Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa announced a transitional government on Saturday, appointing 23 ministers in a broadened cabinet seen as a key milestone in the transition from decades of Assad family rule and to improving Syria’s ties with the West.
Syria’s new Sunni Islamist-led authorities have been under pressure from the West and Arab countries to form a government that is more inclusive of the country’s diverse ethnic and religious communities.
That pressure increased following the killings of hundreds of Alawite civilians — the minority sect from which toppled leader Bashar Assad hails — in violence along Syria’s western coast this month.
The cabinet included Yarub Badr, an Alawite who was named transportation minister, while Amgad Badr, who belongs to the Druze community, will lead the agriculture ministry.
Hind Kabawat, a Christian woman and part of the previous opposition to Assad who worked for interfaith tolerance and women’s empowerment, was appointed as social affairs and labor minister.
Mohammed Yosr Bernieh was named finance minister.
It kept Murhaf Abu Qasra and Asaad Al-Shibani, who were already serving as defense and foreign ministers respectively in the previous caretaker cabinet that has governed Syria since Assad was toppled in December by a lightning rebel offensive.
Sharaa also said he established for the first time a ministry for sports and another for emergencies, with the head of a rescue group known as the White Helmets, Raed Al-Saleh, appointed as the minister of emergencies.
In January, Sharaa was named as interim president and pledged to form an inclusive transitional government that would build up Syria’s gutted public institutions and run the country until elections, which he said could take up to five years to hold.
The government will not have a prime minister, with Sharaa expected to lead the executive branch.
Earlier this month, Syria issued a constitutional declaration, designed to serve as the foundation for the interim period led by Sharaa. The declaration kept a central role for Islamic law and guaranteed women’s rights and freedom of expression.
Syria’s president Al-Sharaa forms new transitional government
https://arab.news/z2thq
Syria’s president Al-Sharaa forms new transitional government
- The cabinet included Yarub Badr, an Alawite who was named transportation minister, while Amgad Badr, who belongs to the Druze community, will lead the agriculture ministry
Netanyahu says Israel will establish a new security corridor across Gaza
GAZA STRIP: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is establishing a new security corridor across Gaza. In a statement issued Wednesday, he described it as the Morag corridor, using the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, suggesting it would run between the two southern cities.
Earlier Wednesday, Israel said it planned to seize large areas of the Gaza Strip and add them to its “security zones” as it launched a wave of strikes that killed more than 40 people, including several women and children, according to Palestinian health officials.
Israel has vowed to escalate the nearly 18-month war with Hamas until the militant group returns dozens of remaining hostages, disarms and leaves the territory. Israel ended a ceasefire in March and has imposed a monthlong halt to all imports of food, fuel and humanitarian aid.
US sanctions Russia-based network for helping Yemen’s Houthis
- The operatives helped senior Houthi official procure millions of dollars
- “The Houthis remain reliant on Sa’id Al-Jamal and his network,” said Bessent
WASHINGTON: The United States imposed sanctions on Wednesday on Russia-based people and entities working to help procure weapons and commodities — including stolen Ukrainian grain — for Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, the Treasury Department said.
The operatives, who included Russia-based Afghan businessman Hushang Ghairat and his brother, Russia-based Afghan businessman Sohrab Ghairat, helped senior Houthi official Sa’id Al-Jamal, procure millions of dollars’ worth of commodities from Russia for shipment to Houthi-controlled Yemen, Treasury said.
The goods included weapons and sensitive goods, as well as stolen Ukrainian grain, the department said in a statement.
“The Houthis remain reliant on Sa’id Al-Jamal and his network to procure critical goods to supply the group’s terrorist war machine,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “Today’s action underscores our commitment to degrading the Houthis’ ability to threaten the region through their destabilizing activities.”
UK says ‘does not support’ Israel’s expansion of Gaza offensive
- UK minister said Israel’s aid blockade poses 'a serious risk' of breaching the international humanitarian law
LONDON: Britain does not support Israel’s expansion of military operations in Hamas-run Gaza, a UK minister said on Wednesday.
“We are deeply concerned about the resumption of hostilities in Gaza. The UK does not support an expansion of Israel’s military operations,” junior foreign office minister Hamish Falconer, told parliament.
There is a “serious risk Israel is not simply acting in its own legitimate self defense,” he added.
When asked about Israel’s aid blockade, Falconer said that “we have determined that there is a serious risk of breaches of international humanitarian law by the Israeli government. We will continue to press them on these points.”
Berlin says evacuated 19 Germans plus relatives from Gaza
- Foreign ministry spokeswoman Kathrin Deschauer said the evacuation on Tuesday “took considerable time” but Berlin was “very relieved
- She welcomed reports of talks, facilitated by regional actors, toward a new Gaza truce
BERLIN: Germany said Wednesday that 19 of its citizens and 14 of their relatives had been evacuated from Gaza as Israel presses its offensive against Hamas in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Kathrin Deschauer said the evacuation on Tuesday “took considerable time” but Berlin was “very relieved that this succeeded through close cooperation” with Israeli officials.
Deschauer added that she welcomed reports of talks, facilitated by regional actors, toward a new Gaza truce.
“That’s important, good and somewhat encouraging, but the current situation is dramatic, and it’s important that all parties return to the negotiating table to achieve a ceasefire,” she said at a regular news briefing.
The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel resumed major air strikes on Gaza on March 18 after talks on next steps in a six-week truce broke down.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Tuesday that the overall toll since the war began had reached at least 50,399 people, most of them civilians.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Wednesday a major expansion of military operations in Gaza to “destroy and clear the area of terrorists.”
Jordan’s King Abdullah II, speaking during a Berlin visit, deplored the dire humanitarian situation and the war’s impact on children.
“Today, Gaza has the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world, along with massive numbers of injured adults,” he told the Global Disability Summit.
He said a Jordanian aid project with mobile clinics had helped more than 400 amputees in Gaza, including children.
Jordan welcomes EU’s approved €500m financial aid package
- European Parliament approved the aid package with 571 votes during a plenary session in Strasbourg
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked the EU for its support, which enhances cooperation between Amman and Brussels
LONDON: Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the EU’s decision to allocate a €500 million ($541 million) financial aid package to the Hashemite Kingdom on Wednesday.
During a plenary session in Strasbourg, the European Parliament approved an aid package for Jordan with 571 votes as part of a macro-financial assistance initiative.
Sufian Qudah, the ministry’s spokesperson, announced that the European Commission plans to propose an extra €500 million for Jordan, increasing the total funding under the MFA initiative to €1 billion for 2025–2027.
Qudah thanked the EU for its support, which enhances cooperation between Amman and Brussels and acknowledges Jordan’s role in regional peace and stability, the Petra news agency reported.
In January, King Abdullah II of Jordan and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement in Brussels.
The agreement includes a €1 billion financial aid package and a €3 billion aid package for Jordan for 2025–2027, which comprises €1.4 billion for investment support and €640 million in grants, Petra added.
