Syria's Sharaa calls for peace, Hamas sees 'positive' signs

Middle East expert Bente Scheller, of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, has told DW that securing justice for the atrocities committed in Syria is the only way to achieve stability in the country.

"Justice is not a luxury. Justice is a remedy against revenge," she said.

There have been days of clashes in Syria's coastal province between security forces and insurgents of the minority Alawite community loyal to the deposed Bashar Assad government. Hundreds of people have been killed in the fighting. 

Scheller called the situation "very fragile," and said part of the problem is that not all active militias have been integrated into Syria's armed forces.

"It is clear that (government forces) don't have the capacities and personnel to control the entire territory."

Watch the entire interview below:
 

Adam Boehler, the United States envoy who held unprecedented direct talks with Hamas representatives last week, has expressed confidence that a deal to release remaining hostages could be achieved "within weeks."

Speaking to US broadcaster CNN, he said: "I think there is a deal where they can get all of the prisoners out, not just the Americans."

Boehler, a Jewish-American, was criticized by Israel for dealing directly with the Islamist militants, but insisted: "We're the United States. We're not an agent of Israel."

He described the meeting as "very helpful" to jump-start the "fragile" negotiations.

The envoy did not rule out further talks in future, saying: "You never know, sometimes you're in the area and you drop by."

Asked what it was like to sit face-to-face with the leaders of a group which has been listed as a terrorist organization by the US, Germany, and others, Boehler said: "When you walk and you sit in front of somebody, and you know what they've done, it's hard not to think of it."

He said it was important to identify with their humanity, but admitted: "It definitely feels a little odd knowing what they really are."

Israel has suspended electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip as it looks to pressurize Hamas into agreeing to an extension of the first phase of the ceasefire deal, which technically ended last weekend.

The full effects of the move were not immediately clear. However, Gaza's desalination plants rely on Israeli electric power in order to produce drinkable water.

The enclave has been largely devastated by Israel's military campaign since October 2023 and generators and solar panels are used for some of the power supply.

Militant group Hamas has called for an immediate start to the second phase of the ceasefire deal, which aims to secure a permanent end to the fighting. 

Syria's transitional presidency says it has established an "independent committee" to investigate violence in the country's coastal regions.

The clashes began on Thursday when gunmen loyal to ousted President Bashar Assad attacked security checkpoints, but government forces have been accused of carrying out reprisal killings as part of their clampdown.

The committee will "investigate the violations against civilians and identify those responsible for them," the presidency said in a statement posted on social media, adding that the perpetrators would face criminal proceedings.

The German Foreign Ministry has condemned "shocking" reports of "murders of civilians and prisoners" in Syria and called on the authorities in Damascus to prevent further attacks.

"It is the responsibility of the transitional government to prevent further attacks, investigate incidents and hold the perpetrators to justice," a spokeswoman said. 

Berlin called on all parties to bring an end to the violence, in order to "reestablish social peace after decades of terror under the Assad regime and take steps toward an inclusive political process which is so important for sustainable peace and stability in Syria."

The future of Syria must lie "in the hands of all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity, religion or gender" and must be "free of any attempts to destabilize it from abroad," a statement read.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was one of the first European politicians to travel to Damascus and meet with the new leadership after the toppling of former president Bashar Assad.

The European Union has also condemned violence directed at civilians.

The United Nations says it has received "extremely disturbing" reports of entire families being killed in northwestern Syria and called on the country's interim leadership to intervene, protect minorities and uphold the rule of law.

"The killing of civilians in coastal areas in northwest Syria must cease, immediately," said Volker Turk, the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights.

"The caretaker authorities' announcements of their intention to respect the law must be followed by swift actions to protect Syrians, including by taking all necessary measures to prevent any violations and abuses and achieve accountability when these occur."

The United States also condemned "radical Islamist terrorists, including foreign jihadis, that murdered people in western Syria in recent days."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US stood with Syria's religious and ethnic minorities such as the Alawites, who appear to have been the targets of reprisal killings.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has called on European and Western countries not to "legitimize" the new regime in Syria after a clampdown on an uprising this weekend led to hundreds of civilian deaths.

Saar told Germany's BILD tabloid that transitional President Ahmad al-Sharaa and his Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group "were jihadists and still are, even if they now wear suits."

He also criticized European politicians who had "streamed to Damascus" to meet with the new rulers since the overthrow of former President Bashar Assad  — among them, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

From its original heartland in Idlib in northwestern Syria, HTS led the lightning military campaign which culminated in the toppling of Assad and the capture of Damascus late last year. The group subsequently dissolved and its members were reportedly absorbed into Syrian state institutions.

Leader Sharaa has insisted that he and his group have abandoned their jihadist roots and are committed to protecting minority groups in Syria — but observers say over 700 Alawite civilians have been "executed" by government forces in this weekend's crackdown.

The Syrian Defense Ministry has insisted that it is "strictly forbidden to approach any home or attack anyone inside their homes" and claimed: "We will not tolerate any acts of revenge under any circumstances."

Whether the Defense Ministry has total control over all of its forces, however, is unclear.

Israeli Foreign Minister Saar claimed the "talk of inclusivity" was "nothing but empty words" and said "the masks have dropped," accusing Sharaa's regime of "mercilessly massacring their own people."

A pro-Palestine campaign group has vandalized a Scottish golf course and hotel complex belonging to Donald Trump in protest at the US president's proposed Gaza policy.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, activists from the "Palestine Action" group sprayed the words "Gaza is not 4 sale" on the lawn of the Trump Turnberry golf resort on the west coast of Scotland.

They also sprayed the outside of the club house with red paint and spayed the words "Free Gaza" and "Free Palestine" on the entrance to the luxury property.

In a statement, the group said it "rejects Donald Trump's treatment of Gaza as though it were his property to dispose of as he likes. To make that clear, we have shown him that his own property is not safe from acts of resistance."

Trump Turnberry called the activism a "childish, criminal act" and said it will ensure its business is not affected.

Police Scotland said inquiries were ongoing after receiving a report of damage to the golf course in the early hours of Saturday.

President Trump recently caused outrage after proposing plans to resettle the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip and redevelop the enclave into a "Middle East Riviera."

Turnberry is one of 10 golf courses on the rotation to host the British Open, the oldest of the four major championships in men's golf. However, it hasn't staged the event since Trump bought the course in 2014.

Direct talks between Hamas and US negotiators in Qatar in recent days have focused explicitly on the release of an American-Israeli dual national still being held by the Islamist militants, a senior Hamas official told the Reuters news agency on Sunday.

US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters at the White House last week that securing the release of Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old man from New Jersey believed to be the last living American hostage held by Hamas in Gaza, was a "top priority" for the administration.

"Several meetings have already taken place in Doha, focusing on releasing one of the dual nationality prisoners," said Taher Al-Nono, political adviser to the Hamas leadership.

"We informed the American delegation that we don't oppose the release of the prisoner within the framework of these talks."

Alexander had been serving with the Israeli military.

Syria's interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, on Sunday called for national unity and peace after the death toll from clashes between security forces and former government loyalists rose to over 1,000 — around three quarters of them Alawite civilians.

"What is currently happening in Syria is within the expected challenges," said Sharaa, speaking at a mosque in his childhood neighborhood of Mazzah in Damascus.

"We must preserve national unity [and] civil peace as much as possible and, God willing, we will be able to live together in this country," he said. "[As long as] the mosques have taught their children morality ... and fairness and justice among the people, there is no fear for Syria."

Violence broke out in the provinces of Latakia and Tartus on Syria's Mediterranean cost on Thursday when troops loyal to ousted President Bashar Assad attacked police checkpoints and patrols.

The region is home to Syria's Alawite religious minority to which Assad belonged, and the response of the new Syrian government's security forces appears to have included brutal reprisals against the community.

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), at least 745 Alawite civilians have been killed since Thursday, many reportedly "liquidated in a way not different from the operations carried out by the security forces of the former [regime]."

A SOHR spokesperson claimed that Alawite civilians, including women and children, had been "executed" and "houses and property plundered."

At least 148 pro-Assad fighters have reportedly been killed, along with around 125 transitional government troops.

The Islamist militant group Hamas said on Sunday that it saw "positive signals" for a second phase of a ceasefire deal with Israel after meeting with United States envoy Adam Boehler in Qatar.

In a statement, the Palestinian group said it was keen to move "directly to begin negotiations for the second phase" of the deal but emphasized the need for humanitarian aid to re-enter the besieged Gaza Strip "without restrictions or conditions."

A Hamas spokesman told the AFP news agency that the group were also demanding a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the lifting of the coastal "blockade" and financial support for the enclave's reconstruction.

Israel said that it would send a delegation to Qatar on Monday "in an effort to advance the negotiations" around the ceasefire, the first phase of which came into effect on January 19 but technically expired on March 1.

Negotiations over the second phase were initially planned to take place before the end of the first phase, which Israel now wants to extend until mid-April, saying it won't progress to the second stage without the "total demilitarization" of the Gaza Strip, the complete removal of Hamas and the release of all remaining Israeli hostages. Hamas has ruled out a withdrawal.

Here you can read up on the main developments currently taking place in the Middle East region.

We will bring you updates on the rapidly deteriorating situation from Syria where more than 1,000 people have been killed in the worst clashes since the ousting of Bashar Assad.

You can also read up on latest moves to negotiate phase two of a Gaza truce between Israel and the Hamas militant group.