Ceasefire agreement 'harder' to reach as Israel strikes Syria
'I don't think that Israel and Syria are going to reach an agreement any time soon.'
Robert Geist Pinfold, a lecturer at King's College London, explains why the Israeli attacks on Syria's capital Damascus will make it harder to reach a ceasefire agreement between the two countries.
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Al Jazeera
6 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Why did Israel bomb Syria? A look at the Druze and the violence in Suwayda
Israel has launched a series of intense strikes on Damascus, Syria's capital, intensifying a campaign it says is in support of an Arab minority group. Syria, on Wednesday, strongly condemned Israeli attacks, denouncing the strikes as a 'dangerous escalation.' The Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Israel of pursuing a 'deliberate policy' to 'inflame tensions, spread chaos and undermine security and stability in Syria'. The strikes killed three people and injured 34, according to Syrian officials. Here is what we know: What happened in Syria on Wednesday? Israel carried out a series of air strikes on central Damascus, hitting a compound that houses the Ministry of Defence and areas near the presidential palace. The Israeli military also struck targets in southern Syria, where fighting between Druze groups, Bedouin tribes, and Syrian security forces has continued for more than four days. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 250 people have been killed in Suwayda province during the clashes. Israel, which already occupies the Syrian Golan Heights, says its operations aim to protect the Druze minority – whom it considers potential allies – and to strike pro-government forces accused of attacking them. Syria rejected this and called the attack a 'flagrant assault'. Where did the attacks happen? The main attacks focused on central Damascus: the Defence Ministry, military headquarters and areas surrounding the presidential palace. Additional strikes were carried out further south. Syria's Defence Ministry headquarters: The compound was struck several times, with two large strikes about 3pm (12:00pmGMT), including its entrance, causing structural damage and smoke rising visibly over the city. 'Israeli warplanes [were] circling the skies over the Syrian capital,' Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr said, reporting from Damascus. 'There was panic in the city,' she added. Near the presidential palace (Umayyad Square): Strikes also hit areas immediately around the presidential palace in central Damascus. Another air strike landed near the presidential palace in Damascus. In a post on social media, Israel said 'a military target was struck in the area of the Syrian regime's Presidential Palace in the Damascus area'. In the south: Israeli drones also targeted Syria's city of Suwayda, a mainly Druze city close to the border with Jordan. Why did Israel bomb Syria? Israel's air strikes followed days of deadly clashes in Suwayda between Syrian government forces and local Druze fighters. The violence began with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between Druze fighters and local Bedouin tribes. When government troops intervened to restore order, they ended up clashing with Druze groups – and, in some cases, reportedly targeted civilians. The Druze, a small but influential minority in both Syria and Israel, are seen in Israel as loyal allies, with many serving in the Israeli military. A ceasefire declared on Tuesday quickly collapsed, and fighting resumed the next day. Suwayda's Druze appear divided. One leader, Yasser Jarbou, declared that a ceasefire had been agreed with the Syrian government. Another, Hikmat al-Hijri, rejected any ceasefire. And many Druze in Syria do not want Israel to intervene on their behalf. Israel has its own considerations and has been attempting to expand its control in southern Syria since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in December. Israel has shunned any attempts to come to a security agreement with Syria and has instead repeatedly bombed the country this year. Many analysts believe that Israel would prefer a weak Syria over a country it believes could potentially threaten it should it grow strong. Israel, citing a commitment to protect the Druze and prevent hostile forces from gaining ground near its borders, warned Wednesday it would escalate its operations unless Syrian troops withdrew from Suwayda. The province sits near both the Israeli and Jordanian borders, making it a key strategic zone. 'This is a significant escalation,' Khodr, Al Jazeera's correspondent, said. 'This is the Israeli leadership giving a very, very direct message to Syria's new authorities that they will intensify such strikes … if the government does not withdraw its troops from southern Syria.' As part of its campaign, Israeli forces struck the General Staff compound in Damascus, which it said was being used by senior commanders to direct operations against Druze forces in Suwayda. Israeli officials said the strikes were also aimed at blocking the buildup of hostile forces near Israel's frontier. Shortly after the Damascus attacks, Syria's Ministry of Interior announced a new ceasefire in Suwayda. According to state media, government troops began withdrawing from the area. Syria condemned the Israeli strikes as a violation of international law, a stance echoed by several Arab governments. Syria's new government has been trying to assert control, but it has struggled to do so in Suwayda, in part due to repeated Israeli threats against any government military presence in the province. 'The Israelis are not going to allow the Syrian government to spread its authority all over the territory,' said Ammar Kahf, executive director of Omran Center for Strategic Studies, who is based in Damascus. With the fall of al-Assad's government and the infancy of a new one, Israel is trying to impose its will on the new leadership, he said. 'We are still in the early stages, but this requires all Syrians to come together. For a foreign government to come in and destroy public property and destroy safety and security is something that's unexplainable,' Kahf told Al Jazeera. The Syrian government has now announced that army forces will begin withdrawing from the city of Suwayda as part of a ceasefire agreement. It did not mention any pullout of other government security forces.
Al Jazeera
7 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Israel bombards Syria's Damascus as US says steps agreed to end violence
Israel has carried out powerful air strikes near Syria's presidential palace and on the military headquarters in the heart of Damascus, a major escalation in its bombardment of the neighbouring country. At least three people were killed and 34 others were wounded in the attacks on Damascus on Wednesday, Syrian state media reported, citing the Ministry of Health. While targeting Damascus, the Israeli military continued to pound areas in southern Syria, including Suwayda, where a new ceasefire deal has been struck after four days of clashes between Druze armed groups, Bedouin tribes and government forces, which left hundreds dead. Syria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Israeli attacks on Damascus and Suwayda were 'part of a systematic Israeli policy to ignite tension and chaos and undermine security in Syria', calling on the international community to take 'urgent action' against Israeli aggression. Israel said its bombing campaign is aimed at protecting the Druze minority, and it has called on the Syrian government to withdraw its troops from the city of Suwayda, where much of the violence has taken place. Defence Minister Israel Katz said on X that the Israeli military would 'continue to operate vigorously in Suwayda to destroy the forces that attacked the Druze until they withdraw completely'. Later on Wednesday, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the parties to the fighting in southern Syria had agreed on 'specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight'. 'This will require all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made and this is what we fully expect them to do,' Rubio said on X of the ceasefire deal, reached one day after an earlier iteration had collapsed. More than 300 people had been killed in fighting as of Wednesday morning, including four children, eight women and 165 soldiers and security forces, according to the UK-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Army withdrawal from Suwayda The Syrian Ministry of Interior and Druze leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou confirmed on Wednesday that they had reached a ceasefire. But the new deal was rejected by Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajari, another Druze leader, who promised to continue fighting until Suwayda was 'entirely liberated'. According to the ministry, the deal declares a 'total and immediate halt to all military operations', as well as the formation of a committee comprising government officials and Druze spiritual leaders to supervise its implementation. That evening, the Syrian Ministry of Defence said it had begun withdrawing the army from Suwayda 'in implementation of the terms of the adopted agreement after the end of the sweep of the city for outlaw groups'. Speaking shortly before Rubio's announcement of a deal, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce had said that the US wanted Syrian government forces to 'withdraw their military in order to enable all sides to de-escalate and find a path forward'. But while Syrian troops are withdrawing, the government will be maintaining a presence in the city, Reporting from Syria's capital Damascus, Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr said the deal included the 'deployment of government forces'. 'They will set up checkpoints, and this area will be fully integrated into the Syrian state,' she said. A complete withdrawal by the government would, she said, 'mean a failure in efforts by the new authorities to unite a fractured nation and extend its authority across Syria'. 'But staying could open a much bigger conflict with Israel that has promised more strikes if, in the words of Katz, the message wasn't received.' Pretext to bomb The escalation in Syria began with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between Druze armed factions and local Sunni Bedouin tribes in the southern province of Suwayda. Government forces that intervened to restore order clashed with the Druze, with reports of the former carrying out human rights abuses, according to local monitors and analysts. The actions committed by members of the security forces – acknowledged as 'unlawful criminal acts' by the Syrian presidency – have given Israel a pretext to bombard Syria as it builds military bases in the demilitarised buffer zone with Syria seized by its forces. Haid Haid, consulting fellow at London-based think tank Chatham House, told Al Jazeera that Israel had been clear since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad last year that they did not want Syrian forces 'to be deployed to the deconfliction line in southern Syria'. 'One way Israel is trying to advance that plan is to present itself as the 'protectors' of the Druze community,' Haid said. Ammar Kahf, the Damascus-based executive director of the Omran Center for Strategic Studies, said: 'It's a clear message to the Syrian government that the Israelis are not going to be silent. 'The Israelis are not going to allow the Syrian government to spread its authority all over the territory.'
Al Jazeera
7 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Israel presses ahead with Gaza ‘concentration camp' plans despite criticism
Israel is ploughing ahead with a plan to build what critics have described as a 'concentration camp' for Palestinians on the ruins of Rafah in southern Gaza, in the face of a growing backlash at home and abroad. The suggestion, first mooted by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz earlier this month, anticipates an area that could accommodate an initial group of some 600,000 already displaced Palestinians in Gaza, which would then be expanded to accommodate all of the enclave's pre-war population of some 2.2 million people. It would be run by international forces and have no Hamas presence. Once inside Katz's self-styled 'humanitarian city', Palestinians would not be allowed to leave to other areas in Gaza, but would instead be encouraged to 'voluntarily emigrate' to other unspecified countries, the minister said. Katz's plan has already received significant criticism. Labelled a 'concentration camp' by former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and illegal by Israeli lawyers, it has even been criticised by the military that will be responsible for implementing it, with the military's chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, reportedly calling it 'unworkable' with 'more holes in it than cheese'. Internationally, a British minister said he was 'appalled' by the plan, while Austria and Germany's foreign ministers expressed their 'concern'. The United Nations said it was 'firmly against' the idea. But members of the Israeli government have defended the idea, and leaks continue to emerge in the Israeli media over the debate surrounding it within the government – with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly asking only for a plan that was speedier and less costly than a plan presented by the Israeli army. An Al Jazeera investigation has found that Israel has recently increased the number of demolitions it is conducting in Rafah, possibly paving the way for the 'humanitarian city'. Long planned Depopulating Gaza has long been an ambition of some of Israel's more hardline settler groups, who believe themselves to have a divine mandate to occupy the Palestinian territory. The Israeli far-right was encouraged to press ahead with the idea when United States President Donald Trump suggested in February that Palestinians in Gaza could be displaced and moved elsewhere. Since then, both Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have backed calls for displacement. When Netanyahu announced in May the creation of the controversial US-backed GHF, a body intended to deliver limited aid into the enclave his forces had been besieging since early March, Netanyahu referred to a future 'sterile zone' that Gaza's population would be moved into, where they would be allowed aid and food. Later the same month, Smotrich, who has criticised the current plan as too costly but is not opposed to the idea in principle, also suggested that plans were under way to push Gaza's population into a camp. Addressing a 'settlement conference' in the occupied West Bank, Smotrich told his audience that what remained of Gaza would be 'totally destroyed' and its population pressed into a 'humanitarian zone' close to the Egyptian border, foreshadowing the language used by Katz. Part of the Israeli plan Israeli political analyst Nimrod Flashenberg told Al Jazeera that – for the Israeli government – there was merit to the plan, both from a security perspective, and 'from the perspective of ethnically cleansing' Gaza, and providing an end goal that Israel's leaders could define as a success. 'As I understand it, parts of the military regard removing civilians from the [non-Israeli controlled parts] of Gaza and concentrating them in a single space as an ideal first step in locating and eliminating Hamas,' Flashenberg said of the Palestinian group that Israel has failed to eliminate in 21 months of conflict, despite the killing of more than 58,000 people. Flashenberg added that the plan would effectively create an 'ethnic cleansing terminal', from which, once people were separated from their original homes, 'it makes it easier to move them elsewhere'. 'Of course it complicates ceasefire negotiations, but so what?' Flashenberg said, referring to the ongoing talks aimed at bringing about an initial 60-day ceasefire. 'Nothing has really changed. It's possible, of course, that with work on the concentration camp under way, Hamas might still accept the ceasefire and hope that things might change.' 'It's part of their entire mentality,' Aida Touma-Suleiman, a member of the Israeli parliament representing the Hadash-Ta'al party, said. 'They really do believe that they can do anything: that they can move all of these people around as if they're not even humans. Even if imprisoning just the first 600,000 people suggested by Katz is inconceivable. How can you do that without it leading to some kind of massacre?' 'That they're even talking about criminal acts without every state in the world condemning them is dangerous,' she added. But lawyers in Israel have questioned the legality of the move. Military lawyers are reported to have 'raised concerns' that Israel might face accusations of forced displacement, and an open letter from a number of Israeli legal scholars is more explicit, slamming the proposal as 'manifestly illegal'. 'Nothing humanitarian' According to the United Nations, at least 1.9 million people, about 90 percent of Gaza's pre-war population, have been displaced as a result of Israeli attacks. Many have been displaced multiple times. Earlier this month, Amnesty concluded that, despite the militarised delivery of limited aid into the strip, Israel is continuing to use starvation as a weapon of war. According to the rights agency, the malnutrition and starvation of children and families across Gaza remain widespread, with the healthcare system that might typically care for them pushed to breaking point by Israel. 'Humanitarian city? I despise all these euphemisms. There's nothing humanitarian about this. It's utterly inhumane,' Yossi Mekelberg, a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House, said. 'There would be nothing humanitarian about the conditions that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians would be pushed into or about the idea you can only leave by going to another country.' 'This has to be condemned and there has to be consequences,' he continued. 'It's not true when people say there's no international community any more. If you trade with Israel, cooperate militarily or diplomatically with it, you have leverage. The US has leverage, the EU [European Union] has leverage. All these actors do.' 'By shrugging your shoulders and saying it's just anarchy,' he concluded, 'you're handing the keys to Smotrich, Katz and Netanyahu and saying there's nothing you can do.'
