The essentials
• The NGOs Human Rights Watch and Médecins Sans Frontières overwhelm Israel. The NGO Human Rights Watch estimates in a report published Thursday that Israel is committing “acts of genocide” by restricting “access to water” for Palestinians in Gaza. The Jewish state denounces “blatant lies”. The NGO Médecins Sans Frontières accuses Israel of carrying out a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza in a report published Thursday.
• Israeli strikes on Yemen. The Israeli army announced Thursday morning that it had reached “military targets” of the Houthi rebels in Yemen after intercepting a missile fired from that country. “A dangerous development,” judges Hamas.
• Call for an “inclusive” political process and fair elections in Syria. The UN Security Council on Tuesday called for the political process in Syria to be “Syrian-led” and demanded an end to interference from its neighbors. The UN special envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, urged Wednesday from Damascus for the organization of “free and fair elections” after the transition period.
“It would be a serious mistake to characterize what is happening in Syria as a takeover.” Turkey on Wednesday rejected comments by US President-elect Donald Trump, who called the rebel victory in Syria an “unfriendly takeover” by Ankara.
• Bashar al-Assad has spoken out since his fall. The overthrown president assured Monday that he had not fled in a “premeditated” manner, believing that the State is now “in the hands of terrorists”.
• The armed factions which contributed to the fall of Bashar al-Assad will be dissolved. Abu Mohammad al-Joulani, the leader of the Islamist-dominated coalition that took power in Syria, also called for international sanctions to be lifted.
• Syrian Kurds call for a total end to the fighting. They reached out to the new power on Monday, calling for the opening of a “national dialogue”. The UN special envoy to Syria also warns that “the conflict is not yet over”, referring to clashes between Kurds and groups supported by Turkey. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Thursday that 21 pro-Turkish fighters were killed.
