DAVOS: Saudi Vision 2030 is an inspiration for Syria, which needs to become a place of peace and development, Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al-Shibani told the World Economic Forum on Wednesday.

“Where do we see inspiration for the new Syria? We have the Vision 2030 of Saudi Arabia,” Al-Shaibani said during a conversation with former UK prime minister Tony Blair at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“We need Syria to be a place of peace, to be a place of development, a place free of war.”

Having become foreign minister following the overthrow of the Bashar Assad regime on Dec. 8 last year, Al-Shaibani said the lifting of economic sanctions imposed on the former regime would be “key” to establishing stability in his country.

“Removing economic sanctions is the key for the stability of Syria,” he said, adding that they were imposed for the benefit of Syrians, but are now “against the Syrian people.”

“The reason for these sanctions is now in Moscow,” he said, referring to Assad, who fled to the Russian capital. A new government led by the victorious Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham has since taken Assad’s place, but still does not have full control over the nation’s territory.

“The Syrian people shouldn’t be punished” now that the deposed ruler was no longer in power, said Al-Shaibani. “We inherited a collapsed state from the Assad regime, there is no economic system,” he added, saying he hoped “the economy in the future will be open.”

Al-Shaibani said a committee had been formed to study economic conditions and infrastructure in Syria and would focus on privatization efforts, including of oil, cotton, and factories, while exploring “public-private partnerships to encourage investment into airports, railways and roads.”

Al-Shibani also confirmed that the country will open its economy to foreign investments, adding that Damascus was working on partnerships with Gulf states in the energy sector.

The new Syrian government has been especially keen to reach out to the Gulf states to reestablish ties, which have long suffered as a result of the Assad regime’s support for the narcotics trade.

“We chose to visit the Gulf countries, because we wanted to fix the relations with these countries, where Assad had made a lot of problems for them,” Al-Shibani said.

“(The Assad regime) used harsh language against them, exported Captagon there, these are important countries to the region. But Syria should also take its role in the region, and they can help us with that.”

Al-Shibani was not the only Middle Eastern voice at Davos on Wednesday. Iran’s vice-president for strategic affairs, Javad Zarif, also shared his reflections on the regional situation in the wake of Israel’s ceasefires with Hamas and Hezbollah. 

Speaking to CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Zarif said: “The resistance will stay as long as the occupation stays, as long as repression stays. Resistance to Israel, to Israeli occupation, to apartheid, to genocide, existed before the Iranian revolution.”

Zarif said Hamas still exists in Gaza and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not achieve his goal of destroying the Palestinian militant group during the 15-month war in the enclave.

“Hamas is still there. Israel had to come to a temporary ceasefire. I hope it will be permanent, for the sake of 50,000 people who were massacred by Israel, so that there won’t be another 50,000, but resistance is not dead,” said Zarif.

“I can tell you that the wish for the resistance to go away has been based on a misrepresentation, a framing by Israel, that this is not an Israeli-Palestinian issue, but an Israeli-Iranian issue.”

Zarif said the decades-old conflict can only be ended by resolving the Palestinian question.

“If you want to resolve the problem of Palestine, you should not look at Iran,” he said. “You should look at the Palestinian issue.

“As long as the Palestinian issue is there, the struggle will be there, the resistance will be there, and there will be support from the international community, including from Arab allies of the US.”

Speaking about US President Donald Trump, Zarif said he hoped  “a ‘Trump 2’ will be more serious, more focused, more realistic” when dealing with Iran.

In 2018, during his first term, Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama, and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran as part of his “maximum pressure” policy against the regime.

Tehran responded by breaching the deal in several ways, including by accelerating its uranium enrichment program.

Trump has vowed to return to the policy he pursued in his previous term that sought to use economic pressure to force Iran to negotiate a deal on its nuclear program, ballistic missiles, and regional activities, including its support for proxy militias.

Zarif added that Iran has good relations with Saudi Arabia and the UAE and that he has proposed a new arrangement in the region that is based on amity.

“I have proposed in an article I recently wrote in The Economist, after my Foreign Affairs article, that we should have a new arrangement in this region,” he said.

“I call it MWADA: Muslim, West Asia Dialog Association. In Arabic, ‘mwada’ means ‘amity,’ and the title in The Economist was ‘Amity instead of enmity.’ Let’s do that.”

In his own address earlier in the day, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres lamented the recent rash of conflicts in the Middle East.

“We see a multiplication of conflicts, some of which are leading to a reshaping of different regions of the world — not least the Middle East,” he told the annual meeting.

He did, however, highlight recent progress, including the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which has already resulted in the exchange of several prisoners and hostages.

“There is, finally, a measure of hope when the ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza takes place — and we are working to surge up desperately needed humanitarian aid,” Guterres said.

He also lauded the recent ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and the election of a new Lebanese president and prime minister, potentially ending years of political deadlock.

“I was also just in Lebanon where a cessation of hostilities is holding, and a new government is taking shape after two years of stalemate,” he said.

In relation to Syria, Guterres said there was still a danger of further disorder unless the victorious HTS formed an inclusive administration that could work with the international community.

“We still have a strong risk of fragmentation and of extremism in at least parts of the Syrian territory,” he said.

“It is in the interest of us all to engage to make things move in the direction of an inclusive form of governance and I think some gesture must be made in relation to the sanctions.”

BEIRUT: An Israeli force on Wednesday advanced into the Lebanese town of Taybeh, conducted extensive searches in the area up to Adchit Al-Qusayr and set fire to several homes.

Separately, an Israeli drone struck an area between Wadi Khansa and Al-Majidiya in the Hasbaya district.

The Israeli army is using the remaining time in the ceasefire deal with Hezbollah to establish control over the Lebanese border area.

A security source reported that the Israeli army reinstalled surveillance cameras and listening devices along the border.

The official National News Agency reported that the Israeli army “completed the construction of the concrete separation wall along the Blue Line from Yarin to Dahira.”

As the Lebanese army continues to establish positions in areas vacated by the Israeli army and prepares to enter the town of Hanine in the Bint Jbeil district, a number of residents from the towns of Al-Bayyadah, Shamaa, Alma Al-Shaab and Naqoura in the western sector were permitted to visit their hometowns.

Activists on social media circulated statements urging local populations to “prepare for Sunday, the date by which, according to the ceasefire agreement, the Israeli withdrawal from the border area should have occurred, allowing people to return to their towns.”

However, the Israeli army has continued to prohibit locals from entering the towns, using gunfire as a warning.

A statement issued to residents of Khiam urged caution and advised against hasty returns, “pending an official announcement from the relevant authorities to assess the security situation, as well as from the Lebanese Army, which is expected to clarify the situation on Saturday evening and determine whether a safe return is feasible.”

The statement said: “We are dealing with a treacherous enemy. Do not grant them the opportunity for betrayal, aggression, murder, bombardment and destruction once again.”

In support of the Lebanese Army, the European Council approved on Wednesday a third aid measure under the European Peace Facility, amounting to €60 million ($62 million) for the army.

The measure, according to a statement, “contributes to enhancing the capabilities of the Lebanese army to enable it — in line with Resolution 1701 — to redeploy and secure and maintain stability in the South Litani sector.

“This contributes to protecting the civilian population in the area, and works to enhance the operational capabilities and effectiveness of the Lebanese army, to contribute to national and regional security, thus allowing displaced civilians on both sides to return to their homes.”

Kaja Kallas, EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said: “This new assistance represents a significant increase in the EU’s support to the Lebanese Armed Forces within the framework of the European Peace Facility, at a crucial stage in the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

“The Lebanese Armed Forces are essential for regional and local stability, and deserve our full support in carrying out their sensitive mission. The EU and its member states remain strongly committed to supporting Lebanese state institutions and renewing the EU-Lebanon partnership.”

The resolution affirmed “the EU’s commitment to supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces’ capacity to redeploy in the South Litani sector, particularly following the 60-day ceasefire agreement.

“The Lebanese Armed Forces’ plan to redeploy in the South Litani sector is essential to accompany international efforts to achieve a permanent ceasefire and implement resolution 1701,” it said.

“The Lebanese Armed Forces is the main guarantor, alongside UNIFIL, to create the necessary security conditions to restore stability and security for the population on both sides of the border.”

Meanwhile, Sheikh Mohammed Khalil Hamadeh, a Hezbollah official in Western Bekaa, was shot in front of his home by unknown assailants on Tuesday evening. He was hit by six bullets and died in hospital.

It was the first assassination in Lebanese territory since a ceasefire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel went into effect 57 days ago.

An investigation has been launched to identify the perpetrators and the motives of the assassination, especially as Sheikh Hamadeh was a well-known figure in the region.

In a statement, Hezbollah mourned Hamadeh, describing him as “a leader and a warrior, who was martyred.”

Security information said that the gunmen who assassinated him were “driving a civilian car with tinted windows.”

Bekaa MP Ghassan Skaf did not rule out the potential involvement of Israeli spy agency Mossad, “which operates without being bound by any truce.”

He said: “The last war proved that the number of agents inside Lebanon, especially within the supportive environment of Hezbollah, was greater than even the party itself expected. Therefore, even if Israel were to withdraw completely from Lebanon, it would not halt its policy of assassinations.”

In another development, Layal Alekhtiar, Al Arabiya channel’s anchor, landed in Beirut on Wednesday and was accompanied by security forces from the airport to the Justice Palace in Beirut.

A search and arrest warrant was issued against her in November 2023 by the Lebanese Military Public Prosecution.

The warrant followed an inquiry initiated at the behest of individuals close to Hezbollah, following Alekhtiar’s live interview with Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee on Al Arabiya.

Lebanese law forbids interactions with Israelis.

A Lebanese security source said: “Alekhtiar was immediately referred to the first investigative judge in Beirut Fadi Sawan at the Justice Palace. Following the interrogation, Alekhtiar was released on bail for 50 million Lebanese pounds ($558).”

Two months after Hezbollah opened a front to support Hamas, Alekhtiar sparked outrage among Hezbollah supporters when she interviewed Adraee on Al Arabiya and addressed him as “ustaz” (mister) and thanked him as “the Israeli army spokesman.”

Alekhtiar had described the complaint against her on social media as “a blatant political persecution in the form of judicial repression,” adding that “this has nothing to do with truth and justice.”

She addressed those who filed the complaint, saying: “They are the ones who plundered the state, bankrupted the people, and gave up the nation’s sovereignty and wealth. They are now covering up their crimes with fabrications to suppress freedoms.”

She added: “You will never affect my freedom, my dignity and my convictions no matter what you do.”