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☆ Israeli military says 2 civilians killed for every militant is ‘tremendously positive’ ratio given Gaza combat challenges
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Mitchell Mccluskey | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A ratio of two Palestinian civilians killed in Gaza for every Hamas militant is “tremendously positive”, a spokesperson for the Israeli military told CNN on Monday, describing the challenges of urban combat. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) believes that about two civilians have been killed in Gaza for every Hamas militant, the AFP news agency reported Monday, citing a briefing for foreign media by senior Israeli military officials. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told journalists during a press conference on Saturday that the military has killed “thousands of terrorists.” The Israeli military has not officially published any estimates of those killed. And it could be that they’re even higher than are being cited.

Persons: CNN’s Erin Burnett, Jonathan Conricus, ” Conricus, Yoav Gallant, ”, Barbara Leaf, We’ll Organizations: CNN, Israel Defense Forces, AFP, of Health, Israeli, . State Department, U.S, State, Near Eastern Affairs Locations: Gaza

☆ Gaza Civilians, Under Israeli Barrage, Are Being Killed at Historic Pace
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( Lauren Leatherby | More About Lauren Leatherby | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

In the nine-month battle of Mosul, which Israeli officials have cited as a comparison, an estimated total of 9,000 to 11,000 civilians were killed by all sides in the conflict, including many thousands killed by the Islamic State, The Associated Press found. A similar number of women and children have already been reported killed in Gaza in less than two months. More broadly, Israeli officials say this is a campaign on its own borders to wipe out Hamas, a group dedicated to Israel’s destruction. “The war here is for our existence,” one Israeli war cabinet minister, Benny Gantz, told reporters on Nov. 8. But even before those changes, the number of women and children reported dead already outpaced other conflicts.

Persons: Crawford, Brown, ”, Brian Castner, Mr, Castner, “, Conricus, Mark Regev, Israel, Regev, ” Israel, Benny Gantz, ” Yoav Gallant, Biden, Barbara Leaf, Rick Brennan, Brennan Organizations: Islamic, Associated Press, ISIS, Amnesty International, U.S . Air Force, PBS, ”, Gaza Health Ministry, World Health Locations: Gaza, U.S, Iraq, United States, Afghanistan, Syria, Islamic State, Mosul, Raqqa, Ukraine, Israel, Egypt

CNN —There has been “significant progress” on negotiations to release hostages held by Hamas but there are issues still remaining, diplomatic sources familiar with the negotiations told CNN. “There are issues still remaining, but talks are ongoing, and we remain hopeful,” the source added. Complete blockadeHamas abducted more than 200 people and killed 1,400 others, including soldiers and civilians, in southern Israel on October 7. The hostages include nationals from countries including Mexico, Brazil, the United States, Germany and Thailand – as well as Israeli civilians and soldiers. Qatar and Egypt have been mediating between Israel, the US and Hamas to release the hostages held by the militant group.

Persons: Near East Affairs Barbara Leaf, it’s, ”, Amir Levy, Yoav Gallant, we’ll, ” Gallant, –, Benjamin Netanyahu, CNN’s Sana Noor Haq, Jennifer Hansler, Hamdi Alkhshali, Jomana Karadsheh, Mostafa Salem, Lianne Kolirin Organizations: CNN, “, US, State, Near East Affairs, Israel’s, IDF, Hamas, Palestinian Ministry of Health, Rights Watch Locations: Doha, Tel Aviv, Israel, Mexico, Brazil, United States, Germany, Thailand, Israel’s, Gaza, israel, gaza, Qatar, Egypt, Israeli

The Hamas attack left at least 250 dead and 1,500 wounded in Israel. The attack only adds new complications as the Biden administration and Iran are locked in disputes over Tehran’s nuclear program. Biden administration officials have also been working on brokering a normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the most powerful and wealthy Arab state. Biden administration officials pushed back against the argument. Administration officials roundly rejected this, saying their efforts to help Palestinian civilians in Gaza and elsewhere do not involve money that Hamas can use or divert.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, “ unconscionable ”, ”, ” Biden, Obama, —, won’t, ” Netanyahu, Israel, Jonathan Schanzer, “, Netanyahu, Schanzer, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Carolina Sen, Tim Scott, Matthew Miller, State Victoria Nuland, Barbara Leaf, Seung Min Kim, Jill Colvin, Thomas Beaumont Organizations: WASHINGTON, GOP, Hamas, Hezbollah, Biden, European, Middle East, White, Trump White, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Republican, Israel ., Israel . Florida Gov, Department, Foreign Relations, Islamic, State Victoria, Republicans, Administration, Associated Press Locations: Israel, Jerusalem, Gaza, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Saudi, Egypt, Syria, Washington, Israel . Florida, Carolina, U.S, Islamic Republic, Lebanon, New York, Waterloo , Iowa

☆ Analysis: Arabs bring Syria's Assad back into fold but want action on drugs trade
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Maya Gebeily | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

While denying any role in the trade, for which Syrian officials and Assad relatives have faced Western sanctions, Damascus has sought leverage from the issue. Hezbollah, which deployed fighters to Syria to aid Assad's war efforts, has denied any role in the drugs trade. Aided by Iran and Russia, Assad steadily beat back his rebel enemies, some of whom had support from U.S.-allied Arab states that have now restored ties. The Syrian source confirmed Riyadh had proposed a sum that would be paid as humanitarian aid, but could not say how much. "I would put ending the captagon trade right at the top alongside the other issues", she said.

☆ Arabs bring Syria's Assad back into fold but want action on drugs trade
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Maya Gebeily | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Hezbollah, which deployed fighters to Syria to aid Assad's war efforts, has denied any role in the drugs trade. Aided by Iran and Russia, Assad steadily beat back his rebel enemies, some of whom had support from U.S.-allied Arab states that have now restored ties. The United States, United Kingdom and European Union have all placed new sanctions on Damascus in recent weeks over captagon. The United States has said it will not normalize ties with Assad and its sanctions remain in full effect. "I would put ending the captagon trade right at the top alongside the other issues", she said.

☆ Arab ministers discuss how to normalise ties with Syria
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

AMMAN, May 1 (Reuters) - A group of Arab foreign ministers held a landmark meeting with their Syrian counterpart in Jordan on Monday to discuss how to normalise ties with Syria as part of a political settlement of the country's more than decade-old conflict, officials said. Jordan has called on Syria to engage with Arab states jointly on a step-by-step roadmap to end the conflict, tackling the issues of refugees, detainees, drug smuggling and Iran-backed militias in Syria - all of which affect its neighbours. Amman has been fighting armed groups smuggling narcotics from Syria, including the highly-addictive amphetamine captagon. Arab states and those most impacted by the conflict are trying to reach consensus on whether to invite Assad to the Arab League summit on May 19 in Riyadh, to discuss the pace of normalising ties with Assad and on what terms Syria could be allowed back. Washington, which said it would not change its policy towards the Syrian government which it terms a "rogue" state, has urged Arab states to get something in return for engaging with Assad.

☆ Jordan to host talks on Syria's return to Arab League
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary Meeting brings Syrian FM together with group of Arab statesJordan seeks an Arab-led peace road mapAMMAN, April 30 (Reuters) - Jordan will host a meeting of Arab foreign ministers and Syria's top diplomat on Monday to discuss Syria's return to the Arab League as part of a broader political settlement of Syria's more than decade-old conflict, officials said. The meeting comes two weeks after talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia between the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, failed to reach agreement on Syria's possible return to the Arab fold. Arab states and those most affected by the conflict are trying to reach consensus on whether to invite Assad to the Arab League summit on May 19 in Riyadh, to discuss the pace of normalising ties with Assad and on what terms Syria could be allowed back. Officials said the Jordanian initiative calls on Damascus to engage with Arab governments collectively on a step-by-step road map to end the conflict. At the Jeddah meeting there was resistance to the move to invite Assad to the Arab League summit, with Qatar, Jordan and Kuwait saying it was premature before Damascus accepts to negotiate a peace plan.

☆ Lebanon has 'no other way out' than IMF deal, U.S. official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Maya Gebeily | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Retired Lebanese army officer holds Lebanese pound banknotes during a protest over the deteriorating economic situation in Beirut, Lebanon March 30, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie MadiBEIRUT, March 30 (Reuters) - Lebanon has no alternative for economic recovery but to make progress on a deal with the International Monetary Fund, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday. Leaf said in an online briefing she had urged Lebanese officials to make progress on the full deal and to end a months-long vacuum in the presidency. Leaf said that talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials in Egypt and Jordan in recent weeks had "very slowly, painstakingly" been moving towards de-escalation. Reporting by Maya Gebeily; Editing by Alex Richardson, Alison Williams and Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ African migrants stuck in Tunisia say racism persists after crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Sudanese refugee, Awadhya Hasan Amine, reacts during a protest asking for evacuation, outside the headquarters of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in Tunis, Tunisia March 22, 2023. REUTERS/Jihed AbidellaouiTUNIS, March 24 (Reuters) - Weeks after a violent crackdown on migrants in Tunisia that triggered a perilous rush to leave by smuggler boats for Italy, many African nationals are still homeless and jobless and some say they still face racist attacks. Outside the United Nations refugee agency in Tunis, dozens of African migrants stood protesting this week by the temporary camp where they have lived, including with children, since authorities urged landlords to force them from their homes. While the official crackdown appeared to end weeks ago, migrants say they still face abuse. "Tunisia is an African country.

WASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - The United States is "actively" working on re-establishing a diplomatic presence in Libya, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday, although he declined to provide an exact time on when the U.S. embassy can be reopened. U.S. Special Envoy for Libya, Richard Norland, has operated out of the Tunisian capital, and took occasional trips into Libya. "I can't give you a timetable other than to say that this is something we're very actively working on. I want to see us be able to re-establish an ongoing presence in Libya," Blinken said at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing. The United Nations' special envoy for Libya last month moved to take charge of a stalled political process to enable elections that are seen as the path to resolving years of conflict.

GAZA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Israeli aircraft struck in Gaza on Thursday in response to Palestinian rocket fire, days after the United States called for calm, but there was no immediate sign of a wider escalation in violence following days of tension. The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) said it had fired some of the rockets in response to the air strikes and the "systematic aggression" against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. In Gaza, activists rallied in support of women prisoners held by Israel after far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees prisons, said he would push ahead with plans to toughen conditions for Palestinian prisoners. Ben-Gvir has vowed a crackdown on "benefits and indulgences" offered to Palestinian prisoners and ordered amenities including prisoner-operated bread ovens in some prisons to be curtailed. Cairo has also invited Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh, who currently resides between Qatar and Turkey, for separate talks next week, said a Palestinian official familiar with Egyptian mediation.

☆ In West Bank, Blinken presses for two-state solution
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Simon Lewis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Summary U.S. Secretary of State in West Bank after IsraelBlinken restates U.S. support for two-state solutionViolence surges in decades-old conflictRAMALLAH, West Bank Jan 31 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shuttled from Israel to the Palestinians' West Bank on Tuesday, appealing for an end to resurgent violence and reaffirming Washington's backing for a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict. He took that message into a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, warning all parties against any action that could threaten a two-state solution, with an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. Netanyahu has reinforced troops in the West Bank and promised measures to strengthen settlements there, but has said Israel was not looking to escalate the situation. On Tuesday, Blinken met Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and discussed cooperation to stop Iran developing a nuclear weapon as well the situation in the West Bank. Hopes of achieving a two-state solution, with a Palestinian state based largely in the West Bank, have all but disappeared since the last round of U.S.-sponsored talks stalled in 2014.

☆ Blinken begins Middle East trip amid spate of violence
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Simon Lewis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

CAIRO, Jan 29 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the Middle East on Sunday, beginning a three-day visit as violence flares between Israelis and Palestinians, and with Iran and the war in Ukraine high on the agenda. There has also been a spate of deadly violence in recent days, heightening fears that already spiralling violence will further escalate. A Palestinian gunman killed seven people in an attack outside a Jerusalem synagogue on Friday. Blinken will also travel to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, other Palestinian officials, and members of civil society. Blinken will hear from people inside and outside of government on the reforms, she added.

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