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Wennesland Visits Gaza Strip to Help Maintain Calm in West Bank

The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland. (File Photo- Asharq Al-Awsat)
The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland. (File Photo- Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Wennesland Visits Gaza Strip to Help Maintain Calm in West Bank

The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland. (File Photo- Asharq Al-Awsat)
The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland. (File Photo- Asharq Al-Awsat)

The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, made a short visit to the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

He arrived in the enclave through the Erez crossing in light of the escalating tension in the occupied West Bank.

According to Palestinian sources, Wennesland met with officials from the Palestinian factions and discussed with them the political situation and means to advance truce efforts.

Discussions focused on the tension in Jenin, Nablus and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

He affirmed that the UN is doing its best to advance calm in the West Bank and improve living standards, adding that it is also pressuring Israel to reduce the escalation.

The UN envoy also called for maintaining calm in the Gaza Strip.

He also held talks with leaders of local and international organizations on Gaza’s needs and ways to support economic projects.

“It is crucial to reduce tensions immediately to open the space for crucial initiatives aimed at establishing a viable political horizon,” the UN official said in a statement on Saturday.

He said that the mounting violence in the West Bank is fueling a climate of “fear, hatred and anger.”

“The fragility of the situation underscores the urgency of changing the dynamics on the ground, while addressing the underlying security and political issues that are fueling the current instability,” Wennesland stressed.

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2 Killed as Pro-Govt Fighters Attack Areas of US-Backed Kurdish Fighters in East Syria

A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stands guard near the village of Bir Fawaz, 20km north of Raqqa on February 8, 2017. Photo: AFP / Delil Souleiman
A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stands guard near the village of Bir Fawaz, 20km north of Raqqa on February 8, 2017. Photo: AFP / Delil Souleiman
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2 Killed as Pro-Govt Fighters Attack Areas of US-Backed Kurdish Fighters in East Syria

A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stands guard near the village of Bir Fawaz, 20km north of Raqqa on February 8, 2017. Photo: AFP / Delil Souleiman
A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stands guard near the village of Bir Fawaz, 20km north of Raqqa on February 8, 2017. Photo: AFP / Delil Souleiman

Fighters backed by Iran and the Syrian government have attacked areas controlled by US-backed fighters in eastern Syria, killing at least two people and wounding others, the main US-backed force in the war-torn country and an opposition war monitor said Wednesday.

The clashes in Syria’s eastern province of Deir Ezzor, which borders Iraq, came amid high tension in the region following last week’s killings of a top military commander of Lebanon’s armed Hezbollah group in Beirut and the leader of the Palestinian Hamas group Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. Israel was blamed for both attacks, and Iran and Hezbollah have vowed to retaliate.

The clashes in eastern Syria are the most intense in nearly a year in areas where hundreds of US troops have been deployed since 2015 to help in the fight against the ISIS group.

Syrian government forces and Iran-backed fighters are deployed on the west bank of the Euphrates River in Deir Ezzor, while members of the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces control the east banks of the river.

The SDF said in a statement that “Syrian regime-backed mercenaries” attacked the villages of Dhiban, Latwa and Abu Hamam starting late Tuesday. It added that fighting was ongoing Wednesday as the SDF tries to bring the situation under control.

Dhiban is few kilometers from al-Omar oil field that houses a base housing SDF fighters and US troops.

Kurdish-led authorities imposed an open-ended curfew in areas they control on the east bank of the river, saying that anyone that violates the order will be referred to judicial authorities.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said that the SDF brought reinforcements to the area as the fighting continues.

The SDF and the Observatory said the clashes and shelling left two people dead and five others wounded.

Pro-government media outlets said that the attacks were carried by local Arab tribesmen against the SDF, saying that several people were wounded in government-held areas.

On Monday, a rocket attack on a base housing US troops in western Iraq left several American personnel wounded.

The rocket attack came days after a strike near a base of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia southwest of Baghdad killed at least one militant and wounded two others.

The attack comes days after an umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militias dubbed “the Islamic Resistance” resumed rocket attacks on US military bases in the country and in eastern Syria.