Why fury over Israeli actions in Gaza and West Bank may lead to EU sanctions

Special Why fury over Israeli actions in Gaza and West Bank may lead to EU sanctions
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A child cries as Palestinians gather to receive a hot meal at a food distribution point in the Nuseirat camp for refugees in the central Gaza Strip on May 24, 2025. (AFP)
Special Why fury over Israeli actions in Gaza and West Bank may lead to EU sanctions
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Special Why fury over Israeli actions in Gaza and West Bank may lead to EU sanctions
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European Union diplomats leave in a rush after shots were fired by the Israeli military as they visited a refugee camp in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on May 21, 2025. (AFP)
Special Why fury over Israeli actions in Gaza and West Bank may lead to EU sanctions
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Palestinian boys fill their containers with water in the Nuseirat camp for refugees in the central Gaza Strip on May 24, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 26 May 2025
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Why fury over Israeli actions in Gaza and West Bank may lead to EU sanctions

Why fury over Israeli actions in Gaza and West Bank may lead to EU sanctions
  • Calls rise for arms embargo, ICC referrals and greater aid access after Israeli military fire in Jenin forces foreign ministers to scatter
  • Trade deal with Israel under review amid alarm over Gaza famine warnings, West Bank settler violence, international law violations

LONDON: Watching the widely circulated footage of Israeli soldiers firing “warning shots” in the direction of a delegation of foreign diplomats visiting a refugee camp in the Palestinian city of Jenin on Wednesday, it was hard to resist the conclusion that the Israeli military had lost its collective mind.

Luckily, no one was injured in the incident. But in a manner of speaking, Israel shot itself in the foot.

Opinion

This section contains relevant reference points, placed in (Opinion field)

The extraordinary provocation took place as Israel was already facing a rising wave of condemnation — internally and externally — and the threat of international sanctions for its actions in Gaza and the West Bank.

International support for Israel, so unified in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian militant groups, in which 1,200 Israelis and others were killed and 251 more were taken hostage, has steadily crumbled in the face of outrage after outrage, which collectively have left more than 50,000 Palestinians dead and much of Gaza reduced to uninhabitable rubble.

 

Last Tuesday, the day before the shooting incident in Jenin, the European Union announced that it was reviewing its political and economic relations with Israel – no hollow threat from a bloc that is Israel’s biggest trading partner.

“The situation in Gaza is catastrophic,” Kaja Kallas, high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy and vice-president of the European Commission, said on Tuesday.

Earlier that same day, the UN had raised the specter of thousands of babies dying of starvation “in the next 48 hours” if Israel did not allow aid trucks to enter the territory immediately.




Israeli soldiers fired ‘warning shots’ in the direction of European diplomats visiting a Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin, in the West Bank, on May 21, forcing them to scatter and sparking diplomatic outrage. (AFP)

Israel, while rejecting the suggestion that mass starvation was imminent, responded by allowing what critics condemned as a wholly insufficient token amount of aid into Gaza.

“The aid that Israel has allowed in is of course welcomed, but it’s a drop in the ocean,” said Kallas. “Aid must flow immediately without obstruction and at scale.”

She had, she added, "made these points also with my talks with Israelis … and regional leaders as well. Pressure is necessary to change the situation.”

And pressure is building up. In an unprecedented move, the EU is now reviewing the EU-Israel Association Agreement, the legal basis for its trade relations with Israel, which entered into force in June 2000.




Illustration posted on the website of the European Coordination Committees and Associations for Palestine, along with a report saying 63 MEPs calling on EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement. 

Pressure for this review has been mounting since May 7, when Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp urged the EU to act, saying “the situation in Gaza compels us to take this step.”

Disturbed by the nightmarish scenes in Gaza and reports of increasing settler violence in the West Bank, his government, he said, “will draw a line in the sand.”

Losing European trade would be a massive blow to Israel’s economy. The EU is Israel’s biggest trading partner – in 2024 34.2 percent of Israel’s imports came from the EU while 28.8 percent of Israel’s exports went to the EU. The total value of the trade in goods between the two in 2024 was o 42.6 billion euros.

“The review will specifically assess Israel’s adherence to the human rights provisions within the deal,” said Caroline Rose, a director at the New Lines Institute focused on defense, security and geopolitical landscapes.




Palestinians transport their belongings as they flee the northern Gaza Strip toward the south, along the coastal al-Rashid road on May 25, 2025. (AFP)

The clause in the agreement that is now under legal scrutiny is Article 2. This states that “Relations between the Parties, as well as all the provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy and constitutes an essential element of this Agreement.”

Other international measures are under consideration, said Rose, including “imposing a full arms embargo, referring Israel to the International Criminal Court (ICC), as advocated by Pakistan, enforcing a ceasefire and humanitarian aid access, sanctioning Israeli officials, supporting recognition of a Palestinian state, dismantling illegal settlements, reforming the UN Security Council veto system, and coordinating global reconstruction aid.”

Rose cautions that “internal divisions within the bloc could stall progress. While 17 member states support the review, countries such as Germany, Hungary, Austria and Italy reportedly oppose it. Germany and Austria, in particular, have resisted punitive measures despite issuing public condemnations.”




People move past destroyed buildings as smoke billows following an Israeli strike in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on May 25, 2025. (AFP)

Germany, bearing the moral weight of the Holocaust, has been a staunch supporter of Israel since its creation in 1948. But now, under new conservative chancellor Friedrich Merz, even Berlin is wavering.

Last week, out of concern for the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, Merz despatched his foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, on a fact-finding mission. Wadephul was among the diplomats scattered by the warning shots fired by the Israeli military on Wednesday, as were senior delegates from countries including France, Belgium, the UK, Italy, Canada, Russia and China. 

All the countries involved have lodged complaints with Israel about the episode, which the Palestinian Authority condemned as a “heinous crime” a “deliberate and unlawful act” which “constitutes a blatant and grave breach of international law.”




Israeli soldiers fired ‘warning shots’ in the direction of European diplomats visiting a Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin, in the West Bank, on May 21, forcing them to scatter and sparking diplomatic outrage. (AFP)

The day after the shooting in Jenin, during a visit to Lithuania the German chancellor said “we are very concerned about the situation in the Gaza Strip and also about the intensification of the Israeli army’s military operations there.

“We are urging, above all, that humanitarian aid finally reaches the Gaza Strip without delay, and also reaches the people there, because, as we hear from the United Nations, there is now a real threat of famine.”

On May 13 a study by the Bertelsmann Foundation found that over the past four years Germans had developed an increasingly negative view of Israel. In 2021 46 percent of Germans had a positive view of the country, compared with only 36 percent today, with 38 percent now viewing it negatively. Germany has seen many mass protests since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza, which a majority of Germans oppose.

IN NUMBERS:

• 38% Germans who now view Israel negatively.

• 10% Drop in number of Germans who view Israel positively.

Source: Bertelsmann Foundation study

On May 19, two days before the Israeli military’s live-fire intimidation of international diplomats, the UK, France and Canada issued a joint statement condemning the situations in Gaza and the West Bank and strongly opposing the expansion of Israeli military operations in Gaza.

While also calling on Hamas to immediately release the remaining hostages, the statement denounced “the level of human suffering in Gaza” as “intolerable.”

The three nations added: “Yesterday’s announcement that Israel will allow a basic quantity of food into Gaza is wholly inadequate. We call on the Israeli Government to stop its military operations in Gaza and immediately allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.”




Palestinians wait to receive aid, in Gaza City, on May 25, 2025. (REUTERS)

Israel, warned the statement, “risks breaching international humanitarian law,” adding: “We condemn the abhorrent language used recently by members of the Israeli Government, threatening that, in their despair at the destruction of Gaza, civilians will start to relocate. Permanent forced displacement is a breach of international humanitarian law.”

Israel had a right to defend Israelis against terrorism, “but this escalation is wholly disproportionate.”

As a result, “We will not stand by while the Netanyahu government pursues these egregious actions. If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response.”




A fire blazes in an olive grove in the village of Salem, east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on May 25, 2025, after Israeli settlers reportedly started a fire near the road to the Israeli settlement of Alon Moreh, according to eyewitnesses and the local village council. (AFP)

In the West Bank, Israel must also “halt settlements which are illegal and undermine the viability of a Palestinian state and the security of both Israelis and Palestinians.

“We will not hesitate to take further action, including targeted sanctions.”

On May 20, as the death toll from Israeli air strikes over the previous week reached 500, the UK summoned Israel’s ambassador to London, paused talks on a new free-trade agreement, and announced further sanctions against West Bank settlers.

Israel’s operation in Gaza was "incompatible with the principles that underpin our bilateral relationship,” David Lammy, the UK foreign minister, told parliament.

“It is extremism. It is dangerous. It is repellent. It is monstrous, and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”




Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy speaking to MPs during a statement on Israel and the war in Gaza in the House of Commons, in London, on May 20, 2025. (AFP)

All these moves “clearly reflect growing discomfort with Israeli military actions in Gaza but also in the West Bank,” Sir John Jenkins, who served as British ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Syria and as consul-general in Jerusalem, told Arab News.

“This has been crystallized by the issue of humanitarian aid. The UN has not handled this well itself. But it’s a real political problem for Western governments, with significant domestic implications, which is why the UK has also paused trade talks.”

However, he added, “none of this will affect the Israeli decision-making process in the short term, and Western governments will be very reluctant to do anything that helps Hamas.

“But they will be increasingly keen to see a proper plan for the endgame. The question is: How much does the Trump administration support them? The news last week of the shooting of the two Israeli diplomats in Washington will only complicate this calculation.”

 

 

Israel, increasingly isolated, nevertheless remains defiant. “The British Mandate ended exactly 77 years ago,” a spokesperson for its foreign ministry said in response to last week’s criticism from the UK. “External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence and security against enemies who seek its destruction.”

Yet in Europe that external pressure is mounting. So much so that, after 20 years of campaigning virtually in the wilderness for “freedom, justice and equality” for Palestinians, the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement finally finds its much-criticised methods on the cusp of becoming mainstream.

Founded in 2005, for two decades the Palestinian-led BDS and those who support it have endured international censure, based on an unquestioning acceptance of Israel’s accusation that the organization’s aims are merely a manifestation of antisemitism.

Now, however, as governments in Europe, shocked by Israel’s latest actions and the seemingly deliberate starvation of two million people in Gaza, begin to adopt stances for which BDS has been calling for 20 years, as it marks its 20th anniversary the organisation and its work is being vindicated.

“For the first time ever, even the world’s most complicit governments are being forced – due to people power and moral outrage – to publicly consider accountability measures against Israel,” the BDS said in a statement.




Mourners react next to the body of a Palestinian killed in Israeli strikes, during a funeral at Nasser hospital, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 23, 2025. (REUTERS)

This was “another clear sign that our collective popular BDS pressure is working. The taboo is broken – sanctions are the way forward to end Israel’s atrocious crimes.”

Nevertheless, the organization continues to be critical of the UK, France and Canada, countries which had spent 19 months “enabling Israel’s genocide with intelligence gathering and other military means.” The statements by the three “are far too late and fall dangerously short of meeting these States’ legal obligations under international law, including the Genocide Convention and the Apartheid Convention.”

BDS says it is now stepping up its campaign to “transform tokenism and empty threats into tangible and effective accountability measures, starting with a two-way military embargo and full-scale trade and diplomatic sanctions.”

 

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, keenly aware as ever of his dependence upon the support of the right-wing extremists in his cabinet, went on the offensive last week.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, he said, were siding with “mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers.” Astonishingly, he added, Starmer, Macron and Carney were “on the wrong side of humanity and … the wrong side of history.”

In fact, in the wake of the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7, 2023, all three countries came out in unequivocal support of Israel, and its right to defend itself.

 

 

What Netanyahu is refusing to acknowledge is that in the eyes of the world, the events of that day do not give Israel a carte blanche.

His apparent determination to continue the war seemingly in order to keep himself in power, and to support the Zionist extremists in his cabinet who want to see Palestine ethnically cleansed, is facing growing criticism within Israel itself.

One of the staunchest critics is Ehud Olmert, Israel’s prime minister from 2006 to 2009, who recently told the BBC that what Israel was doing in Gaza was “close to a war crime.”




Former Palestinian foreign minister Nasser Al-Kidwa appears on a screen as former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert holds a microphone on stage, during the It's Time People’s Peace Summit at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem on May 9, 2025. (AFP)

That earned him a rebuke from a current Israeli minister, but on Friday Olmert intensified his criticism. “A group of thugs … are running the state of Israel these days and the head of the gang is Netanyahu,” he told the BBC World Service.

He added: “Of course they are criticizing me, they are defaming me, I accept it, and it will not stop me from criticizing and opposing these atrocious policies.”

Speaking to Arab News, Ahron Bregman, a former Israeli soldier and a senior teaching fellow in King’s College London’s Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, said: “You don’t have to be an expert on international humanitarian law to conclude that what the Israelis are doing in the Gaza Strip is carrying out terrible war crimes.

“European governments can’t ignore this any longer, as their publics are furious, and, at last, they have started to react.”

 

 

Ideally, he said, “it would be the UN Security Council that instructs Israel to stop the industrial killing in Gaza and the starving of the Gazans, but the Israelis seem confident that US President Donald Trump will not let such a resolution pass.

“But who knows? Sometimes, in war, there are moments which are turning points, moments that push nations of the world over the edge and make them take action to stop wars.”

Bregman believes only two courses of action “would make the Israeli government rethink and change its criminal behaviour in Gaza.”

The first is that European countries should block trade relations with Israel — a step now being seriously considered in the European Union — and impose sanctions on the state.

“You don’t have to be an expert on international humanitarian law to conclude that what the Israelis are doing in the Gaza Strip is carrying out terrible war crimes.

Ahron Bregman, a former Israeli soldier and a senior teaching fellow in King’s College London’s Institute of Middle Eastern Studies

But his second suggestion, coming as it does from a man who served in the Israeli army for six years and took part in the 1982 Lebanon War, shows just how far the actions of the current Israeli government have strayed from what mainstream public opinion in the country now regards as acceptable.

“Young Israelis who fought in Gaza should be stopped when trying to cross into Europe,” he said.

“They should be investigated for their actions in Gaza and arrested if there’s any suspicion of war crimes.”

And, he added, “pilots, who caused most of the damage in Gaza, should be sent automatically for trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.”
 

 


Anti-aircraft missiles fire as drones fly over Port Sudan: witnesses

A Sudanese man walks past destroyed military vehicles in front of a hospital in Khartoum on April 28, 2025. (AFP)
A Sudanese man walks past destroyed military vehicles in front of a hospital in Khartoum on April 28, 2025. (AFP)
Updated 01 June 2025
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Anti-aircraft missiles fire as drones fly over Port Sudan: witnesses

A Sudanese man walks past destroyed military vehicles in front of a hospital in Khartoum on April 28, 2025. (AFP)
  • Since Sudanese authorities fled the capital Khartoum early in the war, Port Sudan has hosted government ministries, the United Nations and hundreds of thousands of people

PORT SUDAN, Sudan: Anti-aircraft missiles fired over Sudan’s wartime capital Port Sudan on Saturday, eyewitnesses reported, as drones flew over the once-safe haven city.
Since April 2023, war has raged between Sudan’s regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Port Sudan, seat of the army-backed government, came under attack by drones blamed on the RSF for the first time early this month.
The campaign of drone strikes attacked infrastructure including the country’s last functioning civilian international airport, power stations and major fuel depots.
The near-daily strikes had stopped for over a week until Saturday, when residents in the city heard “the sound of anti-aircraft missiles north and west of the city and drones flying in the sky,” one witness told AFP.
Since Sudanese authorities fled the capital Khartoum early in the war, Port Sudan has hosted government ministries, the United Nations and hundreds of thousands of people.
Nearly all aid into the country — home to nearly 25 million people suffering dire food insecurity — transits through Port Sudan.
The war has killed tens of thousands, uprooted 13 million and created what the UN describes as the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.
It has also effectively split Sudan in two, with the army holding the center, east and north, while the paramilitaries and their allies control nearly all of Darfur and parts of the south.
Since losing Khartoum in March, the RSF has adopted a two-pronged strategy: long-range drone strikes on army-held cities accompanied by counteroffensives to reclaim territory in the country’s south.
The drone strikes have impacted infrastructure across Sudan’s army-held northeast, with attacks on power stations causing blackouts for millions of people.
A blackout in Khartoum also cut off access to clean water, according to health authorities, causing a cholera outbreak that has killed close to 300 people this month.
 

 


Will the lifting of sanctions usher in a new beginning for the Syrian people?

Will the lifting of sanctions usher in a new beginning for the Syrian people?
Updated 31 May 2025
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Will the lifting of sanctions usher in a new beginning for the Syrian people?

Will the lifting of sanctions usher in a new beginning for the Syrian people?
  • As Syrians begin to dream of a peaceful and prosperous future, experts warn progress will be slow, uneven, and depend on structural reform
  • Analysts say rejoining the global economy is within reach for Syria, but hinges on the pace of reconstruction and restoration of trust in leadership

LONDON: When news broke that Western sanctions on Syria would be lifted, Marwah Morhly finally allowed herself to imagine something she had not dared to in years: a stable life in her hometown of Damascus.

A Syrian writer and editor now living in Turkiye, Morhly once navigated a precarious existence back home — trying to earn a remote income in a country cut off from global banking systems and mired in uncertainty.

Returning to Damascus always felt like a distant dream — too risky and too complicated. But with sanctions easing, that dream is beginning to look attainable.

“It’s a different kind of freedom — the freedom to dream,” she told Arab News.

“As someone who works remotely, the lifting of sanctions lets me imagine a future where I can work from my home in Damascus, receive my salary through a bank transfer directly to my account there, without any form of danger or exploitation.”

Under sanctions, she said, Syrians working with foreign clients had to operate in secrecy.

“We were working in the shadows … like ghosts,” she said. “We weren’t allowed to be visible, like unknown soldiers, because the moment it became clear (to employers abroad) that the work was happening inside Syria, it could jeopardize our livelihoods.”

The breakthrough came on May 13, when US President Donald Trump, during a visit to Riyadh, announced the lifting of sanctions on Syria. He framed the move as a historic opportunity for economic recovery and political stabilization.

A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace shows the historic meeting between President Donald Trump (C) and Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh on May 13, 2025, arranged by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R). (AFP)

Ten days later, the US Treasury Department issued General License 25, authorizing transactions with Syria’s new transitional government, led by President Ahmad Al-Sharaa. In parallel, the State Department suspended the Caesar Act sanctions for 180 days, signaling a pivot toward reconstruction and humanitarian relief.

The EU soon followed suit, announcing the end of its own economic sanctions in a coordinated effort to support a nation fractured by more than a decade of civil war.

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud announced from Damascus a joint effort with Qatar to fund salary support for Syria’s state employees.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan (L) Syria's interim foreign minister Asaad Shaibani giving a joint press conference in Damascus on May 31, 2025. (SANA handout via AFP)

The move built on the two countries’ decision earlier in May to pay off the $15.5 million debt Syria owed to the International Development Association, a World Bank fund that provides zero- or low-interest loans and grants to the world’s poorest countries.

This policy shift did not happen in a vacuum. Ibrahim Al-Assil, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said years of grassroots advocacy were pivotal.

“Of course, the Saudi role was huge, and many Syrians appreciate that, and same for the Turkish role,” Al-Assil told CNN.

“But also, many Syrians have been working on that — from students to academics to activists to business leaders and journalists writing and talking about this and pushing more and more towards lifting sanctions.”

The impact of these efforts goes beyond international politics. “Why? Because it allows Syrians to breathe again,” he said, adding that sanctions are often viewed only on a macro level as something that affects an entire country. In reality, they have a serious impact on daily life.

“We forget that they affect the lives of the individuals on the tiny details — from medicine to connectivity and being able to check their email normally … also to what industries they can have, where they can travel, what kind of machines they can buy for their factories.”

For ordinary Syrians, these limitations posed immense challenges. Now, Al-Assil said, the situation is changing.

“It’s still challenging, but the major obstacle seems to have been moved out of the way for Syrians, allowing them to move ahead and rebuild their country.”

Beyond basic needs, the lifting of sanctions opens new possibilities for professionals still living in Syria — many of whom have endured years of isolation, limited access to technology, and restricted earning potential.

Salma Saleh, a graphic designer based in Damascus, says she has spent 13 years building her career under the weight of sanctions, along with the years before that dedicated to her education.

“The challenges have been endless,” she told Arab News. “We struggled to access most technologies and tools. Often, we had to use workarounds just to get hold of banned software or platforms.”

Freelancing is no easier. “Syrians are blocked from PayPal and most global payment platforms used by freelancing platforms,” she said.

“Even sites essential for our work like Shutterstock, Freepik, and Envato are inaccessible. We can’t even purchase courses on Coursera or Udemy, nor the software we work with, such as Adobe programs.

“We can’t promote our work on social media platforms due to the ban on paid advertisements in Syria. Clients are afraid to work with Syrian freelancers because of the difficulty with payment methods and fears of being accused of funding terrorism.”

Electricity outages posed further challenges. “My heart nearly stopped every time the power cut while I was rendering a video on my laptop,” said Saleh.

“It happened so many times we eventually got used to it. Syrian designers have become the most resilient professionals out there.”

Syria’s electricity sector has all but collapsed owing to infrastructure damage, fuel shortages, and economic sanctions. Once relatively stable, the system now delivers just a few hours of electricity per day. In some areas, that is as little as 30 minutes.

“We had to jump through hoops just to keep up with the rest of the world,” said Saleh. “We gave it everything. I consider the Syrian designer a super designer — and rightfully so.”

For Syrians across the diaspora, the developments mark a fragile but significant turning point. Cautious optimism is beginning to take root — even as the country remains divided and the road to recovery is long.

Lama Beddawi, a Syrian-American DevOps environment analyst based in the US, echoed that sentiment. “The recent decision to lift sanctions on Syria marks a pivotal turning point, and I am hopeful that it signals a move in the right direction,” she told Arab News.

“This development brings a sense of optimism that the country’s long-strained economy may begin to recover, opening the door for increased stability and renewed international investment,” she said.

“With fewer restrictions, Syria has the potential to rebuild its infrastructure, strengthen its institutions, and create opportunities for its people, paving the way for a more sustainable and prosperous future.”

Syrian men work in a textile workshop in Gaziantep, Turkiye, on January 30, 2025. (AFP)

Still, the benefits remain largely theoretical for now. On the ground, daily challenges persist, and progress will take time.

“Everyone understands this isn’t a magic fix — the effects will take time to show,” said Morhly. “As one man from central Damascus put it: ‘For now, we’ll take a hit from the dollar rate, but in a couple of months, more people will actually be able to afford meat again.’”

There is also cautious optimism that basic services might begin to improve. “There’s hope the electricity situation might improve — which is the second biggest concern after water, especially with summer approaching and the heat already setting in,” she added.

From an economic perspective, the lifting of sanctions presents both opportunities and challenges.

Mohamed Ghazal, managing director of Startup Syria, a community-led initiative supporting Syrian entrepreneurs, believes translating sanctions relief into concrete gains such as jobs, investment, and basic services “will be a complex and gradual process.”

He remains optimistic about certain sectors. “Quicker gains are possible in transport and trade,” Ghazal told Arab News.

However, critical areas like general business development and startups are experiencing slower momentum. “Lifting sanctions can take months,” said Ghazal. “Capital flow issues persist due to a crippled banking system.

“Syria’s banks lack access to SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), suffer low liquidity, and operate under opaque regulations.

“Attracting foreign capital requires a modern investment law, clear property rights, business licensing frameworks, and financial repatriation mechanisms.

“The speed of progress depends on comprehensive reforms, institutional rebuilding, international investment, and continued humanitarian support.

“The lifting of sanctions is expected to open up channels like new funding, banking, or investment channels for Syrian startups.”

Diaspora and foreign investors could offer the capital injection needed to get the economy off its knees.

There are “positive signs from the Syrian diaspora and potential foreign direct investment, especially from GCC countries and Turkiye,” said Ghazal. “Interest from impact investors seeking financial returns and social and environmental impact.”

He identified several immediate priorities for revitalizing the economy, including restoring access to SWIFT, enacting a modern investment law with clear legal protections, and easing import restrictions on essential technology to enable the use of software, cloud services, and digital tools.

The SWIFT system is a global messaging network that enables financial institutions to exchange transaction details — like money transfer instructions — quickly, securely, and accurately across borders.

Before Lebanon’s 2019 financial collapse, many Syrians used its banking system to bypass sanctions, parking billions in assets and accessing US dollars and trade channels. When the system froze, transfers stopped, savings were locked, and Syrians lost access to critical funds.

An employee counts Syrian pounds at an exchange counter in Damascus on May 21, 2025. (AFP)

The Syrian pound then collapsed, inflation surged, and the economy worsened. While some estimates once placed Syrian deposits as high as $40 billion, remaining deposits in 2025 were estimated at just $3 to $4 billion, according to the Karam Shaar Advisory consultancy.

Some experts believe sanctions relief could signal a path forward. Ghassan Ibrahim, a London-based Syria analyst and founder of the Global Arab Network, believes sanctions relief could unlock trade and investment.

“Lifting Western sanctions removes long-standing barriers to Syria joining the global market,” he told Arab News. “It restores credibility and sends a message that Syria is on the right path.”

Investor interest is already growing. “Next week, a few American investors are heading to Damascus. We’re also seeing engagement from GCC countries and Chinese firms already operating there.

“Any relief, especially from the US, will help get Syria back on track. It boosts the government’s legitimacy and strengthens its diplomatic hand.”

The broader economic and political impact cannot be understated. “President Al-Sharaa will be able to travel more freely, engage in diplomacy, and attract serious development partnerships,” said Ibrahim. “That’s critical for reconstruction.

“Ultimately, this shift could improve quality of life, create jobs, and drive long-term growth.”

A man looks at fruits at a stall, some of which were not available while deposed president Bashar al-Assad was in power, like kiwi, mango and pineapple, in the Shalaan Market in the Syrian capital Damascus on May 26, 2025. (AFP)

Still, Syria’s path to recovery remains long. Nearly six months after the fall of Bashar Assad, the country is still plagued by deep sectarian divisions, persistent violence, and political fragmentation.

In March 2025 alone, more than 1,100 people were killed in attacks targeting the Alawite minority following coordinated assaults on government forces. Survivors remain fearful of further violence, and many perpetrators have not been brought to justice.

Foreign threats compound internal instability. Israel has launched multiple airstrikes, including one near the presidential palace, citing threats to the Druze minority. Syria’s new leadership condemned the attacks, highlighting the fragility of foreign relations.

Internally, law and order remains weak. Women and minorities still face abuse, rights protections are unevenly enforced, and extremist groups continue to assert control in some regions, several news agencies have reported.

The humanitarian crisis also endures. Around 16.7 million Syrians rely on aid, while millions remain displaced. Israel maintains a military presence, and Turkiye has voiced opposition to any settlement between Damascus and Kurdish factions — complicating efforts toward national unity.

Though US, EU, and UK sanctions relief is meant to support Syria’s transition, the UN warns of “real dangers of renewed conflict.”

Meanwhile, the interim government faces the daunting task of rebuilding a country where 90 percent of the population lives in poverty and millions remain displaced.

The door may be open, but walking through it will require more than hope. It will take time, trust, and tangible change.
 

 


UNRWA chief warns Gaza famine ‘can still be prevented’ as aid access remains blocked

UNRWA chief warns Gaza famine ‘can still be prevented’ as aid access remains blocked
Updated 31 May 2025
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UNRWA chief warns Gaza famine ‘can still be prevented’ as aid access remains blocked

UNRWA chief warns Gaza famine ‘can still be prevented’ as aid access remains blocked
  • Philippe Lazzarini said amount of aid reaching territory “vastly disproportionate” to the scale of crisis

LONDON: The head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees has warned that famine in Gaza remains preventable, but only if there is the political will to act.

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said the amount of aid reaching the territory is “vastly disproportionate” to the scale of the crisis.

“What we are asking for is not impossible,” he said in a press statement on Saturday, urging that UN agencies be allowed to deliver vital assistance and uphold the dignity of those in need.

According to Lazzarini, just 900 aid trucks have entered Gaza over the past two weeks — covering only around 10% of the population’s daily needs. He stressed that preventing famine requires political decisions, not just logistical efforts.

He also called for the full resumption of humanitarian operations, which have largely been suspended since March 2. During the previous ceasefire, UNRWA and its partners had managed to bring in 600 to 800 trucks per day, he noted, underlining that it is feasible to scale up aid if access is granted.

Meanwhile, medical sources in Gaza said at least 60 Palestinians were killed and 284 injured in the past 24 hours amid ongoing fighting. Local health authorities report that since the conflict began in October 2023, 54,381 people have been killed and 124,381 wounded, with women and children making up the majority of casualties.

Since hostilities resumed on March 18, following a two-month truce, a further 4,117 people have been killed and 12,013 injured, the same sources added.


Kurdish delegation heads to Damascus for talks

A Syrian looks out of a window in his destroyed house in Hama province. (AFP)
A Syrian looks out of a window in his destroyed house in Hama province. (AFP)
Updated 31 May 2025
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Kurdish delegation heads to Damascus for talks

A Syrian looks out of a window in his destroyed house in Hama province. (AFP)
  • The March agreement states that the Kurds are an “essential component of the Syrian state,” guaranteeing the “right to citizenship and all ... constitutional rights.”

DAMASCUS: A delegation from northeast Syria’s semi-autonomous Kurdish administration was headed to Damascus on Saturday for talks on implementing a March deal to integrate Kurdish institutions into the state, a member of the delegation said.
Under the agreement signed by Syria’s interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurds are to integrate their civil and military institutions into the national government.
The deal includes all border crossings, oil and gas fields, and a regional airport.
A member of the Kurdish delegation said that “a delegation from the autonomous administration is on the way to Damascus to discuss” details of the March deal.
Despite the accord, the Kurds have criticized a constitutional declaration announced by the new authorities, who took power after ousting Bashar Assad in December, and said the new government failed to reflect the Syrian Arab Republic’s diversity.
Last month, Syrian Kurdish parties adopted a joint vision of a “decentralized democratic state,” a move rejected by Damascus, which warned against attempts at separatism or federalism by the minority group.
The March agreement states that the Kurds are an “essential component of the Syrian state,” guaranteeing the “right to citizenship and all ... constitutional rights.”
Syria’s Kurds suffered marginalization and repression under Assad’s rule, being deprived of the right to speak their language and celebrate their holidays and, in many cases, of Syrian nationality.
Earlier this month, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani warned that delaying the implementation of the deal would “prolong the chaos” in the country.
In an interview broadcast by Shams TV, based in Irbil in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region, SDF chief Abdi said that “we are committed to what was agreed with Damascus and we are currently working on implementing this agreement.”
He emphasized the need for a “decentralized Syria where all its components live with their full rights and nobody is excluded.”
But he accused Syria’s new authorities of wanting centralization and of “not being ready for everyone to live in Syria.”
Kurdish-led forces took control of much of Syria’s northeast, including its oil fields, during the country’s civil war and the Daesh insurgency.
With support from a US-led international coalition, the Kurdish-led SDF played a key role in Daesh’s territorial defeat in Syria in 2019.
Abdi said all Syrians should benefit from Syria’s oil wealth but said the Kurds wanted “an autonomous administration to govern locally and for the people of the area to manage security and political institutions.”

 


Hamas seeks changes in US Gaza proposal; Witkoff calls response ‘unacceptable’

Hamas seeks changes in US Gaza proposal; Witkoff calls response ‘unacceptable’
Updated 31 May 2025
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Hamas seeks changes in US Gaza proposal; Witkoff calls response ‘unacceptable’

Hamas seeks changes in US Gaza proposal; Witkoff calls response ‘unacceptable’
  • “This response aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip,” Hamas said
  • Witkoff wrote in a posting on X: “It is totally unacceptable and only takes us backward”

CAIRO/JERUSALEM: Hamas said on Saturday it was seeking amendments to a US-backed proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Israel in Gaza, but President Donald Trump’s envoy rejected the group’s response as “totally unacceptable.”

The Palestinian militant group said it was willing to release 10 living hostages and hand over the bodies of 18 dead in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. But Hamas reiterated demands for an end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, conditions Israel has rejected.

A Hamas official described the group’s response to the proposals from Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff as “positive” but said it was seeking some amendments. The official did not elaborate on the changes being sought by the group.

“This response aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to our people in the Strip,” Hamas said in a statement.

The proposals would see a 60-day truce and the exchange of 28 of the 58 hostages still held in Gaza for more than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, along with the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.

A Palestinian official familiar with the talks told Reuters that among amendments Hamas is seeking is the release of the hostages in three phases over the 60-day truce and more aid distribution in different areas. Hamas also wants guarantees the deal will lead to a permanent ceasefire, the official said.

There was no immediate response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office to the Hamas statement.

Israel has previously rejected Hamas’ conditions, instead demanding the complete disarmament of the group and its dismantling as a military and governing force, along with the return of all 58 remaining hostages.

Trump said on Friday he believed a ceasefire agreement was close after the latest proposals, and the White House said on Thursday that Israel had agreed to the terms.


Saying he had received Hamas’ response, Witkoff wrote in a posting on X: “It is totally unacceptable and only takes us backward. Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week.”

On Saturday, the Israeli military said it had killed Mohammad Sinwar, Hamas’ Gaza chief on May 13, confirming what Netanyahu said earlier this week.

Sinwar, the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the group’s deceased leader and mastermind of the October 2023 attack on Israel, was the target of an Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza. Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied his death.

The Israeli military, which relaunched its air and ground campaign in March following a two-month truce, said on Saturday it was continuing to hit targets in Gaza, including sniper posts and had killed what it said was the head of a Hamas weapons manufacturing site.

The campaign has cleared large areas along the boundaries of the Gaza Strip, squeezing the population of more than 2 million into an ever narrower section along the coast and around the southern city of Khan Younis.

Israel imposed a blockade on all supplies entering the enclave at the beginning of March in an effort to weaken Hamas and has found itself under increasing pressure from an international community shocked by the desperate humanitarian situation the blockade has created.

On Saturday, aid groups said dozens of World Food Programme trucks carrying flour to Gaza bakeries had been hijacked by armed groups and subsequently looted by people desperate for food after weeks of mounting hunger.

“After nearly 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving and they are no longer willing to watch food pass them by,” the WFP said in a statement.