Syria Updates: EU to Send Envoy to Damascus

The European Union will be sending a diplomat to talk with the new government, the first such meeting in Syria in years. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has confirmed that the bloc's envoy was en route to Syria for the first diplomatic talks since member states cut ties with the Assad regime over a decade ago.

EU sends diplomat for talks with rebel leaders
Kaja Kallas, the new foreign policy chief of the European Union, confirmed that the bloc had sent an envoy to Damascus for talks with the interim government led by rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

The EU's decision comes after the US and the UK made similar moves over the weekend. Western allies largely cut diplomatic ties with the regime of former President Bashar Assad over a decade ago following his violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

"Our top diplomat in Syria will go to Damascus today. We'll have the contacts there," Kallas told journalists ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers. "We can't leave a vacuum," she added, as regional and global powers begin vying for influence over how Syria moves forward.

At the same time, many Western countries are wary of dealings with the new government due to HTS' roots as an off-shoot of al-Qaeda in Syria. "For us, it's not only the words, but we want to see the deeds going to the right direction. So not only what they are saying, but also what they are doing," Kallas said of the group's attempts to soften their image.

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"I think the coming weeks and months will show whether it goes to the right direction. And I think then we are also open to discuss next steps," she added.

Germany urges Israel to abandon Golan Heights plan
German Foreign Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner called on Israel to "abandon" its plan to double the population living in the occupied and annexed Golan Heights in Syria.

Speaking at a regular press briefing, Wagner said "it is perfectly clear under international law that this area controlled by Israel belongs to Syria and that Israel is therefore an occupying power."

"It is absolutely crucial now, in this phase of political upheaval in Syria, that all actors in the region take into account the territorial integrity of Syria and do not call it into question," he added.

Alluding to Israeli strikes in Syria, Wagner said that while Germany understood the desire to prevent Syrian weapons from falling into the wrong hands, "Syria has been a plaything of foreign powers for far too long" and that all parties to the conflict now needed to exercise "restraint."

On Sunday the Israeli government approved a plan to invest more than $11 million (€10.5 million) in the occupied Golan Heights and double the population in the region.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan is a response to the "new front" with Syria. "Strengthening the Golan means strengthening Israel, and it is particularly important at this time," Netanyahu said. The area would be "held on to, made to flourish and settled in," he added.

Kurds call for immediate stop to all military operations in Syria
Leaders of Syria's semi-autonomous Kurdish region in the northeast have issued a statement calling for "a stop to military operations over the entire Syrian territory in order to begin a constructive, comprehensive national dialogue."

Although HTS rebel leaders have promised to respect religious and ethnic minorities, their extremist roots have left many doubting that they will make good on these vows.

Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria, and represent about 10% of the population. Following widespread repression of their language and culture under Assad's regime, they joined the fight against government forces in the Syrian Civil War.

Since the fall of Assad, there has been also sporadic fighting between Kurds and Turkish-backed militias in northeastern Syria in the past week.

Although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opposed Assad, Turkey also sees some Kurds as its enemy because of Kurdish separatist movements within its own borders.

Due to colonialism and international treaties following World War I, Kurds have become minorities in Syria, Turkey, Iraq, and elsewhere, with many advocating for the creation of their own homeland.

Israeli airstrikes target Syria's missile warehouses
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Israel has launched its "most violent strikes" in Syria since 2012 on what it says are missile warehouses.

After decades of hostilities and conflicts over territory, Israel has ramped up its attacks on Syrian military installations after former President Assad and his family dramatically fled to Russia last week.

Israeli troops have seized control of a UN demilitarized buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli occupied Golan Heights.

The Israeli government has denied accusations of taking advantage of the situation to make a major land grab, and of leaving the buffer zone to advance further into Syria.