Palestinian Authority could only return to Gaza if ‘solution’ found to conflict: Abbas

This handout picture provided by the Palestinian Authority’s press office (PPO) shows Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas (R) meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the West Bank city of Ramallah on November, 5, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (AFP)
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Updated 05 November 2023
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Palestinian Authority could only return to Gaza if ‘solution’ found to conflict: Abbas

RAMALLAH: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a high-security surprise visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank Sunday, meeting with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, according to photographs released by the Palestinian Authority.
The top US diplomat met with Abbas in Ramallah as global concern grows over rising violence in the occupied territory in tandem with the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza since October 7.

Abbas said Sunday that the Palestinian Authority could return to power in the Gaza Strip only if a “comprehensive political solution” is found for the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Israel has sought to destroy Gaza's Hamas rulers since the deadly October 7 attacks, raising the question of who would run the Palestinian territory after the war.
“We will fully assume our responsibilities within the framework of a comprehensive political solution that includes all of the West Bank, including east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip,” Abbas told Blinken according to WAFA news agency. 
The war erupted after Hamas militants launched an attack on southern Israel that killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.
Since the outbreak of the war, which has seen nearly 9,500 killed in Israel’s retaliatory land, air and sea assault on Gaza according to the Hamas-run health ministry, Blinken has made three trips to Israel and also visited numerous other Arab nations.
But this was his first trip to the West Bank since October 7.
The trip was not announced in advance for security reasons and came after Blinken visited Jordan and neighboring Israel on Friday.
Following a meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan, Blinken “expressed concern regarding the increasing violence in the West Bank and emphasised the US commitment to working with partners toward a durable and sustainable peace in the region,” according to a statement.

West Bank clashes 
More than 150 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers and attacks by Israeli settlers since the start of the war, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.
Blinken’s meeting with Abbas, whose secularist Fatah party is Hamas’s rival, came at a time when Washington has heaped political and military support behind Israel.
The United States has advocated that a two-state solution is the only path out of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Blinken recently said the Palestinian Authority should take control of the Gaza Strip which is currently governed by Hamas.
The United States and a number of European and Arab countries, as well as the United Nations, have stated alarm at flaring tensions in the West Bank.
The Israeli army said Friday its forces were “operating against Hamas” notably in Jenin and Nablus, in the north of the territory it has occupied since 1967.
Blinken has advocated for “humanitarian pauses” in his tour of the Middle East, to protect civilians and ease aid deliveries in the densely populated Gaza Strip under bombardment.
Blinken has traveled to Ankara in Turkiye on Sunday.


Israel defense ministry says arms exports hit all time high in 2024

Updated 57 min 8 sec ago
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Israel defense ministry says arms exports hit all time high in 2024

  • “Israel again reached an all-time peak in defense exports in 2024,” the ministry said

JERUSALEM: Israel’s defense ministry said Wednesday that its arms exports hit an all-time high of more than $14.7 billion in 2024, with a sharp rise in deals with Arab Gulf states, despite international criticism of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.

“Israel again reached an all-time peak in defense exports in 2024, marking the fourth consecutive record-breaking year in the scope of defense agreements,” the ministry, which oversees and approves the exports of Israel’s defense industries, said in a statement.


Suspected crypto kidnappings mastermind arrested in Morocco

Updated 04 June 2025
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Suspected crypto kidnappings mastermind arrested in Morocco

  • France thanks Morocco for arresting 24-year-old after kidnappings targeting French crypto entrepreneurs

PARIS: France’s justice minister on Wednesday said that Morocco had arrested a man suspected of ordering a series of kidnappings targeting cryptocurrency entrepreneurs in France.
“I sincerely thank Morocco for this arrest, which demonstrates excellent judicial cooperation between our two countries, particularly in the fight against organized crime,” Gerald Darmanin said on X.


Turkiye’s AJet to start flights to Syria’s Damascus

Updated 04 June 2025
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Turkiye’s AJet to start flights to Syria’s Damascus

  • AJet said flights from Sabiha Gokcen airport will begin from Jun. 16
  • Flights to Damascus from Ankara will start from Jun. 17

ISTANBUL: Turkish Airlines subsidiary AJet said it will start flights to Damascus International from Istanbul and Ankara airports in mid-June.

AJet said in a statement that flights from Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport will begin from Jun. 16. Flights will initially take place four times per week before operating daily from July, it added.

Flights to Damascus from the Turkish capital Ankara will start from Jun. 17, three-times per week, the carrier also said.

Turkish Airlines resumed flights to Damascus in January after a 13-year suspension.

Turkiye, a close ally of the new government in Damascus, has pledged to support the country’s reconstruction. Ankara has already helped with the improvement and maintenance of Syria’s airports, the Turkish transport minister has said.


UAE president meets Egypt’s Sisi in Abu Dhabi

Updated 04 June 2025
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UAE president meets Egypt’s Sisi in Abu Dhabi

DUBAI: UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed met his counterpart Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.  
El-Sisi, who is on a visit to the UAE, arrived at the presidential airport and was received by the UAE leader along with a number of senior officials.


Turkiye backing Syria’s military and has no immediate withdrawal plans, defense minister says

Updated 04 June 2025
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Turkiye backing Syria’s military and has no immediate withdrawal plans, defense minister says

  • Guler says Israel de-confliction talks continue
  • Turkish troops stay for now in Syria, he tells Reuters

ANKARA: Turkiye is training and advising Syria’s armed forces and helping improve its defenses, and has no immediate plans for the withdrawal or relocation of its troops stationed there, Defense Minister Yasar Guler told Reuters.
Turkiye has emerged as a key foreign ally of Syria’s new government since rebels — some of them backed for years by Ankara — ousted former Syrian President Bashar Assad in December to end his family’s five-decade rule.
It has promised to help rebuild neighboring Syria and facilitate the return of millions of Syrian civil war refugees, and played a key role last month getting US and European sanctions on Syria lifted.
The newfound Turkish influence in Damascus has raised Israeli concerns and risked a standoff or worse in Syria between the regional powers.
In written answers to questions from Reuters, Guler said Turkiye and Israel — which carried out its latest airstrikes on southern Syria late on Tuesday — are continuing de-confliction talks to avoid military accidents in the country.
Turkiye’s overall priority in Syria is preserving its territorial integrity and unity, and ridding it of terrorism, he said, adding Ankara was supporting Damascus in these efforts.
“We have started providing military training and consultancy services, while taking steps to increase Syria’s defense capacity,” Guler said, without elaborating on those steps.
Named to the post by President Tayyip Erdogan two years ago, Guler said it was too early to discuss possible withdrawal or relocation of the more than 20,000 Turkish troops in Syria.
Ankara controlled swathes of northern Syria and established dozens of bases there after several cross-border operations in recent years against Kurdish militants it deems terrorists.
This can “only be re-evaluated when Syria achieves peace and stability, when the threat of terrorism in the region is fully removed, when our border security is fully ensured, and when the honorable return of people who had to flee is done,” he said.
NATO member Turkiye has accused Israel of undermining Syrian peace and rebuilding with its military operations there in recent months and, since late 2023, has also fiercely criticized Israel’s assault on Gaza.
But the two regional powers have been quietly working to establish a de-confliction mechanism in Syria.
Guler described the talks as “technical level meetings to establish a de-confliction mechanism to prevent unwanted events” or direct conflict, as well as “a communication and coordination structure.”
“Our efforts to form this line and make it fully operational continue. Yet it should not be forgotten that the de-confliction mechanism is not a normalization,” he told Reuters.