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Washington Wants Syria’s Kurds to Join Negotiations

File: A Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber taking off from the Hmeimim air-base in the Syrian province of Latakia, October 3, 2015. (AFP/Komsomolskaya Pravda/Alexander Kots)
File: A Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber taking off from the Hmeimim air-base in the Syrian province of Latakia, October 3, 2015. (AFP/Komsomolskaya Pravda/Alexander Kots)
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Washington Wants Syria’s Kurds to Join Negotiations

File: A Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber taking off from the Hmeimim air-base in the Syrian province of Latakia, October 3, 2015. (AFP/Komsomolskaya Pravda/Alexander Kots)
File: A Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber taking off from the Hmeimim air-base in the Syrian province of Latakia, October 3, 2015. (AFP/Komsomolskaya Pravda/Alexander Kots)

Washington informed the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura on Saturday about the need to include Kurds in the political negotiation, a request that would anger Ankara at a time when the Turkish foreign ministry advised the opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC) to positively deal with Russia’s Hmeimim summit on condition that it does not include the Kurdish Democratic Union Party.

A western official told Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday that the next phase would be important to set the final dates of several summits, including the Astana meetings on Monday and Tuesday, the expanded Syrian opposition meeting in Riyadh next Nov. 10, the Congress of Peoples of Syria at the Hmeimim air base on Nov. 18, in addition to the eighth round of the Geneva Syrian intra-talks next Nov. 28.

There are currently ongoing talks between Russian and Kurdish experts to set the principals of the Constitution and how much it was possible to accept transforming Syria into a “confederal state” alike the Russian example.

Meanwhile, the SNC was surprised on Saturday by the request of Turkey’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal, who said it was important to “positively” deal with the Hmeimim Summit.

Also on Saturday, Syrian Democratic Forces units handed over the Menagh military air base north of Aleppo to the Russian army. According to the Hmeimim military base, the move aims to “cut off the road in the face of Turkey, which was preparing to attack the base.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted reliable sources as saying that the deployment of Russian forces at the Menagh airbase might expand to other border areas with Turkey, and it also aims to prevent the risk of fighting in the northern countryside of Aleppo between SDF units and Turkish forces.

An opposition source told the German news agency that “handing over the airport of Manegh to Russian forces today is temporary until the entry of a Syrian military faction linked to the Syrian Free Army. The source said that this factions would be formed based on a previous agreement reached between Ankara and Moscow.

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Arab World

Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

At least two people were killed and four rescued from the rubble of a multistory apartment building that collapsed Sunday in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, state media reported.

Rescue teams were continuing to dig through the rubble. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the building when it fell.

The bodies pulled out were of a child and a woman, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Dozens of people crowded around the site of the crater left by the collapsed building, with some shooting in the air.

The building was in the neighborhood of Bab Tabbaneh, one of the poorest areas in Lebanon’s second largest city, where residents have long complained of government neglect and shoddy infrastructure. Building collapses are not uncommon in Tripoli due to poor building standards, according to The AP news.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced that those injured in the collapse would receive treatment at the state’s expense.

The national syndicate for property owners in a statement called the collapse the result of “blatant negligence and shortcomings of the Lebanese state toward the safety of citizens and their housing security,” and said it is “not an isolated incident.”

The syndicate called for the government to launch a comprehensive national survey of buildings at risk of collapse.

Arab World

Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
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Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)

Israel's security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.

The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank, The AP news reported.

They were also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offences and damage to archaeological sites.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.

The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.

Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement building, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.

Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.

His ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.

The United Nations' highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.

Arab World

Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the attack by the Rapid Support Forces on humanitarian aid convoys and relief workers in North Kordofan State, Sudan.

In a statement reported by SPA, secretary-general's spokesperson Jamal Rushdi quoted Aboul Gheit as saying the attack constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the deliberate targeting of civilians and depriving them of their means of survival.

Aboul Gheit stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable, end impunity, and ensure the full protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, and relief facilities in Sudan.