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Hamas approves Gaza truce deal: Palestinian sources close to talks

Hamas has approved a Gaza truce and hostage release deal, Palestinian sources close to negotiations said Wednesday, after mediator Qatar expressed hope an agreement to end the war could be reached very soon.After months of failed bids to end the deadliest war in Gaza’s history, negotiators were making a final push in Qatar to seal a ceasefire. Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari had said on Tuesday that negotiations were in their “final stages”, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with top security officials to discuss the deal late that night, his office said.Two Palestinian sources close to the talks told AFP on Wednesday that Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad had approved the draft agreement.”The resistance factions reached an agreement among themselves and informed the mediators of their approval of the (prisoner-hostage) exchange deal and ceasefire,” one source told AFP on condition of anonymity.Hamas sparked the war in Gaza by staging the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.Palestinian militants also took 251 people hostage during the attack, 94 of whom are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed 46,707 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.Pressure to put an end to the fighting had ratcheted up in recent days, as mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States intensified efforts to seal a deal and enable the release of the hostages.With just days to go before Donald Trump’s inauguration as president of the United States, outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said Tuesday that a deal was “ready to be concluded and implemented”.And Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said there was a “true willingness from our side to reach an agreement”.- ‘Act now’ -Relatives of Israeli hostages and war-weary Palestinians in Gaza were anxious for the deal to be finalised.”Time is of the essence,” said Gil Dickmann, cousin of former hostage Carmel Gat whose body was recovered in September.”Hostages who are alive will end up dead. Hostages who are dead might be lost,” Dickmann told AFP. “We have to act now.”Umm Ibrahim Abu Sultan, displaced from Gaza City to Khan Yunis in the south, said that she had “lost everything” in the war.”I am anxiously awaiting the truce,” said the mother of five.Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said the first phase of a deal would see 33 Israeli hostages freed, while two Palestinian sources close to Hamas told AFP that Israel would release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.A source close to Hamas said that the initial hostage release would be “in batches, starting with children and women”.Negotiations for a second phase would commence on the truce’s 16th day, an Israeli official said, with media reports saying it would see the release of the remaining captives.Under the proposed deal, Israel would maintain a buffer zone inside Gaza during the first phase, according to Israeli media.- Strikes -Among the sticking points in talks have been disagreements over the permanence of any ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the scale of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory.The UN’s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, facing an Israeli ban on its activities set to take effect later this month, said it will continue providing much-needed aid. Netanyahu has rejected a full withdrawal from Gaza and opposed any post-war role for Hamas in the territory.Blinken said Tuesday Israel would ultimately “have to accept reuniting Gaza and the West Bank under the leadership of a reformed” Palestinian Authority, and embrace a “path toward forming an independent Palestinian state”.He added that the “best incentive” to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace remained the prospect of normalisation between Israel and Saudi Arabia.Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, speaking in Oslo, said the latest push for a Gaza ceasefire showed that international pressure on Israel “does pay off”.Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued to pound targets across Gaza.Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Wednesday that strikes across the territory killed at least 27 people including a seven-year-old boy.Israel’s military said it had targeted Hamas militants overnight.burs-ser/smw

UN rights chief says transitional justice ‘crucial’ in Syria

United Nations rights chief Volker Turk on Wednesday said transitional justice was “crucial” for Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, during the first-ever visit by someone in his post to the country.Since Islamist-led rebels seized Damascus last month, the United Nations has called for Assad and others to be held accountable for the crimes committed during more than 13 years of civil war.”Transitional justice is crucial as Syria moves forward,” the UN high commissioner for human rights said at a press conference in Damascus.”Revenge and vengeance are never the answer.”Syria’s conflict erupted in 2011 after Assad’s brutal crackdown of anti-government protests. More than half a million people were killed and millions displaced from their homes.Tens of thousands of people have been detained and tortured in the country’s jails, while Assad has been accused of using chemical weapons including banned sarin gas against his own people.”The enforced disappearances, the torture, the use of chemical weapons, among other atrocity crimes, must be fully investigated,” Turk said.”And then justice must be served, fairly and impartially,” he added.Turk said “such acts constitute the most serious crimes under international humanitarian law”.Among them, “that banned chemicals were used against civilians… and not just once, says a lot about the extreme brutality of the tactics used by the former regime,” Turk said.- ‘Human rights for all Syrians’ -The new authorities have sought to reassure Syrians and the international community in recent weeks that they will respect the rights of minorities while rebuilding the country.Turk said during the visit that he and the country’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed “the opportunities and challenges awaiting this new Syria”.”He acknowledged and assured me of the importance of respect for human rights for all Syrians and all different components of Syrian society,” Turk said.He said Sharaa also backed “the pursuit of healing, trust building and social cohesion and the reform of institutions”.After a war that has ravaged Syria’s economy and infrastructure, Turk also called for an easing of certain Western sanctions imposed on Syria under Assad’s rule.”I… call for an urgent reconsideration of… sanctions with a view to lifting them,” he said, adding that they had “a negative impact on the enjoyment of rights” of Syrians.Turk said he had visited the notorious Saydnaya prison and met with a former detainee, “a former soldier suspected of being a defector”.”He told me of the cruel treatment he endured. I cannot even bear to share the stories of beatings and torture that he shared with me,” he said.Thousands of detainees poured out of prisons after Assad’s fall.But many Syrians are still looking for traces of tens of thousands of loved ones still missing, with many believed to have been buried in mass graves.- ‘Peaceful and stable development’ -Families of missing persons have urged Syria’s new authorities to protect evidence of crimes under Assad, after outrage over a video appearing to show volunteers painting over prisoner etchings on walls inside a former jail.A petition appeared on Tuesday calling for the new Syrian authorities to better protect evidence of crimes, and to give investigating the fate of those forcibly disappeared under Assad “the highest priority”.With journalists and families rushing to detention centres after Assad fled the country, official documents have been left unprotected, with some even looted or destroyed.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, says more than 100,000 people have died in detention from torture or dire health conditions across Syria since 2011.Syria has seen a flurry of diplomatic activity since Assad’s fall on December 8.Earlier on Wednesday, Germany’s Development Minister Svenja Schulze promised to support Syria’s “peaceful and stable development” as she visited Damascus to meet with the interim authorities, announcing cooperation with Syrian hospitals.Germany is home to the European Union’s largest Syrian diaspora community, having taken in nearly a million people from the war-ravaged country.

Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 27 Palestinians

Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Wednesday that Israeli strikes killed at least 27 people, as the military issued new evacuation calls in northern areas of the Palestinian territory.The latest Israeli strikes come as truce mediator Qatar said negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza were in their “final stages”.The civil defence agency said in a statement that 11 bodies were brought to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza Strip, after Israel struck a family home in Deir el-Balah city during the night.A seven-year-old boy and three teenagers were among the dead, the agency said.A separate strike targeted a school building used as shelter for war-displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, killing seven people and injuring several others, the civil defence agency said.A third strike at dawn hit a house in the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, killing six people and injuring seven, the agency added.Another three people were killed when the Israeli military targeted the Al-Shati camp in Gaza City, the agency said.The Israeli military confirmed that its forces had carried out multiple strikes overnight in Gaza, saying in a statement that they were “precise” and targeted “terrorist operatives”.In the past 24 hours, the military said it had struck more than 50 targets across the Gaza Strip.The Israeli military on Wednesday issued a new evacuation call in Arabic for the northern Gaza city of Jabalia, warning residents to move south to Gaza City before it attacks the area.Jabalia and its surrounding areas have been the focus of an intense Israeli military operation since October 2023, causing thousands of displaced and shortages of everything for those remaining.The army says it is fighting Hamas militants who have regrouped in the area.The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched the deadliest attack in Israeli history, resulting in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed 46,707 people, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory which the UN considers reliable.

World must keep pressure on Israel after Gaza truce: Palestinian PM

The international community will have to maintain pressure on Israel after a hoped-for ceasefire in Gaza so it accepts the creation of a Palestinian state, Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Mustafa said on Wednesday.A ceasefire agreement appears close following a recent round of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, with mediators in Doha making a final push Wednesday to seal a deal.”The ceasefire we’re talking about… came about primarily because of international pressure. So pressure does pay off,” Mustafa said before a conference in Oslo. Israel must “be shown what’s right and what’s wrong, and that the veto power on peace and statehood for Palestinians will not be accepted and tolerated any longer,” he told reporters in the Norwegian capital.He was speaking at the start of the third meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, gathering representatives from some 80 states and organisations in Oslo.A ceasefire is “necessary, but not enough”, Mustafa later told reporters after a meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.”We need a ceasefire to start doing other things,” he said, adding that a truce should lead to greater security, the opening of more border crossings in Gaza and more humanitarian assistance.- ‘Optimistic’ -Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, the host of Wednesday’s meeting, meanwhile stressed that a “ceasefire is the prerequisite for peace, but it is not peace.””We need to move forward now towards a two-state solution. And since one of the two states exists, which is Israel, we need to build the other state, which is Palestine,” he added.According to analysts, the two-state solution appears more remote than ever.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, firmly supported by US President-elect Donald Trump, is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.Mustafa said nonetheless that “we are actually optimistic about working with the new administration towards advancing our peace agenda”.Israel is not represented at the Oslo meeting.Norway angered Israel when it recognised the Palestinian state, together with Spain and Ireland, last May, a move later followed by Slovenia.In a nod to history, Wednesday’s meeting was held in the Oslo City Hall, where Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.The then-head of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, the Israeli prime minister and his foreign minister were honoured for signing the Oslo Accords a year earlier, which laid the foundation for Palestinian autonomy with the goal of an independent state.

Mediators make final push for Gaza truce deal

Mediators were making a final push Wednesday to seal a Gaza truce and hostage release deal, after a Qatari official involved in the talks expressed hope an agreement could be reached “very soon”.Qatar, Egypt and the United States have intensified efforts to broker a ceasefire and enable the release of hostages taken during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the deadliest in its history.US President Joe Biden and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in a phone call Tuesday that both Israel and Hamas needed to show flexibility to get a deal over the line, according to a statement from Sisi’s office.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with top security officials late Tuesday to discuss the deal, his office said, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the “ball is now in Hamas’s court”.”If Hamas accepts, the deal is ready to be concluded and implemented,” said Blinken.An Israeli source familiar with negotiations said that talks were continuing in Doha on Wednesday.Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said Tuesday that negotiations were in their “final stages” and mediators were hopeful they would lead “very soon to an agreement”.Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said there was a “true willingness from our side to reach an agreement”.After months of failed efforts to end Gaza’s deadliest-ever war, the latest progress comes days ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president.Hamas’s October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.On that day, militants also took 251 people hostage, 94 of whom are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed 46,707 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.- ‘Act now’ -Relatives of Israeli hostages and war-weary Palestinians in Gaza were anxious for the deal to be finalised.”Time is of the essence,” said Gil Dickmann, cousin of former hostage Carmel Gat whose body was recovered in September.”Hostages who are alive will end up dead. Hostages who are dead might be lost,” Dickmann told AFP. “We have to act now.”Umm Ibrahim Abu Sultan, displaced from Gaza City to Khan Yunis in the south, said that she had “lost everything” in the war.”I am anxiously awaiting the truce,” said the mother of five.Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said the first phase of a deal would see 33 Israeli hostages freed, while two Palestinian sources close to Hamas told AFP that Israel would release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.A source close to Hamas said that the initial hostage release would be “in batches, starting with children and women”.Negotiations for a second phase would commence on the truce’s 16th day, an Israeli official said, with media reports saying it would see the release of the remaining captives.Under the proposed deal, Israel would maintain a buffer zone inside Gaza during the first phase, according to Israeli media.Hamas said it hoped for a “clear and comprehensive agreement”, adding it had informed other Palestinian factions of the “progress made”.An official from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, whose militants have fought alongside Hamas in Gaza, said a delegation had reached Qatar to join the discussions.- Strikes -Among the sticking points in talks have been disagreements over the permanence of any ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the scale of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory.The UN’s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, facing an Israeli ban on its activities set to take effect later this month, said it will continue providing much-needed aid. Netanyahu has rejected a full withdrawal from Gaza and opposed any post-war role for Hamas in the territory.Blinken said Tuesday Israel would ultimately “have to accept reuniting Gaza and the West Bank under the leadership of a reformed” Palestinian Authority, and embrace a “path toward forming an independent Palestinian state”.Blinken said the “best incentive” to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace remained the prospect of normalisation between Israel and Saudi Arabia.Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, also speaking in Oslo, said the latest push for a Gaza ceasefire showed that international pressure on Israel “does pay off”.While efforts continued towards a truce, Israeli forces pounded targets across Gaza.Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Wednesday that strikes across the territory killed at least 24 people including a seven-year-old boy.Israel’s military said it had targeted Hamas militants overnight.burs-ami/ser/dv

Syria sex abuse survivors need aid, says Nobel winner Mukwege

Survivors of sexual violence emerging from Syria’s prisons need reparations, urged Nobel laureate Denis Mukwege, renowned for his work with victims of sexual violence during conflict.Since the dramatic fall of president Bashar al-Assad last month, the rebels who toppled the longtime strongman have liberated thousands of prisoners held in Assad’s jails.Congolese gynaecologist Mukwege, who has spent his life dealing with sexual violence committed during wartime, described the shocking abuses committed there in an interview with AFP this week.”Husbands who were in exile or at the front were sent images of their wives being raped (in jail),” the 69-year-old said.Beyond Syria, the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner warned that “the use of rape as a weapon of war has been increasing in all conflicts” for a decade.”It is an unacceptable weapon … that transforms women’s bodies into a battlefield.”Mukwege was speaking on the sidelines of an event marking the fifth anniversary of the Global Survivors Fund (GSF), an NGO he co-founded with Nadia Murad, a Yazidi victim of sexual violence with whom he shared the 2018 Peace Prize.The organisation aims to enhance access to reparations for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence around the globe.- ‘Scale up’ -For several years the GSF has been focused on the reported widespread use of sexual violence and sexualised torture in detention facilities in Syria.In 2020, it helped launch a project to provide so-called interim reparative measures to survivors.Then, lacking access to Syria, it could only offer support to victims who managed to flee the country. But after Assad’s sudden ouster last month, the GSF now hopes it will be possible to expand that work within the country itself.GSF chief Esther Dingemans said the organisation wished its partners could “actually start this work now in Syria and then try to scale that up to a government level”.It is vital, she told AFP, “to start talking about reparation, to listen to survivors”.Among the organisations GSF works with is the Association of Detainees and the Missing in Saydnaya Prison (ADMSP).That prison, north of the Syrian capital Damascus, has become a symbol of the inhumane abuses of the Assad family’s decades of dictatorship.In the upheaval that followed Assad’s fall, Saydnaya was emptied out along with other places of detention.”Almost every person that had spent a significant amount of time in these detention centres has experienced sexual violence,” Dingemans said.While the exact number of victims of rape and other sexual violence within Syria’s prisons is yet to be determined, she said it was clear “the numbers will be incredibly high”.- ‘Act of destruction’ -Mukwege called sexual abuse in prison “deliberate action with a clear goal: to destroy the person, but also their community, to destroy the social fabric.””This is not about non-consensual sexual acts… It is simply an act of destruction.”This is something he has seen far beyond Syria.In his native Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been riven by violence for years, Mukwege has treated tens of thousands of women raped or mutilated by rampaging militias.He pointed to UN figures showing that around 123,000 women were the victims of rape in DRC in 2023 alone — “one woman every four minutes”, he said.Places ranging from Ukraine to Sudan to the Middle East have also seen the widespread use of violence as a weapon of war, Mukwege said.”This weapon is widely used and has nothing to do with customs or continents,” he added. “The use of rape is basically global.”Dingemans stressed the importance of providing victims with reparations, which can include things like financial compensation, support starting a business, or recognition and public apologies.But she said the task was daunting.”Almost in all conflicts, sexual violence is systematically used, so the demand is enormous.” Mukwege lamented “the lack of political will to effectively fight against rape as a weapon of war”.”Justice is an exception and impunity the rule.”But he said his Nobel and the tireless advocacy work done by the GSF and others had at least helped raise awareness about the problem. “At least we can’t say that we don’t know” it is happening.