BRUSSELS: US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says the United States and Turkey are having an open dialogue about their growing differences over the fight in Syria, and are “finding common ground.”
Mattis spoke at the close of a NATO defense ministers meeting. He presented a more calm view of the escalating rhetoric over America’s continued aid to the US-backed Kurdish rebels in Syria. Ankara considers those fighters a terrorist group.
Mattis, who met with Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli, calls the conversations “absolutely open and honest dialogue.” He insisted the two countries are “coming together on what we can do together.”
There have been persistent tensions between the two allies over US support for the Kurdish rebels in Syria, and Turkey’s increasing assault against Kurds in northern Syria.
Mattis: US, Turkey finding ‘common ground’ on Syria
Mattis: US, Turkey finding ‘common ground’ on Syria
Palestinians evacuate homes in Silwan following collapse blamed on Israeli excavations
- Ground under 3 adjacent houses caves in resulting in severe structural cracks and the collapse of a room in one of the properties
- Israel has been carrying out excavations beneath Silwan since 2007 to create an underground tourist attraction called ‘City of David’
LONDON: Palestinian residents were forced to evacuate three homes in Silwan, a neighborhood in the south of occupied East Jerusalem, on Monday after the ground beneath them caved in, reportedly as a result of decades of Israeli excavations in the area.
The Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate said a retaining wall collapsed on Sunday and the ground beneath three adjacent homes belonging to the Abu Sbeih family gave way. This resulted in severe structural cracks and the collapse of a room in one of the houses.
Residents said they had repeatedly notified the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality about urgent safety concerns, but no preventive measures were taken to prevent a collapse, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
Fawaz Abu Sbeih said cracks in the walls of his house were the result of Israeli excavations in the ground beneath and around the property. Since 2007, the Israel Antiquities Authority and settler group the Elad Association, also known as the Ir David Foundation, has been excavating under Silwan to create an underground tourist attraction called the “City of David.”
A recent storm and heavy rains in Jerusalem accelerated the collapse, said Abu Sbeih, who added that Israeli authorities require residents to obtain permits before maintenance work to reinforce building foundations can be carried out.
The excavations in Silwan have affected many residents, some of whom face eviction orders from Israeli authorities for building without permits.
Jerusalem Governorate described ground collapses in Silwan as part of Israel’s “systematic policy of forced displacement based on dangerous colonial excavations and the deliberate neglect of their impact on the homes of Jerusalemites, while simultaneously preventing Jerusalemite families from repairing or reinforcing their homes.”
