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Turkish, Russian Officials to Meet in Ankara for Talks on Syria, Libya

A picture taken on April 1, 2017 shows a view of a field near the town of Qumhanah in the countryside of the central province of Hama through a hole in a concrete wall. (AFP)
A picture taken on April 1, 2017 shows a view of a field near the town of Qumhanah in the countryside of the central province of Hama through a hole in a concrete wall. (AFP)
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Turkish, Russian Officials to Meet in Ankara for Talks on Syria, Libya

A picture taken on April 1, 2017 shows a view of a field near the town of Qumhanah in the countryside of the central province of Hama through a hole in a concrete wall. (AFP)
A picture taken on April 1, 2017 shows a view of a field near the town of Qumhanah in the countryside of the central province of Hama through a hole in a concrete wall. (AFP)

Turkish and Russian officials will meet in Ankara this week for a new round of talks on developments in Syria and Libya, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

“Consultations between Turkish and Russian interagency delegations on Libya and Syria will continue at a technical level on 15-16 September 2020 in Ankara,” the ministry said.

Turkey has helped the Government of National Accord (GNA) repel an offensive by the east-based Libyan National Army. Last month, the GNA declared a ceasefire in Libya and called for a lifting of a blockade on oil facilities. Aguila Saleh, the leader of the east-based parliament, also called for a halt to hostilities.

Ankara and Moscow back opposing sides in Syria. Russia, along with Iran, supports president Bashar Assad’s forces and Turkey backs opposition factions looking to oust him.

After an escalation of violence displaced nearly 1 million people and brought the two sides close to confrontation, Turkey and Russia agreed in March to halt hostilities. Both sides have said the ceasefire has held despite minor violations.

The last round of talks was held in Moscow on Aug. 31-Sept. 1.

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Arab World

Lebanon Condemns ‘Systematic’ Israeli Destruction in South

A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese village of Chaqra shows an Israeli flag fluttering over the burnt fields of the border village of Mais al-Jabal, burnt during Israeli military operations on August 11, 2026. (AFP)
A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese village of Chaqra shows an Israeli flag fluttering over the burnt fields of the border village of Mais al-Jabal, burnt during Israeli military operations on August 11, 2026. (AFP)
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Lebanon Condemns ‘Systematic’ Israeli Destruction in South

A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese village of Chaqra shows an Israeli flag fluttering over the burnt fields of the border village of Mais al-Jabal, burnt during Israeli military operations on August 11, 2026. (AFP)
A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese village of Chaqra shows an Israeli flag fluttering over the burnt fields of the border village of Mais al-Jabal, burnt during Israeli military operations on August 11, 2026. (AFP)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Wednesday condemned Israel's "systematic destruction" in the country's south as a violation of international law, as Israel's defense minister said its military was "destroying all the houses" there.

Salam said Israeli "attacks, incursions, demolitions and the systematic destruction of homes", infrastructure, government buildings and places of worship "represent a serious violation of the principles and rules of international law and international humanitarian law".

Claiming that villages and towns "are entirely 'military facilities' does not stand up to any logic and cannot be used as an excuse for destroying them, displacing their inhabitants and preventing them from returning," he said in a statement.

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz visited southern Lebanon on Wednesday, vowing to keep troops in a so-called "security zone" there and saying the Israeli military was "destroying the underground infrastructure" in the area and "destroying all the houses".

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March by attacking Israel, which responded with heavy airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanese authorities say have killed more than 4,300 people.

A framework deal reached in late June between Lebanon and Israel involves the disarmament of the Iran-backed group, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in "pilot zones".

While violence has significantly decreased since the signing of a US-Iran memorandum of understanding in June and the Lebanon-Israel deal, Lebanon still reports intermittent Israeli strikes and ongoing demolitions.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) on Wednesday said Israeli troops carried out detonations in southern villages including in Zawtar al-Shariqyeh, which abuts one of the "pilot zones".

Lebanon's army said Israel had blown up "the municipal building in Zawtar al-Shariqyeh" as well as "a public school, a health clinic, a children's nursery and a number of homes".

Also on Wednesday, Lebanon's army chief Rodolphe Haykal met visiting US General Joseph Clearfield, who heads a coordination group involved with the June agreement.

The pair discussed "developments in the south and security arrangements" relating to the deal, the Lebanese military said, as well as "the difficulties the army faces in carrying out its missions, primarily due to the continuing attacks, bulldozing and destruction by the Israeli occupation".

President Joseph Aoun also met Clearfield, his office said, and discussed the implementation of the framework deal.

Israel and Lebanon are to hold an eighth round of US-sponsored negotiations next month, in Rome.

Arab World

Israeli Settlers Keep Up Siege of Palestinian Homes Despite Army Intervention

Israeli settlers besiege a Palestinian home for the fourth consecutive day in the town of Qusra, south of Nablus, 12 August 2026. (EPA)
Israeli settlers besiege a Palestinian home for the fourth consecutive day in the town of Qusra, south of Nablus, 12 August 2026. (EPA)
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Israeli Settlers Keep Up Siege of Palestinian Homes Despite Army Intervention

Israeli settlers besiege a Palestinian home for the fourth consecutive day in the town of Qusra, south of Nablus, 12 August 2026. (EPA)
Israeli settlers besiege a Palestinian home for the fourth consecutive day in the town of Qusra, south of Nablus, 12 August 2026. (EPA)

The Israeli military failed in an attempt on Wednesday to remove occupied West Bank settlers who for days have blockaded Palestinian homes, an eyewitness and an AFP photographer reported.

The siege began on Sunday, when a group of settlers set up a makeshift tent near houses in the Palestinian village of Qusra, just south of Nablus, blocking essential supplies from entering.

"We have received no food and no medicine," Qusai Abu Rida, a Palestinian trapped inside one of the houses, told AFP by telephone, adding that he had only managed to secure electricity thanks to solar panels.

The Israeli military condemned the settlers' actions and declared the area a "closed military zone", before on Wednesday morning removing the tent where the settlers had been staying.

Security forces "are working to evacuate the civilians who were staying there," the military said in a statement.

By mid-afternoon, an AFP photographer at the scene said the military had left and the tent had been removed, but that the settlers were still at the site.

Abu Rida confirmed the situation remained unchanged, with the settlers still in possession of chairs and blankets.

"The army has withdrawn, and so far we are still besieged, with the settlers at our doorstep," he told AFP.

Violence by Israeli settlers towards Palestinians in the West Bank has persisted for years, often with little or no legal consequence, but recent months have seen a surge in attacks.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.

More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the Palestinian territory, which are illegal under international law, among some three million Palestinians.

The Israeli military said Tuesday it had received several reports of settlers entering and taking control of Palestinian homes and land in the area.

"This is illegal, reprehensible and unacceptable activity that harms the residents of the areas and disrupts their daily lives," it said.

It also said that disciplinary action would be taken against security personnel who had been filmed at the site days earlier.

According to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,097 Palestinians, including both gunmen and civilians, since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.

Israeli figures show at least 48 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations during the same period.

Arab World

Syria Receives First Shipments at Pier Previously Used by Russia

A drone view shows a vessel at Berth NO. 4, which was handed over by Russian forces to the Syrian government, at the port of Tartus in Tartus, Syria, August 12, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view shows a vessel at Berth NO. 4, which was handed over by Russian forces to the Syrian government, at the port of Tartus in Tartus, Syria, August 12, 2026. (Reuters)
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Syria Receives First Shipments at Pier Previously Used by Russia

A drone view shows a vessel at Berth NO. 4, which was handed over by Russian forces to the Syrian government, at the port of Tartus in Tartus, Syria, August 12, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view shows a vessel at Berth NO. 4, which was handed over by Russian forces to the Syrian government, at the port of Tartus in Tartus, Syria, August 12, 2026. (Reuters)

Syria received its first shipments of wheat and cement materials this week at a berth previously used by Russian forces, according to officials at the Tartus port, where Reuters reporters saw Russian forces packing up materials and moving out of parts of the pier.

Both shipments arrived on Tuesday, two days after Damascus announced it had reached an agreement with Moscow on the future of Russian bases at Tartus and the Hmeimim airport, ‌both in Syria's northwestern ‌coastal regions.

Syria's foreign ministry said the deal would ‌see ⁠Syria take over management ⁠of civilian facilities, including Hmeimim airport and the commercial berth at Tartus port, and that military facilities would be repurposed as joint training facilities.

"We began operating berth 4 yesterday after taking it over from the Operations Department. Work commenced immediately with the reception of two vessels in succession," Youssef Arnous, the head of Tartus port's operations and investment department, told Reuters on Wednesday.

He said that specific berth could ⁠accommodate up to three vessels simultaneously and that storage yards ‌directly opposite the pier could reduce vessel ‌waiting time during anchorage.

LSEG data showed that both vessels had come from Turkish ports, but ‌it was not immediately clear where they had originated.

Reuters reporters at the ‌port on Wednesday saw Russian forces moving out of a building near the pier and relocating material to another military facility nearby.

It was not immediately clear how many Russian forces remain at Tartus or in Hmeimim. A Syrian source familiar with the arrangement ‌said some Russian military forces would stay in Syria as part of the deal.

The future of the bases ⁠became uncertain after ⁠Russian ally Bashar al-Assad fled the country in 2024. The memorandum followed 18 months of intensive negotiations.

Russia's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it saw the deal as "an important step aimed at further improving bilateral cooperation in the military sphere".

Russia has long viewed its naval and air bases in Syria as a key source of geopolitical clout in the Middle East and power projection across the Mediterranean and into Africa.

The Tartus facility is Russia's only Mediterranean repair and replenishment hub, and Moscow has used Syria as a staging post to fly its military contractors in and out of Africa.

Reuters reported in July that parts of the fourth berth in Tartus that had been used by Russia's military would be transformed into a commercial and logistics hub.