بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | يوليو 11, 2018 | Media Roundups, Syria in a Week
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Half the Crossings are Under Control
6 July 2018
Syrian government forces took control of the border strip with Jordan and the vital Nassib crossing, known as Jaber crossing from the Jordanian side, after it had previously been under the control of opposition factions.
Of the nineteen border crossings with neighboring countries, i.e. Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Turkey, the government now controls around half of them, including five with Lebanon and one with Jordan and Iraq each, in addition to two crossings with Turkey, which has closed them from its side.
In mid-2015, the government only had control over the crossings with Lebanon while the remaining crossings were controlled by the opposition, fanatics, or Kurds. The following is a list of crossings that shows by whom they are controlled, according to the AFP:
- Nassib crossing, south of Daraa Governorate, had always been a vital commercial crossing for Damascus before opposition factions took control of it in April 2015. Syrian authorities are hoping that with its recapture, they will be able to reboot this strategic route and re-stimulate commercial activities with all the economic and financial benefits.
- Al-Jomrok al-Qadeem crossing, known as al-Ramtha from the Jordanian side. Government forces lost control over this crossing in 2013. It is still under the control of opposition factions, however, they are supposed to withdraw from it in the upcoming period according to an agreement between the factions and the Russians.
- Kasab crossing, Lattakia Governorate (northeast of Syria), is under the control of government forces but it is closed from the Turkish side after fierce battles in 2014 between government forces and opposition factions who took control of it for a short period of time.
- Bab al-Hawa crossing, Idlib Governorate (northeast of Syria), is under the control of a civil administration affiliated with Tahrir al-Sham (previously Nusra).
- Bab al-Salamah, in I’zaz, Aleppo Governorate (north of Syria), is under the control of Syrian opposition factions loyal to Turkey.
- Jarablus crossing, in Aleppo Governorate (north of Syria), is under the control of Syrian factions loyal to Turkey.
- Tal Abyadh crossing, in Raqqa Governorate (north of Syria), is under the control of the US-supported Kurdish People’s Protection Units after ISIS was kicked out of it in 2015.
- Ain al-Arab (Kobani) crossing, in Aleppo Governorate, is under the control of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units.
- Ra’s al-Ain crossing, in Hasakeh Governorate (northeast of Syria), witnessed fierce battles in the summer of 2013 between ISIS and Kurdish fighters who were able to oust ISIS from the crossing and the city of Ra’s al-Ain.
- Qamishli-Nssaibin crossing, is the only crossing in Hasakeh Governorate that is still under government control, but it is closed by Turkish authorities.
- Ain Diwar in Hasakeh is under the control of Kurdish fighters.
- Al-Ya’robieh or al-Rabi’a from the Iraqi side, in Hasakeh Governorate, is under the control of Kurdish fighters.
- Al-Boukamal or al-Qaem from the Iraqi side, in Deir Azzor Governorate (north-east of Syria, is under the control of the government and ally fighters from Iran.
- Al-Tanf or al-Waleed from the Iraqi side, south of Deir Azzor, is under the control of the US-led international coalition along with opposition factions after ousting ISIS from it.
- Five crossings between Lebanon and Syria, in Homs and Damascus Governorates, are under government control; they are: Jdaidet Yaboos (al-Masna’ from the Lebanese side), al-Daboosieh (al-A’boodieh from the Lebanese side), Josieh (al-Qa’a from the Lebanese side), Tal Kalakh (al-Bqai’a from the Lebanese side), and Tartus (al-A’reidah from the Lebanese side). There are numerous illegal crossings along the Lebanese-Syrian borders most of which are in mountainous areas.
Israel and Syria are officially in a state of war and there are no crossings between the two countries. However, opposition factions control the Qonaiterah border area. Israel has occupied a major part of the Syrian Golan Heights since 1967.
The remaining parts of the Syrian border are open to the Mediterranean and maritime ports are all under government control, in addition to the airports in Damascus, Aleppo, Lattakia, and Qamishli.
Daraa Besieged and the Return of Refugees
9 July 2018
On Monday, the Syrian army and allied forces imposed a siege on the opposition enclave in Daraa in southern Syrian and were poised to gain complete control of the city, fighters from the Syrian opposition said.
Daraa is considered the cradle of the uprising against President Bashar al-Asad’s rule. Abu Shaima, a spokesman for the opposition in the southern Syrian city, said that several thousand people were now encircled after the army pushed into a base west of the city without a fight before the formal evacuation of opposition fighters in contravention of a Russian-brokered agreement. He told Reuters that the army and allied fighters have completely encircled Daraa.
Opposition representatives and Russian officers reached an agreement on Friday that the opposition would give up Daraa and other towns in the governorate bordering Jordan, in a new victory for Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies.
The agreement allows fighters not ready to make peace to leave for opposition-controlled areas in northern Syria before the handover of weapons and the return of state sovereignty.
“There is a lot of fear and we do not trust the Russians or the regime,” Abu Shaima said.
In other areas covered by the agreement, fighters from the Free Syrian Army, which previously received Western support, continued to hand over positions bordering Jordan, east of Daraa, that had been under their control since the onset of the conflict.
Two hundred thousand displaced people went back to their towns and villages, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) on Monday. The SOHR added that the vast majority of people who were on the Syrian-Jordanian border went back to their villages and towns, which were widely looted by government forces and allied militants for items that included furniture, cars, cattle, and other property.
This comes after cautious calmness throughout Darra since Sunday and after a series of heavy shelling and more than one hundred and twenty air raids that targeted the town of Um al-Mayathen and the city of Daraa and their surroundings.
The SOHR said that government forces and Russia launched more than two thousand and three hundred air raids and shells on opposition areas to impose a surrender and signing of a deal in Bosra al-Sham.
Israel and Iran in Syria
8 July 2018
The “aggression” that targeted a military base in central Syria is an “Israeli” one, said Damascus on Sunday adding that its forces successfully hit one of the attacking planes, according to a military source in the official media.
The Syrian news agency SANA reported an “aggression” on the T4 military airport in central Syria without mentioning the responsible party. It then cited a military source as saying: “Our defense systems have confronted an Israeli aggression and downed a number of missiles that targeted the T4 airport, they successfully hit one of the attacking planes and forced the rest to leave our airspace.”
The SOHR said that “the missile attack targeted the T4 airport and its vicinity near Palmyra in Homs Governorate.” The SOHR added that the bombardment targeted “Iranian fighters in the airport complex,” and confirmed the death of Iranian fighters and others loyal to the Syrian government without specifying numbers.
In addition to the Syrian army, there are Iranian and Hezbollah fighters in the T4 airport, according to the SOHR.
The T4 military base was repeatedly subject to airstrikes, which Damascus accused Israel of carrying out, including an airstrike on 9 April that left fourteen soldiers dead including seven Iranians. Moscow, Tehran, and Damascus blamed Israel for the airstrike.
The airport was also targeted on 10 February in an incident that witnessed the downing of an Israeli military airplane by Syrian forces. Israel at the time said that it hit “Iranian targets.”
“We will violently respond to any Syrian military incursion in the demilitarized zone of the Golan Heights,” said Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he will discuss the Iranian presence in Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday.
Spy’s Watch
5 July 2018
On Thursday, the Israeli Mossad said that it was able to obtain the watch of an Israeli spy that was sentenced to death in Syria in 1965.
The Israeli spy Eli Cohen was put on trial and sentenced to death for espionage in Syria after he succeeded in penetrating the highest levels of the Syrian government.
“The Mossad returned the watch of the late Mossad fighter Eli Cohen to Israel … the watch was returned through a special operation carried out by the Mossad recently,” a statement by the Israeli government said.
The statement went on to say: “After Cohen’s execution on 18 May 1965, his watch remained in an enemy state,” and added “after the watch returned to Israel, intelligence and research operations were carried out that came to the firm conclusion that this indeed is Eli Cohen’s watch.”
Syria, which has not signed a peace agreement with Israel, did not respond to Israeli requests over the years for the return of Cohen’s remains for humanitarian reasons.
In 2004, former Israeli President Moshe Katsav sent a humanitarian call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad through envoys from France, Germany, and the UN.
The information obtained by Cohen was considered crucial to Israel’s occupation of the Golan Heights in the 1967 War.
“This year and as a result of an operation we succeeded in determining the place of Eli Cohen’s watch, which he wore until he was captured, and we brought it back to Israel.” a statement reported the Mossad chief Yosi Cohen saying on Thursday.
“The watch represents a partial picture of Elie Cohen’s operation and part of his fake Arab identity,” he added.
The statement said that the watch will be presented in the Mossad headquarters until the end of the Jewish year in September and will be given to his family afterwards.
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Cohen and his colleagues in the Mossad. However, Cohen’s widow said that bringing the watch back happened by buying it from an online auction.
Chlorine and not Sarine
6 July 2018
A preliminary report by investigators in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) published on Friday said that traces of chlorine gas were discovered in the Syrian city of Douma, where an attack in April left tens of deaths and injuries.
The report issued by the OPCW did not find any traces of nerve gas and added that the date for publishing the final report is still unclear.
Last month, UN human rights investigators found that “current evidence is largely consistent with the use of chlorine.”
Activists and international powers accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons against its opponents and civilians, while Syria has repeatedly rejected these claims.
On 7 April, at least forty people were killed in an attack on Douma, which was still under the control of opposition fighters.
The suspected use of chemical weapons prompted the United States, Britain, and France to launch a series of airstrikes on Syria one week after the Douma attack.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | يوليو 3, 2018 | Media Roundups, Syria in a Week
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Syria Between Trump and Putin
28 June 2018
The first summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump will be held on 16 July in Helsinki amid an ambiguous international atmosphere for Trump who has been distancing himself from historical allies and whose mandate has been a subject of investigation for possible Russian intervention in the presidential elections.
The Republican president reached the White House after promising to achieve reconciliation between Russia and the United States, however, after seventeen months in office, he has not fulfilled this promise. Preparations have been underway for two months for this summit between the two presidents who have not met except on the sidelines of international meetings. The White House and the Kremlin symbolically announced the date and time of the meeting simultaneously on Thursday.
The summit, which will be held ten years after former President Barack Obama’ declaration of “reviving relationships” that was not meant to be, constitutes a new attempt to improve these relations that have not been this bad since the Cold War.
In recent years, new issues have been added to the list of disputes, including Moscow’s support for the Syrian government, the annexation of Crimea after the pro-Russian separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine, and the poisoning of the former double agent Sergey Skripal that led to the exchange of diplomatic expulsions, including US diplomats.
The final touches to this summit were made on Wednesday during the White House National Security Adviser John Bolton’s visit to Moscow, which was closely followed in the United States.
Putin said after meeting Bolton in the Kremlin that he hoped to at least achieve “first steps to restore full relationships,” stressing that “he never sought for a confrontation.”
The Kremlin said that the summit will include a private meeting, a business lunch, a joint press conference, and a joint statement.
The Putin-Trump summit will be held a few days after the NATO summit in Brussels on 11-12 July, which is expected to witness tensions between Trump and his western counterparts.
On Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the summit, stressing that NATO’s approach is based on defense and dialogue with Russia.
Israel Prevents Entry of Syrians
30 June 2018
Israel will not allow for the entry of Syrian civilians fleeing the war in their country, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding that his government will continue to provide them with humanitarian assistance.
Tens of thousands of Syrians have fled from the large-scale military operation launched by the Syrian government on 19 June with Russian support in Daraa governorate, with the aim of fully recapturing this government. Some of them have established temporary camps near the Israeli occupied Golan Heights.
“In regard to southern Syria, we will continue to defend our border,” Netanyahu said in his cabinet meeting.
“We will provide humanitarian assistance as much as we can. We will not allow for the entry into our country,” he said. An Israeli officer told the press on Sunday that Israel transported “around thirty tons of food, medical equipment, and a large quantity of clothes” to displaced civilians on the Syrian side of the Golan heights after they fled battles in southern Syria.
Israel set up a program to provide humanitarian assistance for Syrians across the border in the Golan region and treatment for injured Syrians.
On Friday, the Israeli army said that it carried out a night-time operation across the armistice line with Syria.
The surge in violence in the last two weeks has forced around one hundred and sixty thousand people to flee their homes according to preliminary estimates from the UN. This includes twenty thousand people who fled to areas close to the Naseeb border crossing with Jordan, which hosts more than six hundred and fifty thousand registered Syrian refugees and estimates the actual number to be around 1.3 million refugees.
The Israeli officer reiterated that the army would not enter Syrian territory and said, “We will open up the gates, deliver the humanitarian assistance, and then close the gate.” This aid is handled by non-governmental organizations he added.
Amman said that it cannot open its border for more Syrians fleeing the seven-year-old conflict, however, it said that it would send aid across the border for displaced people.
In 1967, Israel occupied vast areas in the Golan Heights and surrounding areas in Syria, and later annexed them in a move that was not recognized by the international community.
Turkey in Afrin
1 July 2018
The Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hami Aksoy said that the Turkish presence in Afrin, north of Syria, will go on for some time in order to “continue its development.”
“Life has gone back to normal in Afrin, but Turkey’s presence will go on for some time to continue work on the development of the area,” according to the official Anatolia news agency. Aksoy pointed out that there are more than one hundred and forty thousand people from Afrin’s residents who went back to settle down in their houses.
“Turkey has gradually begun to hand over some of the tasks to the local council established by the residents of Afrin, which comprises figures from all components in the region, including Kurds, Turkmen, and Arabs,” he said, “Turkey is facing defamation campaigns on the pretext of Afrin,” he added.
On 18 March 2018, Turkish forces and the opposition Free Syrian Army took control over the center of Afrin, according to Anatolia news agency.
Maya Without Legs in Turkey
27 June 2018
The image of the Syrian child Maya who was born without legs and uses artificial limbs that are basically tin cans has circled the world and caused wide shock and controversy. Now, Maya has been transferred to Turkey and is ready to start a new chapter in her life.
The orthopedic treating the eight-year-old child in Istanbul pledged in front of her father saying: “Maya will walk.”
AFP and other media ten days ago published photos showing Maya Morai difficultly moving around with the help of tin cans and plastic tubes in a camp for displaced people in Idlib, northwest of Syria.
Maya’s father Mohammed Moraai (thirty-four years) made these artificial limbs, he himself was born with the same birth defect as that of Maya.
Their pictures motivated the Israeli Red Crescent to evacuate the child and the father from Idlib quickly, and send to a specialized clinic in Istanbul.
“Maya will walk. I hope this will happen in the next three months,” said Dr. Mehmet Zeki Culcu who is taking care of them.
Mohammed Morai and his family used to live in a village in the southern countryside of Aleppo, and they left their homes early this year because of the battles.
A few months ago, Maya was able to move around by crawling just like her father, but after she went through surgery which shortened her amputated legs, she was not able to even crawl.
“After the surgery, she could not move around and she stayed in the tent,” her father said, “Maya has two brothers and three sisters who do not suffer from this birth defect.”
“In order to encourage her to leave the tent, I came up with the idea of placing plastic tubes stuffed with sponges on the amputated legs to ease the pressure on the limbs. After that, I added two empty tuna cans because the tubes could not withstand the friction with the ground very well,” her father said.
Armed with this innovative device, Maya went back to wandering outside the tent and went to the camp’s school all by herself. Her father used to replace the tubes once a month and the tuna cans once a week.
Russia Imposes a Settlement
1 July 2018
Syrian opposition factions in Daraa reached an agreement on Sunday with Russian forces that provides for settling the situation of militants under a general amnesty.
“The Russian military negotiation team reached an agreement with militant commanders in the city Daraa al-Balad and the northwestern countryside of Daraa that provides for handing in heavy and middle weaponry to the Syrian army and settling the situation of all militants under a general amnesty. Militant commanders most probably left for Jordan,” informed Syrian sources said.
A meeting was held on Sunday at noon at the governorate town hall in Daraa that included some militant commanders from Daraa al-Balad and the northwestern countryside of Daraa. The first session of negotiations ended, and the parties left for consultations and came back in the evening, and an agreement was reached.
Another team from the Russian forces held prolonged meetings that lasted for two days in the city of Bosra al-Sham in the eastern countryside of Daraa. An agreement was reached the provides for the handing of heavy, middle, and light weaponry present in Bosra al-Sham. The agreement also provides for the entry of the Syrian army to the city and the opening of a humanitarian corridor between the villages of Kharba and Ira’a.
“On Sunday evening, the armed groups began to hand in their heavy equipment in Bosra al-Sham to army units and then it was transported to the town of Barad in Sweida Governorate, east of Bosra al-Sham,” a Syrian military source told a German news agency.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | يونيو 5, 2018 | Media Roundups, Syria in a Week
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
US Outrage and Syrian Presidency
29 May 2018
The US State Department expressed its outrage that Syria will assume the presidency of the UN Conference on Disarmament for the next month, saying that Damascus lacks credibility to preside over the body because of its use of chemical weapons.
“We are outraged at the Syrian regime’s blatant disregard for human life, its serial violations of and contempt for its international obligations and its audaciousness in assuming the presidency of an international body committed to advancing disarmament and non-proliferation,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on Tuesday.
US Ambassador Robert Wood withdrew from the conference when the Syrian ambassador presided over the conference.
US Condemnation and Syrian Recognition
30 May 2018
On Wednesday, the United States condemned Syria’s decision to recognize two breakaway regions in Georgia, saying it fully backed Georgia’s independence and reiterating its call for Russia to withdraw from the area.
“The United States strongly condemns the Syrian regime’s intention to establish diplomatic relations with the Russian-occupied Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.
“These regions are part of Georgia. The United States’ position on Abkhazia and South Ossetia is unwavering,” the statement said.
The US statement came one day after Georgia said that it would sever diplomatic relations with Syria after Damascus moved to recognize the two regions as independent states.
Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Nauru recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both of which broke away from Georgia following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Following a war in the early 1990s, Georgia and Russia fought a war over the regions in August 2008.
The United States and the European Union have backed Georgia in calling the Russian operation a naked land grab.
Last week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged deeper security and economic support for Georgia, calling on Russia to withdraw its forces from Abkhazia and South Ossetia under the ceasefire agreement that followed the 2008 war. The state department echoed that request on Wednesday.
US-Turkish Map
30 May 2018
The US State Department on Wednesday denied media reports that a deal had been reached between the United States and Turkey on a three-step plan for withdrawing the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) from Manbij, Syria.
“We do not have any agreements yet with the government of Turkey,” department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement in Washington. “We are continuing to have ongoing conversations regarding Syria and other issues of mutual concern,” she said, adding that American and Turkish officials had met in Ankara last week for talks on the issue.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency had previously said that Turkey and Washington reached a technical agreement on the withdrawal plan, a move Turkey has long sought from the United States.
Turkey is outraged by US support for the YPG, considering them a terrorist organization. Ankara has threatened to push its offensive in northern Syria’s Afrin region further east to Manbij.
Manbij is a potential flashpoint. The Syrian government, Kurdish militants, Syrian rebel groups, Turkey, and the United States all have a military presence in northern Syria.
Under the terms of the plan to be finalized during a visit by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to Washington on 4 June, the YPG will withdraw from Manbij thirty days after the deal is signed, Anadolu said, quoting sources who attended meetings at which the decisions were made.
Turkish and US military forces will start joint supervision in Manbij forty-five days after the agreement is signed and a local administration will be formed sixty days after 4 June, Anadolu said.
Russian-Israeli Understanding
31 May 2018
Russian and Israeli defense ministers met in Moscow on Thursday, while Russia is providing indirect support for Israel in efforts to remove Iranian troops from southern Syria, near the Israeli border.
Russia has managed to maintain close relations with regional rivals Israel and Iran as it provides decisive military support for the Syrian government in Syria’s multi-sided civil war.
“Israel appreciates Russia’s understanding of our security needs, especially the situation on our northern border,” Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in a statement from Lieberman’s office.
The meeting lasted more than an hour and a half and concerned security issues between the two countries and Israel’s effort to “prevent Iran from establishing bases in Syria,” the statement said.
Russia, on the previous day, demanded that foreign soldiers leave southwestern Syria’s civilian safe zone, near the Israeli border, without directly mentioning Iran.
There are international agreements that all non-Syrian forces must leave the zone, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Moscow, adding that Russia has been working on the issue with the United States and Jordan.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the previous week that Iran must leave all of Syria because Iran’s long-range missiles threaten Israel’s national security.
“We are not satisfied with Iranian withdrawal from southern Syria alone,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
Opposition Against Iran
31 May 2018
The US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal opens the way to raising pressure on Tehran to stop its military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a Syrian opposition leader said on Thursday.
Nasr Hariri of the Syrian Negotiation Commission (SNC) spoke in Brussels as Assad declared that US forces should leave Syria because people in the Middle East were tired of foreign invasions.
Hariri pushed back against Assad’s comments, stressing that Russia and Iran had been fighting on behalf of Assad in the Syrian war, helping him retake considerable territory from rebels and Islamic groups. Hariri said there were now up to one hundred thousand Iranian or Iran-affiliated fighters in the country.
“The role of Iran is getting bigger and bigger, at the expense of our people,” Hariri said. “So we are supporting any international mechanism that could limit the influence of Iran in the region in general, and in our country in particular.”
Hariri had talks with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini about the matter on Thursday. “While Iran and Iranian militias are present in our country, there will not be a political, negotiated solution. There will not be a solution while these foreign partners are there. We are looking for ways to force Iran out of Syria,” he said.
Return of Syrians from Lebanon!
31 May 2018
Lebanon is working with Damascus for the return of thousands of refugees who want to go back to Syria, a Lebanese official said on Thursday.
Lebanese President Michel Auon and other politicians called for refugees to go back to “secure areas” before reaching a deal to end the Syrian war.
According to UN estimates, Lebanon hosts around one million registered Syrian refugees or about one quarter of the of the country’s population, who have fled the war in Syria since 2011. The Lebanese government estimates the number of refugees to be more than one and a half million.
After Syrian forces backed by Iran and Russia recaptured vast areas of land, several Lebanese politicians have stressed their demands for the return of refugees, which is at odds with the international view that it is not safe yet.
“There are contacts with the Syrian authorities about thousands of Syrians who want to return to Syria,” Major General Abbas Ibrahim, a top Lebanese state figure and the head of the General Security agency, told reporters on Thursday. “The stay of Syrians in Lebanon will not go on for a long time. There is intensive work by the political authority,” he added without giving a timeframe for the return, however, he suggested that at least some refugees would return soon.
In an emailed statement in response to a question from Reuters, the UNHCR said that it was “aware of several return movements of Syrian refugees being planned to Syria,” and that “UNHCR is in regular contact with the General Directorate of the General Security on this issue.”
In April, several hundred refugees were transported from Shabaa in southern Lebanon to Syria, in an operation supervised by General Security and in coordination with Damascus.
Saad al-Hariri, who is prime minister of the outgoing Lebanese government and has been designated to form the next one, said Lebanon is against forced returns of refugees.
“We are going to establish ten centers for our Syrian brothers allover Lebanon to regulate their administrative and security status and legalize their presence in Lebanon.”
Reinforcements, Assurances, and Threats
1 June 2018
Al-Qamishli city has experienced great tensions after statements by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on handing over areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to the Syrian government, a security source in the SDF said. The source added that the city has witnessed Kurdish military reinforcements.
“People’s Protection Units (YPG) brought in big military reinforcements from the counterterrorism forces in al-Malkieh north-east of Hasakeh Governorate to al-Qamishli on Thursday evening because of security developments in the city and surrounding countryside,” the source, who asked not to be identified, said to a German news agency.
Syrian sources said that “one of the leaders of the SDF from Tal Hamis south of Qamishli defected and handed himself in to one of the Syrian army’s checkpoints in Thibbaneh village.”
“We will deal with the SDF in one of two options. The first, which is that we began to open doors to negotiations because these forces are made up of Syrians and because we are Syrians who will live with each other. The second option is that if there are no negotiations, we will resort to force because we don’t have any other option,” the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with Russia Today channel.
The Pentagon warned the Syrian president not to use force against US-backed Arab and Kurdish fighters to restore areas controlled by them north-east of Syria.
“Any interested party in Syria should understand that attacking US Forces or our coalition partners would be a bad policy,” Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie said in a press briefing.
Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said that the US army is deployed in Syria to fight ISIS. “Our desire is not to get involved in the Syrian civil war,” she said in a press conference.
The Lowest Toll
1 June 2018
The toll of civilians killed in May is the lowest since the onset of the conflict seven years ago despite the fact that there were about two hundred and fifty civilians killed, the AFP reported the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) as saying.
The SOHR said that the number of civilian deaths last month was two hundred and forty-four, including fifty-eight children and thirty-three women, which is “the lowest toll in civilian deaths since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution” in 2011.
This decrease in numbers compared with those of previous months comes after government forces controlled all of eastern Ghouta and several towns near Damascus in April.
This control was a result of a military offensive that coincided with fierce aerial and artillery bombardment that left hundreds of civilians dead.
The number of civilians killed in April was three hundred and ninety-five according to the SOHR.
Battle fronts were calm to a large extent last month as the fighting concentrated south of Damascus, where government forces were able to oust ISIS from the last enclave it was entrenched in, and thus Damascus and its countryside were declared as “safe” zones.
Of the civilians killed in May, there were seventy-seven killed in aerial and artillery bombardment by government forces and nineteen others killed as a result of airstrikes carried out by Russia which supports Damascus. Thirty-nine others were killed in airstrikes by the US-led international coalition that targeted pockets controlled by ISIS.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | مايو 29, 2018 | Media Roundups, Syria in a Week
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Damascus is Getting Its Suburbs Back
After battles with ISIS that started back in April, the Syrian army has regained control of al-Hajar al-Aswad and Yarmouk Camp neighborhoods, declaring its control of Damascus and surrounding areas for the first time since the onset of the conflict in Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Sunday that a surrender agreement was reached by which ISIS fighters were transported to eastern Syria. However, official media denied such reports. It should be mentioned that the first quarter of this year witnessed fierce battles in eastern Ghouta that left thousands of civilians dead and led to the Syrian army taking full control of eastern Ghouta.
The regime’s geographical control has increased dramatically, whereas areas controlled by the opposition shrank to two wide areas in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib in the northwest and Daraa and Qunaitera in the southwest. The Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by US and French forces, control the northeastern part of Syria. (Reuters)
The South … The New Front
24 May 2018
The Syrian army may head toward the north or south of the country after defeating armed groups around Damascus said the Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Miqdad to the Lebanese television channel al-Mayadeen on Wednesday. Syrian army units advanced toward Daraa in the south, while Syrian jetfighters dropped leaflets calling for armed factions to settle their situations or surrender. On Friday, the United States threatened to take firm actions against any abuses by government forces in the de-escalation zone in the south as it is one of the guarantors along with Russia and Jordan.
The southern front has always been tied to Israel’s role in the conflict and its repeated attacks on military positions belonging to the Syrian army or its allies, especially Iran and Hezbollah. The most recent attack came on Thursday and targeted the Dhaba’a airport near al-Qsair in Homs. The Syrian news agency said that anti-aircraft systems responded to the attack, however, the SOHR confirmed the presence of injuries. Israel boasted that it was the first to use the F-35 US jetfighters in combat missions, with one of these missions being shown off in the sky over Beirut.
The southern area of Syria entered into a tug-of-war over the Iranian presence, especially after the US Secretary of State’s statement that Iran had to withdraw its forces from Syria and stop supporting Hezbollah in order to enter negotiations for a new nuclear deal following the US withdrawal from the deal.
Golan Heights in the Forefront
24 May 2018
Reuters
Israeli pressure on President Trump’s administration emerged last week to recognize its sovereignty on the occupied Golan Heights. The pressure came in a statement by the Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz. This recognition is tied to the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the transfer of the US embassy to it, and has sparked waves of diplomatic and popular anger in many countries around the world. The day the embassy was transferred witnessed the death of tens of Palestinians protesters and the injury of thousands of others by Israeli occupation bullets during protests against this US measure. (Reuters)
Although Trump’s recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights does not carry any legal merit on the international level, it escalates the tensions in the area and raises the potential of a wider conflict in the region.
Israel occupied the Golan Heights in the 1967 war and declared its annexation in 1981 and moved Israeli settlers into it. Syria attempted to take back the occupied Golan in the 1973 war but the offensive was foiled. The two sides signed a truce in 1974 and the border has been relatively calm ever since. The Golan is considered a strategic area as it overlooks northern Palestine and Damascus, in addition to the fertility of its soil and abundance of water resources.
Russian-French Coordination
24 May 2018
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that his country and Russia want to establish a coordination mechanism between world powers to reach a political solution in Syria. He added that the idea was to coordinate efforts carried out by the Astana process that comprises Russia, Turkey, and Iran and the “small group”, which was initiated by France, and comprises Britain, Germany, Jordan, the United States, and Saudi Arabia.
Macron said that he and Putin agreed that focus should be on a new constitution and setting up inclusive elections that would include all Syrians, including refugees.
Clashes in the East
27 May 2018
The SOHR said that ISIS attacked a military base near Palmyra city in the Syrian desert, leaving twenty-six dead from the Syrian army and factions backed by Iran. ISIS used suicide bombers and armored vehicles in the attack.
The attack came one day after government forces expelled ISIS fighters from al-Hajar al-Aswad and Yarmouk Camp near Damascus. ISIS currently controls two besieged desert areas east of Syria. ISIS fighters were expelled from most areas in the Euphrates valley last year. (Reuters)
In Deir Azzour, Interfax news agency reported on Sunday that the Russian Defense Ministry said that four Russian officers were killed in a battle in Deir Azzour east of Syria. The ministry said that fighting broke out after several groups, made up of opposition fighters, attacked an artillery unit that belonged to the Syrian Army. Two military councilors operating the unit were killed instantly, while five soldiers were injured and transferred to a Russian military hospital. Two of them died because of their injuries. The news agency also quoted the ministry as saying that forty-three militants died in that battle. (Reuters)
Syrian official media said that the US-led coalition targeted army bases in Boukamal and Hmaimieh in the early hours of Thursday morning without leaving any human casualties. The US army denied knowledge of such an attack.
In this context, the SOHR said that ISIS fighters were fighting forces loyal to the Syrian government west of the Euphrates river on Thursday, and fighting Syrian Democratic forces on the eastern bank of the river on Wednesday evening. The SOHR added that the coalition strikes that took place on Thursday led to the death of a number of non-Syrian militants loyal to the Syrian government.
A Russian Insult Embarrasses Damascus
27 May 2018
Loyalists to Damascus accused Moscow of “manufacturing terrorism” in Syria and “insulting the Syrian military uniform” after the central channel of the Russian military base in Hmeimim said that Russian military policy deployed south of Damascus arrested members of Syrian government forces after they committed violation in their areas of deployment around Damascus.
The Russian Hmeimim base said on its Facebook page that Russian police deployed south of Damascus arrested a number of government forces members after they attempted to loot and steal civilian properties. It went on to say in response to questions from loyalists to Damascus that force will be used against any mutiny by individuals involved in law violation or those who support them within areas liberated through the participation of Russian forces.
This came in a response by the channel to an inquiry by a member of the government forces that showed a picture of Russian police arresting members of government forces, which was widely circulated in social media. The inquiry was to confirm if the news and pictures were authentic and whether their arrest was a coincidence or based on orders from higher tiers.
On the other hand, a military source from the Syrian government said that those who appeared in the pictures are not soldiers in the military institution and they do not belong to it whatsoever, adding that they are wanted by security forces.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | مايو 22, 2018 | Media Roundups, Syria in a Week
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Russia is There to Stay
16 May 2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on 16 May that Russian Military vessels equipped with Kaliber cruise missiles will be on permanent standby in the Mediterranean to confront what he described as the “terrorist threat” in Syria.
This rocket deployment demonstrates how Russia has been strengthening its military presence in the Middle East since its intervention in Syria in 2015, tipping the balance in favor of its ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Putin said that only military warships armed with Kaliber missiles will be on permanent standby and not the submarines.
Putin declared the deployment of the warships armed with rockets in a speech to the supreme military leadership during a meeting in Sochi city on the Black Sea, stating that this deployment was a result of “the ongoing terrorist threat in Syria.”
Russia possesses a permanent naval base in Tartus on the Syrian coast and an air force base in Hameimim.
Shrapnel of the Syrian “Explosion”
16 May 2018
The Special UN Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura warned that tensions in the country are still high due to “international confrontations” on the ground.
During a briefing to the UN Security Council on Syria, Staffan de Mistura warned that the tensions in the relationship between Israel and Iran demonstrate “a troubled trajectory of ever more frequent and intense international confrontations.”
Israel and Iran exchanged rocket strikes in the Golan Heights last week, raising concerns of a wider conflict erupting in Syria.
De Mistura said that he feels encouraged about the ninth round of talks in Astana that was held on Monday with delegates from Iran, Russia, and Turkey, the three countries sponsoring the so-called Astana process.
He added that “careful but preemptive diplomacy” is necessary to revive the political process and reduce escalation of fighting.
Turkey finished its deployment of twelve surveillance posts in Idlib, between Aleppo, Lattakia, and Hama in north-western Syria in accordance to the Astana process.
Hezbollah Withdrawing
17 May 2018
Forces loyal to the Syrian army withdrew from their posts in al-Hadher town, south of Aleppo, on Thursday.
“A military convoy of around twenty-five vehicles flying the Lebanese Hezbollah flag including tank carriers withdrew from al-Hadher, twenty-two kilometers south of Aleppo, on Thursday and headed towards sites in Mount Azzan, which is controlled by the Iranian Republican Guard,” a source in the Syrian opposition told a German news agency.
“The withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters and government soldiers came after pressure from Russian forces, which want to establish a surveillance post in the area, and after the Turkish army deployed surveillance posts in Tallet al-I’es in the southern countryside of Aleppo,” the source confirmed.
Iranian forces in Mount Azzan came under a missile attack believed to be from a coalition of Israeli planes near the end of last month.
Putin and Al-Assad
17 May 2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in a special meeting on Thursday in Russia that it is time to speed up the political transition process to reconstruct Syria and withdraw foreign forces involved in this country.
This was the first meeting between the Russian president and his Syrian counterpart since their brief meeting in December at the Russian base in Hmeimim, Syria, after which Putin declared the partial withdrawal of Russian military units in the country.
The two presidents also met in November in a Black Sea coastal city, south-east of Russia, where the Russian president owns a house.
As was the case in November, the Thursday meeting was held secretly. Russian television broadcasted snippets of the meeting between the two men who emphasized the military success of the Syrian government, which is receiving support from the Russian army.
This meeting strengthens al-Assad’s position, ahead of Putin’s meetings with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macaron next week.
Putin congratulated the Syrian president on the “successes of the Syrian government army in combatting terrorist groups,” which paved the way to “create new conditions to resume the political process on a large scale,” according to a statement from the Kremlin.
The Russian military intervention, which began in September 2015, allowed the Syrian army to recapture most of the territories.
The Russian president went on to say that “with the start of the active phase of the political process, foreign armed forces will withdraw from Syrian territories,” without defining who these forces were. Putin added that “the next mission is to revive the economy and provide humanitarian assistance.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russian forces are present in Syria at the request of the legitimate government and would remain there as long as necessary.”
Mysterious Explosions in Hama
18 May 2018
Unexplained huge explosions rocked the Hama military airport according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The SOHR Director Rami Abdul Rahman said the explosions occurred in “weapon and fuel depots of government forces in the airport” near Hama city. The SOHR said that it did not receive any information about the cause of the explosions, adding that it “left plumes of smoke near the city of Hama.”
The Syrian news agency SANA reported “sounds of explosions in the outskirts of Hama airport” without any additional details.
During the past few weeks, Israel repeatedly targeted several military positions in Syria, the last of which was on the night of 9-10 May when Israel bombed dozens of “Iranian” targets in response to a rocket attack on the occupied Golan, which it claimed to be “Iranian” as well.
Since 2011, Israel has repeatedly bombed targets belonging to the Syrian army or Hezbollah, however, this recent bombing targeted positions occupied by Iranians.
Russian Blackmail!
18 May 2018
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that her government sees that Russia should use its influence to prevent the confiscation of refugees’ rights in Syria.
In a one-hour meeting on Friday in Sochi on the Black Sea, the German Chancellor discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin the so-called Decree Number 10 issued by the Syrian government.
The decree states that Syrians who do not register themselves within a period of several weeks in their hometowns will lose their property inside Syrian territories. Merkel said that this decree “would be a major obstacle for going back,” in reference to Syrian refugees in Germany.
The Free Democratic Party (FDP) called on Merkel’s government not to yield to Putin’s blackmail regarding the issue of Syrian refugees and reconstruction of Syria.
The Foreign Affairs Official in the FDP told the German newspaper Bild that Germany should not participate in the reconstruction of Syria until violence ceases and a permanent peace agreement for its future is reached.
Bijan Djir-Sarai cautioned the German government saying that “Germany should not submit to Putin’s dictates and blackmail on how to shape the reconstruction of Syria after the war,” stressing that Germany “cannot unconditionally rebuild Syrian cities destroyed by Russia.”
Syria… The Worst in History
18 May 2018
The humanitarian crisis in Syria is worse this year than ever before in the country’s seven-year-old war, a UN official said.
“We see in 2018 the humanitarian situation inside Syria being the worst we have seen since the war started: a very dramatic deterioration, massive displacement, disrespect of protection of civilians and people’s lives still being turned upside down,” Panos Moumtzis, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria crisis, said in Beirut.
In modern history, Syria is the worst country in terms of attacks on healthcare workers and facilities, accounting for seventy percent of all such attacks worldwide, he said.
The coordinator said that UN data shows eighty-nine healthcare workers died in ninety-two confirmed military attacks on healthcare facilities between 1 Jan and 4 May, compared to seventy-three killed in one hundred and twelve attacks in the whole of 2017.
Between the Government and ISIS
20 May 2018
The SOHR reported that a group of ISIS fighters were evacuated from the last opposition enclave near Damascus on Sunday, in a withdrawal that will restore the government’s control over the area.
Official Syrian media did not mention anything about an agreement that allows for the fanatics to leave the enclave that is located near the Yarmouk Camp for Palestinian refugees.
Official media reported on Saturday that a Syrian military source denied reaching an agreement.
By restoring the Yarmouk enclave, the Syrian government has crushed the last besieged opposition enclave in western Syria, although some sectors near the borders with Turkey, Iraq, and Jordan are still outside its control.
The SOHR said the buses entered the enclave after midnight to transport the fighters and their families. The buses left for al-Badiah (the desert), which is low in population and situated east of the capital.
