UNITED NATIONS: Russia scored a victory for its ally Syria on Saturday by forcing the Security Council to limit humanitarian aid deliveries to the country’s mainly rebel-held northwest to just one crossing point from Turkey, a move that Western nations say will cut a lifeline for 1.3 million people.
Russia argues that aid should be delivered from within the country across conflict lines, and says only one crossing point is needed.
UN officials and humanitarian groups argued unsuccessfully — along with the vast majority of the UN Security Council — that the two crossing points in operation until their mandate expired Friday were essential for getting help to millions of needy people in Syria’s northwest, especially with the first case of COVID-19 recently reported in the region.
The Security Council vote approving a single crossing from Turkey was 12-0, with Russia, China and the Dominican Republic abstaining.
The vote capped a week of high-stakes rivalry pitting Russia and China against the 13 other council members. An overwhelming majority voted twice to maintain the two crossings from Turkey, but Russia and China vetoed both resolutions — the 15th and 16th veto by Russia of a Syria resolution since the conflict began in 2011 and the ninth and 10th by China.
Germany and Belgium, which had sponsored the widely supported resolutions for two crossing points, finally had to back down to the threat of another Russian veto. The resolution they put forward Saturday authorized only a single crossing point from Turkey for a year.
In January, Russia also scored a victory for Syria, using its veto threat to force the Security Council to adopt a resolution reducing the number of crossing points for aid deliveries from four to two, from Turkey to the northwest. It also cut in half the yearlong mandate that had been in place since cross-border deliveries began in 2014 to six months.
Before adopting the resolution Saturday, the council rejected two amendments proposed by Russia, including one suggesting that US and European Union sanctions on Syria were impeding humanitarian aid. That contention was vehemently rejected by the Trump administration and the EU, which noted their sanctions include exemptions for humanitarian deliveries. It also rejected an amendment from China.
Russia’s deputy UN ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, said after the vote that from the beginning Moscow had proposed one crossing — from Bab Al-Hawa to Idlib — and that Saturday’s resolution could have been adopted weeks ago. He said Russia abstained in the vote because negotiations over the resolution were marred by “clumsiness, disrespect.”
Polyansky accused Western nations on the council of “unprecedented heights” of hypocrisy, saying they were ready to jeopardize cross-border aid over the references to unilateral sanctions.
He said cross-border aid to Syria’s northwest doesn’t comply with international law because the UN has no presence in the region, which he described as being controlled “by international terrorists and fighters” that make it impossible to control and monitor who gets aid.
German Ambassador Christoph Heusgen retorted that while Russia talks about delivery of aid across conflict lines, “in practice it doesn’t” happen.
He said his side fought to maintain multiple crossing points for aid, including the Al-Yaroubiya crossing point from Iraq in the northeast that was closed in January, because that is what is needed for efficient delivery of aid to millions in need — and he asked Polyansky “this is clumsy?”
“This is what we tried to do over these past weeks, to get the optimum to the population,” Heusgen said.
US Ambassador Kelly Craft told the council: “Today’s outcome leaves us sickened and outraged at the loss of the Bab Al-Salaam and Al Yarubiyah border crossings.”
“Behind those locked gates are millions of women, children, and men who believed that the world had heard their pleas. Their health and welfare are now at great risk,” she said.
Still, Craft called the authorization of access through Bab Al-Hawa for 12 months “a victory” in light of Russia and China’s “willingness to use their veto to compel a dramatic reduction in humanitarian assistance.”
“This solemn victory must not end our struggle to address the mounting human needs in Syria — that fight is far from over,” Craft said.
Belgium and Germany said in a joint statement that 1.3 million people, including 800 000 displaced Syrians, live in the Aleppo area, including 500,000 children who received humanitarian aid through the Bab Al-Salam crossing — and now have that aid cut off.
“Today is yet another sad day. It is a sad day for this council, but mostly, it is a sad day for the Syrian people of that region.,” they said. “Both Yarubiyah and Bab Al-Salam were vital crossings to deliver, in the most efficient way possible, the humanitarian help, those people deserve.”
In a victory for Assad, UNSC approves aid to Syria’s rebel area through only one crossing
https://arab.news/nvw58
In a victory for Assad, UNSC approves aid to Syria’s rebel area through only one crossing
- Russia and China earlier vetoed two Security Council resolutions seeking to maintain the two crossings from Turkey
- Russia had previously forced the Security Council to reduce the crossing points for aid deliveries from four to two
Iraq’s famed ‘hunchback’ of Mosul rebuilt brick by brick
- The mosque and minaret were destroyed in June 2017 during the battle to oust IS from Mosul
- Minaret and mosque are the latest landmarks in Mosul to be restored by United Nations heritage body UNESCO
The Al-Hadba or “hunchback” minaret is part of the historic Al-Nuri Mosque from where former IS chief Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in July 2014 declared his “caliphate” that committed atrocities across swathes of both Syria and Iraq.
The mosque and minaret were destroyed in June 2017 during the battle to oust Daesh from Mosul, and Iraq’s authorities accused the jihadists of planting explosives before their withdrawal.
The minaret and mosque are the latest landmarks in Mosul to be restored by United Nations heritage body UNESCO, whose teams have worked for five years to revive several sites there.
The Al-Hadba minaret of today is an exact replica of the old one, “built with the same bricks,” said Abdullah Mahmoud of the Iraqi department of antiquities.
“Al-Hadba is our identity, and by restoring it, the identity of the city has been reclaimed.”
The restored minaret’s tilt has been retained at 160 centimeters (63 inches), just as it was in the 1960s.
However, engineers have reinforced the foundations so it no longer leans quite so precariously, as it began to do gradually after being built in the 12th century.
“The minaret’s body from the inside needed 96,000 new bricks,” Mahmoud said.
“But for the exterior we used 26,000 old bricks” to preserve its historical legacy.
’Massive change’
Days before work was completed, hundreds of workers put the finishing touches to Al-Nuri’s columns, dome and yard.
Mahmoud said the mihrab, a niche indicating the direction of Makkah, has been largely repaired using its original stones.
But the minbar, from where sermons are delivered, has lost most of its original pieces.
Across the street, Imad Zaki, a former muezzin at the mosque, said: “Every day I stand here for an hour to watch as they are restored to their original state.”
“Today one can feel the spirituality. It’s as if our souls have finally found peace,” added the 52-year-old, wearing a long traditional Iraqi abaya, or robe.
Eighty percent of Mosul’s old city was destroyed in the fight against IS, and more than 12,000 tons of rubble was removed for the UNESCO restoration project, which also included Al-Tahira and Our Lady of the Hour churches and 124 heritage houses.
The Al-Tahira Church, dating from 1862, has been rebuilt with its arcades, embellished pillars and stained-glass windows.
During restoration, workers discovered an underground cellar and large jars once used for wine. It now has a glass ceiling so visitors can look inside.
Maria Acetoso, senior project manager at UNESCO Iraq, said the project aimed “to work in parallel on meaningful monuments for the city and also to bring life back” to Mosul.
“When I arrived here in 2019 it looked like a ghost city,” Acetoso said. “In five years plus, there has been a massive change.”
In Mosul on Wednesday, UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay hailed her team’s efforts and said on that the renovation had allowed “the identity of the city” to return.
Scars of battle
After IS was defeated, life returned to the city’s streets, where the chatter of patrons in small cafes blended with the clatter of construction work at the mosque.
In the coming weeks, Iraqi authorities will inaugurate the restored landmarks.
But Mosul still bears scars from the ferocious fight against IS.
Tucked away in narrow old city alleyways are ruined houses. Some bear the word “safe” scrawled in red on walls, signalling that they that have been cleared of explosives.
The crumbling walls and shattered windows tell tales of displacement. Their original owners, mostly Christian, have yet to return.
Mohammed Kassem, 59, came back to the old city a few years ago, to a new house as his former home was just debris.
Mosul still “needs a great deal” of work before it is back to normal, he said.
“It needs its former residents... the Christians to come back. This is their place,” Kassem added.
Across the street from Al-Nuri Mosque, Saad Mohammed, 65, said he hoped the restoration efforts will attract visitors to Mosul, although he still feels sad because of what it has lost.
But he couldn’t help but smile when he looked up at the minaret from his little shop.
“We opened the window once and saw the black IS flag on top of the minaret. Then we opened it again and the minaret was gone,” said Mohammed, who never left Mosul, even at the height of the fighting.
“Today the minaret has risen again, alongside the mosque and the churches. Now we feel safe,” he said.
Nothing wrong in Donald Trump’s idea to displace Palestinians from Gaza, says Netanyahu
- They can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back, the Israeli Pells Fox News
- Press Secretary Leavitt said in a briefing with reporters in Washington that Gaza is “a demolition site” and referenced footage of the devastation.
WASHINGTON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday there was nothing wrong in Donald Trump’s idea to displace Palestinians from Gaza after the US president’s proposal was widely criticized internationally.
“The actual idea of allowing Gazans who want to leave to leave. I mean, what’s wrong with that? They can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back. But you have to rebuild Gaza,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity,
“It’s a remarkable idea and I think it should be really pursued. Examined, pursued and done, because I think it will create a different future for everyone,” Netanyahu reiterated his praise for Trump.
Trump on Tuesday had called for “permanently” resettling Palestinians from war-torn Gaza and left open the door to deploying American troops there as part of a massive rebuilding operation.
But Trump's top diplomat and main spokesperson on Wednesday walked back the idea that Trump wants the permanent relocation of Palestinians from Gaza, after American allies and even Republican lawmakers rebuffed his suggestion that the US take “ownership” of the territory.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump only sought to move the roughly 1.8 million Gazans temporarily to allow for reconstruction.
Even that proposal has drawn criticism from Palestinians, who are worried they may never be allowed back in if they flee, and from the Arab nations that Trump has called on to take them in.
Rubio, on his first foreign trip as secretary of state, described Trump’s proposal as a “very generous” offer to help with debris removal and reconstruction of the enclave following 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
“In the interim, obviously people are going to have to live somewhere while you’re rebuilding it,” Rubio said in a news conference in Guatemala City.
Press Secretary Leavitt said in a briefing with reporters in Washington that Gaza is “a demolition site” and referenced footage of the devastation.
“The president has made it clear that they need to be temporarily relocated out of Gaza,” she said, calling it currently “an uninhabitable place for human beings” and saying it would be “evil to suggest that people should live in such dire conditions.”
Their comments contradicted Trump, who said Tuesday night, “If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people, permanently, in nice homes where they can be happy and not be shot and not be killed and not be knifed to death like what’s happening in Gaza.” He added that he envisioned “long-term” US ownership of a redevelopment of the territory, which sits along the Mediterranean Sea.
In a meeting with Netanyahu at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the military is “prepared to look at all options” for rebuilding Gaza.
“We look forward to working with our allies, our counterparts, both diplomatically and militarily, to look at all options,” Hegseth said.
In an interview later Wednesday with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Netanyahu reiterated his praise for Trump: “It’s a remarkable idea and I think it should be really pursued. Examined, pursued and done, because I think it will create a different future for everyone.”
Egypt, Jordan and other US allies in the Mideast have cautioned Trump that relocating Palestinians from Gaza would threaten Mideast stability, risk expanding the conflict and undermine a decades-long push by the US and its allies for a two-state solution.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry issued a sharply worded reaction to Trump, noting its long call for an independent Palestinian state was a “firm, steadfast and unwavering position.” Saudi Arabia has been in negotiations with the US over a deal to diplomatically recognize Israel in exchange for a security pact and other terms.
“The duty of the international community today is to work to alleviate the severe human suffering endured by the Palestinian people, who will remain committed to their land and will not budge from it,” the Saudi statement said.
Even Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican and a Trump ally, called it “problematic.”
“The idea of Americans going in on the ground in Gaza is a non starter for every senator,” the South Carolina lawmaker told reporters Wednesday. “So I would suggest we go back to what we’ve been trying to do which is destroy Hamas and find a way for the Arab world to take over Gaza and the West Bank, in a fashion that would lead to a Palestinian state that Israel can live with.”
Rubio insisted that Trump’s position “was not meant as a hostile move.”
“What he’s very generously has offered is the ability of the United States to go in and help with debris removal, help with munitions removal, help with reconstruction, the rebuilding homes and businesses and things of this nature so that then people can move back in,” Rubio said.
Still, the White House said Trump was ruling out sending US dollars to aid in the reconstruction of Gaza.
But Leavitt, like Trump, refused to rule out sending American troops into Gaza, saying of Trump, “he wants to preserve that leverage in negotiations.”
The Palestinians, Arab nations and others have rejected even a temporary relocation from Gaza, which would run counter to decades of US policy calling for the creation of a Palestinian state with no further displacement of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank.
The proposals also appear to trash months of negotiations by the Biden administration to draft a “day after” plan for the reconstruction and governance of Gaza. President Joe Biden had tried to lock in that plan — which calls for joint governance of the territory by the Palestinian Authority under UN stewardship and a multi-national peacekeeping force — before leaving office by inviting Trump’s main Mideast envoy into final talks over a Gaza ceasefire.
Michigan’s Arab American community offers muted response to Trump’s Gaza takeover plan
- Many are struggling to come to terms with the audacious Trump plan for Gaza, said Imad Hamad of the Dearborn-based American Human Rights Council
- A group formerly known as Arab Americans for Trump has rebranded as Arab Americans for Peace following Trump’s comments about Gaza
DEARBORN, Michigan: Residents of the largest Arab American community in the US had plenty to say during the 2024 presidential campaign about the roiling politics in the Middle East.
But after President Donald Trump’s stunning announcement on Tuesday that he wanted to remove Palestinians from Gaza and impose a US takeover in the region, some leaders in Dearborn, Michigan, were treading far more cautiously.
“People are taking a deep breath. It’s too early to render a judgment. But definitely the past two or three weeks feel unbelievable,” said Imad Hamad, executive director of the Dearborn-based American Human Rights Council.
“Many people expressed that concern, that maybe it was a mistake to vote for President Trump,” Hamad added. “And now this is an eye-opener to take into consideration to the 2026 elections.”
So far, at least, no one has retreated from the blistering criticism of Democrats that some say cost Vice President Kamala Harris the crucial state of Michigan in November. But many are struggling to come to terms with the audacious plan Trump announced Tuesday to turn Gaza into what he described as the “Riviera of the Middle East,” possibly using US troops.
Trump’s top diplomat and his main spokesperson on Wednesday walked back the idea that he wants the permanent relocation of Palestinians from Gaza, after American allies and even Republican lawmakers rebuffed his suggestion that the US take “ownership” of the territory.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said he only sought to move roughly 1.8 million Gazans temporarily to allow for reconstruction. Even that proposal has drawn widespread criticism in the Arab world.
While no mass protests were planned in the Detroit area as of yet following Trump’s remarks, community leaders — many of whom refrained from endorsing Harris’ bid but also did not back Trump — were more forceful in their response.
US Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who represents Dearborn and is the only Palestinian American serving in Congress, called Trump’s comments “fanatical bullsh— ” and said “Palestinians aren’t going anywhere.” Dearborn’s Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said Trump’s comments were “yet another chapter in the ongoing genocide.”
Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate in over two decades to win Dearborn, where Arab Americans make up close to half of the city’s 110,000 residents. His success came after he became the only major presidential candidate to visit the Detroit suburb on Nov. 1, and vowed at a local restaurant to bring “peace in the Middle East.”
Faye Nemer, founder of the Dearborn-based MENA (Middle Eastern North African) American Chamber of Commerce, was among those in the community that welcomed Trump to The Great Commoner on Nov. 1. Nemer said Wednesday that some of Trump’s comments relating to the Middle East have “been extremely, extremely concerning to the community.”
“He’s been in office for two weeks, and in those two weeks, he’s made some very extreme remarks,” she said.
Nemer added that she believes Trump’s comments may be a “negotiating tactic” and urged the president to continue working toward a two-state solution.
“He was very vocal that if that’s what the Palestinians want, that he would be in favor and supportive of those efforts. So, now we were just asking President Trump and his administration to remain committed to those ideals,” Nemer said.
Some have begun to distance themselves from Trump after his joint press conference Tuesday at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During the event, Trump proposed that the US take “ownership” in redeveloping the area into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
Lebanese American Rola Makki, the Muslim vice chair for outreach of the Michigan Republican Party, said in a statement sent to The Associated Press that although she supported Trump in the last election, “I don’t agree with his recent stance on Gaza.”
“I believe the US should take a more hands-off approach to the Middle East, focusing on diplomacy and avoiding further entanglement,” Makki said. “This was the approach President Trump took during his last presidency, and I think it was more effective.”
A group formerly known as Arab Americans for Trump, which played a key role in Trump’s voter outreach to the Arab American community — much of it in Dearborn — has rebranded as Arab Americans for Peace following Trump’s comments Tuesday. In a statement, the group said it takes “issue with the president’s suggestion of taking over Gaza” and criticized Trump for not meeting with “key Arab leaders, including the Palestinian president, to hear their views.”
Yet, some of Trump’s most vocal Arab American supporters on the campaign trail remained silent Wednesday.
Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib and Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi — both Democratic mayors of Michigan cities with large Arab and Muslim populations who endorsed Trump and appeared on stage with him — did not respond to calls or text messages seeking comment.
Tunisian president sacks finance minister, names a judge as new minister
- Sihem Boughdiri’s dismissal comes as the North African country’s public finances face a severe crisis that has led to shortages of key commodities including sugar, rice, coffee and cooking gas
TUNIS: The Tunisian president on Wednesday sacked Finance Minister Sihem Boughdiri and named Michkat Khaldi, a judge, as new finance minister.
Khaldi took the oath before the president at Carthage Palace, the presidency said in statement. Boughdiri has been in office since 2021.
Boughdiri’s dismissal comes as the North African country’s public finances face a severe crisis that has led to shortages of key commodities including sugar, rice, coffee and cooking gas.
Khaldi, a judge has been since last year the head of the Criminal Reconciliation Committee, which was established by the president to try to reach a settlement with businessmen accused of corruption in exchange for returning funds to the state.
In an effort to mobilize resources this year, the government raised taxes on middle- and high-income earners and resorted to borrowing directly from the central bank worth $2.2 billion to pay urgent debts.
Trump’s Gaza ‘takeover’ marks sharp break from US policy
WASHINGTON: By proposing to “take over” Gaza, US President Donald Trump has not only stunned the world but also departed from long-standing US policy in supporting a Palestinian state.
The president, known for provocative statements, spoke Tuesday of permanently displacing Palestinians from the war-devastated Gaza Strip, expressing his desire to transform the Palestinian territory into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
His comments sparked worldwide outcry Wednesday, particularly in the Arab world, as they appeared to challenge Palestinians’ right to self-determination, with critics denouncing it as potential “ethnic cleansing.”
The Republican billionaire, who portrays himself as a pragmatist with a transactional approach to foreign policy, hasn’t ruled out sending troops to the region.
The White House moved quickly Wednesday to temper his remarks. Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt clarified that the United States would not “finance” reconstruction in Gaza and had not “committed” to sending troops.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking from Guatemala, defended Trump’s intentions: “It was meant as, I think, a very generous move — the offer to rebuild and to be in charge of the rebuilding.”
He also said that Trump only wants Palestinians to leave Gaza temporarily while the territory is reconstructed.
It remained unclear whether the president floated his proposal as a negotiating tactic or a distraction, as Israel and Hamas prepare to negotiate the second phase of the ceasefire agreement that took effect January 19.
This second phase aims to secure the release of remaining hostages and achieve a definitive end to the war triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
“Trump’s remarks about relocating Palestinians would all but guarantee a broader regional conflict if he seriously pursues the idea,” said Sina Toossi of the Center for International Policy, noting that it “would shatter long-standing US policy on a two-state solution in which a Palestinian state includes Gaza.”
“In the short term, a key question is whether Trump will push (Israeli leader Benjamin) Netanyahu to fully implement the ceasefire deal in Gaza, including its critical second phase, or if he will instead allow Netanyahu and his hawkish cabinet to restart the war,” Toossi added.
The events that unfolded Tuesday during the Israeli prime minister’s Washington visit were remarkable on multiple levels.
Trump’s advisers, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and national security adviser Mike Waltz, initially questioned the feasibility of Gaza reconstruction, noting that the Palestinian territory would be uninhabitable for years.
Trump, who had already caused controversy 10 days earlier with his suggestion to “just clean out” Gaza, claimed Palestinians “would love” to leave the territory, which he described as a “demolition site.”
He later received a beaming Netanyahu at the White House, emphasizing the need to relocate Palestinians before unexpectedly proposing to take “possession” of Palestinian territory to make it a “beautiful place.”
Netanyahu, who opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, praised Trump as someone who “thinks outside the box.”
In making these statements, Trump, who rarely explicitly addresses the prospect of a Palestinian state, broke with decades of Western foreign policy — supporting a two-state solution where Israel and Palestine coexist.
“It is very hard to know how seriously to take Trump’s comments, though they certainly seem to undercut the idea that his administration supports a two-state solution,” said Brian Finucane, a US foreign policy expert at the International Crisis Group in Washington.
But he added it didn’t seem like Palestinians would voluntarily leave Gaza, nor would countries in the region would agree to such a plan.
