US president says wealthy Middle East countries must foot the bill for US presence in Syria and deploy their own troops.

Earlier in April, Trump said Saudi Arabia had to pay if it wanted US troops to remain in Syria [Shawn Thew/EPA-EFE]

by Al Jazeera

US President Donald Trump has said that some “immensely wealthy” countries in the Middle East have to pay for American protection and deploy their own troops in Syria.

Speaking at a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, Trump said these countries “wouldn’t last a week” without US support.

“Countries that are in the area, some of which are immensely wealthy, would not be there except for the United States, and to a lesser extent France,” Trump said.

“They wouldn’t be there except for the United States. They wouldn’t last a week. We are protecting them. They have to now step up and pay for what is happening.”

Trump did not name the countries but stressed that “they will pay” before adding that “they will also put soldiers on the ground”.

Trump seemed to backtrack on an earlier decision to withdraw US forces from Syria, when he stressed on Tuesday that it was important not to allow Iran grow its influence in the region.

“As far as Syria is concerned, I would love to get out. I’d love to bring our incredible warriors back home. They’ve done a great job …”

“With that being said, Emmanuel and myself have discussed the fact that we don’t want to give Iran open season, especially since we really control it.”

Saudi Arabia: ‘Qatar has to pay’
In response to Trump’s remarks, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubair said Qatar should pay for US presence in Syria.

“Qatar has to pay for US military presence in Syria and send its military forces there, before the US president cancels US protection of Qatar, which hosts a [US] military base on its lands,” al-Jubeir said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Thursday.

Al-Jubeir said the “[Qatari] regime would fall there in less than a week” if the US pulls its troops out of Qatar.

There are currently more than 9,000 US soldiers, most of them from the Air Force, and 100 military aircrafts at Al Udeid airbase, which lies about 30km west of Doha.

It is the main air operations centre for the US Central Command, with cargo aircrafts, strategic bombers, and aircraft refuellers.

Earlier in April, Trump said Saudi Arabia had to pay if it wanted US troops to remain in Syria.

“We’ve almost completed the task [of defeating ISIS] and will be making a decision very quickly in coordination with others in the area, as to what we will do,” Trump said at the time.

“Saudi Arabia is very interested in our decision and I said: ‘Well you know, you want us to stay? Maybe you are going to have to pay.'”

Hassan Rouhani had previously said he would uphold the nuclear deal even if the US pulled out [File: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA]

by Al Jazeera

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has called on US President Donald Trump to uphold the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, or “face severe consequences”.

In a televised speech, Rouhani said the “Iranian government will react firmly” if the White House fails to “live up to their commitments” under the agreement.

The warning comes weeks in advance of a May 12 deadline for Trump to renew the deal.

The US president has previously said he would scrap the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which he has called the “worst deal in history”, unless “a better option” is presented to him.

International leaders have called on Trump to uphold the agreement. On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron said there was no “Plan B” if Trump decided to pull out.

“Is this agreement perfect and this JCPOA a perfect thing for our relationship with Iran? No. But for nuclear – what do you have? As a better option? I don’t see it,” Macron said.

In an interview with US broadcaster CBS aired on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Iran could consider “resuming at much greater speed” their nuclear activities if the US were to pull out.

The landmark deal reached in Lausanne, Switzerland in April 2015 with China, Russia, France, Great Britain, Germany and the US offered Iran more than $110bn a year in sanctions relief and a return to the global economy in exchange for halting its drive for a nuclear weapon.

Iran said in the past that it will stay in the deal in case of US withdrawal.

Sharif was dismissed from office as prime minister last July over corruption charges [Faisal Mahmood/Reuters]

by Asad Hashim, Al Jazeera

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has disqualified former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, dismissed from his post over corruption allegations last year, from holding public office for life.

A five-member bench of the country’s apex court unanimously ruled on Friday that anyone disqualified under a constitutional clause requiring legislators to be “honest and trustworthy” would be considered banned for life.

Sharif was dismissed from office as prime minister in July of last year, in a case lodged over disclosures in the Panama Papers leak, but which ultimately hinged on allegations that he had failed to declare a salary from his son’s UAE-based company.

Sharif says that he never received the salary, and that he held a position within that company in order to maintain a valid business visa in the Gulf state. The Supreme Court ruled that whether he received the salary or not was immaterial.

The three-time prime minister and three of his children continue to face trial for corruption charges in a National Accountability Bureau court, which is due to deliver a verdict in the coming weeks.

Pakistan is due to hold a general election in July.

‘No accusation has been proven’
Sharif’s PML-N, which continues to hold a strong majority in parliament, termed the decision an attack on democracy.

“This is an accusation on which a sitting prime minister was disqualified, the trial is ongoing and … no accusation has yet been proven,” said State Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb, speaking to reporters shortly after the verdict was announced. “Yet, he has been banned for life.”

“Pakistan is fighting the case for democracy, and Nawaz Sharif will take this to its final conclusion.”

Pakistan has had a tumultuous history with democracy, being ruled by the military for roughly half of the 70 years since it gained independence from the British.

Sharif himself had twice been removed from office during previous stints in power in the 1990s, once, after a tussle with the president and a second time, in a military coup by former army chief Pervez Musharraf.

In July, the court ruled that he was unfit for office, citing article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution, which stipulates certain subjective characteristics in order for a Pakistani to be a member of parliament.

The characteristics include being “sagacious, righteous and non-profligate [and] honest and trustworthy”.

Friday’s verdict applies to any legislator disqualified from office under the same clause of the Constitution.

Jahangir Tareen, a key leader of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was also dismissed from office by the Supreme Court in December under the same clause, for incomplete financial disclosures in his parliamentary declarations.

Trump’s warning comes after the US and allies threatened to take action after a suspected gas attack in Syria [Carlos Barria/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

US President Donald Trump told Russia in an early morning tweet to prepare for “nice and new and ‘smart!'” missile attacks in Syria after an alleged gas attack on the last rebel stronghold in the country.

The tweet came after the Russian ambassador to Lebanon said in an interview on Tuesday with Hezbollah-owned al-Manar TV that “if there is a US missile attack, we – in line with both Putin and Russia’s chief of staff’s remarks – will shoot down US rockets and even the sources that launched the missiles”.

Trump further chided Russia for its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Wednesday’s tweet, saying it “shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded to Trump’s tweet saying: “Smart missiles should fly towards terrorists, not [Syria’s] lawful government, which has spent several years fighting against international terrorism on its territory.”

The warnings come as the United States and several European countries threatened to use military action against the Syrian government and its main ally, Russia, in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held town of Douma.

Saturday’s attack in Eastern Ghouta has killed dozens of people, mostly women and children, according to activists and local medics.

The Syrian government and Russia have denied that a chemical attack took place.

On Tuesday, rival draft resolutions by the US and Russia to set up a new expert body to probe chemical weapons attacks in Syria both failed to pass at the United Nations Security Council.

James Mattis, US defence secretary, did not rule out any military action against Assad’s forces, while US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, warned Washington was ready to “respond” to the attack regardless of whether the Security Council acted or not.

Vladimir Shamanov, chairman of the defence affairs committee in Russia’s lower house of parliament, said on Tuesday that Russia has “the necessary means for that and that Americans and their allies know that quite well”, adding that a retaliatory strike could target US aircraft and naval ships, Reuters news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the Syrian government has put its forces on “high alert” amid the looming threat of a US military response.

With Russian military assistance, President Assad launched a bloody offensive on Eastern Ghouta, which had been under rebel control since mid-2013.

Since the start of the aerial bombardment campaign on February 18, the offensive has claimed more than 1,600 civilian lives, and has, through a series of deals reached with rebel groups, internally displaced more than 45,000 people according to the UN.

Trump later tweeted that Russian-US relations are “worse now” than ever before.

The president concluded by opening the possibility of a detente: “There is no reason for this. Russia needs us to help with their economy, something that would be very easy to do, and we need all nations to work together. Stop the arms race?”

The military plane was reportedly heading to the western Algerian city of Bechar when it crashed [AFP]

by Al Jazeera

At least 257 people have been killed after a military plane crashed near the Boufarik airbase outside the Algerian capital, Algiers, according to Algerian state television.

The plane, an Ilyushin Il-76, mostly carried soldiers when it went down shortly after takeoff on Wednesday morning, state TV reported.

Algeria’s defence ministry was quoted as saying that 247 passengers and 10 crew members were among the dead following the crash.

Ennahar TV quoted an Algerian ruling party official as saying that 26 people onboard were members of the Polisario Front, a separatist movement in West Sahara – a territory also claimed by Morocco.

Algerie24, a local news website, said the plane was heading to the western Algerian city of Bechar.

Images posted on an Algerian website showed thick smoke billowing from the site of the crash, as several people rushed to help.

The crash at Boufarik would be the worst in Algeria since 2003 when an Air Algerie jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Tamanrasset, killing 102 people.

In 2014, more than 70 off-duty military personnel and their family members were killed when a C-130 plane crashed into the Djebel Fertas mountain shortly before it was to land in the northern city of Constantine.

In December 2012, two military jets conducting routine training operations collided in mid-air near Tlemcen, in Algeria’s northwest, killing the pilots of both planes.

A month earlier, a twin-turboprop CASA C-295 military transport aircraft, which was carrying a cargo of paper for the printing of banknotes in Algeria, crashed in southern France.

That plane was carrying five soldiers and a representative of the Algerian central bank, none of whom survived.

AFP PHOTO / JALAA MAREY

by Al Jazeera

Missiles have struck a Syrian airbase in Homs province early on Monday, state media reported, with Russia and Syria blaming Israel for carrying out the attack.

Two Israeli warplanes, using Lebanese airspace, fired eight missiles at the T-4 military airbase, the Russian military said, but offered no further information.

The attack at the airbase, located 40km west of Palmyra, killed and wounded several people, Syrian state news agency SANA reported, citing an unnamed military source.

“The Israeli aggression on the T-4 airport was carried out with F-15 planes that fired several missiles from above Lebanese land,” SANA quoted the source as saying, adding that eight missiles were shot down.

Some Lebanese media outlets said residents living near the northeastern border with Syria heard jets in the sky in the early morning hours, also suggesting that the attack may have been carried out by Israel.

An Israeli military spokeswoman did not want to comment on the Syria raid.

Israel has previously targeted “Iranian targets” inside Syria. On February 10, an Israeli air raid targeted an ammunition warehouse at the T-4 military airport.

Israel’s military claimed earlier this year that Damascus had allowed Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to operate the T-4 military site, according to the Times of Israel.

Monday’s attacks took place after aid organisations estimated that more than 70 people were killed in a chemical attack on rebel-held Douma, outside Damascus, on Saturday.

Clouded with confusion
Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, said the Pentagon denied that the US conducted the attack in Syria, even as President Donald Trump had vowed there would be a “big price to pay” for the chemical attack.

“There is also an insistence from the US that there is no knowledge that any allies conducting strikes in Syria. So the situation at the moment is clouded with confusion.”

France also denied being behind the attack on the airbase, with Colonel Patrik Steiger, the spokesperson for the French armed forces, telling AFP news agency: “It was not us.”

“We do know that President Trump will be meeting with his military leadership in the course of Monday to discuss an appropriate response to what the US insists was a chemical attack carried out by the Syrian government in Eastern Ghouta,” Hanna reported.

Damascus and its ally Russia have denied carrying out the chemical attack.

Trump condemned the attack and blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran for backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“Many dead, including women and children, in mindless CHEMICAL attack in Syria,” Trump wrote on Twitter.

“President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big price to pay. Open area immediately for medical help and verification. Another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. SICK!” he said.

Trump also discussed the chemical attack in a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, the White House said, with both leaders vowing to coordinate “a strong, joint response”.

In April last year, Trump ordered air raids on Syrian government facilities in the wake of a chemical attack in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun, which killed at least 80 people.

Tightening grip on Eastern Ghouta
Meanwhile, SANA said the first batch of prisoners who had been kidnapped by Syrian rebels in the Adra region inside Eastern Ghouta since 2013, were released from the town of Douma.

In return, rebels and civilians will be allowed to leave Douma, the last opposition-held pocket near the Syrian capital Damascus.

Under the Russian-brokered deal, thousands of fighters from Jaish al-Islam will safely leave the town for an opposition-held area in northern Syria.

The accord will tighten the government’s grip on Eastern Ghouta, a former opposition enclave, which has been the target of a sustained campaign by the Syrian military in recent weeks.

Should the government recapture the whole area – as now looks likely – it would deal the harshest blow to the rebels since December 2016, when Assad’s forces regained full control of the northern city of Aleppo following a Russian-backed campaign.

Yaser Murtaja, 30, was shot in the stomach in Khuza’a in the southern Gaza Strip on April 6 [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

A Palestinian journalist shot by Israeli forces during a mass demonstration along the Gaza border has died of his wounds.

Yaser Murtaja, a photographer with the Gaza-based Ain Media agency, was shot in the stomach in Khuza’a in the south of the Gaza Strip on Friday, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Murtaja, 30, was hit despite wearing a blue flak jacket marked with the word “press”, indicating he was a journalist.

Hosam Salem, a photographer at the scene of the incident told Al Jazeera on Friday that he witnessed Murtaja drop to the ground after he was shot by Israeli forces.

“Yaser was filming with his camera next to me when we heard the sound of gunfire,” Salem said. “He just fell on the ground and said, ‘I’ve been shot, I’ve been shot.'”

The Palestinian journalist syndicate said seven other reporters were injured in Friday’s protest, in what they described as “deliberate crimes committed by the Israeli army”.

The syndicate posted photos of journalist Khalil Abu Athira, who was shot during his coverage of Gaza’s protest on Friday.

The journalism union called for a mass participation in the funeral of Murtaja, and for a protest to be held at 12pm (09:00GMT) at the Manara Square in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.

They also called for the United Nations to protect journalists and to implement UN Resolution 2222 into concrete steps.

March of Return rallies
In addition to Murtaja’s death, the health ministry announced on Saturday the killing of another man, 20-year-old Hamza Abdel Aal, bringing the number of those killed during Friday’s protests to nine.

A total of 31 Palestinians have now been shot dead since the start of the protests on March 30, when tens of thousands took to the border area with Israel, demanding the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

Live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullet and tear gas fired at the rallies by Israeli soldiers, wounded at least 1,400 thus far.

The Palestinian health ministry reported that on Friday 491 people were injured by live ammunition after Israeli forces fired on protesters who had gathered near the Israeli border in the besieged Gaza Strip.

At least 33 of the injured have been described by the ministry as “critical cases”.

Friday’s demonstration was the second in as many weeks of a planned, weeks-long sit-in dubbed the Great March of Return.

Its main message is to call for the right of return for Palestinian refugees who were driven from their homes in the territories taken over by Israel during the 1948 war, known to Arabs as the Nakba

Around 70 percent of Gaza’s two million population were forced from their homes and now live in a territory of about 360sq km, which has been described as “the world’s largest open-air prison”.

Israel has drawn sharp criticism for its open-fire orders along the border, including its warnings that those approaching or trying to damage the fence would be targeted.

On March 31, a day after the first protest took place, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Israel’s troops for “guarding the country’s borders”.

“Well done to our soldiers,” he wrote in a statement.

On April 1, Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman rejected any independent investigation into the killings. “There will be no such thing here. We shall not cooperate with any commission of inquiry,” he told Israeli public radio.

Lieberman warned on April 3 that protesters who approach the border between Gaza and Israel will put “their life in danger”.

No evidence that any Palestinians seriously threatened Israeli soldiers in Gaza protests, Human Rights Watch says.

Palestinian protesters carry an injured Palestinian youth during demonstrations along the border with Israel, east of Gaza City on April 1 [Hosam Salem/Al Jazeera]

by Al Jazeera

The Israeli army’s killing of more than a dozen Palestinians who were demonstrating along the Gaza Strip’s eastern border on Friday was unlawful and calculated, according to a new Human Rights Watch (HRW) report.

“The Israeli government presented no evidence that rock-throwing and other violence by some demonstrators seriously threatened Israeli soldiers across the border fence,” the report, released on Tuesday, said.

Pointing out that senior Israeli officials had “unlawfully” called for the use of live ammunition before and after the protests, HRW said: “the high number of deaths and injuries was the foreseeable consequence of granting soldiers leeway to use lethal force outside of life-threatening situations in violation of international norms.”

On Friday, the Israeli army killed 17 Palestinians in mass demonstrations calling for the right of return for Palestinian refugees to the homes and villages by from which they were driven out by Zionist armed groups in 1948. At least 1,500 others were wounded, while one Palestinian succumbed to his wounds on Monday.

The death toll is expected to rise owing to the high number of injuries and the lack of medical supplies in the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli land, sea and air blockade for more than a decade.

Prior to the demonstrations, the Israeli army announced it had deployed more than 100 snipers with permission to fire.

Palestinian rights group Adalah said the Israeli army on Saturday “accidentally” took responsibility for the attacks on Palestinian protesters, before deleting a post from their official Twitter page.

“Yesterday we saw 30,000 people; we arrived prepared and with precise reinforcements. Nothing was carried out uncontrolled; everything was accurate and measured, and we know where every bullet landed,” a screenshot of the post, shared by Adalah, read.

‘No evidence of firearms’
Protesters in Gaza gathered in five different spots along the border, originally positioned about 700 metres away from a highly fortified fence marking the Gaza-Israel border.

Israeli forces responded with live fire, tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets, according to the Palestinian ministry of health.

Multiple videos appear to show Palestinians being shot while not posing an immediate threat.

“Human Rights Watch could find no evidence of any protester using firearms or any IDF claim of threatened firearm use at the demonstrations,” the report said.

The Israeli use of deadly force has drawn international condemnation; the United Nations and rights groups have called for an independent investigation into the killings.

But the Israeli minister for security has said “there is no reason” for Israel to cooperate with a UN inquiry into army actions.

On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the army, saying his troops were successful “guarding the country’s borders” and allowing “Israeli citizens to celebrate the [Passover] holiday peacefully”.

The protests were planned on the 42nd commemoration of Land Day, which took place on March 30, 1976, when six unarmed Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed by Israeli forces during protests against the Israeli government’s decision to expropriate massive tracts of Palestinian-owned land.

Eric Goldstein, the deputy Middle East director at HRW, said: “Praising the army’s handling of the March 30 events and saying there shall be no inquiry into how Israeli soldiers gunned down 14 protesters across a fence says much about how cheaply Israeli authorities view the lives of Palestinians in Gaza.”

MBS meets Bloomberg founder and former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg [Anadolu/Saudi Kingdom Council/Handout]

by Al Jazeera

Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, known as MBS, has met leaders from a number of right-wing Jewish organisations during his tour of the United States.

The groups, which have donated millions to illegal settlement building and the fight against BDS (the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement, include officials from AIPAC, Stand Up for Israel (ADL) and the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA).

According to a leaked copy of his itinerary, Haaretz reported that MBS also met with leaders from the Conference of Presidents, B’nai B’rith and the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

AIPAC, ADL and the JFNA have long targeted BDS, a non-violent movement that seeks to economically pressure Israel into providing equal rights and a right of return to Palestinians.

Some of the pro-Israel US groups have spent millions in lobbying for the Combating BDS Act, a bill that seeks to stifle BDS.

Meanwhile, JFNA gave almost $6m to illegal Israeli settlements between 2012 and 2015.

JFNA supports a number of settlements over the Green Line (the border separating pre-1967 Israel from the Occupied Palestinian Territories), and helps families of Jews suspected or convicted of violence against Palestinians.

‘Pro-Israelis guard Washington’
While Saudi Arabia does not officially recognise Israel, analysts have repeatedly said the overtures by MBS overtures signal a warming of ties between the two countries.

Mahjoob Zweiri, the director of the Gulf Studies Programme at Qatar University, said the MBS visit was “a PR campaign aimed to represent a new face of the kingdom to the US, one that was flexible and willing to change”.

“There was an old understanding from Arab leaders that the gates for Washington, DC are guarded by pro-Israeli leaders. This includes business leaders, groups such as AIPAC and others linked to Israel,” Zweiri told Al Jazeera.

“MBS is following that trend, he’s trying to court the US and show them that he supports their plan for Israel-Palestine and their decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.

“Another dimension is that when Republicans are in power, it’s widely believed they have closer ties to Israel and the Israeli agenda.

“US President Donald Trump’s ‘deal of the century,’ which recognises Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, could also see a normalising of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, and force the Palestinians to agree to Israeli demands.”

As part of his two-week tour, MBS has already met Bill and Hillary Clinton, Senator Chuck Schumer, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

He is expected to meet Oprah Winfrey, a media mogul and major opinion-maker in the US in the coming days.

Other notable media meetings include dinner with Rupert Murdoch, CIA director and soon to be Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Vice President Mike Pence, Defence Secretary James Mattis and Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

One rebel group in Eastern Ghouta’s Douma has refused to surrender and is still engaged in negotiations [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

At least 6,750 people have been evacuated from towns in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta, marking the largest evacuation to date, according to state media.

A convoy of 100 buses departed on Tuesday morning from the Irbin corridor towards rebel-held Idlib province in the north, state news agency Sana reported.

In previous evacuations about 6,000 people have already left the towns of Harasta, which was controlled by the Ahrar al-Sham rebel group, as well as Irbin, Zamalka, Jobar and the district of Ain Tarma, which were controlled by the Faylaq ar-Rahman rebel group.

The rebel groups last week reached an evacuation deal with Russia, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s main ally in the seven-year war.

A third rebel group in Eastern Ghouta’s Douma, the enclave’s biggest town, home to about 140,000 people, has refused to surrender and is still engaged in negotiations.

According to activists, a deal between the Jaish al-Islam rebel group and the Russians will most likely be announced at the end of the week.

Eastern Ghouta has been under rebel control since mid-2013. That year, Assad’s government imposed a tight siege on the Damascus suburb, which was home to about 400,000 people.

For six weeks since February 18, Syrian government forces, backed by Russian fighter jets, tightened their siege on the city with heavy bombardments and shelling that killed about 1,500 people and wounded more than 5,000.

Douma-based activist Laith al-Abdullah told Al Jazeera that Faylaq ar-Rahman are trying to evacuate their extended family members currently trapped in Douma – despite ongoing negotiations.

“Negotiations are ongoing and we expect to hear in three days whether a deal is reached,” he told Al Jazeera.

Douma’s local council on Tuesday described the negotiation process as “difficult”.

“We do not expect fast results. We all need to be patient,” the council said in a statement.

The first round of negotiations between the Douma-based rebels and the Russians included talks on improving shelters for displaced civilians, the statement added.

The talks also included ceasefire extension to last throughout the entire negotiation period, and to allow aid trucks in.

The second round of talks will kick off on Wednesday, activists told Al Jazeera.

It is still unknown what the agenda of the second round will entail.

Residents of the enclave have been in dire need of food and medicine, especially since the latest offensive began, which has exacerbated Eastern Ghouta’s humanitarian crisis.

Though some aid has previously been allowed in, a 46-lorry aid convoy only included supplies for 27,000 people. Other convoys have not been able to enter due to the government’s bombardment campaign that had been ongoing for more than a month.