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Abbas, Qatari Emir Discuss ‘Day After Gaza War’

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in Doha on Monday with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (WAFA)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in Doha on Monday with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (WAFA)
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Abbas, Qatari Emir Discuss ‘Day After Gaza War’

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in Doha on Monday with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (WAFA)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in Doha on Monday with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (WAFA)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Monday for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and for holding an international peace conference with international guarantees and a specific timetable to end the Israeli occupation, and the establishment of the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital on the 1967 border.
Abbas discussed his proposals with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in Doha.
Informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday that the Qatari Emir, who had earlier telephoned Abbas twice, is pushing for an internal Palestinian consensus on the day after the Gaza war.
According to the sources, Qatar wants to reach a Palestinian agreement that would extend the influence of the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip after the end of the war, provided it receives the approval of the Hamas movement.
In the ongoing ceasefire negotiations, Hamas had refused to discuss with Israel any plans for post-war Gaza, insisting that the issue remains an internal Palestinian concern.
The sources confirmed that Hamas has a vision for the day after the war on Gaza. “The Movement suggests that the Strip be governed by a consensus government with the mission of rebuilding Gaza and of holding subsequent general elections,” they said.
Therefore, Qatar seeks an internal Palestinian agreement on Gaza while Abbas links his handover of the Strip to an international agreement and guarantees on a political path to establish a Palestinian State, the sources said. They added that the Palestinian President also demands guarantees related to the governance, control, security and reconstruction of Gaza.
Hamas has long been at odds with Abbas and his West Bank-based Fatah group.
On Monday, Abbas and Sheikh Tamim held two meetings in Doha, a general and then a closed one.
The Palestinian news agency, WAFA, said the two men discussed the latest developments in the Palestinian territories, and the efforts made to stop the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip, which is subjected to a war of extermination from the Israeli killing machine.
They also touched on the persistent Arab efforts seeking to stop the aggression and pave the way for a political solution based on international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.
Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Hussein Al Sheikh, who is accompanying Abbas to Qatar, said the discussions touched on the latest developments in the region and the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people, and the Arab-international dynamic to end the war in the Strip.
Israel and the US appear to be on a collision course on who to govern the Gaza Strip after the war ends.
On Monday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh accused Israel of attempting to remove the PA from the Gaza Strip by seizing clearing funds, closing all crossings leading to the Gaza Strip, and preventing the delivery of any aid from the West Bank and Jerusalem.
At the beginning of the weekly Cabinet session held in Ramallah, he said, “Israel is practicing economic and financial destruction of the PA.”

 

 

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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.