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Hundreds Demonstrate Against Syrian Regime, Russia in Idlib

An amputee propels his wheelchair as a girl behind him raises the flag of the Syrian opposition during a demonstration against the Syrian regime and its ally Russia and calling for protection from the Turkish government, by the Bab al-Hawa crossing between Turkey and Syria's northwestern Idlib province on September 6, 2019. Aaref WATAD / AFP
An amputee propels his wheelchair as a girl behind him raises the flag of the Syrian opposition during a demonstration against the Syrian regime and its ally Russia and calling for protection from the Turkish government, by the Bab al-Hawa crossing between Turkey and Syria's northwestern Idlib province on September 6, 2019. Aaref WATAD / AFP
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Hundreds Demonstrate Against Syrian Regime, Russia in Idlib

An amputee propels his wheelchair as a girl behind him raises the flag of the Syrian opposition during a demonstration against the Syrian regime and its ally Russia and calling for protection from the Turkish government, by the Bab al-Hawa crossing between Turkey and Syria's northwestern Idlib province on September 6, 2019. Aaref WATAD / AFP
An amputee propels his wheelchair as a girl behind him raises the flag of the Syrian opposition during a demonstration against the Syrian regime and its ally Russia and calling for protection from the Turkish government, by the Bab al-Hawa crossing between Turkey and Syria's northwestern Idlib province on September 6, 2019. Aaref WATAD / AFP

Hundreds of Syrians held protests against the Syrian regime and its backer Russia Friday in opposition-held Idlib province where a fragile ceasefire has paused a deadly months-old offensive.

Some demonstrators gathered near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, where Turkish border guards last week fired warning shots and tear gas to disperse Syrian protesters, Agence France Presse reported.

They waved the three-star flag of the eight-year-old uprising and chanted against Bashar al-Assad's regime, while some called on Turkey to open its borders.

"We only want the Turkish government to open its borders for our brothers who live under the olive trees," protester Abu Haytham told AFP, referring to displaced Syrians living in the open air.

The demonstrations came after Damascus's ally Russia announced a ceasefire for the northwestern Idlib region last Friday.

Air strikes have stopped since the agreement went into effect last Saturday morning, but sporadic artillery fire has continued.

Regime forces have been pressing an offensive against Idlib since the end of April.

More than 960 civilians have been killed in four months of heavy bombardment, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The United Nations says more than 400,000 people have been displaced.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that joint military land patrols by Turkish and US forces in northeast Syria are planned to start on Sept. 8.

The two countries are working to establish what Turkey says will be a "safe zone" along the border in northeast Syria - a region mainly controlled by Kurdish YPG forces - and have conducted multiple joint helicopter patrols over the area.

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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.