Region

BEIRUT —  Clashes between the Syrian army and the Daesh group have killed more than 40 fighters on the two sides in just 48 hours, a Britain-based war monitor said Saturday.

Fighting in the central desert province of Homs since late Thursday has taken the lives of 18 pro-government fighters and 26 extremists, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

“The fighting started in the night of Thursday to Friday with an extremist assault on government positions” near the town of Al-Sukhna, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Daesh extremists have retained a roving presence in Syria’s vast Badia desert, despite losing their last shred of territory last year. They regularly carry out attacks there.

Daesh declared a cross-border “caliphate” in large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, but several military campaigns against it chipped away at that proto-state and eventually led to its territorial demise.

Syria’s war has killed more than 380,000 people since it started in 2011.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel's deputy premier has said West Bank annexations must wait, allies and regional powers have condemned the project, but hours before his government can move forward, the prime minister's plans remained unknown Tuesday.

Right-wing Premier Benjamin Netanyahu has endorsed a US-proposed peace plan that paves the way for Israel to annex territory in the occupied West Bank, including Israeli settlements considered illegal under international law.

His coalition government has set July 1 as the date it can begin action on President Donald Trump proposals, which have been roundly rejected by the Palestinians as biased towards Israel.

On Monday, Netanyahu's chief coalition partner, the defence minister and alternate prime minister, Benny Gantz, said annexation must be put on hold until the coronavirus crisis has been contained.

European powers including Britain, France and Germany as well as the UN are opposed to any unilateral West Bank annexations as a violation of international law that would undermine a two-state solution to the conflict.

Netanyahu, in power since 2009, has pursued closer ties with Arab states, notably in the Gulf, seeking economic cooperation and to form a united front against common foe Iran.

But Gulf leaders have also made clear that moves towards annexation would threaten any warming relations with Israel.

Even Israelis, battered by an economic crisis brought on by the pandemic, appear lukewarm about annexation moves now.

A poll by the Channel 12 network said that only 5 per cent of people believed that extending Israeli sovereignty over Jewish settlements in the West Bank should be the government’s top priority.

“In this case, one would ask, why would Mr. Netanyahu promote [annexation]?” the president of the Israeli Democracy Institute think-tank, Yohanan Plesner, told reporters.

Netanyahu has given no indication as to his plans ahead of the possible July 1 kick-off date.

Israeli media have suggested action could be postponed indefinitely, or that Netanyahu might announce a symbolic gesture to limit international uproar, like the annexation of one Jewish settlement on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

Speculating about Netanyahu’s motives, Plesner said the veteran premier may want to move forward to distract from his ongoing corruption trial, in which he denies wrongdoing.

The 70-year-old could equally be trying to cement his legacy as a premier who expanded Israel’s borders, or reaffirm his right-wing credentials before collapsing his coalition and taking the country back to the polls.

Erez Yakoobi, who lectures in the psychology of leadership at Israel’s Ono Academic College, said Netanyahu is motivated by one key question: “How can I stay prime minister in the long-run?”

By not publicly declaring his roadmap for implementing the Trump plan, Netanyahu could be playing for time, waiting to assess the diplomatic landscape.

“He doesn’t want to speak broadly about the plan until he thinks it’s the good moment to present what he will do,” Yakoobi said.

Expert noted that Netanyahu is also watching the US election to see if Trump will be in office after January to defend his vision for Middle East peace.

Presumptive Democratic party nominee Joe Biden has opposed any unilateral annexations by Israel.

Beyond West Bank annexations, the Trump plan calls for the establishment of a demilitarised Palestinian state, largely encircled by Israel — terms dismissed as unacceptable to the Palestinians.

In a formal counter to the Trump proposals, the Palestinian leadership said they are prepared to renew long-stalled peace talks with Israel and to agree to “minor” territorial concessions.

The document, obtained by AFP on Monday, said the Palestinian Authority was open a “state with a limited number of weapons and a powerful police force to uphold law and order”.

KHARTOUM — Tens of thousands of Sudanese protesters flocked to the streets Tuesday calling for reforms and demanding justice for those killed in anti-government demonstrations that ousted president Omar Al Bashir last year.

The protests in several cities and the capital Khartoum went ahead with security forces deployed in force and despite a tight curfew since April designed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"Our demands are peace... and justice. We call for economic reform and appointment of civilian governors to states," said a protester in Burri, east of Khartoum.

"This march is to put the revolution back on course."

Bashir was ousted by the military in April 2019 following months-long mass protests against his 30-year rule, in an uprising triggered by economic hardship.

Many on Tuesday chanted the catchphrase of anti-Bashir protests: "Freedom, peace and justice".

Protesters rallied in areas across the country, including in the capital's twin city of Omdurman, with security forces later in the day firing tear gas to prevent protesters from crossing the bridge linking it to Khartoum.

Demonstrations also took place in parts of the war-ravaged Darfur region of western Sudan, where protesters called for Bashir and others accused of war crimes in the region's conflict to be tried at the International Criminal Court.

Sudan has since August been led by a civilian-majority administration presiding over a three-year transitional period.

The post-Bashir administration has vowed to tackle the country’s daunting economic woes, largely blamed on the former regime’s policies, and forge peace with rebel groups.

The country’s political transition came on the back a power-sharing deal between military leaders, who ousted Bashir, and the protest movement.

The agreement was preceded by months of military control, with Tuesday’s protests taking place a year after demonstrations calling for the end of military rule, during which at least seven people were killed.

Ahead of Tuesday’s protests, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said he met with political factions and other groups to discuss their demands.

“These legitimate demands are necessary to put the revolution back on track,” he said in a statement on Monday.

He pledged to announce in the coming days several decisions that “may have a major impact” in Sudan.

The premier also called on protesters “to follow health guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus”, which has infected more than 9,200 people and killed nearly 600 in the country.

Photos from several rallies showed some demonstrators wearing face masks.

In the northeastern city of Atbara, the launchpad of the December 2018 anti-Bashir protests, crowds carrying the Sudanese flags gathered to call for a “full civilian rule”.

In Dongola, north of the capital, hundreds carried banners demanding “retribution” for demonstrators killed in clashes with security forces last year.

At least 246 were killed and hundreds others wounded during the 2018-19 anti-government protests, according to doctors linked to Sudan’s protest movement.

“Carry out the reforms, Hamdok, do not fail those who brought you [to power],” protesters in Dongola chanted.

Tuesday’s rallies coincided with the 31st anniversary of the 1989 Islamist-backed military coup that brought Bashir to power.

Since his ouster, the former strongman has been detained and was handed a two-year prison sentence on corruption charges in December.

He faces charges over the deaths of protesters and the 1989 coup.

Authorities in Sudan have launched probes into “violations” committed during his rule.

In Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, demonstrators draped in the Sudanese flag carried banners that read: “Retribution and peace”.

Fighting erupted in Darfur in 2003 between African minority rebels and Bashir’s forces, leaving 300,000 people dead and displacing 2.5 million others.

A North Darfur resident Ahmed Adam, who was at the rally, said protesters held banners reading “all war criminals to the International Criminal Court [ICC]”.

Bashir has for a decade been wanted by the ICC over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur conflict.

Forces unleashed by Bashir’s government have been accused by rights groups of “ethnic cleansing” campaigns and widespread rape.

In February, Sudan’s transitional authorities agreed that Bashir and his aides would stand trial before the ICC.

Earlier this month, top militia leader Ali Kushayb, who was accused of atrocities in Darfur, handed himself over to the ICC.

AMMAN — At today’s fourth Brussels Conference on “Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region”, hosted by the European Union, Special Representative for Syria Engagement Ambassador James Jeffrey announced more than $696 million in additional humanitarian assistance for the people of Syria in response to the ongoing crisis. 

According to a US embassy statement, this brings the total US humanitarian response to more than $11.3 billion since the start of the Syrian crisis.

The US remains the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance — both in Syria and around the world, the statement said.

This assistance is a component of the country’s National Security Strategy, which “directs the US to continue to lead the world in humanitarian assistance, while ensuring increased global burden-sharing and supporting displaced people close to their homes to help meet their needs until they can safely and voluntarily return home”. 

Tuesday’s announcement of additional assistance through the State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is part of ongoing US efforts to provide life-saving food, nutrition, shelter, education, medical care, livelihoods, safe drinking water, hygiene supplies and improved sanitation, as well as mental health and psychosocial support to assist millions of Syrians in need, according to the statement.

It also supports “much-needed counselling” and other protection programmes for the most vulnerable groups, including children, women, persons with disabilities and the elderly. This aid will be provided through the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the World Food Programme (WFP), non-governmental organisations, and others, the statement noted.

The international community relies on cross-border and cross-line access to deliver humanitarian assistance and Syrians rely on this aid to survive, according to the statement. 

The US “strongly supports” UN Secretary General Guterres’ recommendation to restore cross-border access between northeast Syria and Iraq to deliver aid and medicine. 

The US “supports freedom of movement for all, including forcibly displaced persons and conflict-affected Syrians, as well as the safe, voluntary and dignified return or resettlement and reintegration of refugees and internally displaced persons in a process that is free from coercion”, the statement said, adding that the nation “reaffirms its commitment to a credible and inclusive Syrian-led, UN-facilitated political solution pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 2254”.

GENEVA — Israel's aim to annex parts of the occupied West Bank was clearly "illegal", the UN's human rights chief said on Monday, warning that the consequences could be "disastrous".

Just days before Israel intends to kick-start plans to annex its West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley, Michelle Bachelet added her voice to the chorus urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to drop the proposal.

"Annexation is illegal. Period," the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement.

"Any annexation. Whether it is 30 per cent of the West Bank, or five per cent," she said, urging Israel to "listen to its own former senior officials and generals, as well as to the multitude of voices around the world, warning it not to proceed along this dangerous path".

International condemnation of the possible Israeli annexations has mounted ahead of July 1, when Israel could take its first steps towards implementing part of a US-proposed Middle East peace plan.

US President Donald Trump's proposals, rejected outright by the Palestinians, pave the way for annexing key parts of the West Bank, including settlements long considered illegal by the majority of the international community.

'Shockwaves' 

Bachelet urged Israel to shift course, warning that "the shockwaves of annexation will last for decades, and will be extremely damaging to Israel, as well as to the Palestinians".

“The precise consequences of annexation cannot be predicted,” she said.

“But they are likely to be disastrous for the Palestinians, for Israel itself, and for the wider region.”

The UN rights chief warned that “any attempt to annex any part of the occupied Palestinian territory will not only seriously damage efforts to achieve lasting peace in the region, it is likely to entrench, perpetuate and further heighten serious human rights violations that have characterised the conflict for decades”.

Her statement cautioned that such a move would almost certainly lead to increased restrictions on Palestinians’ right to freedom of movement, as their population centres would become enclaves.

In addition, significant tracts of private land would likely be illegally expropriated, and even in cases where this does not occur, many Palestinians could lose access to cultivate their own lands.

And Palestinians who found themselves living inside the annexed areas would likely experience greater difficulty accessing essential services like healthcare and education, while humanitarian access could also be blocked.

Bachelet’s office warned that Palestinians inside the annexed area would come under heavy pressure to move out, pointing out that entire communities currently not recognised under Israeli planning would be at high risk of “forcible transfer”.

And settlements, which are already recognised as a clear violation of international law, would almost certainly expand.

“This is a highly combustible mix,” Bachelet said.

“I am deeply concerned that even the most minimalist form of annexation would lead to increased violence and loss of life, as walls are erected, security forces deployed and the two populations brought into closer proximity.”

The UN rights chief warned that “the existing two-tier system of law in the same territory will become embedded, with devastating impacts on the lives of Palestinians who have little or no access to legal remedy”.

Bachelet said illegal annexation would not change Israel’s obligations under international law as an occupying power towards the occupied population.

“Instead, it will grievously harm the prospect of a two-state solution, undercut the possibilities of a renewal of negotiations, and perpetuate the serious existing human rights and international humanitarian law violations we witness today.”

ONBOARD THE OCEAN VIKING — Libya lies behind and Europe ahead though the mist — rescued migrants can dream a little onboard the Ocean Viking as it drifts somewhere between Italy and Malta.

Rescued from two wooden boats, 118 migrants, including a pregnant woman, are finally on one of the last stages in their quest for a better life, crossing the Mediterranean.

At the mention of Libya, Hafiz, a 30-year-old Eritrean, holds his head as if to ward off blows.

"All I want is to save my skin. If I had stayed in Libya, they would have ended up killing me," he told AFP onboard the rescue ship.

"I could also die out here at sea, but at least I have a slim chance of making it."

Hafiz says he survived four years of torture, kidnapping, beatings and seeing a friend killed for his cell phone.

The worst was three years in prison "for nothing, without seeing the light of day", he says.

"After three years, a guard asked me what I was doing there. I replied that it was up to them to tell me. When no-one could come up with an answer, they let me go. And then I could tell my family I was alive."

Hafiz, who fled his homeland via Sudan, does not care where he goes in Europe, "just someplace safe, where I cannot be killed".

A UN report in late 2018 used the testimony of 1,300 migrants to allege "unimaginable horrors" in Libya including "unlawful killings, arbitrary detention and torture, gang rape, slavery and human trafficking".

Mohammad Tareeq Saleem, 40, says he survived seven years in Libya, where he worked in a food shop. The Pakistani native suffered confinement and assaults, including a knife wound just before setting out to sea.

He put up with the violence to earn money for his wife and six children in Lahore, but the fighting in Libya has destroyed jobs and after losing his, Mohammad borrowed money from friends to try and reach Europe.

"My mission is to work and earn money to feed my family," he says.

'Let us in' 

Cameroonian Mervis, 24, is the only woman migrant on board — she is five months pregnant.

She and her Ghanaian husband are "just looking for a place where the child will not suffer".

For Mervis, Libya meant rapes, kidnappings, prison and beatings.

She pulls up a leg of her sweatpants, which was covered by thick socks, to show where Libyan jailers broke her tibia "just to torture me".

Mervis speaks French and her husband English. They hope their child will be born in Germany and have a fresh start.

Aymane is headed back to Europe, having already lived in France for three years.

Sporting a pony tail and gold-trimmed sunglasses, he will not say how he reached Europe previously, just that he sold clothes in the Clignancourt flea market in Paris.

Aymane returned to Morocco after his father died to find that prospects for young people were dire.

"You work a lot and earn almost nothing," he says, so one night he "crossed the desert" to reach Libya and find passage back across the Mediterranean.

The Ocean Viking, a Norwegian-flagged ocean supply vessel chartered by charities, is waiting for permission from either Italy or Malta to dock.

"Let us in," Mervis pleads. "We just want to live in peace!"

BEIRUT — Air strikes targeting positions of Iran-backed militias in eastern Syria killed nine fighters on Sunday in the second such raid in 24 hours, a war monitor said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Israel was "likely responsible" for the strikes near the Iraqi border.

They came hours after a similar raid killed six other Tehran-backed fighters, raising the total toll to 15 killed in 24 hours, according to the monitor.

The fighters killed in the early Sunday raids were mostly Iraqi nationals, according to observatory head Rami Abdul Rahman.

There was no official comment from Israel.

Israel has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria since the start of the war in 2011.

It has targeted government troops, allied Iranian forces and fighters from the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hizbollah.

It rarely confirms details of its operations in Syria, but says Iran's presence is a threat and that it will continue its strikes.

On Saturday, air strikes also blamed on Israel hit positions belonging to regime forces and Iran-backed militias near the border with Iraq, the observatory said.

Four Syrian nationals were among the six fighters killed in that attack, the monitor added.

Saturday’s raids came only days after Israeli strikes in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor and the southern province of Suweida killed seven fighters, including two Syrian soldiers, according to the observatory.

The uptick in attacks has prompted concern among Iran-backed forces in east Syria that Israeli agents may be among their ranks, the monitor said.

These forces have arrested four people on suspicion of providing intelligence to Israel, the war monitor reported on Sunday, shortly before the latest raids.

The war in Syria has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced more than half of the country’s pre-war population since 2011.