BEIRUT: A second group of rebel fighters left the southern Syrian city of Daraa Thursday under a Russian-brokered truce aimed at ending the region's worst fighting in years, a monitor said.
Daraa, seen as the birthplace of Syria's uprising in 2011 and held for years by opposition forces, was returned to government control in 2018 under a previous Moscow-backed ceasefire that had allowed rebels to stay in some areas of Daraa province.
But since late July local armed groups have exchanged artillery fire with government forces and the regime has imposed a crippling siege on the city's southern districts of Daraa al-Balad, seen as a hub for former rebels.
The clashes were the biggest challenge yet to the 2018 ceasefire, and Moscow-led talks have intensified in recent days as the government has stepped up its campaign to root out remaining rebels from Daraa al-Balad.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Thursday that 53 people, mostly "fighters who rejected the reconciliation deal reached under Russian auspices", had been sent to northern Syria.
Syria's official SANA news agency said that "45 terrorists and some of their family members" had left Daraa in what it called a step "towards ending terrorist control over the district and towards the return of all state institutions and services".
It came two days after an initial group of opposition fighters boarded buses to take them to rebel-held territory in the north, according to the Britain-based Observatory.
It says the agreement would see around 100 rebel fighters leave Daraa al-Balad for northern Syria, with remaining fighters surrendering their arms, in exchange for a lifting of the siege which has seen some 40,000 people face water and power cuts as well as food and medical shortages.
The United Nations said Tuesday that the latest escalation had forced some 38,000 people to flee over the past month.
UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen called Tuesday for humanitarian assistance and an immediate truce.
"Immediate, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access is needed to all affected areas and communities, including Daraa al-Balad," he told the Security Council.
New group of rebels quits Syria's Daraa under truce
https://arab.news/gaga7
New group of rebels quits Syria's Daraa under truce
- Daraa was returned to government control in 2018 under a previous Moscow-backed ceasefire
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Thursday that 53 people had been sent to northern Syria
US officials say Gaza stabilization force will not fight Hamas
- An American two-star general is under consideration to lead the ISF, but no decision has been made, officials said
NEW YORK: International troops could be deployed in the Gaza Strip as early as next month to form a UN-authorized stabilization force, two US officials said, but it remains unclear how Hamas will be disarmed.
Officials said the International Stabilization Force, or ISF, would not fight Hamas.
They said many countries have expressed interest in contributing, and US officials are currently working out the size of the ISF, its composition, housing, training, and rules of engagement.
There is a lot of quiet planning that’s going on behind the scenes right now for phase two of the peace deal.
Karoline Leavitt, White House spokesperson
An American two-star general is under consideration to lead the ISF, but no decision has been made, officials said.
Deployment of the force is a key part of the next phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan.
Under the first phase, a fragile ceasefire in the two-year war began on Oct.10, and Hamas released hostages, and Israel freed detained Palestinians.
“There is a lot of quiet planning that’s going on behind the scenes right now for phase two of the peace deal,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said.
“We want to ensure an enduring and lasting peace.”
Indonesia has said it is prepared to deploy up to 20,000 troops to take on health and construction-related tasks in Gaza.
“It is still in the planning and preparation stages,” said Rico Sirait, spokesperson of the Indonesian Defense Ministry.
“We are now preparing the organizational structure of the forces to be deployed.”
Israel still controls 53 percent of Gaza, while nearly all the 2 million people in the enclave live in the remaining Hamas-held area. The plan — which needs to be finalized by the so-called Board of Peace — is for the ISF to deploy in the area held by Israel, the US officials said.
Then, according to the Trump peace plan, as the ISF establishes control and stability, Israeli troops will gradually withdraw “based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization.”
A UN Security Council resolution adopted on Nov. 17 authorized a Board of Peace and countries working with it to establish the ISF.
Trump said on Wednesday that an announcement on which world leaders will serve on the Board of Peace will be made early next year.
The Security Council authorized the ISF to work alongside newly trained and vetted Palestinian police to stabilize security “by ensuring the process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding of the military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups.”
However, it remains unclear exactly how that would work.
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz noted on Thursday that the Security Council authorized the ISF to demilitarize Gaza by all means necessary, which means the use of force.
“Obviously, that’ll be a conversation with each country,” he told Israel’s Channel 12, adding that discussions on rules of engagement were underway.
Hamas has said the issue of disarmament has not been discussed with them formally by the mediators — the US, Egypt, and Qatar — and the group’s stance remains that it will not disarm until a Palestinian state is established.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech on Sunday that the second phase would move toward demilitarization and disarmament.
“Now that raises a question: Our friends in America want to try and establish a multinational task force to do the job,” he said. “I told them I welcome it. Are volunteers here? Be my guest,” Netanyahu said.
“We know there are certain tasks that this force can perform ... but some things are beyond their abilities, and perhaps the main thing is beyond their abilities, but we will see about that,” he said.
