Palestinian Govt Seeks to Confront Companies Operating in Israeli Settlements

Palestinian Economy Minister Khalid Al-Esseily. (Facebook)
Palestinian Economy Minister Khalid Al-Esseily. (Facebook)
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Palestinian Govt Seeks to Confront Companies Operating in Israeli Settlements

Palestinian Economy Minister Khalid Al-Esseily. (Facebook)
Palestinian Economy Minister Khalid Al-Esseily. (Facebook)

Palestinian Economy Minister Khalid Al-Esseily announced Saturday that his government is working with international institutions to confront companies operating in Israeli settlements.

Since entering office in January, the Israeli government has approved plans to build thousands of new homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and has facilitated measures to further construct settlement houses.

It also passed a resolution that gives practically all control over planning approval for construction in West Bank settlements to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also said he would not freeze Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank, and East Jerusalem.

On Saturday, Al-Esseily told the Arab World News Agency that the UN Human Rights Office removed 15 companies from its blacklist of businesses operating in West Bank settlements and in Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem after they stopped their activities in those communities.

He said there are efforts to add two new companies to the list.

Last month, the UN Human Rights Office said these 15 companies no longer had ties with settlements. However, most of the international companies on the original list of 122 still remain.

The siege on the Gaza Strip, imposed for more than 17 years, has negative repercussions not only on the enclave, but on all of Palestine, Al-Esseily stressed, lamenting the low number of international donations.

He added: “Unfortunately, there is no support from the Arab world, except from a few countries, such as Algeria, which paid $54 million last year, and about $100 million in 2021.”

He indicated that Israel's deduction of approximately 260 million shekels per month from clearance funds led to an increase in the already existing deficit in the Palestinian Authority's budget.

Therefore, Al-Esseily called for activating the Arab safety net to deter Israel's economic measures imposed on Palestinians.

Despite the dire economic situation, Al-Esseily said the Palestinian Territories reported a growth of 3.6 percent in 2022, and of 7 percent in 2021. He expected the growth to reach 3 percent in 2023.



Türkiye Backing Syria’s Military and Has No Immediate Withdrawal Plans, Defense Minister Says 

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Backing Syria’s Military and Has No Immediate Withdrawal Plans, Defense Minister Says 

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)

Türkiye 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.

Türkiye has emerged as a key foreign ally of Syria's new government since opposition groups - some of them backed for years by Ankara - ousted former Syrian President Bashar al-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 Türkiye 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.

Türkiye’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 Recep 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 Türkiye 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.