Frankly Speaking: Is a Palestinian state more remote than ever?

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Updated 23 February 2025
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Frankly Speaking: Is a Palestinian state more remote than ever?

Frankly Speaking: Is a Palestinian state more remote than ever?
  • Riyad Mansour rejects forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, wants Israeli PM Netanyahu to face justice at ICC for war crimes
  • The permanent observer of Palestine to the UN says the PA appreciates “Saudi Arabia’s principled position on statehood”

DUBAI: Riyad Mansour, permanent observer of Palestine to the UN, has strongly rejected any proposal to eject the Palestinian population from Gaza to Jordan and Egypt, reaffirming the Palestinian people’s right to rebuild their homeland and establish a state of their own.

Appearing on the Arab News current affairs program “Frankly Speaking,” Mansour also praised Saudi Arabia’s support for Palestinian sovereignty, accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of war crimes, and outlined the role of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza’s future.

The controversial proposal floated by US President Donald Trump to take control of Gaza and relocate Palestinians to Jordan and Egypt has been met with outright rejection by regional leaders.

King Abdullah II of Jordan, the first Arab leader to meet Trump in Washington since he began his second term, made it clear that Amman would not accept any forced transfer of Palestinians. Instead, Jordan agreed to take in 2,000 critically ill Palestinian children for medical treatment.

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Mansour highlighted the unified Arab stance against any forced displacement of Palestinians. “The King (Abdullah II) put on his X account that the Kingdom (of Jordan) is against the transfer of the Palestinians outside of the Gaza Strip,” he told “Frankly Speaking” host Katie Jensen.

“Their position is very firm in order to see the ceasefire holding and the implementation of the agreement. He said that there is no solution except the two-state solution and readiness of Jordan and the Arabs to work with the Trump administration for accomplishing these objectives.”

Following Trump’s remarks earlier this month in which he announced his intention to take over Gaza and remove its Palestinian population, Saudi Arabia issued a strong statement reaffirming Palestinian sovereignty.

“The Kingdom affirms that the Palestinian people have a right to their land, and they are not intruders or immigrants to it who can be expelled whenever the brutal Israeli occupation wishes,” Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry posted on X. Similar strong statements on the issue have been issued by the Kingdom since then.




Riyad Mansour, permanent observer of Palestine to the UN, during his appearance on the “Frankly Speaking” current affairs show. (AN Photo)

Mansour praised Saudi Arabia’s swift and firm stance. “I was not surprised,” he said. “We work very closely with our brothers in Saudi Arabia at all kinds of levels. We are on the same page, that the question of Palestine and the rights of the Palestinian people should be recognized.”

He also highlighted the role of the Arab Peace Initiative, first proposed by Saudi Arabia in 2002, in shaping the international response to Palestinian statehood. “We appreciate all these principled, very powerful, and strong positions of Saudi Arabia,” he said.

“And I believe all of the Arab countries are on the same page with Saudi Arabia in order to push back against those who want... to finish the national aspirations of the Palestinian people.”

Netanyahu, currently facing corruption charges that could lead to a 10-year prison sentence, has come under further scrutiny for his handling of the war in Gaza. Many critics believe his political survival hinges on prolonging the conflict.

Mansour was unequivocal about Netanyahu’s legal and moral accountability. “At the global (level), he is also an international wanted criminal by the ICC. There is a warrant for his arrest as a war criminal and he has to face justice in that International Criminal Court.”

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu on Nov. 24, accusing him of using starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population, and of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts — accusations he has rejected.

Similar warrants were issued for Yoav Gallant, Israel’s former minister of defense, and for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, who was reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike on July 13, 2024.

While leaving Israeli domestic matters to their citizens, Mansour stressed that the international community must pursue justice for the atrocities committed in Gaza. “The international community will deal with him as a wanted international criminal in The Hague and the ICC.”

Asked whether the conflict in Gaza and the threatened exile of the Palestinian people would have happened had Hamas not committed the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, or if it had agreed to hand over the hostages taken in that attack much sooner, Mansour said nothing justified the “genocidal war” Israel had mounted against civilians.

“The history of the Palestine question did not start on Oct. 7,” he said. “And regardless of what happened on Oct. 7, there is no justification whatsoever for the genocidal war committed against the Palestinian civilians.”

Since the war began, some 64,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to some estimates, while at least 110,000 have been injured, thousands of children orphaned, and countless more having lost limbs in Israel’s bombardment of the enclave.




A Palestinian man stands amidst the rubble of buildings destroyed during the Israeli offensive, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 16, 2025. (Reuters)

“These crimes cannot be justified for any reason whatsoever under international law, under morality, under humanity,” said Mansour.

“So therefore, those who are trying to justify this massive amount of killing, because of what happened on Oct. 7, there is no justification for what they did, and those criminals who gave the order to commit these crimes against the Palestinian people, especially the children and women, should face justice and they should receive the punishment that they deserve.”

With ongoing speculation over who will govern Gaza after the war, which has been paused since the ceasefire deal of Jan. 19, Mansour insisted that the Palestinian Authority remains the legitimate government of the State of Palestine.

“We have a legitimate government and we have the recognition of the international community and the Arab official systems of the government of the State of Palestine and the Palestine Liberation Organization as the representative of the Palestinian people,” he said.

He outlined the PA’s responsibility in ensuring governance in Gaza after the war. “Now, those who have this legitimacy, they have also the responsibility to shoulder their responsibilities in terms of doing what needs to be done in the Gaza Strip.”

Mansour pointed to a detailed plan presented by Egypt and shared with the UN, which supports PA governance as a key component of regional peace efforts.

“The legitimate government, which is acceptable by the international community, is the party that’s supposed to be dealing with its full power in terms of its responsibilities in the Gaza Strip,” he said.

Ahmed Aboul Gheit, secretary-general of the Arab League, suggested in a recent interview with Al Arabiya that Hamas should step aside if it serves Palestinian interests.

Asked whether the group should relinquish power, Mansour emphasized the need for Palestinian self-determination.

“We have a lot of issues to deal with internally in the Palestinian house,” he said. “And I believe that we should be left to deal with these issues internally.”

He added that once a permanent ceasefire is in place, internal Palestinian matters can be addressed. “Once we succeed in putting an end to this war and make the ceasefire permanent, there are a lot of things that we need to deal with internally,” he added.

Trump’s suggestion that many Palestinians would rather leave Gaza permanently has been widely condemned by Arab leaders. Mansour dismissed the claim, pointing to the recent return of hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to their war-ravaged homes in the north of Gaza.




During the interview with Katie Jensen (L), Mansour praised Saudi Arabia’s swift and firm stance on the Palestinian issue. (AN Photo)

“The answer was given by our people who marched in two days, in the span of a few hours, by marching from the south to the north in more than 450,000 people,” he said.

“They knew that they were going back to destroyed homes and properties, but loving the land and the place where you were born and where you have memories and you have dreams, it is so valuable to us. It is in our DNA as Palestinians.”

Mansour reaffirmed that the Palestinian people will never accept forced displacement.

“The answer came from those who marched on their feet, not even by vehicle, from the south to the north, old, young, all of them going back to these places. So that is the answer of those of our people whom some say that they have no choice but to leave. No, they have a choice.

“They are returning to the place that they cherish and love. This is the meaning of why do people fight for their national homelands? Why do they defend it with all of their might? Because they love it and they’re attached to it and they want to be in it.

“That is so applicable to us, the Palestinian people, and for those who do not know us, this is a very important component of our being as Palestinians, of how much we love our homeland, how much we love our land and our country, whether it has palaces on it or whether it has destroyed homes.

“It is our land and we don’t have any other country except the country that we love, which is Palestine.”

 


Turkiye calls on EU to lift Syria sanctions ahead of international conference

Turkiye calls on EU to lift Syria sanctions ahead of international conference
Updated 16 sec ago
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Turkiye calls on EU to lift Syria sanctions ahead of international conference

Turkiye calls on EU to lift Syria sanctions ahead of international conference
  • The EU will host the ninth international conference in support of Syria on Monday
  • For the first time, representatives of Syria’s new interim government have been invited to attend

ISTANBUL: Turkiye on Sunday called on the European Union to unconditionally lift sanctions on the Syrian Arab Republic, ahead of an international aid conference in Brussels to which the war-torn country’s new authorities have been invited.
Ankara, allied with Syria’s new rulers who ousted president Bashar Assad and took power in December, views such a step as necessary for a “peaceful transition” in the country, Turkiye’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
The European Union on Monday will host the ninth international conference in support of Syria. For the first time, representatives of Syria’s government — the new interim authorities — have been invited to attend.
The event aims to raise international support for Syria’s transition and recovery after more than 13 years of civil war.
The European bloc on February 24 already announced an easing of sanctions on Syria’s energy, transport and banking sectors to relieve some of the challenges facing Ahmed Al-Sharaa, Syria’s interim president.
But Europe and other powers remain wary over what direction Sharaa’s Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) — which spearheaded the lightning offensive that toppled Assad on December 8 — may take Syria.
While there are hopes Sharaa’s authorities can stabilize the country and usher in an inclusive future, recent deadly violence targeting the Alawite minority to which Assad belongs has kept doubts floating.
EU foreign ministers have warned that the sanctions they eased could be reimposed if Syria’s new leaders break promises to respect the rights of minorities and move toward democracy.
“Syria’s economic security is essential for the country’s stability and security,” Turkiye’s ministry said, adding that “economic opportunities and jobs need to be created.”
“The sanctions must be lifted unconditionally and for an indeterminate period,” it said.
Turkiye, which hosts nearly three million Syrian refugees, also urged reconstruction of Syria “to encourage returns.”
Turkish deputy foreign minister Nuh Yilmaz will attend the Brussels conference.


Iraq says seized one ton of captagon from Syria via Turkiye

Iraq says seized one ton of captagon from Syria via Turkiye
Updated 39 min 16 sec ago
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Iraq says seized one ton of captagon from Syria via Turkiye

Iraq says seized one ton of captagon from Syria via Turkiye

BAGHDAD: Iraqi security forces seized more than a ton of captagon tablets smuggled from Syria via Turkiye, the interior ministry said on Sunday.
Ministry spokesman Moqdad Miri said the Narcotics Directorate “seized a truck from Syria, bound for Iraq, via Turkiye, transporting 1.1 tons” of the powerful synthetic stimulant.


Lebanon says Israeli strike kills one in south

Lebanon says Israeli strike kills one in south
Updated 16 March 2025
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Lebanon says Israeli strike kills one in south

Lebanon says Israeli strike kills one in south
  • The strike targeted a four-wheel-drive vehicle near Yater in Bint Jbeil district at around 2:00 am

Beirut: An Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon on Sunday killed one person, the health ministry said, the latest attack more than three months into a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The strike, which also wounded one person, targeted a four-wheel-drive vehicle near Yater in Bint Jbeil district at around 2:00 am, the official National News Agency reported.
“The Israeli enemy’s air strike on a vehicle in the town of Yater resulted in the martyrdom of a citizen and the injury of another,” the ministry said in a statement carried by NNA.
It comes a day after the ministry said one person was killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the southern border town of Burj Al-Muluk.
Following that raid, the Israeli military said it “struck a Hezbollah terrorist who took part in terrorist activity in the area of Kfarkela in southern Lebanon.”
And on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it carried out a strike in southern Lebanon that killed a senior Hezbollah militant.
That came as Lebanon received four detainees who had been taken to Israel during fighting with Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group, with a fifth detainee, a soldier, released on Thursday after he was taken earlier this month.
A November 27 truce largely halted more than a year of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, including two months of full-blown war in which Israel sent in ground troops.
Israel has continued to carry out periodic strikes on Lebanese territory since the agreement took effect.
Israel had been due to withdraw from Lebanon by February 18 after missing a January deadline, but it has kept troops at five locations it deems “strategic.”
The ceasefire also required Hezbollah to pull back north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, and to dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.


Trump launches large-scale strikes on Yemen’s Houthis, at least 24 killed

Trump launches large-scale strikes on Yemen’s Houthis, at least 24 killed
Updated 16 March 2025
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Trump launches large-scale strikes on Yemen’s Houthis, at least 24 killed

Trump launches large-scale strikes on Yemen’s Houthis, at least 24 killed
  • US president warns Iran, Houthis’ main backer, against supporting armed group 
  • Development takes place as Washington ramps up sanctions pressure on Tehran

WASHINGTON/ADEN: US President Donald Trump launched large-scale military strikes against Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis on Saturday over the group’s attacks against Red Sea shipping, killing at least 24 people at the start of a campaign expected to last many days.

Trump also warned Iran, the Houthis’ main backer, that it needed to immediately halt support for the group. He said if Iran threatened the United States, “America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!”

The unfolding strikes — which one US official told Reuters might continue for weeks — represent the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since Trump took office in January. It came as the United States ramps up sanctions pressure on Tehran while trying to bring it to the negotiating table over its nuclear program.

“To all Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY. IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

At least 13 civilians were killed and nine injured in US strikes on Yemen’s capital Sanaa, according to the Houthi-run health ministry.

At least 11 others, including four children and one woman, were killed and 14 were injured in a US strike on the northern province of Saada, the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported.

The Houthis’ political bureau described the attacks as a “war crime.”

“Our Yemeni armed forces are fully prepared to respond to escalation with escalation,” it said in a statement.

Residents in Sanaa said the strikes hit a building in a Houthi stronghold.

“The explosions were violent and shook the neighborhood like an earthquake. They terrified our women and children,” one of the residents, who gave his name as Abdullah Yahia, told Reuters.

Another strike on a power station in the town of Dahyan in Saada led to a power cut, Al-Masirah TV reported early on Sunday. Dahyan is where Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, the enigmatic leader of the Houthis, often meets his visitors.

The Houthis, an armed movement that took control of most of Yemen over the past decade, have launched scores of attacks on ships off its coast since November 2023, disrupting global commerce and setting the US military on a costly campaign to intercept missiles and drones that have burned through stocks of US air defenses.

A Pentagon spokesperson said the Houthis have attacked US warships 174 times and commercial vessels 145 times since 2023. The Houthis say the attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war in Gaza with Hamas militants.

Iran’s other allies, Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon, have been severely weakened by Israel since the start of the Gaza conflict. Syria’s Bashar Assad, who was closely aligned with Tehran, was overthrown by rebels in December.

But throughout, Yemen’s Houthis have remained resilient and often on the offensive, sinking two vessels, seizing another and killing at least four seafarers in an offensive that disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to reroute to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.

The US administration of then-President Joe Biden had sought to degrade the Houthis’ ability to attack vessels off its coast but limited the US actions.
US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say Trump has authorized a more aggressive approach.

Strikes across Yemen

The strikes on Saturday were carried out in part by fighter aircraft from the Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, which is in the Red Sea, officials said.

The US military’s Central Command, which oversees troops in the Middle East, described Saturday’s strikes as the start of a large-scale operation across Yemen.

“Houthi attacks on American ships & aircraft (and our troops!) will not be tolerated; and Iran, their benefactor, is on notice,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X. “Freedom of Navigation will be restored.”

Trump held out the prospect of far more devastating military action against Yemen.

“The Houthi attack on American vessels will not be tolerated. We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective,” Trump wrote.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the US government had “no authority, or business, dictating Iranian foreign policy.”

“End support for Israeli genocide and terrorism. Stop killing of Yemeni people,” he said in an X post on early Sunday.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Tuesday, the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli ships passing through the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, the Bab Al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden, ending a period of relative calm starting in January with the Gaza ceasefire.

The US attacks came just days after a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei from Trump was delivered, seeking talks over Iran’s nuclear program.

Khamenei on Wednesday rejected holding negotiations with the United States.

Still, Tehran is increasingly concerned that mounting public anger over economic hardships could erupt into mass protests, four Iranian officials told Reuters.

Last year, Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses, in retaliation for Iranian missile and drone attacks, reduced Tehran’s conventional military capabilities, according to US officials.

Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, it is dramatically accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60 percent purity, close to the roughly 90 percent weapons-grade level, the UN nuclear watchdog — the International Atomic Energy Agency — has warned.

Western states say there is no need to enrich uranium to such a high level under any civilian program and that no other country has done so without producing nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.

In an apparent sign of US efforts to improve ties with Russia, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke on Saturday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to inform him about the US strikes in Yemen, the State Department said.

Russia has relied on Iranian-provided weaponry in its war in Ukraine, including missiles and drones, US and Ukrainian officials say.


White House withdraws nomination for hostage envoy Adam Boehle

Adam Boehler, U.S. President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs. (REUTERS file photo)
Adam Boehler, U.S. President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs. (REUTERS file photo)
Updated 16 March 2025
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White House withdraws nomination for hostage envoy Adam Boehle

Adam Boehler, U.S. President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs. (REUTERS file photo)
  • A White House official said Boehler withdrew his nomination to avoid divesting from his investment company

WASHINGTON: The administration of President Donald Trump has withdrawn the nomination of Adam Boehler to serve as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, the White House said on Saturday.
Boehler, who has been working to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, will continue hostage-related work as a so-called “special government employee,” a position that would not need Senate confirmation.
“Adam Boehler will continue to serve President Trump as a special government employee focused on hostage negotiations,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
“Adam played a critical role in negotiating Marc Fogel’s return from Russia. He will continue this important work to bring wrongfully detained individuals worldwide home.”
A White House official said Boehler withdrew his nomination to avoid divesting from his investment company.
The move was unrelated to the controversy sparked by his discussions with Hamas.
“He still has the utmost confidence of President Trump,” said the official.
“This gives me the best ability to help Americans held abroad as well as work across agencies to achieve President Trump’s objectives,” Boehler said in a brief statement.
Boehler recently held direct meetings with Hamas on the release of hostages in Gaza.
The discussions broke with a decades-old policy by Washington against negotiating with groups that the US brands as terrorist organizations.
The talks angered some Senate Republicans and some Israeli leaders.
According to Axios, Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer expressed his displeasure to Boehler in a tense phone call last week.
Hamas carried out a cross-border raid into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel responded with an offensive into the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
Boehler was given permission from the Trump administration to engage directly with Hamas, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this week, calling the talks a “one-off situation” that had not borne fruit.
Boehler has been credited with helping secure the release of American schoolteacher Marc Fogel, who Russia freed in February after three and a half years in prison.