Middle East Experience

An uneasy calm held sway in a southern Syrian city Sunday after the army entered a former rebel holdout under a surrender deal, AFP journalists on a government-organized tour said.Daraa province and its capital of the same name, the cradle of Syria’s uprising, returned to government control in 2018 under a previous ceasefire backed by government ally Russia.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.But rebels stayed on in a southern part of the city called Daraa al-Balad, and over the summer they clashed with government forces on its outskirts seeking to retake the area.A new Moscow-brokered truce has seen dozens of opposition fighters bused out of the city over the past few weeks and government forces return to the area since Wednesday.Inside Daraa al-Balad on Sunday, AFP correspondents saw bulldozers clearing away rubble between battle-scarred buildings.Syrian and Russian flags flew in several places.The guns had fallen silent but the areas visited were largely devoid of civilians, and several onlookers on motorbikes refused to speak to the media.“Nine checkpoints have been set up on the edges of and inside Daraa al-Balad,” a military source told AFP.Two bakeries reopenedUnder the deal, fighters who agree to the truce have been invited to give up their guns and sign up to stay in the city under a so-called reconciliation process.“The process is ongoing to settle the status of those fighters who wish to do so after handing over their weapon,” the source said.“There is cautious calm and we are waiting for the reconciliation steps to be completed,” the source added, expressing the hope that everyone would accept the deal.“The state would prefer not to have to resort to a military solution.”The United Nations and rights group Amnesty International have warned of dwindling supplies inside Daraa al-Balad in recent weeks, after government forces tightened the noose around the area.But a source with the provincial authorities said: “Two bakeries have started working again in the past few hours and work is under way to set up several medical treatment posts.”The fighting since July caused more than 38,000 people to flee the southern half of the city, the UN has said.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, says 23 civilians including six children, 26 members of the pro-government forces and 20 rebels were killed in the weeks-long escalation before the truce.Read more:UN envoy hopeful Syria constitution talks to resumeRebels begin evacuation from last bastion in southern Syria: WitnessesUS hits out at Assad regime, ‘very concerned’ about latest violence in Syria’s DaraaShelling by Syrian forces kills five in rebel-held northwest, mostly children
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Uneasy calm in Syria’s Daraa after army-rebel ceasefire

Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz: “Avoiding vaccination simply causes death in the end.” * Coronavirus Commissioner Salman Zarka: Antigen tests to be valid for 36 hours, instead of 24, on Yom Kippur.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: COVID: More than 10,000 new virus cases, Health Ministry says

The former spy chiefs expressed a wide range of views on the impacts of the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan on global security issues.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Ex-Mossad, Shin Bet, IDF intelligence chiefs debate US, Iran, Hamas

Public Security Minister Omer Bar Lev was right in calling for a government commission of inquiry to thoroughly investigate the flaws in the current system that were unmasked by the escape.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Gilboa Prison fiasco necessitates an in-depth investigation - editorial

The UN nuclear watchdog has solved its most urgent issue with Iran by reaching a deal for the overdue servicing of monitoring equipment, creating room for broader diplomatic efforts, the agency’s chief Rafael Grossi said on Sunday.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Returning from a trip to Tehran during which the agreement was announced, Grossi told reporters at Vienna airport the agreement was intended to “give space for diplomacy ... so that wider solutions can be reached”.Read more:Sanaa airport has been closed due to use by Iran, Hezbollah: Yemen's governmentIran, Iraq agree to cancel visa requirements between the two countriesIraqi PM al-Kadhemi becomes first foreign leader to meet Iran’s President Raisi
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: IAEA chief says most pressing issue with Iran solved

A container ship said to be the largest in the world is on course for the Suez Canal, months after its sister ship Ever Given blocked Egypt’s crucial waterway, halting traffic for six days and disrupting global trade.The Ever Ace - currently docked in Suffolk, in the UK - is a 400m-long (1,300ft) ship with a capacity of 23,992 containers, which is slightly more than other, similar-sized vessels.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.She is due to leave for Rotterdam on Wednesday before she crosses the Suez Canal.Her sister ship - the Ever Given ran aground earlier this year and was stuck in Egypt for nearly a week.The skyscraper-sized, Panama-flagged vessel cost companies billions of dollars after it became jammed in high winds on March 23, halting traffic in both directions for several days and disrupting global trade.Ever Given blocks Suez CanalThe ship was on its way to the Dutch port of Rotterdam when it slammed into the bank of a single-lane stretch of the canal about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez.Once it was dislodged, the 400-meter (1,312-foot) vessel left Egypt on July 7, 106 days after becoming wedged across a southern section of the waterway.Egypt released the Ever Given after protracted negotiations and an undisclosed settlement reached between the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) and the ship’s owners and insurers.It arrived in the Dutch port of Rotterdam on July 29 before heading to Felixstowe, England.The Suez Canal Authority said it was working on a multi-billion-dollar project to widen sections of the channel to prevent large ships from being trapped again.The Ever Ace is the first in a planned series of 12 supersized container ships to be built for Taiwanese company Evergreen Marine.Read more:Ever Given, the ship that blocked Suez Canal in March, crosses Egypt’s canal againContainer vessel that blocked Suez Canal reaches Rotterdam portEgyptian court lifts Suez Canal detention order on Ever Given: Lawyer
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: World’s largest container ship to cross Suez Canal after sister ship blocked waterway

A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane carrying a handful of passengers touched down at Kabul airport Monday, the first international commercial flight to land since the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan on August 15.“There was hardly anyone on the plane, around 10 people... maybe more staff than passengers,” said an AFP journalist aboard the flight from Islamabad.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.A PIA spokesman said at the weekend that the airline was keen to resume regular commercial services, but it was too soon to say how frequently flights between the two capitals would operate.Kabul airport was severely damaged during a chaotic evacuation of more than 120,000 people that ended with the withdrawal of US forces on August 30. The Taliban have been scrambling to get it operating again with technical assistance from Qatar and other nations.Qatar Airways operated several charter flights out of Kabul last week, carrying mostly foreigners and Afghans who missed out on the evacuation.An Afghan airline resumed domestic services on September 3.Read more:UAE operating aid air bridge to Kabul to deliver tons of aid: Airport managerQatar’s foreign minister most senior official to visit Kabul since Taliban takeoverTaliban raise their flag over Afghan presidential palace as US marks 9/11 attacks
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: First foreign commercial flight since Taliban takeover lands in Kabul

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid presented an outline for improving the lives of Gazans, offering them economic rehabilitation steps in exchange for Hamas halting its military build-up.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Lapid unveils Israeli economic plan for Gaza

In meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi acknowledged "deep relations" between the two countries.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Iraq’s Kadhimi meets with Iranian president

Israel has arrested four of the six Palestinian prisoners who escaped from prison last week.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Israel, Hamas exchange fire after escaped Palestinian prisoners caught