QAIM, Iraq: More than a year after the Iraqi town of Qaim was freed from the Daesh group, booms from airstrikes still echo and columns of smoke rise beyond the berms and concrete walls marking the border with Syria. There, on the other side, the fight is raging to capture one of the militants’ last enclaves.
Iraqi troops and Shiite militiamen outside Qaim keep watch over a giant earth barricade topped with barbed wire that runs along the long desert border. Iraqi artillery and US-led coalition warplanes bombard Daesh positions inside Syria, while Iraqi militiamen along with allied Iranian troops cross the border to back Syrian troops.
The battle on the doorstep means life in Qaim is still on hold, with residents waiting for their town to be rebuilt.
Iraqi town fearful as battle against Daesh rages next door
Iraqi town fearful as battle against Daesh rages next door
- The battle on the doorstep means life in Qaim is still on hold, with residents waiting for their town to be rebuilt
- On the other side of Qaim, the fight is still raging to capture one of the militants’ last enclaves
US, Qatar, Egypt, Turkiye urge restraint in Gaza after Miami talks
- Top officials from each nation met with Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, to review the first stage of the ceasefire
MIAMI: The US was joined Saturday by Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye in urging parties in the Gaza ceasefire to uphold their obligations and exercise restraint, the chief US envoy said after talks in Miami.
Top officials from each nation met with Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, to review the first stage of the ceasefire that came into effect on October 10.
“We reaffirm our full commitment to the entirety of the President’s 20-point peace plan and call on all parties to uphold their obligations, exercise restraint, and cooperate with monitoring arrangements,” said a statement posted by Witkoff on X.
Their meeting came amid continuing strains on the agreement.
Gaza’s civil defense said six people were killed Friday in Israeli shelling of a shelter. That brought to 400 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the deal took effect.
Israel has also repeatedly accused Hamas of violating the truce, with the military reporting of its three soldiers killed in the territory since October.
Saturday’s statement cited progress yielded in the first stage of the peace agreement, including expanded humanitarian assistance, return of hostage bodies, partial force withdrawals and a reduction in hostilities.
It called for “the near-term establishment and operationalization” of a transitional administration which is due to happen in the second phase of the agreement, and said consultations would continue in the coming weeks over its implementation.
Under the deal’s terms, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas, and an international stabilization force is to be deployed.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed hope that countries would contribute troops for the stabilization force, but also urged the disarmament of Hamas, warning the process would unravel unless that happened.
