The Federal Public Prosecution in Germany ordered the arrest in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate of a Syrian man on suspicion of committing war crimes in his country.
The man is credited with having, in 2015, as a member of an “opposition militia,” arrested and killed people believed to have belonged to the Syrian government headed by former President Bashar al-Assad.
The accused Syrian citizen was presented to the investigating judge at the Federal Supreme Court in Karlsruhe, who ordered him to be placed in pretrial detention pending investigation, according to what a spokeswoman for the highest prosecution authority in Germany said.
The Federal Public Prosecution explained that the man initially belonged to the government armed forces in Syria, before joining as a commander in one of the opposition militias in 2012 at the latest.
According to the statement carried by the German News Agency, the accused, together with others, detained three people believed to belong to the Syrian government in 2015. The statement also stated: “The detainees were forced to confess to launching attacks against the accused and other members of his militia,” and the accused later executed them by shooting them in the head.
Members of the Criminal Investigation Office branch in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany, arrested the Syrian defendant this morning (Wednesday) in the city of Neuwied. The Federal Public Prosecution charges him with committing war crimes against individuals by killing them.
In a parallel context, the Federal Public Prosecution in Germany ordered the arrest in the state of Hesse of a man believed to belong to ISIS.
The man is attributed to having joined the organization in Iraq by the beginning of 2016, at the latest, and that he participated as a fighter in the ranks of the organization until the spring of 2017. The highest prosecution authority in Germany charges the man with belonging to a terrorist organization abroad.
Members of the Federal Office for Criminal Investigation arrested the accused in the Waldeck-Frankenberg region in the northern state of Hesse, this morning (Wednesday). The accused was subsequently brought before the investigating judge at the Federal Supreme Court in Karlsruhe. The arrest warrant was read to him and he was ordered to be placed in pretrial detention pending investigation.
Today (Wednesday), hundreds of Israelis participated in a march between two newly reopened settlements in the northern occupied West Bank to celebrate a Jewish holiday, in a symbolic display of their return to an area that until recently was almost entirely Palestinian.
Participants of all ages carried traditional bundles of fruits and branches used to celebrate Sukkot, which is celebrated over the course of a week, while games and the participation of clowns added to the festive atmosphere on the hill overlooking the Palestinian gatherings.
The march started from the Ganim settlement to the Kadim settlement near the city of Jenin, which constitute two strong symbols in the Israeli settlement movement due to their evacuation in 2005 as part of the unilateral “disengagement” plan launched by the then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. They were rebuilt this year under pro-settlement Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On both sides of the dirt road linking the two settlements, dozens of olive trees could be seen that were uprooted by the Israeli authorities from lands belonging to Palestinians, to make way for the settlements.
“Oslo defeat”
A prominent leader in the settlement movement, Yossi Dagan, told the crowd: “Our wonderful people in Israel defeated Oslo,” referring to the peace process that took place in the 1990s with the Palestinians.
He added: “21 years ago, when they uprooted the four communities, disengagement from the land was an attempt to disengage from an idea, from Zionism.”
He continued: “Together we will bring hundreds of thousands of Jews to northern Samaria,” using the biblical name for the region.
Kadim was decorated with Israeli flags, while the army was deployed to protect the settlers, in stark contrast to the Palestinian city of Jenin located at the bottom of the hill, where last year Israeli forces killed a number of Palestinians in a military operation.
On the road leading into Israel, dozens of prefabricated homes were waiting to be erected to expand settlements and consolidate Israeli control over the area.
Yishai Gerstel (35 years old) told Agence France-Presse: “Being here in particular, on Sukkot, doubles my joy.”
Gerstle came with his wife and three children from a city inside Israel, but he grew up in a settlement in the northern West Bank, and participated in the protests against the closure of Ganim in 2004 when he was a boy.
He added: “It is amazing to come back with my children and show them what we left and where we are going back.”
Since Netanyahu returned to power in 2023 at the head of one of the most right-wing governments in Israel's history, 104 new settlements have been approved in the West Bank.
The pace of approval of settlements has accelerated ahead of the Israeli legislative elections scheduled for October 27, in which Netanyahu hopes to strengthen his popular base in light of the intense competition with his opponents.
In recent months, the West Bank has witnessed a sharp escalation in the pace of violence, with settlers attacking Palestinians or their property on an almost daily basis, in addition to the recent killing of a settler by gunfire carried out by a Palestinian.
With the exception of occupied East Jerusalem, about 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, in addition to more than 500,000 Israelis residing in illegal settlements under international law.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez apologized on Wednesday to French President Emmanuel Macron, who is visiting Madrid, after the Spanish Senate refused on Tuesday evening to approve the friendship treaty between the two countries, according to Agence France-Presse.
He said during a joint press conference with Macron: “I can only apologize for this vote,” describing as “unfortunate” the position of the right-wing opposition (the Popular Party), which has an absolute majority in the Senate and voted against the treaty.
He stressed that “it is not a treaty of friendship between the Spanish and French governments, but rather a treaty of friendship between two countries that consider themselves brothers and have a common future at the European level.”
As for Macron, he saw the result of the vote as “more of a stumble than a tragedy.” He said: “I can only express my regret for yesterday’s vote, but I respect it,” considering that the agreement in its current form is “good.”
Macron and Sanchez signed the Franco-Spanish Treaty of Friendship with initials in Barcelona in January 2023.
Subsequently, it was approved by the Spanish Chamber of Deputies, the National Assembly and the Senate of France.
However, the Spanish Popular Party, which has an absolute majority in the Senate, has been opposed since the drafting of an article stipulating that a member of the government of one country be invited to a session of the Council of Ministers of the other country at least once every three months.
On September 23, a few days before Macron began his official visit to Madrid, the Spanish judiciary considered that the treaty was compatible with the constitution as long as the two countries made it clear that the minister invited by the government of the other country would only participate in a separate meeting on the sidelines of the cabinet session.
France has previously signed four similar friendship treaties with European countries: Germany, Italy and Poland, in addition to Spain.
As for Spain, it has never signed a similar treaty except with Portugal and Morocco.
