Senior Arab officials warn that Trump Gaza plan would inflame Middle East

Update Senior Arab officials warn that Trump Gaza plan would inflame Middle East
President Donald Trump has suggested that Gaza be emptied of Palestinians, controlled by the US and redeveloped as a tourist area. (AFP)
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Updated 12 February 2025
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Senior Arab officials warn that Trump Gaza plan would inflame Middle East

Senior Arab officials warn that Trump Gaza plan would inflame Middle East
  • Trump plan would lead the Middle East into a new cycle of crises with a ‘damaging effect on peace and stability’
  • US president enraged the Arab world by declaring unexpectedly that the US would take over Gaza

DUBAI: US President Donald Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and resettle Palestinians, which has drawn global condemnation, will threaten a fragile ceasefire in the enclave and fuel regional instability, senior Arab officials said on Wednesday.

Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit warned the World Government Summit in Dubai that if Trump pressed ahead with his plan, he would lead the Middle East into a new cycle of crises with a “damaging effect on peace and stability.”

Trump enraged the Arab world by declaring unexpectedly that the United States would take over Gaza, resettle its over 2-million Palestinian population and develop it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

After 16 months of Israeli air strikes in the Gaza war following Hamas’ attacks on Israel in October 2023, Palestinians fear a repeat of the “Nakba,” or catastrophe, when nearly 800,000 people fled or were driven out during the 1948 war that led to the creation of Israel. Trump has said they would have no right to return.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Tuesday the ceasefire in Gaza would end and the military would resume fighting Hamas until it was defeated if the Palestinian militant group did not release hostages by midday on Saturday.

Hamas later issued a statement renewing its commitment to the ceasefire and accusing Israel of jeopardizing it.

Hamas has gradually been releasing hostages since the first phase of a ceasefire began on January 19, but on Monday said it would not free any more over accusations Israel was violating the deal.

“If the situation explodes militarily once more, all this (ceasefire) effort will be wasted,” Aboul Gheit said.

Jasem Al-Budaiwi, who heads the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council political and economic alliance, called on Trump to remember the strong ties between the region and Washington.

“But there has to be give and take, he says his opinion and Arab world should say theirs; what he is saying won’t be accepted by the Arab world.”

Trump has said the Palestinians in Gaza, an impoverished tiny strip of land, could settle in countries like Jordan, which already has a huge Palestinian population, and Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous state. Both have rejected the proposal.

For Jordan, Trump’s talk of resettlement comes close to its nightmare of a mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank, with the idea of Jordan becoming an alternative Palestinian home long promoted by ultra-nationalist Israelis.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi partly views it as a security issue. He believes Islamists like Hamas are an existential threat to Egypt and beyond and would not welcome any members of the group crossing the border and settling in Egypt.

Egypt will host an emergency Arab summit on February 27 to discuss “serious” developments for Palestinians.

Aboul Gheit said the idea of the Arab Peace Initiative floated in 2002, in which Arab nations offered Israel normalized ties in return for a statehood deal with the Palestinians and full Israeli withdrawal from territory captured in 1967, would be reintroduced.

Trump’s plan has upended decades of US policy that endorsed a two-state solution in which Israel and a Palestinian state would coexist.

Elsewhere, China reiterated its opposition to what it called “forced displacement” of Palestinians when asked about Trump’s plan.

“Gaza belongs to the Palestinians and is an integral part of the Palestinian territory... We oppose the forced displacement of the people of Gaza,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular press briefing on Wednesday.

So far, 16 of 33 hostages taken by Hamas militants from Israel have been freed as part of the ceasefire deal’s first phase due to last 42 days. Five Thai hostages were also let go in an unscheduled release.

In exchange, Israel has released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including some serving life sentences for deadly attacks and others detained during the war and held without charge.


Syrians commemorate uprising anniversary for first time since Assad’s fall

Syrians commemorate uprising anniversary for first time since Assad’s fall
Updated 15 March 2025
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Syrians commemorate uprising anniversary for first time since Assad’s fall

Syrians commemorate uprising anniversary for first time since Assad’s fall
  • Syrians were set to commemorate the 14th anniversary of their uprising on Saturday in public demonstrations in Damascus and other cities for the first time since president Bashar Assad was toppled

DAMASCUS: Syrians were set to commemorate the 14th anniversary of their uprising on Saturday in public demonstrations in Damascus and other cities for the first time since president Bashar Assad was toppled.
A demonstration will be held in Umayyad Square in the capital Damascus, the first after years of repression under Assad during which the square was the sole preserve of the toppled president’s supporters.
Activists also called on people to gather in Homs, Idlib and Hama at demonstrations raising the slogan “Syria is victorious.”
Qader Al-Sayed, 35, told AFP that “we always used to protest on the anniversary of the revolution in Idlib, but today we will celebrate victory in the heart of Damascus.”
“It’s a dream come true,” he added from Damascus.
Syria’s conflict began with peaceful demonstrations on March 15, 2011, in which thousands protested against Assad’s government, before it spiralled into civil war after his violent repression of the protests.
This year’s commemoration marks the first since Assad was toppled on December 8 by Islamist-led rebels.
Ahmed Al-Sharaa, who headed the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham which spearheaded the offensive, has since been named interim president.
On Thursday, Sharaa signed into force a constitutional declaration regulating a five-year transition period before a permanent constitution is to be put into place.
Analysts have criticized the declaration, saying it grants too much power to Sharaa and fails to provide sufficient protection to the country’s minorities.
It also came a week after Syria’s Mediterranean coast, the heartland of Assad’s Alawite minority, was gripped by the worst wave of violence since his overthrow.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, security forces and allied groups killed at least 1,500 civilians, mainly Alawites, in the violence that erupted on March 6.
The United Nations’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said on Friday: “It is fourteen years since Syrians took to the streets in peaceful protest, demanding dignity, freedom and a better future.”
He added in a statement that despite the brutal civil war, “the resilience of Syrians and their pursuit of justice, dignity and peace endure. And they now deserve a transition that is worthy of this.”
He called for “an immediate end to all violence and for protection of civilians.”


Turkiye and Israel face mounting tensions over future of post-Assad Syria

Turkiye and Israel face mounting tensions over future of post-Assad Syria
Updated 15 March 2025
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Turkiye and Israel face mounting tensions over future of post-Assad Syria

Turkiye and Israel face mounting tensions over future of post-Assad Syria
  • Turkiye, which long backed groups opposed to Assad, has emerged as a key player in Syria and is advocating for a stable and united Syria
  • Israel on the other hand, remains deeply suspicious of Syria’s interim government and Turkiye’s influence over Damascus

ANKARA: The fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government has aggravated already tense relations between Turkiye and Israel, with their conflicting interests in Syria pushing the relationship toward a possible collision course.
Turkiye, which long backed groups opposed to Assad, has emerged as a key player in Syria and is advocating for a stable and united Syria, in which a central government maintains authority over the whole country.
It welcomed a breakthrough agreement that Syria’s new interim government signed this week with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, to integrate with the Syrian government and army.
Israel, on the other hand, remains deeply suspicious of Syria’s interim president, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, pointing to his roots in Al-Qaeda. It’s also wary of Turkiye’s influence over Damascus and appears to want to see Syria remain fragmented after the country under Assad was turned into a staging ground for its archenemy, Iran, and Tehran’s proxies.
“Syria has become a theater for proxy warfare between Turkiye and Israel, which clearly see each other as regional competitors,” said Asli Aydintasbas, of the Washington-based Brookings Institute.
“This is a very dangerous dynamic because in all different aspects of Syria’s transition, there is a clash of Turkish and Israeli positions.”
Following Assad’s fall, Israel seized territory in southern Syria, which Israeli officials said was aimed at keeping hostile groups away from its border. The new Syrian government and the United Nations have said Israel’s incursions violate a 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two countries and have called for Israel to withdraw. Israel has also conducted airstrikes targeting military assets left behind by Assad’s forces and has expressed plans to maintain a long-term presence in the region.
Analysts say Israel is concerned over the possibility of Turkiye expanding its military presence inside Syria. Since 2016, Turkiye has launched operations in northern Syria to push back Syrian Kurdish militias linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and maintains influence in the north of the country through military bases and alliances with groups that opposed Assad.
Turkish defense officials have said Turkiye and Syria are now cooperating to strengthen the country’s defense and security, and that a military delegation will visit Syria next week.
Nimrod Goren, president of the Mitvim Institute, an Israeli foreign policy think tank, said that unlike Turkiye, which supports a strong, centralized and stable Syria, Israel at the moment appears to prefer Syria fragmented, with the belief that could better bolster Israel’s security.
He said Israel is concerned about Al-Sharaa and his Islamist ties, and fears that his consolidated strength could pose what Israel has called a “jihadist threat” along its northern border.
Israeli officials say they will not tolerate a Syrian military presence south of Damascus and have threatened to invade a Damascus suburb in defense of members of the Druze minority sect, who live in both Israel and Syria, after short-lived clashes broke out between the new Syrian security forces and Druze armed factions. The distance from Damascus to the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights is about 60 kilometers (37 miles.)
Turkiye and Israel once were close allies, but the relationship has been marked by deep tensions under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s more than two-decade rule, despite brief periods of reconciliation. Erdogan is an outspoken critic of Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians, while Israel has been angered by Erdogan’s support for the Hamas militant group, which Israel considers to be a terrorist group.
Following the war in Gaza, Turkiye strongly denounced Israel’s military actions, announced it was cutting trade ties with Israel, and joined a genocide case South Africa brought against Israel at the UN International Court of Justice.
Aydintasbas said Turkish authorities are now increasingly concerned that Israel is “supportive of autonomy demands from Kurds, the Druze and Alawites.”
Erdogan issued a thinly veiled threat against Israel last week, saying: “Those who seek to provoke ethnic and religious (divisions) in Syria to exploit instability in the country should know that they will not be able to achieve their goals.”
Last week, factions allied with the new Syrian government — allegedly including some backed by Turkiye — launched revenge attacks on members of Assad’s Alawite minority sect after pro-Assad groups attacked government security forces on Syria’s coast. Monitoring groups said hundreds of civilians were killed.
Erdogan strongly condemned the violence and suggested the attacks were aimed at “Syria’s territorial integrity and social stability.”
Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel, said the deadly sectarian violence amounted to “ethnic cleansing” by Islamist groups led by “a jihadist Islamist terror group that took Damascus by force and was supported by Turkiye.”
Israel, Haskel added, was working to prevent a threat along its border from Syria’s new “jihadist regime.”
Israel’s involvement in Syria is deepening, with the country pledging protection and economic aid to the Druze community in southern Syria at a time of heightened sectarian tensions.
The Druze, a small religious sect, are caught between Syria’s new Islamist-led government in Damascus and Israel, which many Syrians view as a hostile neighbor leveraging the Druze’s plight to justify its intervention in the region. Israel says it sent food aid trucks to the Druze in southern Syria and is allowing some Syrian Druze to cross into the Israeli-controlled part of the Golan Heights to work.
Al-Sharaa was somewhat conciliatory toward Israel in his early statements, saying that he didn’t seek a conflict. But his language has become stronger. In a speech at a recent Arab League emergency meeting in Cairo, he said that Israel’s “aggressive expansion is not only a violation of Syrian sovereignty, but a direct threat to security and peace in the entire region.”
The Brookings Institute’s Aydintasbas said the escalating tensions are cause for serious concern.
“Before we used to have Israel and Turkiye occasionally engage in spats, but be able to decouple their security relationship from everything else,” Aydintasbas said. “But right now, they are actively trying to undermine each other. The question is, do these countries know each other’s red lines?”
A report from the Institute for National Security Studies, a think tank led by a former Israeli military intelligence chief, suggested that Israel could benefit from engaging with Turkiye, the one regional power with considerable influence over Syria’s leadership, to reduce the risk of military conflict between Israel and Syria.


Arab American mayors in Michigan nominated by Trump as ambassador to Kuwait and Tunisia

Arab American mayors in Michigan nominated by Trump as ambassador to Kuwait and Tunisia
Updated 15 March 2025
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Arab American mayors in Michigan nominated by Trump as ambassador to Kuwait and Tunisia

Arab American mayors in Michigan nominated by Trump as ambassador to Kuwait and Tunisia
  • Amer Ghalib and Bill Bazzi were among a number of Muslim leaders from the state who publicly endorsed Trump for the presidency last year
  • ‘It’s a great honor to have the trust of the president,’ Ghalib tells Arab News. ‘I will utilize my skills … to strengthen the relationship between’ the US and Kuwait

CHICAGO: Amer Ghalib, the mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, said on Friday he was “honored” to be nominated by President Donald Trump for the post of US ambassador to Kuwait.
Meanwhile, Bill Bazzi, the mayor of Dearborn Heights, also in Michigan, was nominated by Trump this week to serve as the US envoy to Tunisia.
Arab American Muslims Ghalib and Bazzi were among the Michigan officials who publicly endorsed Trump for the presidency last year over Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
“It’s a great honor to have the trust of the president placed in me to represent our great county and serve as the next ambassador to the State of Kuwait,” Ghalib told Arab News on Friday.

Dearborn Heights, Michigan, Mayor Bill Bazzi†speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a campaign rally at Suburban Collection Showplace on October 26, 2024 in Novi, Michigan. (AFP file photo)

“I will utilize my skills, Arabic language, cultural understanding and diverse background to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. I’m excited about my next chapter in my journey and I’ll make the American people proud of me.”
Ghalib, who became mayor of Hamtramck in November 2021, is the first Arab American and Muslim to hold the office in the city, which has a Muslim-majority population.
Trump was officially endorsed during his run for president by Ghalib and Bazzi, and several other Arab and Muslim leaders and imams from Michigan, on Oct. 26 last year during a press conference in the city of Novi.
Bazzi did not respond to Arab News when asked to comment on his nomination, but in a message posted on Facebook, he wrote: “I am honored and appreciate President Donald Trump’s appointment to serve as US Ambassador to Tunisia.
“Among the distinct countries I have visited over the years, I hold a great affinity to Tunisia and its honorable parliament, elected officials, educators, and other industry leaders — along with the people I met while touring orphanages, women’s career institutions, schools, and a multitude of companies which distinguish the country’s rising presence in the region.
“With my visits overseas, the cohort’s visits to the US, and the relations we have established over the years, I am excited to return and honorably represent our Country in Tunisia as its US Ambassador. My purpose is to continue serving in capacities which make an impact, promote peace and diplomatic partnerships, which benefit our Country and enhance global relations.”
Trump wrote on social media platform X: “Bazzi is a decorated US Marine, who honorably served our Country for 21 years, collaborating with US Embassy Ambassadors, Diplomats, and Leaders throughout the world.”
Bazzi, who was born in Bint Jbeil, Lebanon, was appointed mayor of Dearborn Heights in January 2021 following the death of the incumbent and won the election for the office in November that year. He had previously served as the temporary chairperson of Dearborn Heights City Council since 2017.
Bishara Bahbah, the founder of Arab Americans for Trump, an organization that worked in several states to rally Arab and Muslim American elected officials and leaders in support of Trump’s presidential campaign, praised the appointments of Ghalib and Bazzi as “a demonstration of the president’s commitment to the Arab and Muslim community.”
He told Arab News: “Arab Americans for Peace, formerly Arab Americans for Trump, is delighted with President Trump’s nomination of two distinguished Arab American mayors from Michigan as the new ambassadors to Kuwait and Tunisia.
“Both men risked their political careers, having been elected as Democrats to their posts. Mayor Bazzi and Mayor Ghalib are outstanding individuals who wanted to see the end of the wars in both Gaza and Lebanon.”
The nominations reflect the growing influence of Arab Americans in US politics, Bahbah said, and are “a testament to the newfound power of Arab Americans in this past US presidential election and future presidential elections.
“We are confident that both mayors will be effective ambassadors representing the best interests of the United States. Their Arab backgrounds will undoubtedly help foster better US-Kuwaiti and US-Tunisian diplomatic relations.”
The nominations must now be considered and approved by a majority vote in the US Senate.

 


Turkiye says it will closely monitor a Syrian government deal with a Kurdish armed group

Turkiye says it will closely monitor a Syrian government deal with a Kurdish armed group
Updated 15 March 2025
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Turkiye says it will closely monitor a Syrian government deal with a Kurdish armed group

Turkiye says it will closely monitor a Syrian government deal with a Kurdish armed group
  • Turkish FM says deal integrating the Kurdish-led SDF into Syria's armed forces looks fine
  • But Ankara will watch for potential future provocations that could threaten Turkiye's stability

ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s foreign minister said Friday that Ankara is closely monitoring an agreement between the Syrian government and a US-backed Kurdish-led armed group, expressing concern over potential future provocations and plots that could threaten Turkiye’s security.
Hakan Fidan, speaking in an interview with the Turkish TV100 channel, said Turkiye had relayed its concerns to Syrian officials in a sudden visit to Syria on Thursday.
“If there is an agreement signed with good intentions, let it be done, but there may be some problems or mines planted for the future,” he said. “We as Turkiye are monitoring these very closely.”
The agreement to integrate the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, into the Syrian government followed fierce clashes that erupted last week between government security forces and gunmen loyal to ousted leader Bashar Assad.
Fidan said Turkiye does not see the deal as granting autonomy to the SDF. “No one should feel like a minority but should feel like they are a special part of a greater prosperity by benefiting from equal opportunities,” he said.
The SDF is a US-backed Kurdish military alliance in northeastern Syria that has a presence in most of the territory in that part of the country.
Turkiye designates the SDF and its military arm, the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, as terrorist organizations because of their links to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
Addressing a question on whether the YPG and SDF could be integrated into the Syrian army without laying down arms, Fidan said the issue had been discussed with the new Syrian leaders, including interim leader Ahmad Al-Sharaa. He said Turkiye’s top intelligence officials were also present and that Turkiye would remain vigilant in assessing any progress on the issue.
Fidan said Al-Sharaa assured him that the articles in the deal would call for the YPG to be fully integrated into the Syrian army.
Al-Sharaa “actually said that the current articles (are aligned with Turkish interests).” ... The agreement made will completely include the YPG in the army.”
“Essentially, what we have been saying from the very beginning is this: The new Syrian administration must take the initiative to end the YPG occupation and piracy,” Fidan said, referring to the continued presence of the group in the area.
Fidan added that Turkiye would keep a close watch on developments, stressing that “life should return to normal” for all communities in Syria, including Kurds, Arabs, Turkmens, Christians and Alawites.


G7 calls for resumption of ‘unhindered’ aid for Gaza

G7 calls for resumption of ‘unhindered’ aid for Gaza
Updated 15 March 2025
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G7 calls for resumption of ‘unhindered’ aid for Gaza

G7 calls for resumption of ‘unhindered’ aid for Gaza
  • “Hamas was told in no uncertain terms that this ‘bridge’ would have to be implemented soon — and that dual US Israeli citizen Edan Alexander would have to be released immediately,” the statement said

CHARLEVOIX, Canada: The G7 on Friday called for the resumption of “unhindered” humanitarian aid for Gaza.
In a final statement from their foreign ministers in Canada, the group of powerful democracies “reaffirmed their support for the resumption of unhindered humanitarian aid into Gaza and for a permanent ceasefire.”
The White House, meanwhile, accused Hamas on Friday of making “entirely impractical” demands and stalling on a deal to release a US Israeli hostage in exchange for an extension of the Gaza ceasefire.

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The White House accused Hamas on Friday of making ‘entirely impractical’ demands and stalling on a deal to release a US Israeli hostage in exchange for an extension of the Gaza ceasefire.

“Hamas is making a very bad bet that time is on its side. It is not,” a statement from the office of President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and the US National Security Council said.
“Hamas is well aware of the deadline, and should know that we will respond accordingly if that deadline passes,” it said, adding that Trump had already vowed Hamas would “pay a severe price” for not freeing hostages.
Witkoff presented a “bridge” proposal in Qatar on Wednesday to extend the first phase of the truce to mid-April if Hamas releases living hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
“Hamas was told in no uncertain terms that this ‘bridge’ would have to be implemented soon — and that dual US Israeli citizen Edan Alexander would have to be released immediately,” the statement said.
“Unfortunately, Hamas has chosen to respond by publicly claiming flexibility while privately making demands that are entirely impractical without a permanent ceasefire,” it added.