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When her children, trembling with fear, ask where the family can go to escape Israel’s continued bombardment in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis area, Umm Ahmed has no answer.In her small, devastated village near Khan Yunis city, recent Israeli strikes shattered the tenuous sense of peace delivered by a ceasefire that has largely held since October 10.Residents say the attacks have targeted neighbourhoods east of the so-called Israeli-controlled Yellow Line — a demarcation established under the truce between Israel and Hamas.More than two years after a devastating war, tens of thousands of Gazans still live in tents or damaged homes in these areas, where the Israeli army maintains control and operates checkpoints.Now, many fear being forced from their homes, compelled to move west of the Yellow Line.”We don’t sleep at night because of fear. The bombardments in the east are relentless,” said Umm Ahmed, 40.”My children tremble at every explosion and ask me, ‘Where can we go?’ And I have no answer.”Her home in Bani Suheila has been completely destroyed, yet the family has stayed, pitching a tent beside the ruins.”Staying close to our destroyed home is easier than facing the unknown,” Umm Ahmed said.Crossing the Yellow Line to Al-Mawasi, west of Khan Yunis, is not an option for them.There, makeshift camps stretch as far as the eye can see, housing tens of thousands of Palestinians who fled the fighting.”There is no place left for anyone there, and not enough food or water,” Umm Ahmed said, as Gaza remains trapped in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.- ‘We will not leave’ -The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, following an unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.Since the war began, more than 70,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry. The vast majority of the territory’s more than two million residents have been displaced, many multiple times.A fragile ceasefire has been in place since October 10, though both sides regularly accuse each other of violations.Under the truce, Israeli forces withdrew to positions east of the Yellow Line.Earlier this month, Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir described the Yellow Line as the “new border” with Israel.”The Yellow Line is a new border line — serving as a forward defensive line for our communities and a line of operational activity,” he said to reserve soldiers in Gaza.For Palestinian officials, the line is seen as a tool for permanent displacement.”The objective is to frighten residents, expel them from their areas, and force them west,” said Alaa al-Batta, mayor of Khan Yunis, denouncing the bombardments as “violations of the ceasefire agreement”.The Israeli military did not respond to AFP but has regularly reported strikes near the Yellow Line on what it described as suspected militants.Mahmud Baraka, 45, from Khuzaa, east of Khan Yunis, described constant artillery fire and home demolitions in the area.”It feels like we are still living in a war zone,” he said.”Explosions happen as if they are right next to us. The objective of the occupation is clear: to intimidate us and drive us out, so the region is emptied.”For now, residents feel trapped between bombardment and displacement, uncertain how long they can endure.Despite the danger, Abdel Hamid, 70, refuses to leave his home located north of Khan Yunis, where he lives with his five children.”We will not leave… this is our land,” he said.”Moving would not be a solution, but yet another tragedy.”bur-az-tgg-jd-glp/jsa

The Syrian government and Kurdish-led forces on Monday ordered their fighters to cease fire following deadly clashes that came as Turkey’s top diplomat urged the Kurds to integrate into the Syrian army.At least three people were killed in the clashes, which came ahead of a deadline for implementing a March 10 agreement between Damascus and the Kurds to integrate the SDF — which controls vast swathes of Syria’s oil-rich northeast — into the state.State news agency SANA cited the defence ministry as saying that the Syrian army’s general staff had issued “an order to stop targeting the sources of fire”. The US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) meanwhile said they had “issued directives to our forces to cease responding to attacks”.The two sides had earlier traded blame over who started the clashes.State news agency SANA said on Monday that “two civilians were killed and eight others were wounded in SDF shelling on districts of Aleppo”, a city that has witnessed heightened tensions and a previous bout of violence between the two sides in October.The SDF said a woman was killed and 17 civilians wounded on its side by “rocket and tank shelling carried out by Damascus government factions on the Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafieh neighbourhoods in Aleppo”.Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh have remained under the control of Kurdish units linked to the SDF and the Kurds’ domestic security forces, despite a disengagement agreement reached in April with Syria’s new Islamist authorities.Syria’s interior ministry said Kurdish forces attacked government personnel at joint checkpoints in the two Kurdish-majority neighbourhoods.The SDF instead accused “factions affiliated with the interim government” of carrying out an attack on a checkpoint.The defence ministry denied attacking SDF positions, while the Kurdish-led force denied targeting Aleppo neighbourhoods.In October, Syria announced a comprehensive ceasefire with Kurdish forces following deadly clashes in the districts.Under the March deal between Damascus and the SDF, the Kurds’ civil and military institutions should be integrated into the central government by year end, but differences have held up the deal’s implementation despite international pressure.- ‘Stability’ -In Damascus, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a presidency statement said.Turkey and Syria have developed close ties since the toppling of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last year and Ankara, a key supporter of the new authorities, sees the presence of Kurdish forces on its border with Syria as a security threat.”It is important that the SDF be integrated into the Syrian administration through dialogue and reconciliation, in a transparent manner, and that it no longer acts as an obstacle to Syria’s territorial integrity and long-term stability,” Fidan told a press conference with Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani.Fidan claimed the Kurds “do not intend to make much progress” on implementing the March deal.Shaibani said authorities had received an SDF response to a Syrian defence ministry proposal on integrating the Kurdish-led forces.Damascus is studying “this response and how it responds to the national interest in achieving the integration and achieving a single unified Syrian territory”, he said.Last week, a Kurdish official told AFP on condition of anonymity that Damascus’s proposal included splitting the Kurdish-led forces into three divisions and a number of brigades, including one for women.The forces would be deployed under SDF commanders in areas of Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria, the official said.It was Damascus’s first written proposal since the March deal, the official added, noting “international and regional efforts” to finalise the agreement by year end. Turkey shares a 900-kilometre (550-mile) border with Syria, and has launched successive offensives to push the SDF from its frontier.Fidan said “Syria’s stability means Turkey’s stability”.Shaibani said the talks also addressed “combating terrorism and preventing” a resurgence of the Islamic State jihadist group.

Visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday urged Kurdish-led forces to integrate into Syria’s army and not obstruct the country’s stability, as the deadline for implementing a deal between Damascus and the Kurds approaches.Turkey and Syria have developed close ties since the toppling of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year and Ankara, a key supporter of the new authorities, sees the presence of Kurdish forces on its border with Syria as a security threat.Fidan, Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a presidency statement said.The visit aimed to address issues including progress on implementing a March 10 agreement between Damascus and the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Turkey had said.Under the deal, the Kurds’ civil and military institutions should be integrated into the central government by year end.But differences between the sides have held up the deal’s implementation despite international pressure, particularly from Washington.”It is important that the SDF be integrated into the Syrian administration through dialogue and reconciliation, in a transparent manner, and that it no longer acts as an obstacle to Syria’s territorial integrity and long-term stability,” Fidan told a press conference with his Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani.Shaibani said Damascus had received a response from the SDF regarding a draft Syrian defence ministry proposal on integrating the Kurdish-led forces into the army.”Work is currently underway to study this response and how it responds to the national interest in achieving the integration and achieving a single unified Syrian territory,” Shaibani told Monday’s press conference.Last week, a Kurdish official told AFP on condition of anonymity that Damascus’s proposal included splitting the Kurdish-led forces into three divisions and a number of brigades, including one for women.The forces would be deployed under Kurdish commanders in areas of northeast Syria currently under SDF control, the official said.- Israel -It was the first time Damascus had submitted a written proposal to the SDF since the March agreement was signed, the official added, noting “international and regional efforts” to finalise the agreement by the end of the year.Last week, Fidan warned the SDF — which controls vast swathes of Syria’s oil-rich northeast —  that patience among key actors was “running out” and advised against further delays to integrate its forces. Turkey shares a 900-kilometre (550-mile) border with Syria, and has launched successive offensives to push the SDF from its frontier.On Monday, Fidan said the sides also discussed regional security, noting “Syria’s stability means Turkey’s stability”.He also expressed hope that talks between Syria and neighbouring Israel, which has carried out bombings and incursions in Syria since Assad’s fall, would “reach a conclusion”.”For the stability of the region and for Syria’s stability, progress in this regard is important,” Fidan said, urging Israel to adopt “an approach based on mutual consent and understanding” rather than “pursuing an expansionist policy”.Shaibani said the talks also addressed “security issues linked to combating terrorism and preventing” a resurgence of the Islamic State jihadist group (IS) in Syria.Last week, US forces said they struck dozens of IS targets in Syria following a deadly December 13 attack on American personnel in central Syria’s Palmyra. With support from the coalition, the SDF spearheaded the offensive that led to IS’s territorial defeat in Syria in 2019, but the jihadists still maintain a presence, particularly in the country’s vast desert.Syria recently joined the international coalition against IS.burs-lar/lg/jsa