Headlines- After talks in Washington on Tuesday that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as a "historic opportunity" for peace, Israel and Lebanon agreed to hold direct talks.
- Iran talks could resume "over the next two days," according to US President Donald Trump, after the failure of last weekend's first round in Pakistan.
- Six merchant ships turned around after "direction from US forces," according to the US, and no ships were able to pass through the blockade in the first 24 hours.
- According to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, there were at least 35 deaths and 159 injuries in Lebanon on Tuesday.
- The southern Lebanon district of Bint Jbeil has been hit by an Israeli airstrike.
- "The short-term authorization permitting the sale of Iranian oil already stranded at sea is set to expire in a few days and will not be renewed," according to the US Treasury Department.
Tag: Syrian Conflict
UN Security Council Members Hold Open...
Geir O. Pederson, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, briefs the open video conference with Security Council members in connection with the Middle East
COVID-19: Syrian Refugees Facing Crisis
Syrian refugees in Turkey are reeling from the pandemic lockdown that has put most of them out of work. Families say in Syria, they hid in their homes, fearing bombs or bullets outside. Now they are locked down fearing the virus, homelessness and hunger
UN Security Council Members Hold Open...
Mark Lowcock, United Nations’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, briefs the open video conference with Security Council members in connection with the Middle East (Syria)
Syria: UN Must Not Cut Vital...
A woman who has three children and whose family was displaced twice in the past eight months told Amnesty International: “My daughter, who’s in first grade, is always afraid… She asked me [after we were displaced]: Why doesn’t God kill us?… Nowhere is safe for us.’”
Easter of Charity for Christians and...
In the Oronte valley, in the three villages Knaye, Yacoubieh and Gidaideh – about 50 km from Idlib – hundreds of Christians are still there together with priests Hanna Jallouf and Luai Bsciarat, both Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land, who remained to carry out the pastoral work in that territory still subject to the domination of the jihadist militants of Tahrir al Sham, opponents of the Syrian government. In the last few days, the military conflict in the area has taken on a level of semi-truce, both because of the precautions taken by the various parties involved to avoid contagion from Covid-19, and above all because of the ceasefire agreement negotiated at the beginning of March between Russia and Turkey, forces that in the field of conflict support respectively the Syrian government army and the anti-Assad militias
Islamic State Trials Suspended Ahead of...
Tensions are soaring in Syrian prisons as the prospect of trials for accused Islamic State militants has been sidelined by the coronavirus threat. Officials say a prison riot over the weekend was contained and no one escaped. But they warn that prisons in northeastern Syria will remain a “ticking bomb” without international support
Vulnerable Syrian Prisoners Should be Released...
Amnesty says that since the start of the crisis in Syria in 2011, anyone perceived to oppose the Syrian government is at risk
Civilians are Asking for an End...
Syrian Ambassador Bashar Jaafari said, “after two years of the Astana understandings, and after a year and a half of the Sochi agreements, the Turkish regime turned the observation posts on Syrian territory, which were supposed to control the activities of terrorists, preventing terrorists from committing those terrorists acts and thereby repelling any aggression on the positions of the Syrian Arab Army and the Russian forces, so, those observation posts were turned into operations rooms and ways to support terrorist organizations.”
Idlib Refugees
The Russian-backed Syrian government push to capture the Idlib province in northwest Syria has worsened the humanitarian situation as nearly 1 million civilians have been forced to flee eastward to safer locations. VOA’s Zana Omer filed this report from Manbij, Syria
Displaced Children of Idlib
Displaced children and families are moving north toward safer parts of rural Idlib and Aleppo, taking refuge in schools, mosques, unfinished building and shops under rudimentary conditions. Thus, adding to their vulnerability and exacerbating their need for urgent humanitarian assistance as well as basic services, a need continuing to grow by the hour.