JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a brief freeze in construction on a wind turbine project in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that set off a rare clash between Druze residents and police.
Netanyahu said late Saturday he agreed to a pause on the project during this week’s Muslim Eid Al-Adha holiday, which is meant to allow time for talks to defuse the crisis. The project is expected to resume next week. A statement from Netanyahu’s office said he made the decision based on advice from security officials.
The Druze oppose the plan, which would install more than two dozen 200-meter tall turbines throughout their land. The landowners said the turbines will harm their agricultural output and that the energy company behind the project didn’t consult with them in good faith, a claim the company denies.
Last week, thousands of residents demonstrated against the project, storming a police station, throwing stones and fireworks, setting tires on fire, vandalizing police cars, blocking roads and even shooting live fire into the air, according to police.
Israel captured the Golan, a strategic plateau overlooking northern Israel, from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel subsequently annexed the area in a move that was recognized by former US President Donald Trump in 2019. But most of the international community considers the area to be occupied territory.
While Druze leaders still profess allegiance to Syria, relations with Israel are normally good. The Golan is a popular vacation destination for Israelis and is filled with hotels and restaurants, and most residents speak Hebrew fluently. Violent clashes with Israeli authorities are rare.
Israel’s Netanyahu briefly freezes Golan wind turbine project that set off rare clashes
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Israel’s Netanyahu briefly freezes Golan wind turbine project that set off rare clashes
- Druze oppose the project, which would install more than two dozen 200 meter tall turbines throughout their land
- The landowners said the turbines will harm their agricultural output and that the energy company behind the project didn’t consult with them in good faith, a claim the company denies
Armed clashes erupt in Aleppo between Syrian army and Kurdish-led SDF
- One member of Internal Security Forces, another from army were injured
- Defense Ministry accused SDF of targeting homes after they suddenly withdrew from jointly operated checkpoints, fired at government forces
LONDON: The Syrian Ministry of Defense accused the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces of launching a surprise attack on the Internal Security Forces and the Syrian Arab Army in Aleppo on Monday.
The clashes erupted in the densely populated neighborhoods of Ashrafiya and Sheikh Maqsoud, which have a Kurdish majority. The ministry reported that one member of the Internal Security Forces and another from the army were injured, along with several civil defense personnel and civilians.
The ministry denied the claims that the army initiated the conflict. It accused the SDF of targeting homes after they suddenly withdrew from jointly operated checkpoints and fired at government forces with heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade shells, and mortars.
Four civilians, including a woman and a child, were admitted to Al-Razi Hospital in the city, and two Syrian Civil Defense personnel were injured while on duty at the Shihan roundabout, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
Fighting has spread to areas between the Shihan and Al-Larmon roundabouts, north of Aleppo, prompting dozens of families to flee their homes toward safer locations in Khalidiya and Nile Street, and closing the main Gaziantep-Aleppo highway. The civil defense accused SDF forces of shooting at one of their vehicles, which carried four members.
Azzam Al-Gharib, the governor of Aleppo, urged citizens to avoid approaching the clash sites or roads leading to the city center until further notice.
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