Syria July 28. Syria. The battle for the Syrian-Lebanese border is coming to an end, militants are fleeing to Idlib

Syria and the Russian Aerospace Forces against ISIS in Daraa

This week, the Syrian Air Force and Russian Aerospace Forces resumed airstrikes against the ISIS enclave in southwestern Syria. This was followed by an offensive by government troops, the goal of which was to completely clear the southern regions of the provinces of Daraa and Al-Quneitra from terrorist forces. The Islamic State units in this part of Syria have somewhat strengthened their positions recently, occupying the city of Heit and a number of other settlements that were previously controlled by the Free Syrian Army and Jabhat al-Nusra. In addition, the most radical elements from other formations, who did not want to make agreements with the legitimate Syrian government, went over to ISIS. With the support of aviation, government troops began shelling militant strongholds in the northern part of the enclave near the village of Tasil, gradually moving south. During the fighting, units of the Syrian army managed to enter the city of Gillin and break through the defense line of ISIS militants.

Removal of militants from Quneitra

In parallel with this, in the north of the Quneitra province in the village of Umm Batna, a large-scale operation took place to remove militants who, during negotiations with Damascus, agreed to lay down their arms and leave for the province of Idlib. 55 buses took the militants through the Jaba crossing and further north to Idlib province. After the withdrawal of the militants was completed, units of the Syrian troops were able to enter the city of Ruheina. It is worth noting that the negotiation process with the militants and their subsequent evacuation took place with the direct participation of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties. In addition, employees and volunteers of the Syrian Red Crescent helped organize the removal itself, and government troops provided security for the event.

Raids on Khmeimim

Meanwhile, in northern Syria, militants continue unsuccessful attacks on the Russian Khmeimim airbase using unmanned aerial vehicles. According to representatives of the airbase, on the night of July 21 and the morning of July 22, Russian air defense detected and destroyed UAVs approaching the military airfield from the north-west direction. In both cases, thanks to the vigilant service of the Russian military, injuries and property damage were avoided.

Evacuation of the White Helmets

This week, the world was shocked by the news of the urgent evacuation of some activists from the Syrian Civil Defense organization, also known as the White Helmets, from Syria. According to the press secretary of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the forces of the Jewish state carried out a “humanitarian” operation to evacuate the White Helmets at the request of the governments of the United States, Canada and a number of European countries. The so-called volunteers, along with family members, were taken to the territory of neighboring Jordan. Representatives of the Syrian Foreign Ministry called Tel Aviv's actions criminal and hostile towards Damascus. Let us note that several world experts, including from Russia, have proven that the video materials provided by White Helmets activists about the consequences of chemical attacks allegedly carried out by the Syrian Arab Army are falsifications.

Israel shot down Syrian Air Force Su-22

In addition, the Israeli armed forces continue their military aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic. On July 24, the Israeli military shot down a Su-22 aircraft that entered airspace over the disputed Golan Heights. As the IDF press service clarified, two Patriot anti-aircraft missiles were fired at the plane. As a result of the damage received, the plane crashed in territory controlled by Islamic State militants. The terrorists published photographs of the crashed plane and also discovered the body of the pilot, Colonel of the Syrian Air Force Omran Merey. It is worth noting that the location of the incident, the Golan Heights, is considered territory annexed by Israel, captured from Syria in 1967. Israeli representatives have repeatedly emphasized that they adhere to a policy of non-interference in the Syrian conflict, but “react harshly” to actions that violate the “sovereignty of the Israeli state.”

Special opinion

Nikolai Starikov, writer and public figure:- Russia’s policy in the Syrian conflict is now quite effective. We see this, if only because the so-called “White Helmets,” who are guilty of creating the pretext for the attack on Syria, were evacuated by the Americans and Israel from Syrian territory. This means that the war in Syria, the civil war, is coming to an end. And the winner is precisely the side that Russia provided assistance to. Therefore, our help is effective and correct. But its effectiveness lies in the fact that Russia tried to help the Syrian leadership not only by armed force, but also tried to build a very subtle mechanism for stopping hostilities in the territory, listening to this or that tribe, to this or that group - and persuading it to stop fighting actions. It works, and now the war is coming to an end, where diplomats will have the say.

SYRIA

The political leadership of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition announced on Saturday that it had reached important agreements with the Syrian government to end the conflict and post-war reconstruction of the country. An SDF statement transmitted by the Kurdish agency Firat said that following the negotiations held in Damascus, the parties agreed “to develop a road map for the construction of a decentralized democratic Syria.”

The Kurds, who make up the majority in the SDF, and the Syrian authorities intend to create joint committees in various areas “with the aim of establishing economic life in the northern regions and solving accumulated problems.”

The SDF delegation that negotiated in Damascus was led by Ilham Ahmed, one of the leaders of the self-proclaimed Kurdish administration in northeast Syria.

The Kurds created autonomous governing bodies in three regions of Syria (Qamishli, Kobani and Afrin) in November 2013, and then, after the creation of the SDF, in 2015 they conquered the provinces of Hasakah and Raqqa, as well as the eastern bank of the Euphrates in the province of Deir ez-Zor. SDF units, supported by the US-led coalition air force, now control 27% of Syrian territory.

On June 6, Ilham Ahmed said that the Kurds were ready to send a delegation to Damascus “to enter into dialogue with the Syrian government without preconditions.” The statement by the Kurdish politician was a reaction to the statement of the President of the Republic Bashar al-Assad about Damascus’s openness to negotiations with the SDF. The Syrian Democratic Front acted as a mediator between the Kurds and the authorities. Its leader, Mace Kreidi, confirmed that “the Kurds have no separatist aspirations, and they do not intend to use weapons against the Syrian army.”

According to the Al-Masdar portal, the Kurds agree to transfer control of Raqqa to the authorities and restore the work of government institutions in the areas they liberated. As for the SDF, according to field commander Riyadh Darar, they can join the Syrian army after a political settlement is reached.

The United States and Turkey will begin joint military patrols in Syria within weeks, US Defense Secretary James Mattis told reporters on Friday.

Mattis noted that Turkish and American patrols are already on the ground, but they are operating separately.

The families of pro-Turkish FSA fighters killed during Operation Olive Branch have received payments and benefits from the Turkish government. Each family of the deceased received 60,000 Turkish lira (about US$12,500) in addition to the current monthly payments of US$100. In total, about 300 FSA fighters were killed during Operation Olive Branch.

More than 7 thousand children have died or been injured as a result of the conflict in Syria. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, stated this at a meeting of the UN Security Council, the UN News Center reported on July 27. “I must emphasize that this is only confirmed data. Unconfirmed reports speak of more than 20 thousand child victims...

Since the beginning of 2018, 1,200 cases of violence against children in armed conflict have been recorded, including 600 children killed or injured. Approximately 180 children were recruited to serve in armed units. More than 60 schools were attacked. Reports of 100 attacks on hospitals, other medical facilities and medical personnel have been confirmed,” Gamba said. She noted that the offensives of the parties in various regions in Syria led to many people, including children, becoming refugees. The press service reported that a third of schools in Syria do not work - they are either destroyed, or converted into shelters, or they are used for military purposes.

During his visit to Syria, China's special representative for the Syrian settlement, Xie Xiaoyan, discussed the situation in the Middle Eastern country with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem. The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced this on Saturday.

“From July 25 to 27, Xie Xiaoyan separately met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrant Affairs, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Syria, Walid Muallem, and the Minister of National Reconciliation of this country, Ali Haidar. The parties exchanged views on the Syrian problem in detail,” the ministry’s website notes.

On July 22-25, Xie Xiaoyan visited Saudi Arabia, where he met with Deputy Foreign Minister Adel bin Siraj Mirdad, who oversees economic and political issues, as well as the leader of the opposition Syrian Negotiating Committee (SNC), Nasr al-Hariri.

The operation to return a large group of Syrian refugees to their homeland began on Saturday in the villages of Shebaa and Arqub in southern Lebanon. As the Al-Wataniya agency reported, more than 900 people announced their decision to return to Syria.

Over the past 24 hours, Russian military doctors provided assistance to 88 Syrians, including 76 children. This was announced on Saturday by the head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria, Major General Alexei Tsygankov.

Aleppo.

Displaced people from various Syrian cities held an anti-government protest in the Al-Moabatli area near the city of Afrin.

Idlib. In the Al-Habit region, south of Idlib, HTS militants are conducting an operation against the pro-government underground and people advocating reconciliation with official Damascus. According to HTS reports, about 15 people have been arrested.

In the south of the province, near the city of Khan Sheikhoun, the 11th SAA Panzer Division attacked HTS positions. Also, in the south of the province, attacks were carried out on the positions of the Jaysh Al-Izza group along the highway between the cities of Al-Tah and Al-Tamanah.

Latakia. The SAA has begun concentrating troops in the northern part of Latakia for the upcoming offensive on the Al-Ghaab plain and the Kurdish mountains, reports Al-Masdar news agency. According to the source, units of the Republican Guard and the 4th Mechanized Division of the SAA are among the formations deployed to Latakia.

Hama. Arrival of the fourth batch of militants transported from the provinces of Daraa and Quneitra.

Homs. More than 1.3 thousand refugee families returned to the Syrian province of Homs after its liberation from militants, provincial governor Talal Al Barazi told reporters, RIA Novosti reports.

“As a result of the reconciliation process, we were able to remove militants and terrorists from the northern regions of Homs province. At the same time, we are preparing for the return of refugees. 1.3 thousand families have already returned to the province,” the source said.

He added that the province welcomes all those who were forced to leave during the war. “We promise to create conditions for a normal life in their homeland for former refugees. Now, together with our Russian friends, we are establishing infrastructure,” the governor said.

Quneitra. Militants in Quneitra province continue to surrender their heavy weapons to the SAA.

Syrian army in Quneitra.

SAA in the city of Hamidiya.

Suwayda. During a recent attack, IS militants kidnapped several women, for whom the jihadists demanded a ransom, threatening to burn the captives if their demands were not met.

The government is currently trying to put pressure on the terrorist group to release the abducted women.

IS militants attacked SAA positions near the Safa Canyon.

Daraa. A ceremonial meeting was held in the city of Nakhta on the occasion of the liberation of the village from militants. It was attended by local residents, muftis from the provinces of Syria, foreign delegates, as well as representatives of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria.

The Syrian Arab Army, with the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces, liberated the following settlements from militants of the pro-ISIS group Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Walid: Al-Jamlah, Nafiyah, Al-Awad, Abu Karaj Karaja) and Abu Refat, located in the Yarmouk River basin area.

ISRAEL

Some 180 Israeli writers, poets, playwrights, screenwriters and other literary figures are calling for the repeal of Israel's national character law.

Israel reopens Al-Aqsa Mosque.

On Saturday morning, the Gaza Strip Health Department reported the death of another participant in yesterday's border unrest.

According to the report, 18-year-old Muamen Fathi al-Hamza died in hospital as a result of a wound to the abdomen received in the Rafah area, on the southern part of the border.

Earlier it was reported that during the “March of the Great Return”, 43-year-old Mohammed Abu-Mustafa and 14-year-old Majdi al-Satri were killed and 115 people were injured.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the total number of deaths since the March began on March 30 was 155 people.

IRAN

The United States is promoting the idea of ​​​​creating a new military and political alliance to achieve security in the region consisting of six Persian Gulf countries, Egypt and Jordan, the Reuters news agency reports.

According to four unnamed agency sources, Washington is counting on closer cooperation between Middle Eastern countries in the field of missile defense, military training, counter-terrorism operations, as well as in the field of economics and diplomacy.

The US administration hopes that plans to create a Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA) will be the focus of the summit, which is scheduled to be held in Washington on October 12-13 this year. The White House confirmed that the Americans have been “working for several months on the concept of an alliance with regional partners.” However, it is not yet clear whether the security plan in the region will be worked out in detail by mid-October.

Previous American administrations also proposed initiatives to expand cooperation between the Gulf countries and Arab allies, but they were not implemented. Washington, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi accuse Iran of destabilizing the region and threatening Israel.

“Under the pretext of ensuring security in the Middle East, a military alliance is being created that increases tension in the region,” the Iranian side comments on Washington’s plans. Tehran believes that “the initiative will not ‘produce results’; it will only deepen the gap between Iran and its allies and the US-backed Arab countries.”

IRAQ

Protesters in Basra.

Türkiye

The United States may lose a “sincere” ally if Washington does not change its attitude towards Ankara. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said this on Sunday, as reported by NTV channel.

“We are not tied to the United States, they should not forget that if they do not change their attitude, they will lose a strong and sincere ally in Turkey,” he said, commenting on Washington’s statements on the court case of American pastor Andrew Brunson.

According to Erdogan, Ankara “never bargained on the Brunson issue,” and “Turkey will not back down due to threats of sanctions.” The leader called official US comments on this matter “psychological warfare.”

Protestant pastor Andrew Brunson, who lived in the Izmir area, was arrested in 2017 on charges of links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), followers of the Muslim preacher Fethullah Gülen, which are banned in Turkey. On May 7 this year, Brunson appeared in a Turkish court and denied charges of terrorism and espionage, and on July 25 he was placed under house arrest. Prosecutors are asking for 35 years in prison for him.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said on July 26 that the United States would impose sanctions on Turkey if Brunson was not released. Trump said he expected the pastor to return to the United States and threatened Turkey with sanctions if this did not happen. Vice President Michael Pence expressed a similar position.

At the same time, the head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, during a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Friday, said that Turkey “is not going to bow to anyone’s threats, and the rule of law applies to everyone without exception.”

The United States can save its relationship with Turkey if it is sympathetic to Ankara's concerns. The official representative of the Turkish President, Ibrahim Kalin, wrote about this on Saturday in his column in the Daily Sabah newspaper.

“The relationship can be salvaged and taken to the next level if the US administration is sensitive to Ankara's security concerns. Turkey cannot ignore the actions of a NATO ally when they threaten its national security both inside and outside the republic. US President Donald Trump may want to maintain good relations with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan, and there is no doubt that this approach will be effective if the relationship develops on the basis of mutual respect. But threats against Turkey will not work and will only damage bilateral relations,” said Erdogan’s representative.

Kalin also recalled that “in recent years, the actions of the United States have seriously undermined strategic relations with Turkey.” He also again reproached Washington for its cooperation with the Syrian Kurds from the People's Defense Forces (SDF), "who are currently negotiating with the Assad regime."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed the fate of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who is in a Turkish prison, during a telephone conversation.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert announced this on Twitter.

“The Secretary of State and the Foreign Secretary agreed to continue discussions to resolve the issue and work on other topics of common concern,” the text reads.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to pay a state visit to Germany in September 2018. This was reported on Friday by the Bild newspaper, citing sources in the governments of the two countries.

As the publication clarifies, the visit planned for the end of September will be Erdogan’s first as president (the last time the politician was in Germany was in February 2014). According to a diplomatic source in Ankara, the Turkish president in Germany, among other things, would like to speak at an event for his compatriots. In April, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier already invited Erdogan to visit Germany in a telephone conversation.

Recent years have been marked by a significant cooling in German-Turkish relations, which was caused by a number of factors. These include a ban on speeches by Turkish politicians in Germany and the detention of German citizens, primarily journalists and human rights activists, in 2017. We are talking primarily about Welt newspaper correspondent Deniz Yucele, translator Meshal Tolu and human rights activist Peter Steudtner. According to the German Foreign Ministry, until recently, about 10 German citizens were held in Turkey for political reasons.

In July 2017, the German Foreign Ministry announced that Berlin was reviewing its economic policy towards Ankara and also tightening travel recommendations for its citizens to Turkey. Subsequently, these measures were canceled, although relations never reached their previous level.

EGYPT

A court in Cairo on Saturday, July 28, sentenced to death 75 members of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement, including a number of its leaders. They are accused of crimes in the deadly protests that erupted after the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.

Of the 75 people sentenced to death, 44 are in prison, and 31 people were sentenced to death in absentia, the Huffington post reports. In total, there were 700 defendants in this case.

Among those sentenced to death are leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood party.

The death sentence handed down to 75 defendants on Saturday 28 July will be handed over to Egypt's Grand Mufti, who will advise on the legality of the death penalty. According to Egyptian law, the opinion of the Grand Mufti is required in such cases, but it is not binding. In practice, the recommendations of the Grand Mufti are almost always implemented.

A week ago, the Grand Mufti approved the death sentence for ex-President Mohammed Morsi.

Add news to:

A summary of news from the past day about key events in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa: Syria, Israel, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Reports from global news agencies, Arab and Western sources, including social media users. The reviews contain military maps, photographs and videos of the most significant events.

SYRIA

The political leadership of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition announced on Saturday that it had reached important agreements with the Syrian government to end the conflict and post-war reconstruction of the country. An SDF statement transmitted by the Kurdish agency Firat said that following the negotiations held in Damascus, the parties agreed “to develop a road map for the construction of a decentralized democratic Syria.”

The Kurds, who make up the majority in the SDF, and the Syrian authorities intend to create joint committees in various areas “with the aim of establishing economic life in the northern regions and solving accumulated problems.”

The SDF delegation that negotiated in Damascus was led by Ilham Ahmed, one of the leaders of the self-proclaimed Kurdish administration in northeast Syria.

The Kurds created autonomous governing bodies in three regions of Syria (Qamishli, Kobani and Afrin) in November 2013, and then, after the creation of the SDF, in 2015 they conquered the provinces of Hasakah and Raqqa, as well as the eastern bank of the Euphrates in the province of Deir ez-Zor. SDF units, supported by the US-led coalition air force, now control 27% of Syrian territory.

On June 6, Ilham Ahmed said that the Kurds were ready to send a delegation to Damascus “to enter into dialogue with the Syrian government without preconditions.” The statement by the Kurdish politician was a reaction to the statement of the President of the Republic Bashar al-Assad about Damascus’s openness to negotiations with the SDF. The Syrian Democratic Front acted as a mediator between the Kurds and the authorities. Its leader, Mace Kreidi, confirmed that “the Kurds have no separatist aspirations, and they do not intend to use weapons against the Syrian army.”

According to the Al-Masdar portal, the Kurds agree to transfer control of Raqqa to the authorities and restore the work of government institutions in the areas they liberated. As for the SDF, according to field commander Riyadh Darar, they can join the Syrian army after a political settlement is reached.

The United States and Turkey will begin joint military patrols in Syria within weeks, US Defense Secretary James Mattis told reporters on Friday.

Mattis noted that Turkish and American patrols are already on the ground, but they are operating separately.

The families of pro-Turkish FSA fighters killed during Operation Olive Branch have received payments and benefits from the Turkish government. Each family of the deceased received 60,000 Turkish lira (about US$12,500) in addition to the current monthly payments of US$100. In total, about 300 FSA fighters were killed during Operation Olive Branch.

More than 7 thousand children have died or been injured as a result of the conflict in Syria. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, stated this at a meeting of the UN Security Council, the UN News Center reported on July 27. “I must emphasize that this is only confirmed data. Unconfirmed reports speak of more than 20 thousand child victims...

Since the beginning of 2018, 1,200 cases of violence against children in armed conflict have been recorded, including 600 children killed or injured. Approximately 180 children were recruited to serve in armed units. More than 60 schools were attacked. There are 100 confirmed attacks on hospitals, other medical facilities and medical personnel,” Gamba said. She noted that the offensives of the parties in various regions in Syria led to many people, including children, becoming refugees. The press service reported that a third of schools in Syria do not work - they are either destroyed, or converted into shelters, or they are used for military purposes.

During his visit to Syria, China's special representative for the Syrian settlement, Xie Xiaoyan, discussed the situation in the Middle Eastern country with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem. The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced this on Saturday.

“From July 25 to 27, Xie Xiaoyan separately met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrant Affairs, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Syria, Walid Muallem, and the Minister of National Reconciliation of this country, Ali Haidar. The parties exchanged views on the Syrian problem in detail,” the ministry’s website notes.

On July 22-25, Xie Xiaoyan visited Saudi Arabia, where he met with Deputy Foreign Minister Adel bin Siraj Mirdad, who oversees economic and political issues, as well as the leader of the opposition Syrian Negotiating Committee (SNC), Nasr al-Hariri.

The operation to return a large group of Syrian refugees to their homeland began on Saturday in the villages of Shebaa and Arqub in southern Lebanon. As the Al-Wataniya agency reported, more than 900 people announced their decision to return to Syria.

Over the past 24 hours, Russian military doctors provided assistance to 88 Syrians, including 76 children. This was announced on Saturday by the head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria, Major General Alexei Tsygankov.

Aleppo.

Displaced people from various Syrian cities held an anti-government protest in the Al-Moabatli area near the city of Afrin.

Idlib. In the Al-Habit region, south of Idlib, HTS militants are conducting an operation against the pro-government underground and people advocating reconciliation with official Damascus. According to HTS reports, about 15 people have been arrested.

In the south of the province, near the city of Khan Sheikhoun, the 11th SAA Panzer Division attacked HTS positions. Also, in the south of the province, attacks were carried out on the positions of the Jaysh Al-Izza group along the highway between the cities of Al-Tah and Al-Tamanah.

Latakia. The SAA has begun concentrating troops in the northern part of Latakia for the upcoming offensive on the Al-Ghaab plain and the Kurdish mountains, reports Al-Masdar news agency. According to the source, units of the Republican Guard and the 4th Mechanized Division of the SAA are among the formations deployed to Latakia.

Hama. Arrival of the fourth batch of militants transported from the provinces of Daraa and Quneitra.

Homs. More than 1.3 thousand refugee families returned to the Syrian province of Homs after its liberation from militants, provincial governor Talal Al Barazi told reporters, RIA Novosti reports.

“As a result of the reconciliation process, we were able to remove militants and terrorists from the northern regions of Homs province. At the same time, we are preparing for the return of refugees. 1.3 thousand families have already returned to the province,” the source said.

He added that the province welcomes all those who were forced to leave during the war. “We promise to create conditions for a normal life in their homeland for former refugees. Now, together with our Russian friends, we are establishing infrastructure,” the governor said.

Quneitra. Militants in Quneitra province continue to surrender their heavy weapons to the SAA.

Syrian army in Quneitra.

SAA in the city of Hamidiya.

Suwayda. During a recent attack, IS militants kidnapped several women, for whom the jihadists demanded a ransom, threatening to burn the captives if their demands were not met.

The government is currently trying to put pressure on the terrorist group to release the abducted women.

IS militants attacked SAA positions near the Safa Canyon.

Daraa. A ceremonial meeting was held in the city of Nakhta on the occasion of the liberation of the village from militants. It was attended by local residents, muftis from the provinces of Syria, foreign delegates, as well as representatives of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria.

The Syrian Arab Army, with the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces, liberated the following settlements from militants of the pro-ISIS group Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Walid: Al-Jamlah, Nafiyah, Al-Awad, Abu Karaj Karaja) and Abu Refat, located in the Yarmouk River basin area.

ISRAEL

Some 180 Israeli writers, poets, playwrights, screenwriters and other literary figures are calling for the repeal of Israel's national character law.

Israel reopens Al-Aqsa Mosque.

On Saturday morning, the Gaza Strip Health Department reported the death of another participant in yesterday's border unrest.

According to the report, 18-year-old Muamen Fathi al-Hamza died in hospital as a result of a wound to the abdomen received in the Rafah area, on the southern part of the border.

Earlier it was reported that during the “March of the Great Return”, 43-year-old Mohammed Abu-Mustafa and 14-year-old Majdi al-Satri were killed and 115 people were injured.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the total number of deaths since the March began on March 30 was 155 people.

IRAN

The United States is promoting the idea of ​​​​creating a new military and political alliance to achieve security in the region consisting of six Persian Gulf countries, Egypt and Jordan, the Reuters news agency reports.

According to four unnamed agency sources, Washington is counting on closer cooperation between Middle Eastern countries in the field of missile defense, military training, counter-terrorism operations, as well as in the field of economics and diplomacy.

The US administration hopes that plans to create a Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA) will be the focus of the summit, which is scheduled to be held in Washington on October 12-13 this year. The White House confirmed that the Americans have been “working for several months on the concept of an alliance with regional partners.” However, it is not yet clear whether the security plan in the region will be worked out in detail by mid-October.

Previous American administrations also proposed initiatives to expand cooperation between the Gulf countries and Arab allies, but they were not implemented. Washington, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi accuse Iran of destabilizing the region and threatening Israel.

“Under the pretext of ensuring security in the Middle East, a military alliance is being created that increases tension in the region,” the Iranian side comments on Washington’s plans. Tehran believes that “the initiative will not ‘produce results’; it will only deepen the gap between Iran and its allies and the US-backed Arab countries.”

IRAQ

Protesters in Basra.

Türkiye

The United States may lose a “sincere” ally if Washington does not change its attitude towards Ankara. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said this on Sunday, as reported by NTV channel.

“We are not tied to the United States, they should not forget that if they do not change their attitude, they will lose a strong and sincere ally in Turkey,” he said, commenting on Washington’s statements on the court case of American pastor Andrew Brunson.

According to Erdogan, Ankara “never bargained on the Brunson issue,” and “Turkey will not back down due to threats of sanctions.” The leader called official US comments on this matter “psychological warfare.”

Protestant pastor Andrew Brunson, who lived in the Izmir area, was arrested in 2017 on charges of links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), followers of the Muslim preacher Fethullah Gülen, which are banned in Turkey. On May 7 this year, Brunson appeared in a Turkish court and denied charges of terrorism and espionage, and on July 25 he was placed under house arrest. Prosecutors are asking for 35 years in prison for him.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said on July 26 that the United States would impose sanctions on Turkey if Brunson was not released. Trump said he expected the pastor to return to the United States and threatened Turkey with sanctions if this did not happen. Vice President Michael Pence expressed a similar position.

At the same time, the head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, during a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Friday, said that Turkey “is not going to bow to anyone’s threats, and the rule of law applies to everyone without exception.”

The United States can save its relationship with Turkey if it is sympathetic to Ankara's concerns. The official representative of the Turkish President, Ibrahim Kalin, wrote about this on Saturday in his column in the Daily Sabah newspaper.

“The relationship can be salvaged and taken to the next level if the US administration is sensitive to Ankara's security concerns. Turkey cannot ignore the actions of a NATO ally when they threaten its national security both inside and outside the republic. US President Donald Trump may want to maintain good relations with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan, and there is no doubt that this approach will be effective if the relationship develops on the basis of mutual respect. But threats against Turkey will not work and will only damage bilateral relations,” said Erdogan’s representative.

Kalin also recalled that “in recent years, the actions of the United States have seriously undermined strategic relations with Turkey.” He also again reproached Washington for its cooperation with the Syrian Kurds from the People's Defense Forces (SDF), "who are currently negotiating with the Assad regime."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed the fate of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who is in a Turkish prison, during a telephone conversation.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert announced this on Twitter.

“The Secretary of State and the Foreign Secretary agreed to continue discussions to resolve the issue and work on other topics of common concern,” the text reads.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to pay a state visit to Germany in September 2018. This was reported on Friday by the Bild newspaper, citing sources in the governments of the two countries.

As the publication clarifies, the visit planned for the end of September will be Erdogan’s first as president (the last time the politician was in Germany was in February 2014). According to a diplomatic source in Ankara, the Turkish president in Germany, among other things, would like to speak at an event for his compatriots. In April, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier already invited Erdogan to visit Germany in a telephone conversation.

Recent years have been marked by a significant cooling in German-Turkish relations, which was caused by a number of factors. These include a ban on speeches by Turkish politicians in Germany and the detention of German citizens, primarily journalists and human rights activists, in 2017. We are talking primarily about Welt newspaper correspondent Deniz Yucele, translator Meshal Tolu and human rights activist Peter Steudtner. According to the German Foreign Ministry, until recently, about 10 German citizens were held in Turkey for political reasons.

In July 2017, the German Foreign Ministry announced that Berlin was reviewing its economic policy towards Ankara and also tightening travel recommendations for its citizens to Turkey. Subsequently, these measures were canceled, although relations never reached their previous level.

EGYPT

A court in Cairo on Saturday, July 28, sentenced to death 75 members of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement, including a number of its leaders. They are accused of crimes in the deadly protests that erupted after the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.

Of the 75 people sentenced to death, 44 are in prison, and 31 people were sentenced to death in absentia, the Huffington post reports. In total, there were 700 defendants in this case.

Among those sentenced to death are leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood party.

The death sentence handed down to 75 defendants on Saturday 28 July will be handed over to Egypt's Grand Mufti, who will advise on the legality of the death penalty. According to Egyptian law, the opinion of the Grand Mufti is required in such cases, but it is not binding. In practice, the recommendations of the Grand Mufti are almost always implemented.

A week ago, the Grand Mufti approved the death sentence for ex-President Mohammed Morsi.

The United States for the first time stopped working with one of the opposition groups in Syria

For the first time, the United States has stopped working with one of the groups in southern Syria because of its refusal to fight the Islamic State terrorist group*, Pentagon spokesman Ryan Dillon said at a briefing.

“The name of the group is “Shuk” (“Shuhada al-Qaryatein.” - Ed.), they were one of the partners with whom we worked in southern Syria. We have made it clear that our goal in Syria and Iraq is victory over IS*, and only victory over IS*. And we asked our partners to be committed to the same mission,” he said.

A Pentagon spokesman explained that the refusal to further work was due to the fact that the Shuk group wanted to pursue goals other than the fight against IS*. One of these goals, he said, could be “the fight against the regime.”

“So we told them we couldn't support them if they wanted to pursue goals other than defeating ISIS. We will no longer support this group,” Dillon added, declining to talk about numbers or details regarding the group.

He noted that this is the first time the United States has had to stop cooperating with a selected opposition group.

He later clarified that the United States also wants to take away from the Shuq group the weapons that were provided to it to fight ISIS.

The Syrian Army and the Russian Aerospace Forces are liberating the east of Hama from ISIS, more and more militants are surrendering and deserting

The Syrian army and the Russian Aerospace Forces continue the operation to oust ISIS from the eastern part of Hama province.

Soldiers of the SAA and the National Defense Forces achieved new results during the military operation against terrorists near their stronghold - the city of Akerbat.

On Thursday, July 27, the army and its allies liberated new territory and strategic heights east of the government-held city of Al-Sabbura, reaching the outskirts of the ISIS-occupied city of Al-Dakila al-Shamaliya.

Presumably, the militants will leave the city as soon as they realize that the army is taking it under fire control, occupying all the hills overlooking the city of Al-Dakila al-Shamalia.

It was also reported that large reinforcements of pro-government forces have arrived on the eastern front of Hama to support the offensive against ISIS and finally drive the militants out of the region.

Fresh forces were released after a truce was concluded in the suburbs of Damascus and in the Badia al-Sham region near the border with Jordan.

Syrian troops are seeking to isolate ISIS's local stronghold of Akerbat, forcing the jihadists to either surrender or flee east.

Defense collapse: ISIS plugs holes with untrained recruits

According to information from two independent sources, it became known that ISIS militants in the Itria region received reinforcements. However, due to heavy losses in the province of Hama, the leaders of ISIS* were forced to send practically untrained recruits from a training camp near Al-Mayadin in the province of Deir ez-Zor to the front line, including teenagers.

About it "Russian Spring" said a military source.

Poorly trained militants were unable to conduct combat operations normally. In addition, heavy losses forced the leaders of ISIS to abandon the planned replacement on the front line and leave the “old” terrorists in their positions.

All these measures, plus delays in payment, are causing increasing discontent among the militants. There are major clashes between different militant groups and an increase in the number of both deserters and surrenders. Almost every day, dozens of militants come to the positions of government troops ready to lay down their arms.

Increasingly, terrorists are using leaflets calling for surrender, which the Syrian Arab Army scatters over ISIS positions using helicopters. Realizing their plight, ISIS commanders have already begun preparing for their withdrawal.

Thus, according to available information, the commander of the Akerbat group of ISIS, Abu Ibrahim al-Teinawi, recently left for the Es-Sukhneh area to prepare positions for retreat. However, these positions may no longer be needed by the militants. Government troops, with the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces, plan to soon close the ring and surround the terrorists near Akerbat. And Es-Sukhne itself is on the verge of being taken by troops.

* Terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation.

The battle for the Syrian-Lebanese border is coming to an end, militants are fleeing to Idlib

Hezbollah, with the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces and the Syrian Air Force, is completing the battle with al-Qaeda over the Syrian-Lebanese border.

After a successful operation, which led to the capture of almost the entire territory of the Arsal area in Lebanon, it announced a suspension of hostilities.

The ceasefire agreement concluded with the terrorists Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (Jabhat Al-Nusra *, Syrian Al-Qaeda *) and valid since 06:00, was implemented throughout the territory of Arsal. In turn, the militants agreed to leave this strategically important area and began preparing for evacuation to Idlib province.

Similar agreements have been implemented in the Al-Zabadani and Madaya areas, where terrorists will also be redeployed to the Syrian province of Idlib, leaving their previously occupied positions in Lebanon.

The battle for Arsal ends in victory and now Lebanese fighters will turn their attention to the areas of Ras Baalbak and Qaa Barrens captured by ISIS, in the northeast of the country.