BEIRUT: Syrian rebels on Friday were surrendering their heavy weapons for the second day after agreeing with the government a new deal to withdraw from central towns, a war monitor said.
Opposition fighters agreed with regime forces and their allies to a cease-fire deal earlier this week for the rebel towns of Talbisseh, Rastan, and Al-Houla, which fall in Syria’s central province of Homs.
“The fighters are handing over their heavy and intermediate weapons to Russian and regime forces for the second consecutive day,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.
It included artillery and machine guns, said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Observatory.
“Once the handovers are finished, the rebels who want to leave will be evacuated out with civilians,” Abdel Rahman said.
The deal for the three rebel-controlled towns follows a similar pattern to other agreements recently reached across Syria, mostly around Damascus.
Rebels and civilians will be granted safe passage to the rebel-held town of Jarabulus, in Aleppo province, and the neighboring province of Idlib which largely escapes government control, according to state news agency SANA.
It said the deal also provided for the return of government institutions to the three towns and the reopening of a key highway.
That highway runs from the capital Damascus, through Homs, and onto second city Aleppo, in the north. Securing it has been a major target for the regime’s military operations.
The three towns were part of a “de-escalation zone” agreed one year ago by opposition supporter Turkey and regime allies Iran and Russia.
The total of four zones initially saw a reduction in shelling but violence has since escalated.
One of them, Eastern Ghouta, was recaptured last month by the Syrian government after a blistering two-month offensive that ended in forced evacuations of rebels and civilians there.
Jaish Al-Izza, one rebel faction present in the Homs area where a deal was reached, has said it rejects the agreement and pledged to remain deployed on its front lines.
It is the third such transfer deal for Homs province, after thousands were bused out in a pair of agreements for the city itself.
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Syria rebels hand over arms in new deal with government
Syria rebels hand over arms in new deal with government
US expected to unveil post-war Gaza leadership
- International 'Board of Peace' is meant to govern Gaza for a transitional period as part of peace plan
- The 14-member Palestinian body will be headed by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister in the Palestinian Authority
CAIRO: US President Donald Trump is expected on Wednesday to push ahead with his phased plan for Gaza’s future by announcing the administration that will run the war-ravaged Palestinian territory, four Palestinian sources said.
Israel and Hamas in October signed off on Trump’s 20-point plan which says that a technocratic Palestinian body overseen by an international “Board of Peace” is meant to govern Gaza for a transitional period. It is not to include Hamas representation.
The 14-member Palestinian body will be headed by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister in the Western-backed Palestinian Authority who had been in charge of developing industrial zones, the Palestinian sources said.
Other members tapped by Nickolay Mladenov, the former UN Middle East envoy who is expected to represent the Board of Peace on the ground, include people from the private sector and NGOS, according a list of the names obtained by Reuters.
PHASE TWO OF GAZA PLAN
The first phase of Trump’s plan, which included a ceasefire and hostage release deal, has been shaken by issues including Israeli airstrikes in Gaza that have killed hundreds of people, a refusal by Hamas to disarm, the remains of one last Israeli hostage still not having been returned and Israeli delays in reopening Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
Although the two sides accuse each other of breaching the deal, Trump says he wants to move on to the second phase, a progression that would entail the establishment of the Board of Peace and a yet-to-be-agreed deployment of peacekeeping forces.
Hamas leaders and other Palestinian factions are in Cairo for talks on the second phase, the group said. Egyptian sources said talks with Hamas would now focus on the group’s disarmament.
Hamas has so far not agreed to lay down its weapons, saying it will only give up its weapons once there is a Palestinian state. Further Israeli withdrawals within Gaza are tied to disarmament.
Members of the technocratic Palestinian committee were expected to meet with Mladenov in Cairo on Wednesday. Hamas and its rival Fatah group, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, have both endorsed the list of members, Egyptian and Palestinian sources said.
It will also include the head of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce Ayed Abu Ramadan and Omar Shamali, who has worked for the Palestinian Telecommunication Group PALTEL, the Palestinian sources said.
Israeli officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israel and Hamas in October signed off on Trump’s 20-point plan which says that a technocratic Palestinian body overseen by an international “Board of Peace” is meant to govern Gaza for a transitional period. It is not to include Hamas representation.
The 14-member Palestinian body will be headed by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister in the Western-backed Palestinian Authority who had been in charge of developing industrial zones, the Palestinian sources said.
Other members tapped by Nickolay Mladenov, the former UN Middle East envoy who is expected to represent the Board of Peace on the ground, include people from the private sector and NGOS, according a list of the names obtained by Reuters.
PHASE TWO OF GAZA PLAN
The first phase of Trump’s plan, which included a ceasefire and hostage release deal, has been shaken by issues including Israeli airstrikes in Gaza that have killed hundreds of people, a refusal by Hamas to disarm, the remains of one last Israeli hostage still not having been returned and Israeli delays in reopening Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
Although the two sides accuse each other of breaching the deal, Trump says he wants to move on to the second phase, a progression that would entail the establishment of the Board of Peace and a yet-to-be-agreed deployment of peacekeeping forces.
Hamas leaders and other Palestinian factions are in Cairo for talks on the second phase, the group said. Egyptian sources said talks with Hamas would now focus on the group’s disarmament.
Hamas has so far not agreed to lay down its weapons, saying it will only give up its weapons once there is a Palestinian state. Further Israeli withdrawals within Gaza are tied to disarmament.
Members of the technocratic Palestinian committee were expected to meet with Mladenov in Cairo on Wednesday. Hamas and its rival Fatah group, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, have both endorsed the list of members, Egyptian and Palestinian sources said.
It will also include the head of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce Ayed Abu Ramadan and Omar Shamali, who has worked for the Palestinian Telecommunication Group PALTEL, the Palestinian sources said.
Israeli officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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