Turkey Prepares to Expand Safe Zones in Syria Despite US Warnings

A US soldier during a patrol in the countryside of Qamishli (File photo: AFP)
A US soldier during a patrol in the countryside of Qamishli (File photo: AFP)
TT
20

Turkey Prepares to Expand Safe Zones in Syria Despite US Warnings

A US soldier during a patrol in the countryside of Qamishli (File photo: AFP)
A US soldier during a patrol in the countryside of Qamishli (File photo: AFP)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent statement led to a dispute with the US concerning the safe zones in Syria.

Erdogan on Monday said Ankara would soon launch new military operations along its southern borders to create safe zones 30 km (20 miles) deep to combat what he characterized as terrorist threats from these regions.

Erdogan has said the National Security Council would make decisions on military operations at its Thursday meeting.

Recent reports stated that Turkish armed forces and the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army might be targeting Tal Rifaat, Ayn al-Arab (Kobani), Ain Issa, and Manbij.

Turkish sources said that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with the US on October 17, 2019, has not been implemented. It addresses the withdrawal of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the largest component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), to 30 km from the southern Turkish border.

The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the MoU was signed to stop the military operation "Peace Spring," which Turkey launched on October 9, 2019, in the SDF-controlled areas east of the Euphrates.

They explained that the withdrawal process was scheduled within five days, but it never happened.

Earlier, the United States warned of any new attack in northern Syria, saying it would undermine stability in the region and endanger its forces.

"We are deeply concerned about reports and discussions of potential increased military activity in northern Syria, and in particular, its impact on the civilian population there," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Tuesday.

"We recognize Turkey's legitimate security concerns on Turkey's southern border, but any new offensive would further undermine regional stability and put at risk US forces and the coalition's campaign against ISIS," he said.

Washington was expecting Ankara to live up to an October 2019 joint statement, including a halt in offensive operations in northeastern Syria, Price said.

"We condemn any escalation. We support the maintenance of the current ceasefire lines."

Meanwhile, the Syrian Foreign Ministry sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council describing Turkey's actions as illegitimate.

"They amount to what can be described as war crimes and crimes against humanity," it said in a statement carried by the state news agency.

Turkey objects to Finland and Sweden's bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) over their alleged support for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the YPG, two groups that Ankara classifies as terrorist organizations.

Observers considered that Erdogan's sudden announcement reflects his belief that the West will not oppose such operations because they need Turkey's support for the two European countries' bid to join NATO.

They pointed out that the Turkish army's movement against the YPG in Syria, Washington's closest ally in the war against ISIS, has always been possible despite the relative calm along the border.

Observers considered that Erdogan is seeking to seize the opportunity to achieve his long-standing goal of establishing a zone free of Kurdish militants along the Turkish border with Syria.

Possible targets of the Turkish operation

The pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper said preparations had been made for a new operation to expand "safe zones" already set up in northern Syria, with several goals identified.

Turkish control of the towns, which lie on or close to a central stretch of the 911-km-long border with Syria, could extend and deepen its military presence near the Mediterranean coast along nearly three-quarters of the frontier.

YPG spokesman Nuri Mahmoud told Reuters the group took Erdogan's threats very seriously: "The international coalition, America, and Russia should commit to the pledges they made to this region. Their presence in our areas must be meaningful, in the sense that it stops the repeated attacks on our people."

The Yeni Safak newspaper said the most critical target of the latest operation would be Tal Rifaat, which it said Kurdish fighters used as a base to launch attacks in the Afrin, Azaz, and Jarablus areas controlled by Turkey and Ankara-backed Syrian fighters.

Analyst on Syria at the International Crisis Group Dareen Khalifa said it was unclear whether Erdogan was talking about an operation in Tal Rifaat or further east, but she highlighted the town's role.

She said Russia had not been addressing his concerns on militant attacks on Turkish-controlled areas from Tal Rifaat and that Erdogan has been saying for years that Tal Rifaat needs to be captured.

According to a Reuters report, the predominantly Kurdish town of Kobani may be another potential target.

The YPG's defeat of ISIS militants there in 2015 helped turn the tide against the group.

"Kobani represents the value of a global victory in the war against terrorism," a YPG spokesman said.

Mahmoud asserted that "there's no doubt that our forces will do what is needed to defend" the area.

However, Khalifa played down the prospects of Turkey targeting Kobani.

"I don't think there's any interest in getting stuck in Kobani," she said, pointing to the significant demographic changes and reaction if the Kurdish population fled.

She said that while US forces were not in Manbij physically, it is a US zone of influence, so "I expect it also to trigger a US reaction."



Israeli Strikes across Gaza Kill at Least 92 as Israel Prepares to Ramp up Its Offensive

 A man mourns over the body of a victim of an Israeli army strike on a restaurant, which killed at least 29 people, at the Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, May 7, 2025.(AP)
A man mourns over the body of a victim of an Israeli army strike on a restaurant, which killed at least 29 people, at the Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, May 7, 2025.(AP)
TT
20

Israeli Strikes across Gaza Kill at Least 92 as Israel Prepares to Ramp up Its Offensive

 A man mourns over the body of a victim of an Israeli army strike on a restaurant, which killed at least 29 people, at the Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, May 7, 2025.(AP)
A man mourns over the body of a victim of an Israeli army strike on a restaurant, which killed at least 29 people, at the Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, May 7, 2025.(AP)

Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 92 people, including women, children and a local journalist, officials said Wednesday, as Israel prepares to ramp up its campaign in the strip, with the devastating war now entering its 20th month.

Two Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday in central Gaza killed at least 33 people and wounded 86, including several children, though the actual death toll is likely higher, according to health officials.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes.

The new bloodshed comes days after Israel approved a plan to intensify its operations in the Palestinian enclave, which would include seizing Gaza, holding on to captured territories, forcibly displacing Palestinians to southern Gaza and taking control of aid distribution along with private security companies.

Israel is also calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers to carry out the plan. Israel says the plan will be gradual and will not be implemented until after US President Donald Trump wraps up his visit to the region later this month.

Any escalation of fighting would likely drive up the death toll. And with Israel already controlling some 50% of Gaza, increasing its hold on the territory, for an indefinite amount of time, could open up the potential for a military occupation, which would raise questions about how Israel plans to have the territory governed, especially at a time when it is considering how to implement Trump’s vision to take over Gaza.

The Israeli offensive has so far killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials who do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Israel blames Hamas for the death toll, saying it operates from civilian infrastructure, including schools.

Strikes target crowds in Gaza City

Wednesday's strikes included two attacks on a crowded market area in Gaza City, health officials said.

Footage posted online reportedly showed the aftermath with men found dead, including one still seated in a chair inside a Thai restaurant, used by locals as a gathering spot, and several children lying motionless on the ground, covered in blood.

Journalist Yahya Sobeih, who freelanced for several local outlets, was among those killed, according to Gaza’s media office. He had shared a photo on Instagram of his newborn baby girl.

Victims of the blasts, some with severe injuries, were taken to nearby Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza health ministry spokesperson Zaher al-Wahidi told The Associated Press.

An attack Tuesday night on a school sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians killed 27 people, officials from the Al-Aqsa Hospital said, including nine women and three children. The school has been struck repeatedly since the war began. Earlier, a strike on another school turned shelter in Gaza City killed 16 people, according to officials at Al-Ahli Hospital, while strikes in other areas killed at least 16 others.

In Bureij, an urban refugee camp, paramedics and rescuers rushed to pull people out of a blaze after a large column of smoke and fires pierced the dark skies above the school shelter.

Trump jars Israelis with remark on hostage figures

The war began when Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.

Trump on Tuesday stunned many in Israel when he declared that only 21 of the 59 hostages remaining in Gaza are still alive. Israel insists the figure stands at 24, although an Israeli official said there was “serious concern” for the lives of three captives.

The official said there has been no sign of life from those three, whom the official did not identify. He said that until there is evidence proving otherwise, the three are considered to be alive.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details related to the war, said the families of the captives were updated on those developments.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group representing the families of the captives, demanded from Israel's government that if there is “new information being kept from us, give it to us immediately.”

It also called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt the war in Gaza until all hostages are returned. “This is the most urgent and important national mission,” it said on a post on X.

Since Israel ended a ceasefire with the Hamas group in mid-March, it has unleashed fierce strikes on Gaza that have killed hundreds and captured swaths of territory. Before the truce ended, Israel halted all humanitarian aid into the territory, including food, fuel and water, setting off what is believed to be the worst humanitarian crisis in 19 months of war.

Key interlocutors Qatar and Egypt said Wednesday that mediation efforts were “ongoing and consistent.” But Israel and Hamas remain far apart on how they see the war ending. Israel says it won't end the war until Hamas' governing and military capabilities are dismantled, something it has failed to do in 19 months of war.

Hamas says it is prepared to release all of the hostages for an end to the war and a long-term truce with Israel.