Iraqi-Syrian Meeting Discusses Humanitarian Conditions in al-Hol

The meeting of the Iraqi and Syrian foreign ministers in New York (Iraqi News Agency)
The meeting of the Iraqi and Syrian foreign ministers in New York (Iraqi News Agency)
TT

Iraqi-Syrian Meeting Discusses Humanitarian Conditions in al-Hol

The meeting of the Iraqi and Syrian foreign ministers in New York (Iraqi News Agency)
The meeting of the Iraqi and Syrian foreign ministers in New York (Iraqi News Agency)

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein has discussed in New York with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad the bilateral ties and the humanitarian conditions at al-Hol camp in Syria.

In a statement, the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that both sides discussed means to bolster joint cooperation in a manner that guarantees security and safety in the two countries and in the region, in general.

Hussein stressed the significance of bilateral ties and called for abstaining from interfering in other countries’ affairs.

The Iraqi FM called for addressing the humanitarian situation at al-Hol camp and preventing ISIS from breaking through the camps of the displaced.

For his part, the Syrian FM praised Iraq’s stances towards the Syrian crisis and in supporting a peaceful solution to it.

He expressed his government’s hope to boost bilateral ties between Iraq and Syria, the Iraqi News Agency reported.

Meanwhile, Iraqi government sources affirmed that there are thousands of innocent families at al-Hol camp and returning them to Iraq has become a humanitarian duty.

Yet, some Iraqi parties reject this proposal and see that these families belong to ISIS.

Dr. Moataz Mohieddine, strategic expert on armed groups, told Asharq Al-Awsat that al-Hol camp hosts tens of thousands of the displaced. A great number of them are Iraqi women and children.

Al-Hol camp is currently home to more than 40,000 Iraqis and around 10,000 families of different nationalities.



Israeli Strikes Hit Dozens of Targets in Gaza as Ceasefire Efforts Stall

A man looks through the rubble to inspect a destroyed building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 18, 2025. (AFP)
A man looks through the rubble to inspect a destroyed building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 18, 2025. (AFP)
TT

Israeli Strikes Hit Dozens of Targets in Gaza as Ceasefire Efforts Stall

A man looks through the rubble to inspect a destroyed building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 18, 2025. (AFP)
A man looks through the rubble to inspect a destroyed building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 18, 2025. (AFP)

Israeli airstrikes hit around 40 targets across the Gaza Strip over the past day, the military said on Friday, hours after Hamas rejected an Israeli ceasefire offer that it said fell short of its demand to agree a full end to the war.

Last month, the Israeli military broke off a two-month truce that had largely halted fighting in Gaza and has since pushed in from the north and south, seizing almost a third of the enclave as it seeks to pressure Hamas into agreeing to release hostages and disarm.

The military said troops were operating in the Shabura and Tel Al-Sultan areas near the southern city of Rafah, as well as in northern Gaza, where it has taken control of large areas east of Gaza City.

Egyptian mediators have been trying to revive the January ceasefire deal, which broke down when Israel resumed airstrikes and sent ground troops back into Gaza, but there has been little sign that the two sides have moved closer on fundamental issues.

Late on Thursday, Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas' Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.

But he dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing "impossible conditions".

Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya's comments but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. The ceasefire offer it made through Egyptian mediators includes talks on a final settlement to the war but no firm agreement.

Defense Minister Israel Katz also said this week that troops would remain in the buffer zone around the border that now extends deep into Gaza and cuts the enclave in two, even after any settlement.