MOSCOW: Russia said Tuesday that Kurdish forces in northern Syria had withdrawn from areas along Turkey’s border as planned under a deal between Moscow and Ankara.
“The withdrawal of armed units from territory where a security corridor should be created has been completed ahead of time,” Russian news agencies quoted Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as saying on a visit to Armenia.
“Syrian border guards and our military police have been deployed there,” Shoigu told his Armenian counterpart Davit Tonoyan.
A deadline for the withdrawal had been set at 6:00 p.m. local time (1500 GMT) on Tuesday.
Last week Russia and Turkey signed a deal for Russian military police and Syrian border guards to “facilitate the removal” of Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) from within 30 kilometers (18 miles) of the border.
The Turkey-Russia agreement was reached after marathon talks between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Pullout of Kurdish forces in northern Syria complete: Moscow
Pullout of Kurdish forces in northern Syria complete: Moscow
Israel orders removal of electricity network, destroys Palestinian houses in West Bank
- The notice demonstrates Israel’s continued efforts to tighten its control over the residents of Idhna, the mayor said
- Israeli forces demolished two homes belonging to the Qabha family in the Khor Al-Dabaa neighborhood of Bartaa in Jenin
LONDON: Israeli authorities informed Palestinian residents of Idhna village, located west of Hebron, about a plan to remove the electricity network in the area as the Israeli government intends to strengthen control in the occupied West Bank.
Jaber Tmaizi, the mayor of Idhna, said that Israeli troops issued a notice demanding the removal of an electricity network that supplies Bir Al-Balouta area, located west of the town.
He added that this notice demonstrates Israel’s continued efforts to tighten its control over the residents of Idhna, aiming to displace them closer to the separation wall to expand the Adora settlement nearby.
On Tuesday, the Energy Minister Eli Cohen said that recent measures adopted by the government that deepen Israeli control in the occupied West Bank amounted to implementing “de facto sovereignty.”
Cohen said that steps “actually establish a fact on the ground that there will not be a Palestinian state.”
Palestinians, Arab countries, and human rights groups have described the moves announced on Sunday as an annexation of the territory, which is home to approximately 3.4 million Palestinians who aspire to use it for a future state.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces demolished two homes belonging to the Qabha family in the Khor Al-Dabaa neighborhood of Bartaa, which is located in Jenin in the northern West Bank. The demolition was carried out under the pretext that the houses were built without the necessary construction permits.
Earlier this year, Israeli forces also demolished four homes in Bartaa, again citing the absence of permits as the reason for the demolitions.
