German Court Convicts Man Over Syria War Crime

Police secure the area in the German town of Wuerzburg, Germany, June 25, 2021, during a "major operation." REUTERS/Heiko Becker
Police secure the area in the German town of Wuerzburg, Germany, June 25, 2021, during a "major operation." REUTERS/Heiko Becker
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German Court Convicts Man Over Syria War Crime

Police secure the area in the German town of Wuerzburg, Germany, June 25, 2021, during a "major operation." REUTERS/Heiko Becker
Police secure the area in the German town of Wuerzburg, Germany, June 25, 2021, during a "major operation." REUTERS/Heiko Becker

A German court on Thursday convicted a Palestinian man from Syria of a war crime and murder for launching a grenade into a crowd of civilians waiting for food in Damascus in 2014. He was sentenced to life in prison.

The 55-year-old, identified only as Moafak D. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested in 2021 in Berlin, where he had been living as a refugee. His trial opened in August.

The German capital's district court found that the defendant on March 23, 2014, fired a grenade from an anti-tank weapon into the crowd in the Yarmouk district of Damascus, killing four people and seriously wounding two others, The Associted Press reported.

It said that he was the commander of a checkpoint for a Palestinian group, probably the Free Palestine Movement, and on the day in question also was supposed to be overseeing a distribution of food packages by the UN Relief and Works Agency, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

The court said that part of the district was at the time controlled by militias loyal to President Bashar Assad’s government.

The Yarmouk district, which grew out of a Palestinian refugee camp, was cordoned off by the Syrian government from July 2013 to April 2015, causing shortages of food, water and medical supplies.

The court said the defendant acted out of revenge against civilians in the district after his 25-year-old nephew was killed two days earlier by shots fired by opponents of Assad's government.

He was convicted of a particularly serious war crime, four counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and bodily harm. The court also determined that he bears particularly severe guilt, meaning that he won't be eligible for release after 15 years as is usually the case in Germany.

The verdict can be appealed.



Egyptian FM Pushes for ‘De-escalation’ Dialogue in Call with European Diplomats

Emergency personnel walk near damaged vehicles at an impact site following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Holon, Tel Aviv, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura
Emergency personnel walk near damaged vehicles at an impact site following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Holon, Tel Aviv, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura
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Egyptian FM Pushes for ‘De-escalation’ Dialogue in Call with European Diplomats

Emergency personnel walk near damaged vehicles at an impact site following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Holon, Tel Aviv, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura
Emergency personnel walk near damaged vehicles at an impact site following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Holon, Tel Aviv, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty spoke with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and British National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell on Thursday about the escalating tensions between Iran and Israel.

In a statement after the call, Abdelatty said that the E3, an informal foreign and security cooperation arrangement between the UK, Germany and France, is responsible for opening “channels for dialogue and negotiation and utilize all available channels with the Iranian side to reach compromises that contribute to de-escalation.”

Abdelatty also held calls Tuesday with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.

The Egyptian Foreign Minister reportedly stressed “the necessity of working toward de-escalation in the region and resorting to diplomatic and political solutions that contribute to containing the escalating situation and averting the risk of a widespread conflagration in the Middle East.”

Abdelatty “underscored the imperative of achieving an immediate ceasefire and returning to the path of negotiations as the only means to reach a sustainable agreement regarding the Iranian nuclear program,” his office said in a statement.