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Total Palestinian Rejection of Gaza Tribal Rule Plans

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant (File photo: Reuters)
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant (File photo: Reuters)
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Total Palestinian Rejection of Gaza Tribal Rule Plans

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant (File photo: Reuters)
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant (File photo: Reuters)

bIsraeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant presented for the first time a post-war plan, according to which Hamas would not have governed the Gaza Strip.

Under the plan, Hamas would no longer control Gaza and Israel would maintain military operational freedom, but there would be no Israeli civilian presence there.

Talk about the “day after” the war has been a significant point of discussion, and questions about the form of the Strip’s management, especially its security aspect, remain without clear answers.

- Gallant plan

Gallant revealed to reporters the outlines of the plan before presenting it to the Military Ministerial Council headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The plan states that residents of northern Gaza will not be permitted to return to their homes until all hostages held in Gaza are returned and notes that there are no plans for a reoccupation or resettlement of Gaza after the goals of the war have been achieved.

Israel will carry out a “joint operation with Egypt” in cooperation with the US to “effectively control the border” and prevent the smuggling of weapons from Sinai into the Palestinian Strip.

The plan also stipulates that Hamas will not rule Gaza, and Israel will not govern Gaza civilians, noting that Palestinian bodies will be in charge, with the condition that there will be no hostile actions or threats against Israel.

It focuses on the civil governance of the Strip, with Israel retaining military control on the borders and the right to take any military and security action necessary inside Gaza.

- Tribal rule

Tribal leaders in Gaza rejected Israeli post-war plans, excluding Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The Commissioner-General of the Supreme Authority of Palestinian Tribes in Gaza, Akef al-Masry, issued a warning against the plan.

Masry said the “occupying state” seeks to cover up its failures in Gaza and create strife in the Palestinian society.

He asserted that the Palestinian tribes are an integral part of the society, rejecting the Israeli conspiracies to eliminate national rights.

The official lauded the legendary steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their resistance, calling on all to make a united national decision that rises to the level of sacrifice.

Masry called on all Palestinian, Arab, and international parties to take urgent action to stop the genocide, ensure the flow of humanitarian aid and medical and relief supplies, and guarantee shelter for citizens until reconstruction is completed.

In a statement on Friday, the Palestinian Presidency firmly reiterated its clear stance, emphasizing that halting the Israeli aggression against the people is the top national priority for the time being.

The Presidency rejected any plans beyond these parameters, deeming them categorically unacceptable.

The statement emphasized the importance of a political horizon based on international legitimacy, the Arab Peace Initiative, ending the occupation, and the recognition of the State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.

Gallant’s plan is inspired by the “Emirates Project” for the future of the Gaza Strip.

The “Emirates Project” was initiated about ten years ago by right-wing professor Mordechai Kedar, a Begin-Sadat Institute for Studies member.

Kedar claimed the Palestinian Emirates Plan’ was the only viable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He indicated that the West Bank would be linked to the tribes and families, in addition to the emirate that arose ten years ago in Gaza and is ruled by Hamas.

At the time, Kedar stressed that his project was based on the successful model of the United Arab Emirates.

However, the Kedar project discussed the Gaza Strip as a single emirate in addition to the emirates of the West Bank.

Gallant called for a multinational task force, led by the US in partnership with European and moderate Arab nations, to take responsibility for running civil affairs and the economic rehabilitation of the Strip.

Palestinian administrative mechanisms will be maintained, provided the relevant officials are not affiliated with Hamas.

- Israeli rejects the plan

The plan was met with strong opposition from the Israeli right, which insists on deporting the people of Gaza.

Minister Benny Gantz wondered if a single Palestinian would accept the plan.

Journalist Nahum Barnea wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth that tribal leaders will manage Gaza according to the proposal of officials in the security apparatus.

He recalled that the proposal was tried once, in 1977, and ended in resounding failure. At the time, they called it village associations.

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Arab World

UN Human Rights Commissioner Calls for Accountability for Atrocity Crimes in Sudan

UN Human Rights commissioner Volker Turk 
UN Human Rights commissioner Volker Turk 
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UN Human Rights Commissioner Calls for Accountability for Atrocity Crimes in Sudan

UN Human Rights commissioner Volker Turk 
UN Human Rights commissioner Volker Turk 

UN Human Rights commissioner Volker Turk said on Sunday he is alarmed by the increasing militarization of society by all parties to the conflict in Sudan, also expressing his worries that the atrocity crimes committed during and after the takeover of El Fasher would be repeated in the Kordofan region.

Speaking at a press conference in Port Sudan, where the government had been operating as a temporary capital since the conflict began, the UN envoy said the proliferation of advanced military equipment, in particular drones, across Sudan has enhanced the military capabilities of both the Sudanese army (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), prolonging hostilities and deepening the crisis for civilians.

“I am deeply alarmed by the increasing militarization of society by all parties to the conflict, including through the arming of civilians and recruitment and use of children,” Turk noted.

The envoy said that during his visit to refugee camps in north Sudan, he heard accounts of widespread summary executions by RSF during the offensive on El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur region – for revenge, for suspected affiliation with the Sudanese Army or its allied Joint Forces.

He added, “I am very worried that the atrocity crimes committed during and after the takeover of El Fasher are at grave risk of repeating themselves in the Kordofan region, where the conflict has been rapidly escalating since late October.”

Horror and Hell

Turk also said the Sudanese population had endured “horror and hell,” especially with the expansion of the fighting in Kordofan.

“The Kordofan states are extremely volatile, with relentless military engagements, heavy shelling, drone bombardments and airstrikes causing widespread destruction and collapse of essential services,” he warned.

Since the end of October, and after taking control of El Fasher in Darfur, the RSF attacks have expanded into the neighboring Kordofan region, resulting in a continued displacement of civilians from the besieged city – all in the context of extreme food insecurity, with famine conditions confirmed in Kadugli, and risk of famine in other areas including Dilling, according to Turk.

The latest UN figures show that more than 65,000 people have been displaced since October.

At his press conference at Port Sudan airport, the envoy said that during his four-day visit to Port Sudan, Dongola, Ad Dabba and Merowe, he has met with those who have been hardest hit by brutal violence and injustice in this war.

“The terrifying experiences of these survivors must provoke action to end this conflict, and to make sure they can access what they need: medical care, psychosocial care, justice and support to pursue education and a livelihood”.

End This Madness

Turk and his UN team had visited the Al Afad site for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Ad Dabba, where they met with a large number of displaced people from the regions of Darfur and Kordofan.

“In my meetings with more than 50 local and international organizations in Dongola and Port Sudan, I heard appeals directed to those waging this war and the international community to end this madness,” he said.

“And to allow NGOs, journalists, lawyers and humanitarian actors to do their essential work without undue restrictions and reprisals,” Turk added.

He said the RSF and the Sudanese army must cease intolerable attacks against civilian objects that are indispensable to the civilian population, including markets, health facilities, schools and shelters.

“Attacks on critical civilian infrastructure are serious violations that can amount to war crimes,” Turk affirmed.

The UN envoy said the international community must ensure that the perpetrators of the horrific violations in Sudan face justice, regardless of their affiliation.

My Office, he said, is working to document and report on these violations and abuses to pave the way for accountability.

Turk described as “despicable” the fact that large sums of money are being spent on procuring increasingly advanced weaponry – funds he said that should be used to alleviate the suffering of the population.

Protection of Civilians

The envoy then called on all parties to the conflict to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, to guarantee safe passage for civilians to leave areas of active conflict – including Kadugli and Dilling – and for humanitarian aid to enter where it is needed.

He also repeated his call from three years ago, when he last visited Sudan, urging all those involved to set aside entrenched positions, power games, and personal interests, and to focus on the common interests of the Sudanese people.

The envoy then left Sudan with a plea that human rights be central to building confidence and bringing this war to an end, to resuming the difficult task of building a sustainable peace.

“It is difficult, but certainly not impossible, with the resilience and power of the Sudanese people,” he affirmed.

Arab World

Syrian Government Announces Ceasefire with Kurdish-led SDF

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa after signing an agreement at the presidential palace in Damascus on January 18, 2026. (EPA)
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa after signing an agreement at the presidential palace in Damascus on January 18, 2026. (EPA)
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Syrian Government Announces Ceasefire with Kurdish-led SDF

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa after signing an agreement at the presidential palace in Damascus on January 18, 2026. (EPA)
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa after signing an agreement at the presidential palace in Damascus on January 18, 2026. (EPA)

The Syrian government Sunday announced a ceasefire with the Syrian Democratic Forces, taking almost full control of the country and dismantling the Kurdish-led forces that controlled the northeast for over a decade.

The announcement comes as tensions between government forces and the SDF boiled over earlier this month, eventually resulting in a major push by government forces toward the east. The SDF appeared to have largely retreated after initial clashes on a tense front line area in eastern Aleppo province.

Hours after the government announced the deal, SDF leader Mazloum Abdi confirmed it in a video statement, saying the group had accepted the agreement, which stipulates their withdrawal from Raqqa and Deir Ezzor provinces “to stop the bloodshed.”

“We will explain the terms of the agreement to our people in the coming days,” he said.

Syria’s Defense Ministry said it ordered the fighting to halt on the front lines after the agreement was announced.

Syria’s new leaders, since toppling Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, have struggled to assert their full authority over the war-torn country. An agreement was reached in March that would merge the SDF with Damascus, but it didn't gain traction as both sides accused each other of violating the deal.

Since the push, the government has largely asserted control of the Deir Ezzor and Raqqa provinces, critical areas under the SDF that include oil and gas fields, river dams along the Euphrates, and border crossings.

Syria’s state-run news agency SANA showed President Ahmed al-Sharaa signing and holding the agreement. Abdi, who was scheduled to meet with the president in Damascus was not seen, though his signature appeared on the document.

Sharaa told journalists that Abdi could not travel due to bad weather and will visit Damascus on Monday.

“It’s a victory for all Syrians of all backgrounds,” Sharaa told journalists in Damascus after signing the agreement. “Hopefully Syria will end its state of division and move to a state of unity and progress.”

US Envoy Tom Barrack met with Sharaa earlier Sunday as government forces were sweeping into the city of Raqqa and across Deir Ezzor. Abdi reportedly joined the meeting over the phone.

Barrack praised the agreement, saying it will lead to “renewed dialogue and cooperation toward a unified Syria,” ahead of working on the details of implementing the integration.

“This agreement and ceasefire represent a pivotal inflection point, where former adversaries embrace partnership over division,” said Barrack in a post on X.

The agreement includes dismantling the SDF and having its forces join Syria’s military and security forces, while senior military and civilian officials would be given high-ranking positions in state institutions.

The SDF would have to give up the Raqqa and Deir Ezzor provinces — both Arab-majority areas — to the Syrian military and government, as well as its border crossings and oil and gas fields.

Hassakah province, the heartland of the Kurdish population, is only expected to give its civilian administration back to Damascus, while the Kurdish-led agencies that handled prisons and sprawling camps with thousands of detained ISIS group fighters and families would be handed over to Damascus.

Agreement will be implemented gradually

There was no clear timeline on when and how the different elements of the agreement will take effect. Sharaa told journalists that it will be gradually implemented, beginning with the cessation of hostilities.

It appeared that tensions following clashes in Aleppo earlier this month had calmed after Abdi announced that his troops will withdraw east of the Euphrates River, and Sharaa issued a presidential decree that would strengthen Kurdish rights in the country.

Initially the withdrawal appeared to be going as planned, but then new clashes broke out and the Syrian military seized Tabqa, continuing into Raqqa province.

A senior Syrian government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly said government forces pushed eastward because the SDF despite saying they will withdraw east of the Euphrates by 7 a.m. did not do so.

Armed Arab clans in Raqqa and Deir Ezzor that largely do not support the SDF backed Damascus. By Sunday evening, the SDF lost control of large swaths of its territory and infrastructure, including dams and oil and gas fields.

The SDF took Raqqa from the ISIS group in 2017 as part of its military campaign to take down the group’s so-called "caliphate", which at its peak stretched across large parts of Syria and Iraq.

An Associated Press reporter in the area said that large military convoys swept into Raqqa city Sunday evening and were greeted by residents. It appeared that the SDF had withdrawn.

Raqqa celebrates

Crowds in Raqqa celebrated in the streets late into the evening, waving Syrian flags and setting off fireworks, while some fired into the air.

“Today, everyone is born anew,” said Yahya Al Ahmad, who was among the revelers.

A couple of thousand Kurdish families who lived in the areas captured by government forces fled to the SDF-controlled city of Qamishli amid the offensive. Many of them had previously been displaced from other areas multiple times during Syria’s 14-year civil war and were living in tents camps. A cultural center in the city was turned into a temporary shelter for them.

Residents of Qamishli expressed both hope and skepticism about the deal.

“The Kurds have become victims of international agreements and international deception,” said Goran Ibrahim, a doctor. But he said, “With regards to this agreement, the positive part is the end of the fighting in the region.”

Syria's ambassador to the UN, Ibrahim Olabi, told the AP, “Really this is now a moment to show that Syrians are able to put differences aside and move ahead...It’s a victory for Syria.”

Arab World

Video Shows Fires in Palestinian Village in West Bank During Israeli Settler Attack

People stand in an area with destroyed vehicles and a structure, which Palestinians say were burned by Israeli settlers on Saturday, in the Palestinian town of Mikhmas, near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, January 18, 2026. (Reuters)
People stand in an area with destroyed vehicles and a structure, which Palestinians say were burned by Israeli settlers on Saturday, in the Palestinian town of Mikhmas, near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, January 18, 2026. (Reuters)
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Video Shows Fires in Palestinian Village in West Bank During Israeli Settler Attack

People stand in an area with destroyed vehicles and a structure, which Palestinians say were burned by Israeli settlers on Saturday, in the Palestinian town of Mikhmas, near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, January 18, 2026. (Reuters)
People stand in an area with destroyed vehicles and a structure, which Palestinians say were burned by Israeli settlers on Saturday, in the Palestinian town of Mikhmas, near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, January 18, 2026. (Reuters)

Israeli settlers rampaged through a Palestinian village in the West Bank, setting fire to a series of structures, according to security camera footage obtained by The Associated Press on Sunday, in an overnight onslaught that has become a common phenomenon in the occupied territory.

In the video, time-stamped at around 10 p.m. Saturday, several structures in the village go up in flames as the sound of gunfire, screaming and barking echoes in the background. At one point in the video, the fires grow so large that they illuminate the bands of settlers, dressed in black, pacing freely through the village.

Also Sunday, at least four more countries said they had been invited to join US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, the international body expected to oversee his Gaza ceasefire plan and perhaps other conflict resolutions.

Meanwhile, an Israeli Cabinet minister said that he'd ordered officials to disconnect the water and electricity for facilities of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, or UNRWA. It's the latest action in Israel’s long-running campaign to shut down the agency. UNRWA fears the shutdown could hamper its work in east Jerusalem.

Settler attack video

The footage obtained by the AP showed the moment dozens of settlers descended on the small Bedouin hamlet of Khirbet al-Sidra, north of Jerusalem, attacking Palestinians and international activists and burning cars and homes, according to the Palestinian Authority's Jerusalem governate, which monitors Palestinian affairs in the area.

In a statement, it said that eight homes and at least two cars were burned in the attack.

Israel’s military said that soldiers dispatched to the village found an Israeli vehicle with clubs inside. It said that Palestinians, Israelis and foreign nationals were injured, and troops were searching the area to make arrests. As of Sunday afternoon, no arrests had been reported.

It marked the latest assault in the tense territory as settler violence spikes in recent months.

Around 500,000 Israelis have settled in the West Bank since Israel captured the territory, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. Their presence is viewed by most of the international community as illegal and a major obstacle to peace.

The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future state. Israel has sought to play down the violence as the work of a small, radical minority. But Israel's far-right government, dominated by settlers and their supporters, has done little to stop the attacks.

Board of Peace invites

Jordan, Greece, Cyprus and Pakistan on Sunday announced that they had received invitations to Trump's Board of Peace. Albania, Egypt, Paraguay, Argentina and Türkiye have already said they were invited.

The board, made up of world leaders, was initially seen as a mechanism focused on ending the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. It's now taking shape with ambitions to have a far broader mandate to address other global crises, potentially rivaling the United Nations.

The US hasn't yet announced the official list of members. In letters sent Friday to various world leaders inviting them to be “founding members” of the board, Trump says the body would “embark on a bold new approach to resolving global conflict.”

Israel moves against UNRWA

Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said on X Sunday he'd issued formal notices to disconnect water and electricity from facilities belonging to UNRWA.

The UN agency said on X that the shutdown could take effect within two weeks. It comes after Israel's parliament in December passed a bill to cut the supply of electricity and water to the facilities.

The earlier ban already closed many of UNRWA’s services in east Jerusalem, though it continues to operate a vocational training center in east Jerusalem.

The agency provides aid and services, including health and education, to around 2.5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, as well as 3 million more in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

Earlier last year, Israel banned the agency from operating on its territory. The ban followed months of attacks on the agency by Israel, which says it's deeply infiltrated by Hamas. UNRWA rejects that accusation.