Nearly 3.4 million Syrians are at risk of losing access to humanitarian aid facilitated through UN Security Council Resolution 2533, expiring on July 10.
The Security Council will vote today on two resolutions to extend Syria’s cross-border aid, after deliberations over the number of approved border crossings, time frames, and potential vetoes.
Last updated: Sunday 11 Shaaban 1441 AH – April 05, 2020 KSA 17:48 – GMT 14:48
Posted on: Sunday 11 Shaaban 1441 AH – April 05, 2020 KSA 11:54 – GMT 08:54
The owner of the well-known @MzmjerSh Twitter account revealed in a thread on June 22nd that Ahrar al-Sham is experiencing major defections within its ranks.
@MzmjerSh focuses on jihadist affairs, and the man behind it is believed to be a former jihadist leader in Jabhat al-Nusra.
“The Ahrar al-Sham movement is currently witnessing a major turning point since about 1,000 fighters who form the backbone of the commando forces, and the special forces have defected. The division came as a result of disputes with the movement’s leadership over some internal reforms that these fighters had demanded,” @MzmjerSh said.
Operation Guardian of the Walls caused millions of dollars in damages to Gaza, claimed the World Bank, which is hoping to mobilize donors.
The Gaza war in May caused structural and economic damage to the coastal enclave valued at $570 million, the World Bank said in a preliminary report published on Tuesday.
US assistance to Gaza is going to provide emergency shelter, food relief, health care and mental health care.
US funding for Gaza won’t go to Hamas, vowed acting assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Joey Hood as he explained that the humanitarian assistance would flow to regional actors through transparent and legitimate channels.
The US will provide assistance to Gaza “through trusted, vetted, independent partners who distribute directly to the people in need, not through Hamas,” Hood said, when he spoke Tuesday at a panel discussion at the Wilson Center.
The international community has scrambled in the aftermath of the 11-day Gaza war in May, to find a way to prevent Hamas from confiscating civilian rehabilitation funds. Hood said such a mechanism would come on top of existing stiff regulations with regard to financial assistance for Palestinians.
Salvini said he would make the Italian and EU Parliaments understand the terrorist organization’s intentions in its war against Israel and its ambition to spread Islam around the world.
At a panel on the European reaction to Operation Guardian of the Walls this past Monday, Italian Senator Matteo Salvini announced that he would distribute the text of the Hamas Charter to his fellow members of the Italian and European Parliaments in order to raise awareness of the threat the pose.
On July 24, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined thousands of worshippers in the streets around the historic Hagia Sophia in Istanbul for a doubly symbolic moment. Surrounded by a swarm of politicians, soldiers, security forces and imams, the Turkish leader made his way into the giant, former Byzantine cathedral through doors once hammered open by conquering Ottoman soldiers in 1453. Inside, he read out the namaz, or Muslim prayer, formally turning the 1,500-year-old building back into a mosque.
This is the scenario the US has been concerned about for years. The pro-Iran attacks may spill over to Syria.
Iran’s media gave major headlines to claims of attacks on US forces in Syria on Sunday. The July 4 date was symbolic; it was US Independence Day. What could be a better day for Iran to claim it had struck a US base in Syria?
However, it turns out the rumors of the rocket attacks were likely false, and the US-led coalition denied any incident happened in Syria.
The Houthis think they can get legitimacy through negotiations, but haven’t given up on using drones and rockets.
Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have achieved many successes using drones and missiles in recent years. The US, Saudi Arabia and other countries have linked the Houthi drones and missiles to Iran over the past four years.
But the Houthi ambassador to Iran, Mohamed al-Dailami, who was appointed in 2019, gave an interview to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency this week. The Houthis had developed their own weapons and were not receiving drones from Iran, he said.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett holds first call with Vladimir Putin, agree to face-to-face meeting.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Russian President Vladimir Putin made plans to meet in the near future, when the two leaders held their first phone call on Monday since the new government was sworn in last month. No date was set for such an encounter.
Bennett and Putin “agreed to meet soon,” the Prime Minister’s Office said after the call.