Egyptian FM Badr Abdelatty (L) meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Cairo in September 2024 - Cabinet
CAIRO – 11 December 2024: Egypt and the United States have jointly called for a comprehensive political process in Syria that embraces all Syrian national parties and components, after the recent fall of long-standing President Bashar Al-Assad.
This plea arrives as Israel, in the wake of Assad's removal early on Sunday, launched a barrage of strikes on Syrian territories, reportedly decimating the Syrian Navy fleet and targeting strategic weapons stockpiles.
The Israeli military reported conducting nearly 500 strikes on Syria over the past two days.
Additionally, Israel has seized the demilitarized buffer zone between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and the remaining Syrian territory, established under a 1974 ceasefire agreement. There are also reports of further Israeli encroachment into Syrian lands.
In a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty reiterated Egypt's condemnation of Israel's grabbing of the buffer zone with Syria and its adjacent areas.
The Egyptian foreign minister denounced these actions as an occupation of Syrian lands, an infringement on Syrian sovereignty and a violation of international law.
Abdelatty called on the international community to fulfill its duties in halting these transgressions against the Syrian state.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi released Tuesday a statement on Syria noting that over 90 percent of the population is relying on humanitarian aid and that the country's infrastructure is "shattered."
— Egypt Today Magazine (@EgyptTodayMag) December 11, 2024
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Many Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan as well as Turkey and Iran have also expressed condemnation of Israel's expansion in the Golan Heights.
The Syrian government crumbled on Sunday morning and Al-Assad, who clung to power through 14 years of civil war, has fled to Russia where he was granted political asylum.
The fall of Assad comes after insurgents, led by the Sunni group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, have seized control of the capital, Damascus, in the aftermath of a surprising offensive.
Mohammed al-Bashir, a former governor of a small rebel-held area in northwest Syria, has been appointed as the new interim prime minister of Syria as the nation seeks stability after nearly 14 years of civil war.
The Syrian war has left around half a million people dead, forced millions more to flee their homes and disturbed regional peace. Foreign parties have interfered in the war, each supporting one side against the other.
The Syrian attacks on Syria comes while the Israeli war in Gaza enters its 15th month, and Lebanon has recently secured a ceasefire with Tel Aviv following a destructive Israeli campaign that ravaged many parts of Lebanon.
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