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Ceasefire Committee Resumes Meetings in Lebanon

This handout photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office on September 6, 2025, shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) receiving US Navy Admiral Brad Cooper (C), Commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), at the presidential palace in Baabda on September 6, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency / AFP / Handout)
This handout photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office on September 6, 2025, shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) receiving US Navy Admiral Brad Cooper (C), Commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), at the presidential palace in Baabda on September 6, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency / AFP / Handout)
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Ceasefire Committee Resumes Meetings in Lebanon

This handout photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office on September 6, 2025, shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) receiving US Navy Admiral Brad Cooper (C), Commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), at the presidential palace in Baabda on September 6, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency / AFP / Handout)
This handout photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office on September 6, 2025, shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) receiving US Navy Admiral Brad Cooper (C), Commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), at the presidential palace in Baabda on September 6, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency / AFP / Handout)

The committee overseeing the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel resumed on Sunday its meetings in Lebanon’s southern Naqoura region.

US envoy Morgan Ortagus and US Navy Admiral Brad Cooper, Commander of the US Central Command (USCENTCOM), attended the meetings, which had come to a halt for several weeks.

The resumption reflects a new drive to revive the committee and fully implement the ceasefire that was reached in November between Israel and Lebanon to end the war with Hezbollah.

The committee is headed by the US and includes Lebanon, France and Israel as members, as well as the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and is also tasked with overseeing the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1701.

Cooper and Ortagus held a meeting at the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura on Sunday before going on a helicopter tour of the border regions in the central and western sectors. They then returned to Beirut.

Ortagus had arrived in Beirut on Sunday and headed directly to Naqoura. She has not held any meetings with Lebanese officials, which ministerial sources said was not a negative sign.

They told Asharq Al-Awsat that her participation in the Naqoura meetings were tied to her mission to Lebanon, which is overseeing the implementation of the ceasefire.

Cooper, for his part, met with President Joseph Aoun and Army Commander Rodolphe Haykal on Saturday. He spent the night in Cyprus before returning to Lebanon on Sunday.

Details of the meetings were not announced, but the sources said that after a lull, Lebanon received pledges that the committee will resume work at a greater pace.

A new head of the committee will be announced soon with current head, General Michael Linney’s term ending soon.

The sources said the American delegation praised Lebanon’s efforts towards the ceasefire, while Aoun urged the US to pressure Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territories it is occupying in the South so that the army can complete its deployment there.

He said the military has deployed in over 85 percent of the South and continues to confiscate weapons and ammunition amid challenging circumstances. Twelve officers and soldiers have been killed while carrying out their duties, such as transferring ammunition or dismantling mines.

Aoun stressed to Cooper the importance of the US continuing to support the army and provide it with the necessary gear so that it can carry out its tasks throughout Lebanon, including preserving security, thwarting smuggling, counter-terrorism and securing the border with Syria.

For his part, Cooper hailed the army for its efforts, saying Washington will continue to support it, said a presidency statement.

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Arab World

One Syrian Security Member Killed in ISIS Attack in Raqqa

Syrian Internal Security vehicles patrol near Ain al-Arab in eastern Aleppo province after authorities said 20 suspects were arrested in connection with attacks on security checkpoints and facilities. (SANA file)
Syrian Internal Security vehicles patrol near Ain al-Arab in eastern Aleppo province after authorities said 20 suspects were arrested in connection with attacks on security checkpoints and facilities. (SANA file)
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One Syrian Security Member Killed in ISIS Attack in Raqqa

Syrian Internal Security vehicles patrol near Ain al-Arab in eastern Aleppo province after authorities said 20 suspects were arrested in connection with attacks on security checkpoints and facilities. (SANA file)
Syrian Internal Security vehicles patrol near Ain al-Arab in eastern Aleppo province after authorities said 20 suspects were arrested in connection with attacks on security checkpoints and facilities. (SANA file)

Syria's Interior Ministry said on Monday that one of its security personnel had been killed as its forces thwarted an attack by two ISIS militants on a command headquarters of the country's internal security forces in the city of Raqqa.

According to a ministry statement, two suicide attackers attempted to storm the facility. Security ‌personnel engaged the pair, ‌neutralizing one of them, ‌while ⁠the second detonated ⁠an explosive vest after being surrounded.

Three security personnel were also wounded in the attack, the statement added.

Earlier, the Syrian state news agency had cited the Interior Ministry's spokesperson as saying that preliminary information indicated at least ⁠two ministry personnel were killed in ‌a suicide attack on ‌a ministry camp in Raqqa.

In February, ISIS ‌declared a new phase of operations against ‌the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa and has since carried out a spate of attacks, including one that killed four Syrian security personnel near ‌Raqqa.

Last year, Sharaa's government joined the US-led coalition fighting ISIS.

At the peak of its power during the Syrian civil war a decade ago, ISIS controlled around a quarter or more of Syria, before being driven out of the territory by a US-led coalition and other foes.

Arab World

Dutch Court Jails ‘Assad Torturer’ for 26 Years for Torture, Rape

A demonstrator stands on a photograph of President Bashar al-Assad during a protest outside the Syrian consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Getty Images/AFP)
A demonstrator stands on a photograph of President Bashar al-Assad during a protest outside the Syrian consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Dutch Court Jails ‘Assad Torturer’ for 26 Years for Torture, Rape

A demonstrator stands on a photograph of President Bashar al-Assad during a protest outside the Syrian consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Getty Images/AFP)
A demonstrator stands on a photograph of President Bashar al-Assad during a protest outside the Syrian consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Getty Images/AFP)

A Dutch court Monday sentenced a Syrian man to 26 years in jail for the torture and rape of opponents of former president Bashar al-Assad during the country's civil war.

The 58-year-old man, identified as Rafik A., was head of the interrogation unit of the National Defense Force (NDF) in the western Syrian city of Salamiyah in 2013 and 2014.

The paramilitary NDF violently suppressed dissent against the Assad regime and imprisoned and tortured opponents.

The court said victims were "handcuffed and blindfolded, beaten with various objects and kicked for prolonged periods, folded up inside a car tire, hung upside down, or electrocuted, often being forced to be naked."

A. was also found guilty of sexually abusing multiple victims and raping one of them, the court said.

"Time and again, the suspect created conditions of mortal terror, threat, pain, hopelessness and powerlessness," said the court in The Hague.

He was convicted of 19 counts of crimes against humanity against eight victims.

The court said the sentence was justified by "the exceptional gravity of the offences and the suffering of the victims".

It was the first time anyone had been tried in the Netherlands for sexual violence as a crime against humanity.

A. arrived in the Netherlands in 2021 and won temporary asylum, settling in the central town of Druten with his family.

Police arrested him shortly afterwards following a tip.

During his trial, A. denied the charges against him which he dismissed as a "conspiracy".

His lawyers said A. himself was tortured by militias and is suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Several European countries are trying suspects from the Syrian civil war under the legal tool of universal jurisdiction, allowing judges to rule on alleged serious crimes committed abroad.

Similar cases have been heard in France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium and Austria.

Arab World

Palestinian Leader Abbas Announces Presidential Election in Early 2027

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP file photo)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP file photo)
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Palestinian Leader Abbas Announces Presidential Election in Early 2027

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP file photo)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP file photo)

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has issued a decree calling for presidential elections in early 2027 and for legislative elections to be held in November of this year, official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, without saying if he would run. 

Abbas, 90, won the last Palestinian presidential election in 2005 with a mandate of four years, meaning his term should have expired in 2009. 

However his term was extended and no presidential election has been held since, with Abbas ruling by presidential decrees, courting criticism at home and abroad. 

"President Mahmoud Abbas announced that presidential elections will be held in early 2027," Wafa said, citing a statement from the presidency. 

The nonagenarian leader's decree also calls for legislative elections to take place in November of this year, it added. 

In his decree, Abbas emphasized he was "fully prepared to organize the Palestinian National Council elections scheduled for November, which include the general legislative elections in the homeland and elections abroad". 

The Palestinian National Council (PNC) is the parliament of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which has over 700 members from the Palestinian territories and abroad. 

The last legislative elections in the Palestinian territories were held in 2006, when Hamas won, defeating Abbas' Fatah party, which had previously dominated Palestinian politics. 

As a result, the Palestinian Legislative Council, which is the parliament of Abbas' Palestinian Authority, has not met since 2007. 

Holding elections is part of the reforms demanded by the international community, which supports the Palestinian Authority financially. 

Palestinian legal researcher Mahmud Al-Afranji said there was both political will and international pressure on the Palestinian Authority to hold the elections. 

But he told AFP that a lack of guarantees that elections would be held in occupied east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip remained "an obstacle to holding the legislative elections". 

In 2021, Abbas announced legislative and presidential elections to be held in May and July of that year respectively. 

They were then postponed indefinitely due to the absence of guarantees that voting could take place in east Jerusalem, which Israel has occupied since 1967. 

In April, Palestinians went to the polls to elect municipal council heads in the occupied West Bank, in the first vote since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023.