GENEVA: The UN envoy for Syria is “ready to engage” with President Bashar Assad’s representatives as peace talks are set to resume in Geneva, but they have not shown up yet.
UN spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci said the eighth round of peace talks under special envoy Staffan de Mistura was set to restart Tuesday after a weekend break.
She said: “The delegation of the government has been invited back in Geneva as of today.”
Syria’s ambassador to Geneva, Hussam Edin Aala, told The Associated Press that Damascus was “studying” the invitation.
The head of Syria’s regime delegation has blasted the opposition for a communique in which it stated its ultimate goal was to remove Assad from power. Bashar Jaafari said on Friday his team was leaving Geneva for the weekend and that Syria would decide whether it would return to the talks.
Jaafari warned then that there could be no progress in the talks as long as the opposition insisted on what he described as a “provocative and irresponsible” position.
Meanwhile, Syrian state media and an opposition monitoring group said an explosion has ripped through a van near the central city of Homs, killing at least eight people.
Daesh claimed Tuesday’s attack in Akarma, a regime stronghold south of Homs.
Daesh said it targeted a bus carrying Syrian soldiers, but the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said those killed were civilians, including six women.
Syrian state TV has aired images of the van’s charred body, as well as damaged vehicles nearby. State news agency SANA says eight people were killed and 18 wounded.
Separately, Syria’s state news agency said Syrian air defense has shot down three Israeli missiles that were targeting a military post near Damascus.
SANA said the attack occurred early on Tuesday but has not said whether there were casualties.
UN ‘ready to engage’ with Assad in Geneva talks; Daesh bomb kills 8 in Homs
UN ‘ready to engage’ with Assad in Geneva talks; Daesh bomb kills 8 in Homs
Senior Hamas figure among 7 killed in Israeli airstrike
- Pair of Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza's Deir Al-Balah, killing a Hamas commander
- Boy, aged 16, among the dead
CAIRO: A senior figure in the armed wing of Hamas was among seven people killed on Thursday in a pair of Israeli airstrikes in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, a Hamas source said.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the incident. The Hamas source said one of the dead was Mohammed Al-Holy, a local commander in the group’s armed wing in Deir Al-Balah.
Hamas condemned the strikes on the Al-Holy family, in a statement that did not mention Mohammed or his role in the group. It accused Israel of violating the ceasefire deal in place since October, and attempting to reignite the conflict.
Health officials said the six other dead in the incident included a 16-year-old.
Israel and Hamas have traded blame for violations of the ceasefire and remain far apart from each other on key issues, despite the United States announcing the start of the agreement’s second phase on Wednesday.
More than 400 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have been reported killed since the ceasefire took effect in October.
Israel has razed buildings and ordered residents out of more than half of Gaza where its troops remain. Nearly all of the territory’s more than 2 million people now live in makeshift homes or damaged buildings in a sliver of territory where Israeli troops have withdrawn and Hamas has reasserted control.
The United Nations children’s agency said on Tuesday that over 100 children have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire, including victims of drone and quadcopter attacks.
Israel launched its operations in Gaza in the wake of an attack by Hamas-led fighters in October 2023 which killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s assault has killed 71,000 people, according to health authorities in the strip, and left much of Gaza in ruins.
