syria prevents a lasting solution to the conflict in the war-torn country.

Turkey’s National Security Council stressed that targeting civilians would harm stability in Syria and disturb the “fragile balance” in the region.

In a statement on Thursday, the Council highlighted the responsibility of actors and parties involved in the Syrian conflict to achieve peace, stability and prosperity for Syrians.

Meanwhile, developments in opposition-held Idlib province indicated that there was no significant change in the situation following the meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday.

The two presidents held talks in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi and discussed curbing renewed violence in northwest Syria.

They agreed to abide by the previous agreements and understandings, whether on Idlib or northeast Syria.

Erdogan said a roadmap to achieve stability in Idlib is being prepared between both countries’ defense and foreign affairs ministers.

Military escalation resumed on Friday in the de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria after hours of calm in Idlib.

Russian warplanes resumed their aerial bombardment in al-Ziyyarah towns in Sahl al-Ghab in the northwestern countryside of Hama, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

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Arab World

Israeli Minister Presents Plan to Remove Gaza Population

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir - File photo
Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir - File photo
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Israeli Minister Presents Plan to Remove Gaza Population

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir - File photo
Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir - File photo

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir set out a plan on Thursday to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and send them abroad.

Speaking in the run-up to close-fought Israeli elections, he said the plan aimed to see the departure of 250,000 Palestinians from Gaza in the first year, followed by the rest of the roughly two million residents over the following six years.

"It's realistic," said Ben Gvir, claiming that there were countries who were "ready" to take in Gazans, without naming which ones.

Forced displacement of civilians in occupied territory is considered a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.

Arab World

Palestinians Say Israeli Army Kills Two Teenagers in West Bank

Israeli military heavy machinery demolish two Palestinian buildings near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 31, 2026. REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman
Israeli military heavy machinery demolish two Palestinian buildings near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 31, 2026. REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman
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Palestinians Say Israeli Army Kills Two Teenagers in West Bank

Israeli military heavy machinery demolish two Palestinian buildings near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 31, 2026. REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman
Israeli military heavy machinery demolish two Palestinian buildings near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 31, 2026. REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman

The Israeli army killed two teenagers in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday night, the Palestinian health ministry said, while the army said it opened fire during a "violent riot".

Omar Mohammad Naji al-Nassan, 19, and Khalil Rasem Khalil Shahada, 16, were shot dead by the Israeli army in the village of Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah in the central West Bank, the ministry said.

Amin Abu Alia, the head of the Al-Mughayyir village council, told AFP "Israeli settlers... tried to steal sheep from two homes" in the village, and that following a confrontation, "the Israeli army imposed a siege on the village before raiding its center".

He said the Israeli forces placed snipers inside buildings, who "opened live fire on residents who tried to confront the settlers".

The Israeli army meanwhile said it had "secured the entrance" to the village "in order to facilitate the return of livestock belonging to Israeli civilians that had been found in the area of the village".

"During the forces' activity in the area, a violent riot broke out, during which terrorists hurled cinder blocks and stones at the forces," the army said.

"The forces responded by firing at key instigators in order to remove the threat," it said, adding that the management of the incident was under review.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that the two teenagers were critically wounded by live fire during clashes, Nassan in the neck and Shahada in the back, and were transferred to two hospitals in Ramallah, where doctors pronounced them dead.

AFP footage filmed inside the Ramallah medical center showed mourners gathering around one of the bodies shrouded in a Palestinian flag.

The mourners carried the remains outside the hospital and chanted "with our souls and our blood, we will sacrifice ourselves for you, martyr. We were created to live in freedom."

The West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, has seen a surge in violence since the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip following Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Attacks by settlers on Palestinians have increased and become almost daily. At least 1,105 Palestinians, including a number of militants, have been killed by fire from Israeli soldiers or settlers, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian official figures.

At least 48 Israelis, both civilians and security forces, have been killed in the West Bank in attacks carried out by Palestinians or during clashes with Israeli forces, according to Israeli official figures.

Arab World

Tunisia: Court of Cassation Hears Final Appeal in 'Conspiracy Against State Security' Case

Tunisian President Kais Saied (AFP)
Tunisian President Kais Saied (AFP)
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Tunisia: Court of Cassation Hears Final Appeal in 'Conspiracy Against State Security' Case

Tunisian President Kais Saied (AFP)
Tunisian President Kais Saied (AFP)

The Tunisian Court of Cassation began hearing on Thursday the final appeal of dozens of opposition figures accused of plotting against the state.

In November, 34 defendants were sentenced to up to 45 years in prison in an appeal trial, triggering sharp criticism from rights groups.

The court will either confirm the verdict or order a retrial.

A small crowd gathered Thursday morning outside the courthouse to support the defendants, an AFP journalist reported.

"This is a political case that the authorities have used to silence dissent and imprison figures from across the opposition," said lawyer Haifa Chebbi, whose father Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, 82, is among the defendants.

Chebbi and other lawyers have said they were only notified of the hearing on Monday, arguing it did not provide them with enough time to prepare the defence.

On Wednesday, lawyer and opposition figure Dalila Msaddek, whose brother Jawhar Ben Mbarek is on trial, condemned the proceedings, calling them nothing more than "the blatant implementation of political instructions".

Their father, leftist activist Ezzedine Hazgui, told reporters he was "proud" that Jawhar and other Saied critics were in prison.

"I am proud because they defended their country," said Hazgui, who was among the protesters outside the court.

"We oppose the coup and all forces hindering Tunisia's progress," he added, referring to Saied's power grab five years ago.

Among the defendants in the mass trial were party leaders Issam Chebbi and Ghazi Chaouachi, as well as businessman Kamel Ltaief.

Amnesty International has urged Tunisian authorities to "rectify a travesty of justice that has upturned the lives of 34 prominent opposition figures, human rights defenders and lawyers who were convicted on unfounded charges".