GAZA CITY: With a family of five, a two-story home and a pharmacy, Tamer Al-Sultan had a life many in the besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip would envy, but he still felt trapped.
Fed up with the heavy-handed rule of Hamas, Al-Sultan braved a treacherous journey in hopes of starting a new life in the West — only to die along the way. His death has drawn attention to the growing exodus of middle-class Gazans who can no longer bear to live in the isolated coastal territory.
It has also struck a nerve among many Palestinians because he appears to have fled persecution by Hamas, rather than the territory’s dire economic conditions following a 12-year blockade by Israel and Egypt, imposed when the Islamic militant group seized power.
Al-Sultan had vented about Hamas’ rule on social media and joined rare protests against a Hamas tax hike in March that were quickly and violently suppressed. Amin Abed, a friend who was arrested with Al-Sultan on three occasions over the protests, said they were doused with cold water and beaten with plastic whips.
So Al-Sultan left, following in the footsteps of thousands of other educated, middle-class Palestinians. The exodus has gathered pace in recent years, raising fears that Gaza could lose its doctors, lawyers, teachers and thinkers, putting the Palestinians’ dream of establishing a prosperous independent state in even greater peril.
He had planned to go to Belgium, where he had relatives, and bring his family after gaining refugee status. But his journey ended in Bosnia, where he died last month at the age of 38.
The exact cause of his death is not known. A purported hospital report from Bosnia circulated online says he had blood cancer, but the document has not been authenticated, and his family says he was in good health prior to the journey.
“He left Gaza because of the oppression,” his brother, Ramadan Al-Sultan, said at the family’s home in the northern town of Beit Lahiya. Mourners at the funeral last month marched with the yellow flags of the rival Fatah movement and chanted “Out, Out!” when Hamas supporters showed up.
Palestinians have long seen their steadfastness in remaining on the land as their best hope for one day gaining independence from Israeli military rule, and both the Western-backed Palestinian Authority and its rival Hamas are opposed to emigration. Hamas cleric Salem Salama recently issued a fatwa, or religious edict, against emigration, saying “those who leave our homeland with the intention of not coming back deserve the wrath of God.”
There is no official count of the number of Palestinians who have emigrated from Gaza. Israel does not control Rafah, the main exit point, and Hamas and Egypt do not track such figures.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says 104,600 Palestinians left Gaza in 2018 and 2019 and 75,783 returned. But it’s not clear whether all of the roughly 30,000 net departures are emigrants. Many Gazans leave for extended periods to study or work abroad, with the intention of returning.
“It’s certain that thousands have taken advantage of the opportunity to exit Gaza in the hopes of finding a better future, away from the poverty and feeling of hopelessness at home,” says Gisha, an Israeli rights group that advocates for Palestinian freedom of movement.
There is no official resettlement program, so many Palestinians resort to informal routes. Al-Sultan took one of the more popular ones.
He left through the Rafah crossing, which Egypt has kept open on a regular basis since May 2018 after years of largely restricting travel to humanitarian cases. From there, Al-Sultan went to Turkey, which welcomes Palestinian visitors. Then he took a rickety boat to Greece and worked his way up through the Balkans.
The International Organization for Migration says 1,177 Palestinians have crossed from Turkey to Greece by sea since the start of the year, the fourth most crossings by nationality. Over the past year, at least six Gazans have died on that route, including Al-Sultan, according to local media reports.
While Al-Sultan left to escape Hamas, many others have fled poverty and isolation. The blockade, along with Palestinian infighting , has devastated the local economy. More than half of Gaza’s labor force is unemployed and some 80 percent rely on food assistance. Daily power cuts last for several hours, and the tap water is undrinkable.
Mohammed Nassir graduated with a degree in information technology three years ago and opened a computer shop in his hometown of Beit Hanoun, but soon went out of business. He found a part-time job at an advertising company, but the firm shut down two months later.
Last week he waited outside the Rafah crossing, hoping his name would be called so he could board one of the three buses Egypt allows in every day.
“There is nothing left for us here,” he said. “No work, no present, no future, and above all, no hope.”
His uncle lives in Germany and is working on getting him a visa to travel there. Until then, he intends to sojourn in Egypt.
“If things don’t work out, I don’t know what I will do. But any place would be better than Gaza,” he said.
At the other end of the long and uncertain journey is Karim Nashwan, a prominent lawyer who left Gaza with his family in 2016 after his children graduated from university and now lives outside Brussels. He says he wishes he had left even earlier.
“My children decided to leave, and I agreed with them. They have no jobs, no safety, no future and no life in Gaza,” he said in a phone interview.
His wife and five children risked everything to travel the Turkey-Greece route before eventually flying onward to Belgium. He was able to join them later by traveling to Belgium legally under a family reunification program.
“The children learned the language and are integrating in the society,” he said. “We lost hope in Gaza.”
Gazan’s death abroad shines light on middle-class exodus
Gazan’s death abroad shines light on middle-class exodus
- Sultan has left, following in the footsteps of thousands of other educated, middle-class Palestinians
- The exodus has gathered pace in recent years
Cancer-hit UK king hails doctors in Christmas speech
- “We cannot help but think of those for whom the devastating effects of conflict in the Middle East … pose a daily threat to so many people’s lives,” king said
LONDON: King Charles III thanked “selfless doctors and nurses” for supporting the royal family in his Christmas address, marking the end of a year during which he and Princess Catherine have battled cancer.
Speaking in a pre-recorded message from a former hospital chapel, the king paid tribute to medical staff, veterans and humanitarian workers, and touched upon topics ranging from global conflicts to the far-right riots in the UK this summer.
The monarch’s traditional Christmas message, the first in nearly two decades made outside a royal residence, was symbolically filmed in the ornate Fitzrovia Chapel in central London.
“I offer special heartfelt thanks to the selfless doctors and nurses who this year have supported me and other members of my family through the uncertainties and anxieties of illness, and have helped provide the strength, care and comfort we have needed,” Charles, 76, said.
“I am deeply grateful too to all those who have offered us their own kind words of sympathy and encouragement,” the king added.
His daughter-in-law Princess Catherine was also diagnosed with cancer just weeks after him, temporarily removing the two senior royals from frontline duties.
They have gradually resumed engagements, with Kate, as she is widely known, announcing she had completed chemotherapy in September. Charles is still undergoing regular treatment for cancer, expected to continue into 2025.
Charles, who became monarch in 2022 after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II, also hailed the country’s response to divisive far-right riots that took place across England in August and September following the fatal stabbing of three young girls.
“I felt a deep sense of pride here in the United Kingdom when in response to anger and lawlessness in several towns this summer, communities came together not to repeat these behaviors, but to repair,” Charles said.
Calling for peace, the king reflected on conflicts across the world in a year which also marked the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
“During previous (D-Day) commemorations, we were able to console ourselves with the thoughts that these tragic events seldom happen in the modern era,” said Charles.
“But on this Christmas Day, we cannot help but think of those for whom the devastating effects of conflict in the Middle East, in Central Europe, in Africa and elsewhere, pose a daily threat to so many people’s lives and livelihoods.”
Charles praised the “diversity of culture, ethnicity and faith” in Commonwealth countries, after attending a summit in Samoa in October.
“Across the Commonwealth, we are held together by a willingness to listen to each other,” Charles added, as the bloc increasingly confronts the legacy of slavery and colonialism under the former empire.
The eco-conscious king notably did not address climate change or environmental concerns this time around, in a shift from last year’s address.
However, in the backdrop of the broadcast was a live Christmas tree that was later donated and replanted, a tradition begun by Charles in 2023.
The king ended the speech with a call for “peace on earth.”
“And so it is with this in mind that I wish you and all those you love a most joyful and peaceful Christmas,” he concluded.
In keeping with tradition, Charles and his wife Queen Camilla, 77, were joined by other senior royals for their annual festive gathering at the family’s Sandringham estate in eastern England.
Heir-to-the-throne Prince William and Kate along with their three children were part of the royal entourage attending a morning church service followed by Christmas lunch.
Disgraced Prince Andrew, however, was missing from the festivities after revelations of his dealings with a suspected Chinese spy emerged just weeks earlier.
The king’s younger brother was present at last year’s gathering despite being shunned from royal life over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Also missing were Prince Harry and his wife Meghan — who quit royal life in 2020 and moved to California — making it the sixth royal Christmas they have missed in a row.
Hamas says ‘new’ Israeli conditions delaying agreement on Gaza ceasefire
- “Occupation has set new conditions concerning withdrawal (of troops), the ceasefire, prisoners, and the return of displaced people,” Hamas said
JERUSALEM: Hamas accused Israel on Wednesday of imposing “new conditions” that it said were delaying a ceasefire agreement in the war in Gaza, though it acknowledged negotiations were still ongoing.
Israel has made no public statement about any new conditions in its efforts to secure the release of hostages seized on October 7, 2023.
Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, have taken place in Doha in recent days, rekindling hope for a truce deal that has proven elusive.
“The ceasefire and prisoner exchange negotiations are continuing in Doha under the mediation of Qatar and Egypt in a serious manner... but the occupation has set new conditions concerning withdrawal (of troops), the ceasefire, prisoners, and the return of displaced people, which has delayed reaching an agreement,” the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.
Hamas did not elaborate on the conditions imposed by Israel.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told parliament that there was “some progress” in the talks, and on Tuesday his office said Israeli representatives had returned from Qatar after “significant negotiations.”
Last week, Hamas and two other Palestinian militant groups — Islamic Jihad and the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine — said in a rare joint statement that a ceasefire agreement was “closer than ever,” provided Israel did not impose new conditions.
Efforts to strike a truce and hostage release deal have repeatedly failed over key stumbling blocks.
Despite numerous rounds of indirect talks, Israel and Hamas have agreed just one truce, which lasted for a week at the end of 2023.
Negotiations have faced multiple challenges since then, with the primary point of disagreement being the establishment of a lasting ceasefire in Gaza.
Another unresolved issue is the governance of post-war Gaza.
It remains a highly contentious issue, including within the Palestinian leadership.
Israel has said repeatedly that it will not allow Hamas to run the territory ever again.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, Netanyahu said: “I’m not going to agree to end the war before we remove Hamas.”
He added Israel is “not going to leave them in power in Gaza, 30 miles from Tel Aviv. It’s not going to happen.”
Netanyahu has also repeatedly stated that he does not want to withdraw Israeli troops from the Philadelphi Corridor, a strip of land cleared and controlled by Israel along Gaza’s border with Egypt.
The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, during which militants seized 251 hostages.
Ninety-six of them are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the army says are dead.
The attack resulted in 1,208 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 45,361 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
Syria authorities say torched 1 million captagon pills
- Captagon is a banned amphetamine-like stimulant that became Syria’s largest export during the country’s more than 13-year civil war
- Stimulant has flooded the black market across the region in recent years
DAMASCUS: Syria’s new authorities torched a large stockpile of drugs on Wednesday, two security officials told AFP, including one million pills of captagon, whose industrial-scale production flourished under ousted president Bashar Assad.
Captagon is a banned amphetamine-like stimulant that became Syria’s largest export during the country’s more than 13-year civil war, effectively turning it into a narco state under Assad.
“We found a large quantity of captagon, around one million pills,” said a balaclava-wearing member of the security forces, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Osama, and whose khaki uniform bore a “public security” patch.
An AFP journalist saw forces pour fuel over and set fire to a cache of cannabis, the painkiller tramadol, and around 50 bags of pink and yellow captagon pills in a security compound formerly belonging to Assad’s forces in the capital’s Kafr Sousa district.
Captagon has flooded the black market across the region in recent years.
“The security forces of the new government discovered a drug warehouse as they were inspecting the security quarter,” said another member of the security forces, who identified himself as Hamza.
Authorities destroyed the stocks of alcohol, cannabis, captagon and hashish in order to “protect Syrian society” and “cut off smuggling routes used by Assad family businesses,” he added.
Syria’s new rulers have yet to spell out their policy on alcohol, which has long been widely available in the country.
Since a militant alliance toppled Assad on December 8 after a lightning offensive, Syria’s new authorities have said massive quantities of captagon have been found in former government sites around the country, including security branches.
AFP journalists in Syria have seen fighters from Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) set fire to what they said were stashes of captagon found at facilities once operated by Assad’s forces.
Security force member Hamza confirmed Wednesday that “this is not the first initiative of its kind — the security services, in a number of locations, have found other warehouses... and drug manufacturing sites and destroyed them in the appropriate manner.”
Maher Assad, a military commander and the brother of Bashar Assad, is widely accused of being the power behind the lucrative captagon trade.
Experts believe Syria’s former leader used the threat of drug-fueled unrest to put pressure on Arab governments.
Jordan in recent years has cracked down on the smuggling of weapons and drugs including captagon along its 375-kilometer (230-mile) border with Syria.
UK to host Israel-Palestine peace summit
- PM Starmer drawing on experience working on Northern Ireland peace process
- G7 fund to unlock financing for reconciliation projects
LONDON: The UK will host an international summit early next year aimed at bringing long-term peace to Israel and Palestine, The Independent reported.
The event will launch the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, which is backed by the Alliance for Middle East Peace, containing more than 160 organizations engaged in peacebuilding between Israelis and Palestinians.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who worked on the Northern Ireland peace process, ordered Foreign Secretary David Lammy to begin work on hosting the summit.
The fund being unlocked alongside the summit pools money from G7 countries to build “an environment conducive to peacemaking.” The US opened the fund with a $250 million donation in 2020.
As part of peacebuilding efforts, the fund supports projects “to help build the foundation for peaceful co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians and for a sustainable two-state solution.”
It also supports reconciliation between Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel, as well as the development of the Palestinian private sector in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Young Israelis and Palestinians will meet and work together during internships in G7 countries as part of the scheme.
Former Labour Shadow Middle East Minister Wayne David and ex-Conservative Middle East Minister Alistair Burt said the fund is vital in bringing an end to the conflict.
In a joint piece for The Independent, they said: “The prime minister’s pledge reflects growing global momentum to support peacebuilding efforts from the ground up, ensuring that the voices of those who have long worked for equality, security and dignity for all are not only heard, but are actively shaping the societal and political conditions that real conflict resolution will require.
“Starmer’s announcement that the foreign secretary will host an inaugural meeting in London to support peacebuilders is a vital first step … This meeting will help to solidify the UK’s role as a leader in shaping the future of the region.”
The fund is modeled on the International Fund for Ireland, which spurred peacebuilding efforts in the lead-up to the 1999 Good Friday Agreement. Starmer is drawing inspiration from his work in Northern Ireland to shape the scheme.
He served as human rights adviser to the Northern Ireland Policing Board from 2003-2007, monitoring the service’s compliance with human rights law introduced through the Good Friday Agreement.
David and Burt said the UK is “a natural convener” for the new scheme, adding: “That role is needed now more than ever.”
They said: “The British government is in a good position to do this for three reasons: Firstly, the very public reaching out to diplomatic partners, and joint ministerial visits, emphasises the government turning a page on its key relationships.
“Secondly, Britain retains a significant influence in the Middle East, often bridging across those who may have differences with each other. And, thirdly, there is the experience of Northern Ireland.
“Because of his personal and professional engagement with Northern Ireland, Keir Starmer is fully aware of the important role civil society has played in helping to lay the foundations for peace.”
Erdogan announces plans to open Turkish consulate in Aleppo
- Erdogan also issued a stern warning to Kurdish militants in Syria
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Wednesday that Turkiye will soon open a consulate in Syria's Aleppo.
Erdogan also issued a stern warning to Kurdish militants in Syria, stating they must either "lay down their weapons or be buried in Syrian lands with their weapons."
The remarks underscore Turkiye's firm stance on combating Kurdish groups it views as a threat to its national security.
