A visitor at the Russian Cultural Center in Damascus inspects books on display | Asharq Al-Awsat
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Russia Looks to Expand Cultural Presence in Syria
A visitor at the Russian Cultural Center in Damascus inspects books on display | Asharq Al-Awsat
Flipping through the pages of a Russian book at a lobby in the Russian Cultural Center in Damascus, a 19-year-old girl, Nermin, voiced her enthusiasm at the reopening of the center and the resumption of its activities.
Nermin is looking to improve her Russian language but is also wishing that the center reboots other activities she has grown to love.
“Every summer, my mother used to bring me all the way from west Damascus to the center to learn ballet and music,” Nermin said, noting that with the reopening of the center she will get back some of the joy she lost to war.
On May 31, the Russian Cultural Center in Damascus announced the opening of Russian language courses and the gradual return of its activities.
For his part, Director of the Russian Cultural Center Nikolai Sukhov explained that the start of Russian language courses is a gradual return to the full activity of the center with precautionary measures being taken to address the coronavirus.
He explained that there will be Russian language courses at various levels and for all ages, in addition to courses in music, drawing, and other fields.
Announcing its gradual reopening, the Russian Cultural Center will resume its activities after being shut down for some seven years. The reopening of the center is a move to boost the Russian cultural presence in the war-torn country, matching its political and military presence.
The deputy head of mission at the Russian Embassy Eldar Qurbanof highlighted the strength and depth of the Russian-Syrian relations and the importance of resuming Russian language courses.
Speaking to Al-Watan Online, he expressed his hope that it would be a first step towards developing educational and cultural work that contributes to strengthening relations between the two peoples and fully resuming the work of the center.
Qurbanof pointed out that there are 19,000 students currently studying the Russian language in Syria and that work is underway to raise that figure.
Lebanese President Urges US to 'Keep Standing' by Countryhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5292029-lebanese-president-urges-us-keep-standing-country
FILED - 17 January 2025, Lebanon, Baabda: FILE PHOTO - Lebanese President Joseph Aoun speaks during a press conference at Baabda Palace. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa
Lebanese President Urges US to 'Keep Standing' by Country
FILED - 17 January 2025, Lebanon, Baabda: FILE PHOTO - Lebanese President Joseph Aoun speaks during a press conference at Baabda Palace. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Saturday urged the United States to stand by his country after a recent US-backed framework deal with Israel aiming to permanently end hostilities after the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.
The deal reached in Washington calls for the disarmament of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army there, starting with two "pilot" areas.
Hezbollah has rejected the deal, which does not set a timetable for an Israeli withdrawal.
In a congratulatory message to President Donald Trump marking the United States' 250th anniversary of independence, Aoun urged Washington to "keep always standing beside Lebanon's right and just causes, its institutions, army and people".
Aoun expressed hope that Lebanon could "turn the page on wars... and open a new page of hope, peace and stability".
In a message also marking the independence anniversary, the US embassy in Lebanon said on X that "it is with great pride that we stand with the people of Lebanon as they forge a brighter future -- one of peace, prosperity, and promise long overdue".
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes days earlier.
Israel responded with heavy airstrikes and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, where its troops still occupy swathes of territory near the border, AFP reported.
An agreement signed by Tehran and Washington on ending the regional war last month also established a ceasefire in Lebanon, which took effect on June 21.
Days later, Lebanon and Israel agreed to the US-backed framework aiming to pave the way for a permanent end to hostilities.
The United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) said this week that more than 640,000 displaced people have returned home since June 22.
Lebanese authorities have said the war has killed some 4,300 people and displaced more than one million others.
But many residents are unable to return to towns and villages near the southern border where Israeli troops are still present and many of which have suffered massive destruction.
On a visit to the south on Saturday including the heavily damaged city of Nabatieh, Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed said authorities were working on a plan including for "prefabricated houses and rent assistance payments" to help people return home, or to areas nearby.
Israeli has kept up intermittent strikes on south Lebanon despite the ceasefire.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said an Israeli strike on the village of Mansouri on Saturday wounded one person, also reporting Israeli artillery shelling elsewhere.
Fate of Gaza Strip Eclipsed by Middle East Warhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5291985-fate-gaza-strip-eclipsed-middle-east-war
04 June 2026, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Palestinians inspect a damaged house following an Israeli airstrike that targeted an apartment belonging to the Labad family in Gaza City. Photo: Hadi Daoud/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
04 June 2026, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Palestinians inspect a damaged house following an Israeli airstrike that targeted an apartment belonging to the Labad family in Gaza City. Photo: Hadi Daoud/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
The Gaza war was the spark that touched off years of Middle East conflict culminating in the US-Israeli war with Iran, but as Washington and Tehran wrangle over terms for peace, the devastated territory's fate seems largely out of mind.
"Ever since the United States went to war with Iran, the whole world has forgotten Gaza and its tragedy. We no longer have anyone standing by us," Palestinian Ahmed Jamali, 53, told AFP from the displacement camp in Gaza where he lives.
"We are weak and oppressed, and Israel is doing whatever it wants: killing, destroying and occupying Gaza, while no one in the world lifts a finger."
The apparent inattention paid to the Palestinian territory is all the more striking because it sits at the heart of the chain of events that plunged the region into its most dangerous confrontation in decades.
07 June 2026, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Mourners gather to bid farewell to several Palestinians, including a child and his father, at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Photo: Bilal Osama/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Hamas's unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered a devastating military response in Gaza, drawing in Tehran-backed allies like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Yemen's Houthis -- and eventually Iran itself.
What began as a local war between Israel and Hamas evolved into a regional conflict and, in turn, a direct confrontation between arch-foes Tehran and Washington.
More than two-and-a-half years later, Gaza remains mired in a severe humanitarian crisis, and despite a fragile ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas in October 2025, efforts to bring the war to a definitive end have stalled for months.
Although Iranian officials initially spoke of an agreement to end the Middle East war that would encompass the entire region, the preliminary text endorsed by Tehran and Washington last month contains no mention of Gaza.
For analysts, that shows a shift in regional priorities.
"It reflects Hamas's declining strategic value in Iran's eyes," Hugh Lovatt of the European Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP.
Iran has long armed and financed Hamas as part of its "axis of resistance" -- an array of regional forces opposed to Israel and the US -- but the October 2023 attack appears to have fundamentally altered that relationship.
"Iranians do not really care about Gaza. Hamas was an ally, not an Iranian tool," said Israeli military expert Eado Hecht.
"It betrayed them. They did not want war in autumn 2023, it was too early for them."
Palestinians mourn the bodies of Diana Abu Daraz, and her infant daughter, Sewar, who were killed in an Israeli airstrike that struck a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Michael Milshtein, another Israeli military analyst, argued that Tehran's calculations have shifted elsewhere.
"It places greater value on preserving Hezbollah as a pillar of the regional balance," he said.
The diplomatic focus has also shifted, with a growing sense of international fatigue over Gaza.
"Gaza is gradually fading from international attention," said Lovatt.
One diplomat involved in negotiations described a widespread belief among governments that "most actors see the issue as insoluble in the short to medium term".
Another veteran diplomat based in Jerusalem told AFP that Gaza's absence from the discussions reflected political paralysis rather than progress.
"Gaza is absent from the agreement not because the war is over, but because no credible political framework exists for the day after," he said.
Israel insists that Hamas must fully disarm before any political transition can begin, while Hamas refuses to surrender its weapons without guarantees that an alternative Palestinian governing authority will replace it.
Neither an international stabilization force nor a credible transitional mechanism has emerged in the months since the ceasefire took effect, both of which were called for in the US-brokered framework that halted the fighting.
Behind the scenes, negotiations over Gaza's future continue in Cairo.
The talks bring together Palestinian factions, including Hamas, alongside the Board of Peace set up by US President Donald Trump and regional players including Qatar and Türkiye.
"Trump may want to give this process a chance," said a source close to the negotiations.
"Whether it succeeds remains to be seen."
Although few details have emerged publicly, diplomatic and security sources told AFP that negotiators are working on a roadmap combining the gradual disarmament of Hamas with the creation of transitional governing authorities for Gaza.
Israeli media has reported that the government would reject such a framework.
"For now, this diplomatic process exists only around the negotiating table," Lovatt said.
"There has been progress, but reconstruction remains a distant prospect, and nothing is changing for the people on the ground."
With diplomacy stalled, concerns are mounting that the fighting could yet resume.
Israeli media have reported military preparations for a possible summer 2026 offensive against Hamas should political negotiations fail.
But military expert Hecht cautioned against assuming that contingency planning meant another war was inevitable.
"Having the military opportunities is not the same as having the political opportunity," he said.
"Preparations are not the same as implementation."
Analyst Milshtein argued that Israel had little leverage left.
In his view, Washington could ultimately pressure Israel to accept a phased disarmament of Hamas alongside a transitional political framework -- or even to withdraw from Gaza.
"Alternatively, Israel could embark on another military adventure. Given this government's record... (it) cannot be ruled out," Milshtein said, adding that Israeli leaders still lacked a coherent long-term strategy.
Gaza War Reaches 1,000 Days: A Tragedy in Numbershttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5291948-gaza-war-reaches-1000-days-tragedy-numbers
A child amid the rubble of a building destroyed by Israel in Al-Shati camp, west of Gaza City, last Wednesday. (AFP)
A thousand days have passed since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack carried out by Hamas against Israeli military sites and settlements along the Gaza border, and since the start of a bloody war that lasted two years in the enclave.
A ceasefire agreement was reached on Oct. 10, 2025, but it remained fragile amid daily Israeli violations.
Asharq Al-Awsat reviews the most prominent figures published by government bodies and international organizations active in Gaza on the war.
According to the latest cumulative toll, 73,078 people were killed and more than 173,541 wounded, including 1,063 killed after the ceasefire and 3,438 wounded.
The dead included more than 21,500 children, among them 1,022 under the age of one. They included 520 infants who were born during the war and killed in it. The toll also included 12,470 women, more than 9,000 mothers and 22,000 fathers. Some 2,700 families were wiped entirely from the civil registry after attacks hit their homes and killed them all.
About 9,500 Palestinians remain missing under the rubble of destroyed homes. Others are believed to be held in secret Israeli prisons, with no information disclosed about their fate.
Israel bombed 38 hospitals during the war, while 96 medical clinics were forced out of service, despite the start of partial rehabilitation work at some facilities under harsh conditions. Some 1,700 medical personnel were killed, including doctors, nurses, administrators, paramedics and others. Israel also destroyed 16 civil defense centers and 84 vehicles.
Some 22,000 patients and wounded people urgently need treatment abroad as Gaza’s health crisis deepens.
More than 1.9 million cases of infectious disease were recorded, ranging from mild to moderate, with most patients recovering. More than 2 million displaced people remain inside the enclave, living in harsh conditions in more than 132,000 displacement tents, most of them worn out and unfit for living.
During the war, Israel closed the crossings for more than 670 days, blocking the entry of aid trucks and endangering the lives of more than 2 million Palestinians. They included 650,000 children who suffered from malnutrition and hunger.
Some 58,000 children were orphaned after losing one or both parents. Some 460 people died from famine, including 164 children, while 28 displaced people died from the cold, among them 25 children.
Israel continued to target schools, fully or partially, causing extensive material damage. More than 620,000 students were denied their right to education. More than 20,051 students were killed, along with 830 teachers and 194 academics.
Israel completely destroyed 410,000 buildings and housing units, blew up more than 5,080 kilometers of electricity networks, destroyed 1,047 mosques in full, dug up a large number of cemeteries, and destroyed and bulldozed 87% of agricultural land. It also destroyed hundreds of factories and companies. Initial losses from the war exceeded $80 billion.
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