ANKARA: Turkish forces have killed 17 militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) across various regions of northern Iraq and northern Syria, the defense ministry said on Friday.
In a post on social media platform X, the ministry said its forces had “neutralized” 10 PKK insurgents found in the Gara and Hakurk regions of northern Iraq, and in an area where the Turkish military frequently mounts cross-border raids under its “Claw-Lock Operation.”
It said another seven militants were “neutralized” in two regions of northern Syria, where Turkiye has previously carried out cross-border incursions.
The ministry’s use of the term “neutralized” commonly means killed. The PKK, which has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, is designated a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union.
Turkiye’s cross-border attacks into northern Iraq have been a source of tension with its southeastern neighbor for years. Ankara has asked Iraq for more cooperation in combating the PKK, and Baghdad labelled the group a “banned organization” in March.
Last month, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan held talks with officials in Baghdad and Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, about the continued presence of the PKK in northern Iraq, where it is based, and other issues. Erdogan later said he believed Iraq saw the need to eliminate the PKK as well.
Turkiye has also staged military incursions in Syria’s north against the YPG militia, which it regards as a wing of the PKK.
Erdogan and his ministers have repeatedly said that while Ankara is working on repairing ties with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government after years of animosity, it will mount a new offensive into northern Syria to push the YPG away from its border.
Turkiye says it killed 17 Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, Syria
https://arab.news/8fz5j
Turkiye says it killed 17 Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, Syria
Israeli presumed among Hamas hostages found dead near Gaza
- Israel’s military confirms the identification of Dolev Yehud’s remains
Israel’s military confirmed the identification of Dolev Yehud’s remains, saying this required lengthy forensics. It said he was killed by Hamas during the rampage in Kibbutz Nir Oz, many of whose residents died, including in torched homes, or were abducted.
UAE, Jordan provide online education for Syria refugee students
DUBAI: The UAE and Jordan are providing online education for Syrian students at Zarqa refugee camp, the Emirates News Agency reported on Sunday.
The project is a collaboration between the Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Global Initiatives Digital School and Jordan's Ministry of Education.
It is aimed at providing certified online education to students worldwide, particularly under-served communities.
All 45 classrooms at the school now feature interactive displays and reliable internet access.
The digital transformation model was rolled out for grades one to12 and serves 2,500 students.
Omar Sultan Al-Olama, the UAE’s minister of state for artificial intelligence, digital economy, and remote work applications, hailed the initiative.
“The launch marks a new success story for a humanitarian education project that reflects the visionary vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.”
The aim is “to provide educational opportunities for the least fortunate students in the world and to provide a modern and distinguished educational experience for the Syrian refugees,” he reportedly said.
Biden’s Gaza plan ‘not a good deal’ but Israel accepts it— Netanyahu’s aide
- Ophir Falk, Netanyahu’s chief foreign policy adviser, says “a lot of details to be worked out”
- First phase of the Gaza plan entails a truce and the return of some hostages held by Hamas
JERUSALEM: An aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that Israel had accepted a framework deal for winding down the Gaza war now being advanced by US President Joe Biden, though he described it as flawed and in need of much more work.
In an interview with Britain’s Sunday Times, Ophir Falk, chief foreign policy adviser to Netanyahu, said Biden’s proposal was “a deal we agreed to — it’s not a good deal but we dearly want the hostages released, all of them.”
“There are a lot of details to be worked out,” he said, adding that Israeli conditions, including “the release of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas as a genocidal terrorist organization” have not changed.
Israel battled and bombarded Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Sunday as mediators called on both sides to agree to a truce and hostage release deal outlined by Biden.
Biden, whose initial lockstep support for Israel’s offensive has given way to open censure of the operation’s high civilian death toll, on Friday aired what he described as a three-phase plan submitted by the Netanyahu government to end the war.
The first phase entails a truce and the return of some hostages held by Hamas, after which the sides would negotiate on an open-ended cessation of hostilities for a second phase in which remaining live captives would go free, Biden said.
That sequencing appears to imply that Hamas would continue to play a role in incremental arrangements mediated by Egypt and Qatar — a potential clash with Israel’s determination to resume the campaign to eliminate the Iranian-backed Islamist group.
Biden has hailed several ceasefire proposals over the past several months, each with similar frameworks to the one he outlined on Friday, all of which collapsed. In February he said Israel had agreed to halt fighting by Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that began on March 10. No such truce materialized.
The primary sticking point has been Israel’s insistence that it would discuss only temporary pauses to fighting until Hamas is destroyed. Hamas, which shows no sign of stepping aside, says it will free hostages only under a path to a permanent end to the war.
In his speech, Biden said his latest proposal “creates a better ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power.” He did not elaborate on how this would be achieved, and acknowledged that “there are a number of details to negotiate to move from phase one to phase two.”
Falk reiterated Netanyahu’s position that “there will not be a permanent ceasefire until all our objectives are met.”
Netanyahu is under pressure to keep his coalition government intact. Two far-right partners have threatened to bolt in protest at any deal they deem to spare Hamas. A centrist partner, ex-general Benny Gantz, wants the deal considered.
Hamas has provisionally welcomed the Biden initiative.
“Biden’s speech included positive ideas, but we want this to materialize within the framework of a comprehensive agreement that meets our demands,” senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera on Saturday.
Hamas wants a guaranteed end to the Gaza offensive, withdrawal of all invading forces, free movement for Palestinians and reconstruction aid.
Israeli officials have rejected that as an effective return to the situation in place before Oct. 7, when Hamas, committed to Israel’s destruction, ruled Gaza.
In the ensuing Israeli assault that has laid waste to much of the impoverished and besieged coastal enclave, more than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza medical officials say.
Ultra-Orthodox protesters block Jerusalem roads ahead of Israeli court decision on draft exemptions
- Most Jewish men and women in Israel are required to serve mandatory military service at the age of 18.
- But the politically powerful ultra-Orthodox have traditionally received exemptions if they are studying full-time in religious seminaries
Dozens of ultra-Orthodox protesters blocked roads in Jerusalem on Sunday as Israel’s Supreme Court heard arguments in a landmark case challenging a controversial system of exemptions from military service granted to the religious community.
The court is looking at the legality of the exemptions, which have divided the country and threatened to collapse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition. A decision is expected in the coming weeks.
Most Jewish men and women in Israel are required to serve mandatory military service at the age of 18. But the politically powerful ultra-Orthodox have traditionally received exemptions if they are studying full-time in religious seminaries. These exemptions have infuriated the wider general public, especially as hundreds of soldiers have been killed in the war with Hamas.
During Sunday’s arguments, government lawyers told the judges that forcing ultra-Orthodox men to enlist would “tear Israeli society apart.” The court suggested a target of enlisting 3,000 ultra-Orthodox men a year –- more than double the current levels but still less than 25 percent of their overall numbers.
In Jerusalem, Israeli police cleared protesters from roads, and forcefully removed those who briefly blocked the city’s light rail. Demonstrators chanted “to prison and not to the army.”
In March, the court ordered an end to government subsidies for many ultra-Orthodox men who do not serve in the army.
Netanyahu faces a court-ordered deadline of June 30 to pass a new law that would end the broad exemptions. But he depends on ultra-Orthodox parties to prop up his government, and ending the exemptions could cause them to leave and trigger new elections.
12 pro-regime fighters killed in Israeli strike near Syria’s Aleppo: NGO
- The Israeli attack targetted a factory in the town of Hayyan, north of Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said
- The casualties were pro-Iranian fighters of Syrian and foreign nationalities, added the UK-based war monitor
BEIRUT: At least 12 pro-regime fighters were killed in an overnight Israeli strike that targeted a factory near Aleppo in the north of Syria, an NGO reported early Monday.
“Twelve pro-Iranian fighters of Syrian and foreign nationalities were killed, according to an initial tally, in an Israeli air strike on a position in the town of Hayyan, north of Aleppo, setting off strong explosions in a factory,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Syrian Ministry of Defense said in a statement that “after midnight... the Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the southeast of Aleppo, targeting some positions” near the city, adding that “the aggression caused several martyrs and material damage.”
According to the Observatory — which is based in Britain, but maintains a vast network of sources inside Syria — rescuers and firefighters were deployed to the site to treat the injured and contain blazes caused by the strike.
The NGO said that Hayyan is “controlled by pro-Iranian groups composed of Syrians and foreigners.”
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on its northern neighbor since the outbreak of Syria’s civil war, mainly targeting army positions and Iran-backed fighters, including from the militant group Hezbollah.
While it rarely comments on individual strikes in Syria, Israel has repeatedly said it will not allow its arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence there.
The strikes have increased since its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip began on October 7, when the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group launched an unprecedented attack against Israel.
Syria’s war has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions more since it erupted in 2011 after Damascus cracked down on anti-government protests.
