Palestinian Factions Discuss Formation of Govt of Technocrats

Abbas meets with a delegation from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine on Saturday. (AFP)
Abbas meets with a delegation from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine on Saturday. (AFP)
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Palestinian Factions Discuss Formation of Govt of Technocrats

Abbas meets with a delegation from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine on Saturday. (AFP)
Abbas meets with a delegation from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine on Saturday. (AFP)

Palestian factions kicked off in Egypt’s city of el-Alamein on Sunday a meeting aimed discussing the latest developments in the occupied territories and ways of restoring national unity and ending division.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas chaired the talks.

He had arrived in Egypt on Saturday night on an official three-day visit. He is set to meet with his Egyptian counterpart Abdul Fattah al-Sisi on Monday for talks on the latest Palestinian developments and the peace process, said the Palestinian embassy in Cairo in a statement.

An informed source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Abbas is keen on pushing forward a proposal to form a government of technocrats that could handle the administrative affairs of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

All factions, including Gaza rulers Hamas, would be represented in the government, it added on condition of anonymity.

Speaking at the el-Alamein meeting, Abbas said the new government would also “launch the international battle to place the occupied Palestinian Territories under international protection.” This would be an amended form of the mandate that Palestine was under prior to 1948.

The suggestion is aimed at “confronting Israeli attempts to seize the remaining Palestinian Territories and at placing an international mechanism that would monitor Israeli practices against the Palestinian people.”

The source revealed that Hamas was “receptive” of Abbas’ proposal, but demanded an amendment to the electoral law before it could join the national unity government. It also demanded that a timeframe be set to hold the presidential and parliamentary elections.

On Saturday, Abbas met with several of the secretary generals of the Palestinian factions, including a delegation from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Political Science Professor at al-Quds University Dr. Ayman al-Raqab said: “Egypt had sensed real danger facing the Palestinian cause, prompting it to host a meeting at such a senior level.”

The el-Alamein meeting is a sign that Cairo may be sensing that a major negative development is in store for the Palestinians, he explained.

He noted to Asharq Al-Awsat that Cairo had called for a Palestinian conference in 2005, which was followed by the Palestinian division in Gaza in 2007. It called for a conference in 2016 before the American administration declared its so-called “Deal of the Century” in 2017.

Al-Raqab ruled out the possibility that the factions would agree on holding the elections, but he did not rule out the opportunity that they may reach an understanding over the issue in the future.

Political Science Professor at Cairo University Dr. Tariq Fahmy expected the el-Alamein meeting to yield “positive results” in spite of the division between Palestinians.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the meeting reflected Cairo’s “ability to contain all parties and refocus their attention on the Palestinian cause when necessary.”

Furthermore, the absence of the Islamic Jihad and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command from the talks will not impact the meetings because the parties that control the West Bank and Gaza – Fatah and Hamas respectively – are there, he stated.

Hamas is usually able to rein in the Jihad in Gaza, he added, while ruling out that the factions would reach an agreement over a “comprehensive reconciliation” at the moment.

After the conclusion of the el-Alamein meetings, Egyptian authorities will likely kick off contacts with Israel to ensure that calm is restored in the Palestinian Territories and to put an end to Israeli raids and forced evictions in Jerusalem.



Pro-Türkiye Syria Groups Reduce Presence in Kurdish Area, Says Official

US-backed Kurdish fighters stand on their vehicles, as they withdraw from two neighborhoods in Syria's northern city of Aleppo as part of a deal with the Syrian central government, in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP)
US-backed Kurdish fighters stand on their vehicles, as they withdraw from two neighborhoods in Syria's northern city of Aleppo as part of a deal with the Syrian central government, in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP)
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Pro-Türkiye Syria Groups Reduce Presence in Kurdish Area, Says Official

US-backed Kurdish fighters stand on their vehicles, as they withdraw from two neighborhoods in Syria's northern city of Aleppo as part of a deal with the Syrian central government, in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP)
US-backed Kurdish fighters stand on their vehicles, as they withdraw from two neighborhoods in Syria's northern city of Aleppo as part of a deal with the Syrian central government, in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP)

Pro-Türkiye Syrian groups have scaled down their military presence in an historically Kurdish-majority area of the country's north which they have controlled since 2018, a Syrian defense ministry official said on Tuesday.

The move follows an agreement signed last month between Syria's new authorities and Kurdish officials that provides for the return of displaced Kurds, including tens of thousands who fled the Afrin region in 2018.

The pro-Ankara groups have "reduced their military presence and checkpoints" in Afrin, in Aleppo province, the official told AFP, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Their presence has been "maintained in the region for now", said the official, adding that authorities wanted to station them in army posts but these had been a regular target of Israeli strikes.

After opposition forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, the new authorities announced the disbanding of all armed groups and their integration into the new army, a move that should include pro-Türkiye groups who control swathes of northern Syria.

Turkish forces and their Syrian proxies carried out an offensive from January to March 2018 targeting Kurdish fighters in the Afrin area.

The United Nations has estimated that half of the enclave's 320,000 inhabitants fled during the offensive.

Last month, the Kurdish administration that controls swathes of northern and northeastern Syria struck a deal to integrate its civil and military institutions into those of the central government.

Syria's new leadership has been seeking to unify the country since the December overthrow of Assad after more than 13 years of civil war.

This month, Kurdish fighters withdrew from two neighborhoods of Aleppo as part of the deal.

Syrian Kurdish official Bedran Kurd said on X that the Aleppo city agreement "represents the first phase of a broader plan aimed at ensuring the safe return of the people of Afrin".

The autonomous Kurdish-led administration's military force, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, played a key role in the recapture of the last territory held by the ISIS group in Syria in 2019.