DAMASCUS: Syrian state media said three civilians were killed in Israeli air strikes on Damascus early Tuesday and nine others wounded, citing a military source.
“The Israeli enemy launched an air aggression with warplanes and drones from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting several points in Damascus,” the official news agency SANA said.
“Three civilians were killed and nine others injured,” it added.
AFP correspondents heard four rounds of heavy bombardment over around half an hour, whose sound resonated across the Syrian capital.
In the Mezzeh neighborhood that is home to Syrian security headquarters and embassies, an AFP correspondent saw two mini-buses burnt to cinders in the area that was hit.
A resident of a building that was hit, a 57-year-old who gave his name as Abu Mohammad, told AFP: “We heard the sound of strong blast that threw me out of bed onto the floor, and seconds later we heard people scream and cry.”
“From our balcony, we saw fire everywhere,” he said of himself and his family.
“We found a dead lady on the first floor with her children screaming beside her, but we couldn’t do anything for her.”
State television said one of its anchors had also been killed.
Safaa Ahmad was “martyred in the Israeli aggression on the capital Damascus,” it said.
Since Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in the country, mainly targeting army positions and Iran-backed fighters, including Hezbollah.
Israeli authorities rarely comment on individual strikes in Syria, but have repeatedly said they will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence there.
These strikes have increased in recent days, including on areas near the border with Lebanon.
Tens of thousands of people have been crossing over into Syria during the past week, fleeing heavy Israeli air strikes on Lebanon.
Syria state media says 3 civilians killed in Israel strikes
https://arab.news/nbeyw
Syria state media says 3 civilians killed in Israel strikes
- Since Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in the country, mainly targeting army positions and Iran-backed fighters, including Hezbollah
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.
French president is first EU head of state to call new Syrian leader
- Emmanuel Macron congratulates Ahmad Al-Sharaa on assuming the presidency and invites him to visit France
- Al-Sharaa says Syria will play a positive role in efforts to ensure regional stability, thanks France for supporting the Syrian people during 14 years of civil war
LONDON: French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday called Ahmad Al-Sharaa, the new leader of the Syrian Arab Republic, and congratulated him on assuming the presidency.
The telephone call was the first from a head of state of an EU nation to the new leadership since Bashar Assad fled to Moscow in December amid the collapse of his family’s 54-year rule.
Macron congratulated Al-Sharaa on “liberating the country … from the Assad regime” and expressed his full support for the transition of power in Damascus, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.
Macron also emphasized France’s efforts to ensure Western sanctions on Syria are lifted, and its support for the country’s territorial sovereignty. He invited Al-Sharaa to visit France in the coming weeks.
Al-Sharaa, elected president by rebel groups on Jan. 29 for the transitional phase, said Syria would play a positive role in efforts to ensure stability in the region. He thanked France for supporting the Syrian people over the past 14 years of civil war.
The leaders also discussed the security challenges facing Syria, the Assad-era international sanctions that weakened the economy, and the challenges associated with rebuilding the country.
Syria was a French colony from 1919 until 1946. During that time, Alawite and Druze minorities established small states that were eventually incorporated into the Syrian state.
