GENEVA: Israeli forces have killed dozens of civilians in Lebanon since a ceasefire took effect late last year, including a number of women and children, the United Nations said Tuesday.
The UN rights office reported that Israeli military operations had killed and injured civilians in Lebanon in the four months since the fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah on November 27.
“According to our initial review, at least 71 civilians have been killed by Israeli forces in Lebanon since the ceasefire came into effect,” rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told reporters in Geneva.
“Among the victims are 14 women and 9 children,” he said, urging that “the violence must stop immediately.”
The delicate truce between Israel and Hezbollah came after more than a year of hostilities initiated by the Iran-backed militant group over the Gaza conflict, including two months of all-out war when Israel also sent in ground troops.
But months after the agreed end to fighting, Kheetan warned that people in Lebanon “people remain gripped by fear, and over 92,000 are still displaced from their homes.”
The rights office noted that Israeli strikes on Lebanese territory had hit civilian infrastructure since the ceasefire, including residential buildings, medical facilities, roads and at least one cafe.
The southern suburbs of Beirut were also hit in early April for the first time since the ceasefire took effect, in two different incidents, Kheetan said, adding that the area targeted was near two schools.
“A strike on a residential building in the early morning of April 1 killed two civilians and caused significant damage to neighboring buildings,” he said.
Two days later, “Israeli airstrikes hit a newly established medical center run by the Islamic Health Society in Naqoura in southern Lebanon, completely destroying the center and damaging two ambulances,” he said.
He added that “multiple Israeli airstrikes on several towns in the south of Lebanon reportedly killed at least six people” between April 4 and 8.
Israel had also faced attacks since the truce took effect, Kheetan said.
Since last November, at least five rockets, two mortars and a drone were launched from Lebanon toward northern Israel, he said, citing figures from the Israeli army, adding that “tens of thousands of Israelis are still reportedly displaced from the north.”
Kheetan demanded that all parties to the conflict “respect international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution.”
“There must be prompt, independent and impartial investigations into all allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian law, and those found responsible must be held to account.”
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UN says Israel killed 71 civilians in Lebanon since ceasefire
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UN says Israel killed 71 civilians in Lebanon since ceasefire
- “Among the victims are 14 women and 9 children,” Al-Kheetan said, urging that “the violence must stop immediately“
Syrian army extends hold over north Syria, Kurds report clashes
DEIR HAFER: Syria’s army has seized swathes of the country’s north, dislodging Kurdish forces from territory over which they held effective autonomy for more than a decade.
The government appeared to be extending its grip on Kurdish-run areas after President Ahmed Al-Sharaa issued a decree declaring Kurdish a “national language” and granting the minority group official recognition.
The Kurds have said Friday’s announcement fell short of their aspirations, while the implementation of a March deal — intended to see Kurdish forces integrated into the state — has stalled.
Government troops drove Kurdish forces from two Aleppo neighborhoods last week and on Saturday took control of an area east of the city.
On Sunday, the government announced the capture of Tabqa, about 55 kilometers (34 miles) west of Raqqa.
“The Syrian army controls the strategic city of Tabqa in the Raqqa countryside, including the Euphrates Dam, which is the largest dam in Syria,” said Information Minister Hamza Almustafa, according to the official SANA news agency.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), however, said they had “taken the necessary measures to restore security and stability” in Tabqa.
In Deir Hafer, some 50 kilometers east of Aleppo city, an AFP correspondent saw several SDF fighters leaving the town and residents returning under heavy army presence.
Syria’s army said four soldiers had been killed, while Kurdish forces reported several fighters dead. Both sides traded blame for violating a withdrawal deal.
Kurdish authorities ordered a curfew in the Raqqa region after the army designated a swathe of territory southwest of the Euphrates River a “closed military zone,” warning it would target what it said were several military sites.
The SANA news agency reported Sunday that the SDF destroyed two bridges over the Euphrates in Raqqa city, which lies on the eastern bank of the river.
Raqqa’s media directorate separately accused the SDF of cutting off Raqqa city’s water supply by blowing up the main water pipes.
Deir Ezzor governor Ghassan Alsayed Ahmed said on social media that the SDF fired “rocket projectiles” at neighborhoods in government-controlled territories in the city center of Deir Ezzor, Al-Mayadin, and other areas.
The SDF said “factions affiliated with the Damascus government attacked our forces’ positions” and caused clashes in several towns on the east bank of the Euphrates, opposite Al-Mayadin and which lie between Deir Ezzor and the Iraqi border.
- ‘Betrayed’ -
On Friday, Syrian Kurdish leader and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi had committed to redeploying his forces from outside Aleppo to east of the Euphrates.
But the SDF said Saturday that Damascus had “violated the recent agreements and betrayed our forces,” with clashes erupting with troops south of Tabqa.
The army urged the SDF to “immediately fulfil its announced commitments and fully withdraw” east of the river.
The SDF controls swathes of Syria’s oil?rich north and northeast, areas captured during the civil war and the fight against the Daesh group over the past decade.
US envoy Tom Barrack met Abdi in Irbil on Saturday, the presidency of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region said.
While Washington has long supported Kurdish forces, it has also backed Syria’s new authorities.
US Central Command on Saturday urged Syrian government forces “to cease any offensive actions in the areas between Aleppo and al?Tabqa.”
France’s President Emmanuel Macron and the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, also called for de-escalation and a ceasefire.
- Presidential decree -
Sharaa’s announcement on Friday marked the first formal recognition of Kurdish rights since Syria’s independence in 1946.
The decree stated that Kurds are “an essential and integral part” of Syria, where they have suffered decades of marginalization.
It made Kurdish a “national language” and granted nationality to all Kurds — around 20 percent of whom were stripped of it under a controversial 1962 census.
The Kurdish administration in Syria’s northeast said the decree was “a first step” but “does not satisfy the aspirations and hopes of the Syrian people.
In Qamishli, the main Kurdish city in the country’s northeast, Shebal Ali, 35, told AFP that “we want constitutional recognition of the Kurdish people’s rights.”
Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the decree “offers cultural concessions while consolidating military control.”
“It does not address the northeast’s calls for self-governance,” he said.
Also Saturday, the US military said a strike in northwest Syria had killed a militant linked to a deadly attack on three Americans last month.
The government appeared to be extending its grip on Kurdish-run areas after President Ahmed Al-Sharaa issued a decree declaring Kurdish a “national language” and granting the minority group official recognition.
The Kurds have said Friday’s announcement fell short of their aspirations, while the implementation of a March deal — intended to see Kurdish forces integrated into the state — has stalled.
Government troops drove Kurdish forces from two Aleppo neighborhoods last week and on Saturday took control of an area east of the city.
On Sunday, the government announced the capture of Tabqa, about 55 kilometers (34 miles) west of Raqqa.
“The Syrian army controls the strategic city of Tabqa in the Raqqa countryside, including the Euphrates Dam, which is the largest dam in Syria,” said Information Minister Hamza Almustafa, according to the official SANA news agency.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), however, said they had “taken the necessary measures to restore security and stability” in Tabqa.
In Deir Hafer, some 50 kilometers east of Aleppo city, an AFP correspondent saw several SDF fighters leaving the town and residents returning under heavy army presence.
Syria’s army said four soldiers had been killed, while Kurdish forces reported several fighters dead. Both sides traded blame for violating a withdrawal deal.
Kurdish authorities ordered a curfew in the Raqqa region after the army designated a swathe of territory southwest of the Euphrates River a “closed military zone,” warning it would target what it said were several military sites.
The SANA news agency reported Sunday that the SDF destroyed two bridges over the Euphrates in Raqqa city, which lies on the eastern bank of the river.
Raqqa’s media directorate separately accused the SDF of cutting off Raqqa city’s water supply by blowing up the main water pipes.
Deir Ezzor governor Ghassan Alsayed Ahmed said on social media that the SDF fired “rocket projectiles” at neighborhoods in government-controlled territories in the city center of Deir Ezzor, Al-Mayadin, and other areas.
The SDF said “factions affiliated with the Damascus government attacked our forces’ positions” and caused clashes in several towns on the east bank of the Euphrates, opposite Al-Mayadin and which lie between Deir Ezzor and the Iraqi border.
- ‘Betrayed’ -
On Friday, Syrian Kurdish leader and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi had committed to redeploying his forces from outside Aleppo to east of the Euphrates.
But the SDF said Saturday that Damascus had “violated the recent agreements and betrayed our forces,” with clashes erupting with troops south of Tabqa.
The army urged the SDF to “immediately fulfil its announced commitments and fully withdraw” east of the river.
The SDF controls swathes of Syria’s oil?rich north and northeast, areas captured during the civil war and the fight against the Daesh group over the past decade.
US envoy Tom Barrack met Abdi in Irbil on Saturday, the presidency of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region said.
While Washington has long supported Kurdish forces, it has also backed Syria’s new authorities.
US Central Command on Saturday urged Syrian government forces “to cease any offensive actions in the areas between Aleppo and al?Tabqa.”
France’s President Emmanuel Macron and the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, also called for de-escalation and a ceasefire.
- Presidential decree -
Sharaa’s announcement on Friday marked the first formal recognition of Kurdish rights since Syria’s independence in 1946.
The decree stated that Kurds are “an essential and integral part” of Syria, where they have suffered decades of marginalization.
It made Kurdish a “national language” and granted nationality to all Kurds — around 20 percent of whom were stripped of it under a controversial 1962 census.
The Kurdish administration in Syria’s northeast said the decree was “a first step” but “does not satisfy the aspirations and hopes of the Syrian people.
In Qamishli, the main Kurdish city in the country’s northeast, Shebal Ali, 35, told AFP that “we want constitutional recognition of the Kurdish people’s rights.”
Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the decree “offers cultural concessions while consolidating military control.”
“It does not address the northeast’s calls for self-governance,” he said.
Also Saturday, the US military said a strike in northwest Syria had killed a militant linked to a deadly attack on three Americans last month.
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