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What to Expect from the Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee’s Intl Tour to Stop War on Gaza?

An Israeli armored vehicle passes in front of Palestinians fleeing bombing in Gaza on Salah al-Din Road in the Zaytoun neighborhood (AFP)
An Israeli armored vehicle passes in front of Palestinians fleeing bombing in Gaza on Salah al-Din Road in the Zaytoun neighborhood (AFP)
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What to Expect from the Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee’s Intl Tour to Stop War on Gaza?

An Israeli armored vehicle passes in front of Palestinians fleeing bombing in Gaza on Salah al-Din Road in the Zaytoun neighborhood (AFP)
An Israeli armored vehicle passes in front of Palestinians fleeing bombing in Gaza on Salah al-Din Road in the Zaytoun neighborhood (AFP)

A ministerial committee assigned by the Arab-Islamic summit began an international move to stop the war on Gaza. The foreign ministers of member states headed to China, the first leg of a tour that includes a number of major countries.
Diplomats and experts, who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat, expressed their confidence in the committee’s role to persuade Western countries to change their position towards Israel, and to put pressure on the Israeli government to stop the aggression that has been ongoing for more than a month against Gaza.
The summit, which was held in Riyadh on Nov. 11, decided to “assign the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia - in its capacity as chair of the Arab and Islamic summits - and each of Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye, Indonesia, Nigeria and Palestine, and the secretaries-general of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, to “initiate immediate action on behalf of all member states and formulate an international move to stop the war on Gaza, as well as to push for the launch of a serious and real political process to achieve lasting and comprehensive peace in accordance with approved international references.”
The Permanent Representative of Palestine to the League of Arab States, Ambassador Mohannad Al-Aklouk, told Asharq Al-Awsat that he hopes the committee’s action would be quick and effective to stop the ongoing crimes of the Israeli occupation.
“Action must be urgent, fast and effective, and the Arab and Islamic countries... can do a lot,” he stated.
For his part, Professor of Political Science at Cairo University, Dr. Ahmed Youssef Ahmed, pointed to the importance of working on the Russia-China axis, explaining that the two countries have taken diplomatic stances in favor of Palestine, but are required to express bolder positions.
Ambassador Rakha Ahmed Hassan, former Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the committee was a diplomatic attempt to persuade countries with influence in the Security Council to make a decision to oblige Israel to commit to a ceasefire.
He expressed hope that the committee would succeed in its endeavor and convince the United States to pressure Tel Aviv to stop the aggression.
The Arab Islamic Summit called on all countries to stop exporting weapons and ammunition to the occupation authorities, reaffirming adherence to peace as a strategic option, ending the Israeli occupation, and resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict in accordance with international law and the relevant resolutions of international legitimacy.

 

 

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Lebanon’s PM Visits Syrian President to Discuss Border Demarcation and Security

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
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Lebanon’s PM Visits Syrian President to Discuss Border Demarcation and Security

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam led a high-level ministerial delegation to Syria on Monday for talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, marking the most significant diplomatic visit between the two countries since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December.

"My visit to Damascus today aims to open a new page in the history of relations between the two countries, based on mutual respect, restoring trust, good neighborliness," Salam said in a statement on X.

At the center of discussions was implementing a March 28 agreement signed in Saudi Arabia by the Syrian and Lebanese defense ministers to demarcate land and sea borders and improve coordination on border security issues, Salam said in the statement.

The Lebanese-Syrian border witnessed deadly clashes earlier this year and years of unrest in the frontier regions, which have been plagued by weapons and illicit drug smuggling through illegal crossings.

During Monday’s meeting, Salam and Sharaa agreed to form a joint ministerial committee to oversee the implementation of the border agreement, close illegal crossings and suppress smuggling activity along the border.

The border area, especially near Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and Syria’s Qusayr region, has long been a corridor for illicit trade, arms trafficking, and the movement of fighters — including Hezbollah fighters who backed the Assad government during Syria’s 14-year civil war.

Hezbollah has been significantly weakened in its recent war with Israel and since Assad's ousting, it lost several key smuggling routes it once relied on for weapons transfers.

Lebanon also pressed Syria to provide clarity on the fate of thousands of Lebanese nationals who were forcibly disappeared or imprisoned in Syrian jails in the 1980s and 1990s, during Syria’s nearly 30-year military presence in Lebanon. Human rights groups have long documented the lack of accountability and transparency regarding these cases, with families of the missing holding regular demonstrations in Beirut demanding answers.

Syrian officials for their part raised the issue of Syrian nationals detained in Lebanese prisons, Salam said. Many of the detainees were arrested for illegal entry or alleged involvement in militant activity. Rights advocates in both countries have criticized the lack of due process in many of these cases and the poor conditions inside detention facilities.

Lebanon pledged to hand over people implicated in crimes committed by the Assad government and security forces, many of whom are believed to have fled to Lebanon after the government’s collapse, if found on Lebanese soil, a ministerial source told The Associated Press.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to publicly comment.

In return, Lebanese officials requested the extradition of Syrians wanted in Lebanese courts for high-profile political assassinations, "most notably those involved in the bombing of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques, those convicted of assassinating President Bashir Gemayel, and other crimes for which the Assad regime is accused," Salam said.

For decades, Lebanon witnessed a long series of politically motivated assassinations targeting journalists, politicians and security officials, particularly those opposed to Syrian influence. The 2013 twin bombings of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques in Tripoli in northern Lebanon killed more than 40 people and intensified sectarian tensions already heightened by the spillover from the Syrian war.

Syria has never officially acknowledged involvement in any of Lebanon’s political assassinations.

Salam said he also pushed for renewed cooperation on the return of Syrian refugees.

Lebanese government officials estimate the country hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees, of whom about 755,000 are officially registered with the UN refugee agency, or UNHCR, making it the country with the highest number of refugees per capita in the world.

While Lebanese authorities have long urged the international community to support large-scale repatriation efforts, human rights organizations have cautioned against forced returns, citing ongoing security concerns and a lack of guarantees in Syria.

Since the fall of Assad in December, an estimated 400,000 refugees have returned to Syria from neighboring countries, according to UNHCR, with about half of them coming from Lebanon, but many are hesitant to return because of the dire economic situation and fears of continuing instability in Syria.