Region

WASHINGTON — Iraqi forces and militia fighters have rolled back the Daesh terror group in the northern town of Baiji and at a nearby oil refinery but it is too soon to declare victory in either battle, the Pentagon said Monday.

The US military's account of fighting around Baiji confirmed claims on Sunday from the Iraqi army that security forces had advanced against the Daesh militants and entered the city centre.

"We are prepared to say that friendly forces have begun moving in to the town of Baiji and are methodically beginning to root out the enemy who has entrenched themselves in that town," Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steven Warren told reporters.

But it was too early to say the town was "liberated," Warren said.

There were also signs of hard-won progress at the oil refinery just outside the town, the largest in the country.

Iraqi troops trying to defend the refinery had become encircled by Daesh militants and have been forced to rely on supplies being delivered by aircraft.

But Iraqi security forces have succeeded in opening up a supply route to the troops, according to Warren.

"Over the course of the last several days, friendly forces have opened up a line of communication . . . into the Baiji oil refinery and now are able to flow equipment and personnel to reinforce the forces that have been dug in at Baiji for several months," he said.

The fight for the vast refinery, which once produced 300,000 barrels per day of refined products, is still "hotly contested."

Most of the Iraqi troops operating at the refinery were drawn from the Baghdad government army and police while "a majority" of the force fighting in Baiji town were from Shiite and other militia units under Baghdad's authority, Warren said.

US-led coalition warplanes carried out three air raids near Baiji on Sunday, striking Daesh group positions and seven vehicles, according to a release from the milliary command overseeing the air war.

The Iraqi government regained control of Baiji — located on the road to Daesh group's bastion of Mosul — last year, but later was forced to retreat again.

Daesh swept across Iraq last June and overran the country's second city Mosul in less than 24 hours, before seizing much of the country's Sunni Arab heartland.

Daesh has been driven out of some areas north of Baghdad, but still holds much of western Iraq.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israelis and Palestinians would gain billions of dollars from making peace with each other, while both would face daunting economic losses in case of other alternatives, particularly in case of a return to violence, according to a new study released on Monday.

The RAND Corp., a US-based nonprofit research organisation, interviewed some 200 officials from the region and elsewhere during more than two years of research into the costs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Its main finding was that following a peace agreement, Israelis stood to gain $120 billion over the course of a decade. The Palestinians would gain $50 billion, marking a 36-per cent rise in their average per-capita income, the report said.

In contrast, the Israeli economy would lose some $250 billion in foregone economic opportunities in a return to violence, and the Palestinians would see their per-capita gross domestic product fall by as much as 46 per cent, the report said.

The findings are in line with long-time arguments that peace is in the economic interest of both sides.

"We hope our analysis and tools can help Israelis, Palestinians and the international community understand more clearly how present trends are evolving and recognise the costs and benefits of alternatives to the current destructive cycle of action, reaction and inaction," said C. Ross Anthony, co-leader of the study and director of RAND's Israeli-Palestinian Initiative.

The study looked into five different scenarios: a two-state solution, a coordinated unilateral withdrawal, an uncoordinated unilateral withdrawal, nonviolent resistance and a violent uprising. Not surprisingly, the economic benefit for both sides dropped considerably in each alternative scenario down the ladder.

Some of the elements of the nonviolent resistance scenario are already unfolding with Palestinians taking actions to put economic and international pressure on Israel. The study found that Israelis could lose $80 billion and Palestinians could lose $12 billion relative to current trends. But compared with a two-state solution, losses from the non-violent resistance scenario become even more dramatic: about $200 billion for the Israelis and $60 billion for the Palestinians.

RAND teams are currently in the region, presenting their findings to both Israeli and Palestinians officials. The study was funded by an independent donor and the think tank insisted it was not advocating, just providing tools for leaders to make good decisions.

In reaching their conclusions, researchers devised a "cost-of-conflict calculator" that factored in issues like Israel's defence budget, its trade relations and what it would cost to relocate West Bank settlers. For Palestinians, variable costs included potential destruction of property, freedom of movement and banking regulations.

The Palestinians seek the West Bank and Gaza Strip as part of their future state, yet numerous rounds of peace talks have been unsuccessful.

"A two-state solution produces by far the best economic outcomes for both Israelis and Palestinians," said Charles Ries, co-leader of the study and an executive at RAND. "In a decade, the average Israeli would see his or her income rise by about $2,200, versus a $1,000 gain for Palestinians, compared with our projection for present trends. But that only works out to 5 per cent for each Israeli versus 36 per cent for the average Palestinian, meaning Israelis have far less and Palestinians far more economic incentive to move toward peace."

RAND spokesman Jeffrey Hiday said copies of the study had been sent to officials on both sides of the conflict, including the Israeli prime minister's office and Foreign Ministry and the Palestinian Finance Ministry.

Israeli officials declined comment, while Palestinian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations on Monday left Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas off its blacklist of states and armed groups that violate children's rights during conflicts, but criticised Israel over its 2014 military operations.

UN special envoy for children and armed conflict, Leila Zerrougui of Algeria, had included Israel's army — known as the IDF — and Hamas in a draft of the report she had sent to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Ban had the final say on who was included on the blacklist, which was distributed to Security Council members on Monday.

UN sources have said that Ban's decision to override Zerrougui's recommendation was unusual.

Still, his 43-page report strongly criticised the impact that Israel's 2014 military operations had on children.

"The unprecedented and unacceptable scale of the impact on children in 2014 raises grave concerns about Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law ... particularly in relation to excessive use of force," he said.

Israel's UN Ambassador Ron Prosor issued a statement saying Ban was "right not to submit to the dictates of the terrorist organisations and the Arab states, in his decision not to include Israel in this shameful list, together with organisations like [Daesh] Al Qaeda and the Taliban."

More than 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians and including 540 children, were killed during last year's 50-day Gaza war between Hamas fighters and Israel, while 67 Israeli soldiers and six civilians in Israel were killed.

A UN inquiry found that Israel fired on seven UN schools, killing 44 Palestinians who had sought shelter at some sites, and that Palestinian fighters had hidden weapons and launched attacks from several empty UN schools.

Ban said that in conflicts in Central African Republic, Iraq, Israel and the Palestine territories, Nigeria, South Sudan and Syria, "children were affected to a degree which is an affront to our common humanity".

The report, which covers at least 23 situations, noted the five deadliest conflicts for children. It said 710 children were killed in Afghanistan, 679 in Iraq, 557 Palestinian children died, 368 in Syria, and 197 in Darfur, Sudan.

As in the case of Israel and the Palestinian territories, not all groups or armies were added to the blacklist.

The UN report blacklists groups or armed forces that "recruit or use children, kill or maim children, commit rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, or engage in attacks on schools and/or hospitals".

Armed groups blacklisted were involved in conflicts in Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), South Sudan, Iraq, Mali, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Colombia, Nigeria and the Philippines.

Countries whose national or regional armed forces were included on the blacklist were Afghanistan, DRC, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Myanmar and Yemen.

BEIRUT — Government air strikes on a northwestern Syrian village Monday killed at least 49 people and left survivors screaming in anguish as they pulled bodies from the rubble, according to activists and videos of the chaotic aftermath.

The Local Coordination Committees said two air raids on the village of Janoudiyeh in Idlib province killed 60 people and wounded others. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the air raid killed 49 people, including six children. It said the death toll could rise as some people are still missing.

Conflicting reports often emerge in the chaotic aftermath of such events.

The observatory said the air raid struck a public square in Janoudiyeh, near the town of Jisr Al Shughour, which was captured by insurgents in April. It said the village has become home to many displaced people from nearby areas.

A video uploaded onto the Internet by activists showed a chaotic, smoke-filled scene, with people running past damaged cars, and bodies scattered on the street. Women screamed as men hurriedly covered bodies and pulled wounded people from the rubble before an ambulance arrived.

"My son was killed!" a man screamed. "We need cars!" another man shouted, as a third, covered in blood, sat on the debris.

Another amateur video showed dead bodies lined up on a floor. Activists asked people who recognise the bodies to inform local authorities. A body covered with a blanket had a paper that read “unknown woman”.

The videos appeared genuine and corresponded to other AP reporting.

Activists say thousands of people have been killed in government air strikes since Syria’s conflict began in March 2011. The war has killed more than 220,000 people.

The latest air raids came shortly after Syria’s prime minister called on young men to fulfil their mandatory military service obligation, promising better pay for troops on the front lines as well as one hot meal a day.

President Bashar Assad’s army has faced a severe shortage of manpower as thousands of soldiers have deserted or dodged national service. Analysts have said the military’s dwindling ranks are a key factor behind the advance of the Daesh group as well as rebels and other insurgents in recent months.

“Today we must unite more than ever in backing our army and to fulfil the call of duty through mandatory military service,” Prime Minister Wael Al Halqi told parliament, adding that the army “is the real guarantor for the unity of our land”.

Syrian men with university degrees must spend 18 months in the military, usually after graduation, while those with a high school degree or less must serve for two years starting at age 18. Since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011, many have been forced to extend their service, according to residents and activists.

In March, insurgents seized the northern city of Idlib — the second provincial capital to fall out of the government’s hands — and last month the Daesh group overran the historic central town of Palmyra. Rebels in southern Syria captured a border crossing with Jordan and a nearby strategic town earlier this year.

“Losing any city or any area in Syria does not mean that the war is lost,” Halqi said. He added that the army will strike back against militants, saying “wherever they step will be their graves”.

He said that on the orders of Assad himself, a plan is being drawn up that would pay an extra 10,000 Syrian pounds ($35) per month to soldiers on the front lines, starting next month.

He added that “the heroes standing on the front lines will receive a meal of hot food”.

There have been complaints on social media that the troops’ diet mainly consists of bread, as well as boiled eggs or potatoes.

KRUEN, Germany — President Barack Obama, reprising a phrase that caused uproar in Washington last year, said on Monday the United States does not yet have a "complete strategy" for training Iraqi security forces to reconquer territory seized by Daesh fighters.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi on the sidelines of a Group of Seven (G-7) nations summit in Germany, Obama said more progress was needed to stem the flow of foreign fighters into Syria and Iraq.

All countries in an international coalition waging an air campaign against the Sunni Islamist militants were ready to do more to train Iraqi security forces if that would help.

"We want to get more Iraqi security forces trained, fresh, well-equipped and focused and [Prime Minister] Abadi wants the same thing so we're reviewing a range of plans for how we might do that," Obama told a news conference.

"We don't yet have a complete strategy because it requires commitments on the part of the Iraqis as well about how recruitment takes place, how that training takes place and so the details of that are not yet worked out."

Obama was flayed by domestic critics last September after saying "we don't have a strategy yet" to combat Daesh fighters in Syria after they beheaded a US journalist on camera.

Western strategy in Iraq has come under fire again in recent weeks after Daesh militants captured the city of Ramadi despite coalition air strikes designed to halt their advance and reverse their gains. Witnesses said Iraqi government forces abandoned their arms and fled.

However, Obama and Abadi both said at their meeting they were confident that Daesh’s success in Ramadi would be just a short-term tactical gain.

Abadi said Iraq and its allies had won many rounds against Daesh and the loss in Ramadi was only temporary. He urged the international community to help prevent the militants from profiting from oil smuggling.

Obama deflected questions about sending US ground troops back into Iraq, focusing instead on training Iraqi forces. Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Iraqi Shiite militias trained and supported by Tehran have joined Iraqi government forces in the fight against the militants.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking at a separate news conference after the G-7 session, said Britain would also expand a military training mission in Iraq in the coming weeks.

The United States and Britain were the main powers that invaded Iraq in 2003 to overthrow president Saddam Hussein, leading to prolonged civil conflict and a withdrawal that inflamed public opinion in both countries.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Obama’s comments did not signal that he was planning a major overhaul of US strategy in Iraq.

“He was speaking about how to accelerate and optimise the training and equipping of Iraqi forces, including integration of Sunni fighters, not overall strategy to fight ISIL [Daesh] nor the intended purpose of the training mission, which is to enable local ground forces take the fight to ISIL backed by coalition
airpower,” the official said.

In Washington, the speaker of Iraq’s parliament, Saleem Al Jabouri, called on the United States and its allies to increase the pace of air strikes against Daesh, and said Sunni tribes fighting the group in western Anbar province were not getting sufficient weaponry.

“First of all, increase the number of aerial sorties in a very clear way,” Jabouri, who was due to meet US Vice President Joe Biden, told a small group of reporters.

Despite recent pledges by the Obama administration to speed weapons to the Sunnis in Anbar, via the central government in Baghdad, the flow is still insufficient, he said. “The level of armaments does not really correspond to the challenge that the province is facing,” Jabouri said.

SANAA — Yemen's exiled president took a hard line Monday ahead of weekend peace talks in Geneva, ruling out negotiations with Iran-backed rebels and denouncing Tehran's "dangerous" meddling in his country.

After overrunning the capital Sanaa last September, the Houthi rebels seized much of the country with the help of renegade troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to launch a bombing campaign against them on March 26.

President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who has sought refuge in Riyadh, said the sole item for discussion at the June 14 talks in Geneva would be the implementation of a UN Security Council resolution adopted in April demanding the rebels withdraw from territory they seized.

"There will be no negotiations," Hadi told Al Arabiya television.

“It will be just a discussion about how to implement UN Security Council Resolution 2216. We will have a consultation.”

Asked if his government’s delegation would discuss reconciliation with the rebel negotiating team, Hadi said: “Not at all.”

Yemen’s Prime Minister Khaled Bahah echoed Hadi’s remarks, telling a news conference in Riyadh that the Geneva meeting would be merely a “consultative” process.

Bahah, who is also vice president, said the exiled government would head to the meeting with only one goal — “implementing 2216 and reinstating the state” overran by Houthis.

Once the legitimate government is reinstated, “all political factions return to dialogue to resume the political process... and approve the draft constitution and organise elections,” he added.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Saturday urged all sides to head to Geneva without preconditions.

Ban “reiterates his urgent call on all Yemeni parties to engage in these consultations in good faith and without preconditions in the interest of all Yemeni people”, his spokesman said.

He said the talks were aimed at securing a ceasefire, agreeing on a withdrawal plan for the Houthi rebels and stepping up deliveries of humanitarian aid.

EU implements sanctions 

Ahead of the talks, the European Union announced Monday it was implementing UN sanctions against Houthi leader Abdulmalek Al Houthi as well as Saleh’s son, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The pair “have been targeted with a travel ban and an asset freeze over their actions against Yemen’s peace and stability”, the EU said, adding in a statement that its decision reflects UN Resolution 2216.

In the interview, Hadi again hit out at Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Iran, charging that its meddling in his country’s affairs was “more dangerous than Al Qaeda”.

Yemen is home to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, classified by the United States as the network’s deadliest franchise.

“Al Qaeda could be eliminated, but here we have a systematically politicised action,” said Hadi.

Iran has repeatedly denied supporting the Houthis, who have agreed to attend the Geneva talks.

Strikes, clashes 

In the capital Sanaa, coalition warplanes launched new strikes on the rebels, hours after overnight raids hit military positions held by the fighters north of the city, witnesses said.

In the southern city of Aden, a woman and three of her children were killed when a Katyusha rocket fired by rebels hit their home, pro-Hadi militia spokesman Ali Al Ahmedi told AFP.

The rebels have been trying for five days to advance towards Buraiqa, a strategic sector of the city that houses an oil refinery and a port.

Medical officials said nine people, among them three civilians, were killed and 53 were wounded in 24 hours of fighting across Aden, Yemen’s second largest city.

Medical and local sources also reported that 15 civilians were killed on Sunday when a coalition air strike hit a bus carrying people between the southern provinces of Lahj and Taez.

Clashes also killed 19 rebels and three pro-Hadi fighters in Taez province, while in Taez city three civilians were killed in mortar rounds fired by rebels and four other wounded,  officials added.

More than 2,000 people have died in Yemen fighting and raids since March.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — China has told Israel it will not allow migrant builders to work on settlements in the occupied West Bank, a senior Israeli government official said on Monday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged during his reelection campaign to step up settlement construction, and Cabinet ministers in his new government have called for more building in the occupied territories, which is seen as an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians.

And Israel is hoping to bring in thousands of foreign workers to accelerate the pace of the construction across the country and in the West Bank, media reported.

“We are negotiating with China for an agreement on the arrival of thousands of additional workers,” the official told AFP, requesting anonymity.

“For the moment, the talks are stumbling over several problems, including the employment of these immigrants in settlements in Judea and Samaria,” he said in reference to the West Bank.

“Beijing is demanding that we ensure there are no workers in this region,” he added, without elaborating.

There has been no immediate comment from Beijing, but China’s position could undermine lengthy negotiations between the two countries aimed at striking a labour agreement.

Under the deal the Israeli government would be responsible for bringing foreigners into the country to work in the construction sector, Haaretz newspaper reported on Sunday.

“The agreement would replace the current arrangement, in which private companies contract directly with Chinese firms that supply the labour, an arrangement that has resulted in allegations of serious violations of labour laws,” the paper said.

Growing boycott calls 

The Israeli official denied that China’s decision had anything to do with growing calls for an economic and cultural boycott of Israel.

“It is more likely linked to Beijing’s diplomatic position that supports the creation of a Palestinian state and opposes Israel’s presence” on occupied Palestinian territory, he said.

The international community regards all Israeli construction on Palestinian land seized during the 1967 Middle East war as illegal.

Last week a row erupted between Israel and France’s Orange group, after the chief executive of the telecoms giant, Stephane Richard, said his firm was planning to withdraw its brand from Israel.

His comments came just four weeks after the publication of a report accusing Orange of indirectly supporting settlement activity through its relationship with Partner Communications.

Israel reacted furiously, accusing Richard of succumbing to pressure from the Palestinian-led boycott movement, known as Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions.

The Orange row came after Britain’s National Union of Students voted to affiliate itself with the BDS movement.

And on May 29, Israel narrowly avoided expulsion from FIFA after the Palestinians withdrew a resolution calling on world football’s governing body to ban their Israeli counterparts.

Settlement construction makes up around 3 per cent of all of Israel’s building, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.

Last year, the government decided to increase the number of foreign builders to 8,000 and later to 15,000 to boost construction and reduce property prices which have soared in the last few years, Haaretz said.

Israel has bilateral agreements with Bulgaria, Moldavia and Romania for the employment of builders, and with Thailand and Sri Lanka for migrant farmhands.

WASHINGTON — The US Supreme Court on Monday struck down a law that would let American citizens born in Jerusalem have Israel listed in  passports as the country of their birth, saying it unlawfully encroached on the president’s powers to set foreign policy.

The 6-3 ruling, a victory for President Barack Obama, comes at a time of strained relations between Israel and the United States, Israel’s most important ally. The Obama administration had said if the law were enforced it would have caused “irreversible damage” to America’s ability to influence the region’s peace process.

Writing for the court in an important ruling on separation of powers within the US government, Kennedy said the US Congress, which enacted the law in 2002, has a role to play in foreign policy but cannot make decisions on recognising foreign governments. That is the president’s “exclusive power”, Kennedy wrote.

Congress passed the law when president George W. Bush was president, but neither his administration nor Obama’s ever enforced it. While Israel calls Jerusalem its capital, few other countries accept that. Most, including the United States, maintain embassies in Tel Aviv.

“Congress cannot command the president to contradict an earlier recognition determination in the issuance of passports,” added Kennedy, a conservative who often holds the key vote in close cases.

Ari and Naomi Zivotofsky, the American parents of now-12-year-old Menachem Zivotofsky, had waged a long court battle to have their son’s passport state he was born in Israel.

The case touched upon what Kennedy called the “delicate subject” of Jerusalem’s status. The city, considered holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians, is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians and has been a major point of contention in the Middle East for decades. The justices took no position on that issue.

Seeking to remain neutral on the hotly contested issue of sovereignty over Jerusalem, the State Department allows passports to name the city as the place of birth, with no country name included. The ruling means Menachem Zivotofsky’s passport will simply list “Jerusalem” as his birthplace.

The court was divided, with its four liberals joining Kennedy in the majority. Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas agreed with the outcome but differed over the legal rationale. The court’s other conservatives, Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Antonin Scalia and Justice Samuel Alito, dissented, saying the law did not involve recognition of a foreign government.

Lawyers for the Zivotofsky family, Nathan and Alyza Lewin, expressed disappointment in a ruling they said highlights the “central fallacy” in the attitudes of US presidents since Israel’s founding in 1948.

“Presidents have been permitted by American public opinion to maintain, as American foreign policy, the absurd position that no country is sovereign over Jerusalem, and that no part of the city, including the western portion of Jerusalem, is in Israel,” they said.

‘Conduct of diplomacy’

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, welcomed the ruling. “It is important because it confirms the long-established authority of the president to make sensitive recognition determinations as an essential part of his authority over the conduct of diplomacy and foreign policy,” the official said.

Nabil Abu Rdaineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told Reuters: “This is an important decision which accords with international resolutions and the resolutions of the UN Security Council and General Assembly. This is a clear message that Israel occupies East Jerusalem as well as the West Bank and Gaza Strip.”

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said: “We do not react publicly to foreign court rulings.”

An estimated 50,000 American citizens were born in Jerusalem and could, if they requested it, list Israel as their birthplace if the law had been enforced.

In his dissent, Scalia said the Jerusalem passport law “has nothing to do with recognition”. By embracing the Obama administration’s argument, the court may have made it easier for future president’s to direct foreign policy, Scalia added.

That judgement call comes at a cost, Scalia added, because “it is certain in the long run it will erode the structure of equal and separated powers that the people established for the protection of their liberty”.

The Obama administration had argued that a loss for the government in the case would have been seen around the world as a reversal of US policy.

The ruling comes amid a rift in American-Israeli relations. Strained personal relations between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were on display in March when the Israeli leader delivered a speech to the US Congress in which he aligned himself with Obama’s Republican foes and criticised Obama’s bid to secure an international deal with Iran to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Palestinians want East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in a 1967 war, as capital of the state they aim to establish alongside Israel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

BEIRUT — US-led aircraft bombed Daesh fighters as they battled rival Syrian rebels, including Al Qaeda loyalists, for the first time, a monitoring group said on Sunday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights described the overnight raids in northern Aleppo as an intervention on the side of the rival rebels, which include forces who have been targeted previously by US-led strikes.

"The coalition carried out at least four strikes overnight targeting IS [Daesh] positions in the town of Suran," the Britain-based observatory said.

"It's the first time that the international coalition has supported non-Kurdish opposition forces fighting the Islamic State," observatory director, Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

He said at least eight Daesh fighters were killed in the strikes and another 20 were injured.

Syria expert Thomas Pierret said the raids showed Washington was intent on preventing Daesh from expanding in Aleppo province, which is currently largely divided between regime and rebel control.

"Washington seems really determined to stop IS from advancing against the rebels in Aleppo," said Pierret, a professor at the University of Edinburgh and a Syria expert.

The strikes showed Washington's "pragmatism", he said, noting that Al Qaeda affiliate "Al Nusra only constitutes a small part of the rebel forces that are fighting IS", in Aleppo, with moderate forces holding more territory.

Syrian state television said government forces launched air strikes near Suran on "terrorists", the term used by Damascus for all those fighting to oust President Bashar Assad.

It gave no further details.

Daesh captured Suran a week ago and has been fighting an alliance of rebels including Al Nusra and Islamist Ahrar Al Sham in the surrounding area.

Both Al Nusra and Ahrar Al Sham have been targeted in US-led raids and like Daesh, Al Nusra is blacklisted as a "terrorist organisation" by Washington.

'America's spies' 

Daesh has been seeking to expand its territory by seizing the Aleppo towns of Marea and Azaz, which lie on key supply routes for rival rebels.

Online, Daesh supporters accused Al Nusra and Ahrar Al Sham of collaborating with the US-led coalition, denouncing them as "America's spies" and collaborators with the "crusader coalition”.

Despite sharing a jihadist ideology, Al Nusra and Daesh are fierce rivals, with Daesh seeking to expand its self-declared "caliphate" in territory it holds in Syria and Iraq.

Al Nusra pledges allegiance to Al Qaeda chief Ayman Al Zawahiri, but has for now confined its ambitions to Syria and has allied with conservative Islamist groups fighting the regime and Daesh.

The US-led coalition began its air campaign in Syria last September but the majority of its strikes have been confined to areas where Daesh has undisputed control or is battling Kurdish forces.

Syria's conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government demonstrations but descended into a brutal war after a regime crackdown.

It has evolved into a complex battle with multiple fronts, and involving the regime, rebels, jihadists and Kurdish forces.

Daesh repelled in Hasakeh 

On Sunday in northeastern Syria, the observatory and Syrian state media said government troops had pushed Daesh fighters back from Hasakeh city after fierce fighting.

Daesh began an assault on the city, which is capital of the province of the same name, on May 30 and by Thursday advanced to the city's southern entrance.

But the observatory said the jihadists had pulled back two kilometres after heavy fighting.

At least 119 people have been killed since the assault began, among them 71 regime forces and 48 Daesh fighters, 11 of them suicide bombers.

Syria's official SANA news agency also reported the fighting, saying the army had retaken several positions captured by Daesh in recent days, including an electricity station and a prison being used as a military base.

The observatory said fighting was now continuing in the area near the prison.

Control of Hasakeh city is shared between government forces and Kurdish fighters, who did not initially enter into combat against Daesh.

But the Observatory said Kurdish forces began fighting Daesh on the outskirts of the areas under their control in the west of the city on Saturday night.

Syria's Kurds have walked a careful line in the country's conflict, declining to join the uprising directly, but also not fighting alongside the regime.

In Hasakeh, they share control of the city's security with regime forces, but the arrangement has been tense at times with occasional skirmishes breaking out.

Also on Sunday, the Observatory reported that 17 people were killed in three barrel bomb attacks launched by regime forces in the north of the central province of Homs.

Gaza City — Israeli warplanes struck Gaza early Sunday for the second time in three days after cross-border rocket fire by an Islamist group which is locked in a power struggle with Hamas.

It was the third time Israel had staged retaliatory air strikes on the war torn Gaza Strip in the past fortnight after three instances of rocket fire, all of which were claimed by Salafist extremists loosely allied with the Daesh terror group.

During the raids, the air force hit "terrorist infrastructure" in northern Gaza, the military said. The government also ordered the closure until further notice of the Erez crossing for people and the Kerem Shalom crossing for goods.

Israel said it held Hamas responsible for all attacks emanating from the Palestinian enclave, where it is the de facto power, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning that nobody would prevent Israel from defending itself.

"I have not heard anyone in the international community condemn this firing; neither has UN said a word," he told ministers at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting.

"It will be interesting if this silence continues when we use our full strength to uphold our right to defend ourselves. Let it be clear: The spreading hypocrisy in the world will not tie our hands and prevent us from protecting Israel's citizens."

Palestinian security sources and witnesses said the raids targeted a training site belonging to Hamas' armed wing, the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, in the northern Beit Lahiya area.

The rocket fire on Saturday evening struck open ground near the southern port of Ashkelon, causing no casualties. The same area was targeted by three rockets on Wednesday, which also prompted retaliatory air strikes.

After that attack, the military deployed batteries of its Iron Dome air defence system around Ashkelon as a precaution, Israeli media reported on Friday.

Since the end of a deadly 50-day war between Israel and Gaza fighters last summer, there have been at least seven instances of rocket fire on southern Israel.

Four of them have taken place in the past six weeks, fuelling fears of a fresh confrontation in a territory which has lived through three wars in the past six years.

Internal power struggle 

Since last summer, there have been growing signs of internal unrest in the territory, with Hamas engaged in a power struggle with smaller extremist groups.

There have been a spate of bomb attacks targeting public buildings and officials as well as international organisations. Although few have been claimed, they are believed to be the work of radical Salafists unafraid to challenge Hamas.

The last three attacks on Israel were claimed by a relatively new Salafist group called the Supporters of the Daesh in Jerusalem.

It first emerged in July 2014, during the war with Israel, when it claimed rocket fire on the Jewish state.

There is very little official information on the size of the group but Palestinian sources believe it has dozens of members and hundreds more supporters.

Some of its leaders formerly belonged to Hamas’ Qassam Brigades, while others used to be part of Islamic Jihad’s Quds Brigades. They are understood to be in contact with other regional Salafist groups, notably in Syria and Egypt’s Sinai.

Salafists are Sunni Muslims who promote a strict lifestyle based on early “pious ancestors”. In Gaza, they have made no secret of their disdain for Hamas over its observance of a tacit ceasefire with Israel and its failure to implement Islamic law.

Israel, Hamas as enemy 

Salafist groups have been angered by a Hamas crackdown, and claim around 100 of their members or supporters are currently behind bars.

Last week, Hamas police shot dead a local Salafist leader during an arrest operation in Gaza City. A day later, the Supporters of the Daesh in Jerusalem claimed at least two rockets fired at Israel.

Salafist sources said indirect talks they had been holding with Hamas over a possible prisoner release deal broke down on Saturday.

Several hours later, there was fresh rocket fire on southern Israel.

Claiming the attack, Supporters of the Daesh said it was a “gift” to the prisoners held by both Israel and Hamas.

“This attack is a gift to our brothers and sisters in Jewish jails and our brothers in Hamas jails,” it said, equating both Israel and Hamas as the enemy.