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Netanyahu Rejects International Pressure for Palestinian State 

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike on a residential building in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. (AP)
Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike on a residential building in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. (AP)
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Netanyahu Rejects International Pressure for Palestinian State 

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike on a residential building in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. (AP)
Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike on a residential building in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. (AP)

Israel will not be pressured into accepting a Palestinian state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday, following a Washington Post report that Israel's main ally the United States was moving plans to establish a Palestinian state.

"Israel categorically rejects international dictates regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians," said Netanyahu, in a statement published following a call with US President Joe Biden. "Israel will continue to oppose unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state."

Netanyahu said statehood would be a "huge reward" in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, which triggered the latest war in Gaza. He said such an arrangement can only be reached in direct negotiations between the two sides, though no talks have been held since 2014.

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that the United States was working with some Arab countries on a post-war plan for the region that would include a firm timeline for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Top Israeli ministers strongly rejected such a development on Thursday, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in a West Bank settlement, saying a Palestinian state would pose "an existential threat" to Israel.

The two-state solution, which would create a state for the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza alongside Israel, has been a core Western policy in the region.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said on Friday Netanyahu was invoking negotiations only to have the process fail again. "The Palestinian state is not a gift or a favor from Netanyahu, but a right imposed by international law and legitimate international resolutions," it said in a statement.

Among the obstacles impeding Palestinian statehood are expanding Israeli settlements in territories Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war, which most countries consider violate international law and which sever Palestinian communities from each other.

In its Gaza offensive, Israel has killed more than 28,700 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health authorities, laid much of the strip to waste and displaced most of its 2.3 million population.

Israel says its goal is to destroy Hamas, whose fighters led the attack on southern Israeli towns in which Israeli authorities say 1,200 people were killed and 253 taken hostage.

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Arab World

Jordan Says King Abdullah Received Invitation to Join Gaza Peace Board

Palestinian girls walk past the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the war, in Gaza City, January 16, 2026. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Palestinian girls walk past the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the war, in Gaza City, January 16, 2026. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
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Jordan Says King Abdullah Received Invitation to Join Gaza Peace Board

Palestinian girls walk past the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the war, in Gaza City, January 16, 2026. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Palestinian girls walk past the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the war, in Gaza City, January 16, 2026. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Jordan's foreign ministry said on Sunday that King Abdullah received an invitation from ‌US President ‌Donald ‌Trump ⁠to join ‌the so-called "Board of Peace" for Gaza.

The foreign ministry said it was ⁠currently reviewing ‌related documents ‍within ‍the country's ‍internal legal procedures.

The board is set to supervise the temporary governance of Gaza, ⁠which has been under a shaky ceasefire since October.

On Friday, the White House announced some members of a so-called "Board of Peace" that is to supervise the temporary governance of Gaza, which has been under a fragile ceasefire since October.

The names include US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Trump is the chair of the board, according to a plan his White House unveiled in October.

The White House did not detail the responsibilities of each member of the "founding Executive board." The names do not include any Palestinians. The White House said ⁠more members will be announced over the coming weeks.

The board will also include private equity executive and billionaire ‌Marc Rowan, World Bank President Ajay Banga and Robert Gabriel, ‍a Trump adviser, the White House ‍said, adding that Nickolay Mladenov, a former UN Middle East envoy, will be the ‍high representative for Gaza.

Army Major General Jasper Jeffers, a US special operations commander, was appointed commander of the International Stabilization Force, the White House said. A UN Security Council resolution, adopted in mid-November, authorized the board and countries working with it to establish that force in Gaza.

The White House also named an 11-member "Gaza Executive Board" that will include Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East ⁠peace process, Sigrid Kaag, the United Arab Emirates minister for international cooperation, Reem Al-Hashimy, and Israeli-Cypriot billionaire Yakir Gabay, along with some members of the executive board.

This additional board will support Mladenov's office and the Palestinian technocratic body, whose details were announced this week, the White House said.

Arab World

Türkiye’s Kurdish Leader Calls Syria Clashes 'Sabotage'

American soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition against the ISIS organization stand on alert during a meeting with the Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafir, Syria, the day before yesterday (AP).
American soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition against the ISIS organization stand on alert during a meeting with the Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafir, Syria, the day before yesterday (AP).
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Türkiye’s Kurdish Leader Calls Syria Clashes 'Sabotage'

American soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition against the ISIS organization stand on alert during a meeting with the Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafir, Syria, the day before yesterday (AP).
American soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition against the ISIS organization stand on alert during a meeting with the Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafir, Syria, the day before yesterday (AP).

Recent deadly clashes in Syria between government forces and Kurdish fighters seek to "sabotage" the peace process between Türkiye and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the jailed leader of the Kurdish militant group said.

Abdullah Ocalan, who has led the unfolding Turkish peace process from prison, "sees this situation (in Syria) as an attempt to sabotage the peace process" in Türkiye, a delegation from the pro-Kurdish DEM party said after visiting him in jail on Saturday.

The PKK leader last year called for the group to lay down its weapons and disband, after more than four decades of conflict that claimed at least 50,000 lives.

The delegation that visited him at Imrali prison island near Istanbul, where he has been held in solitary confinement since 1999, said he had "reaffirmed his commitment to the process of peace and democratic society" and called to "take the necessary steps to move forward".

The PKK made a similar warning earlier this month, saying the Syria clashes "call into question the ceasefire between our movement and Türkiye ".

The clashes in Syria erupted after negotiations stalled on integrating the Kurds' de facto autonomous administration and forces into the country's new government, which took over after the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024.

The Syrian army has seized swathes of the country's north, dislodging Kurdish forces from territory where they had held effective autonomy for more than a decade.

Türkiye, which views Kurdish fighters in Syria as a terror group affiliated with the PKK, has praised Syria's operation as fighting "terrorist organizations".

Arab World

Aidarous al-Zubaidi Faces Corruption, Land-Grabbing Investigations

 Aidarous al-Zoubaidi (AFP) 
 Aidarous al-Zoubaidi (AFP) 
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Aidarous al-Zubaidi Faces Corruption, Land-Grabbing Investigations

 Aidarous al-Zoubaidi (AFP) 
 Aidarous al-Zoubaidi (AFP) 

Yemen’s Attorney General, Qaher Mustafa, has ordered the formation of a judicial committee to investigate allegations of corruption, illicit enrichment, and related crimes attributed to Aidarous al-Zubaidi, according to a decision issued on Saturday. The committee has been instructed to proceed in accordance with the law.

The probe will examine accusations including abuse of power, land seizures, illicit oil trading, and involvement in commercial companies. Observers say these practices have deepened political and social divisions in Yemen’s southern governorates, fueling public anger over financial and administrative corruption.

Dr. Fares al-Bayl, head of the Future Center for Yemeni Studies, told Asharq Al-Awsat that al-Zubaidi “lacks political capital and administrative experience,” but rose to senior positions amid Yemen’s worst economic and political crisis. He alleged that al-Zubaidi exploited these posts to seize public funds, undermine state institutions, and conspire with external actors.

Al-Bayl said al-Zubaidi diverted large budgets - estimated at 10 billion Yemeni riyals monthly - under the name of the Southern Transitional Council, without legal authorization. He accused him of withholding revenues from the Port of Aden, customs, and taxes from the Central Bank, and channeling funds to armed formations outside state control.

Additional claims include the imposition of illegal levies on traders and citizens, the creation of multiple revenue-collection checkpoints, and the failure to transfer taxes on qat, fuel, cement, transport, tourism projects, and private investments to the state treasury.

Administratively, al-Bayl alleged that al-Zubaidi dismantled state institutions, replaced qualified personnel with loyalists, paralyzed essential services such as electricity, water, and the judiciary, and established parallel security bodies, creating administrative chaos and a lack of accountability. He also cited documented allegations of secret prisons, torture, enforced disappearances, and unlawful detentions of political opponents and journalists.

Security analyst Ibrahim Jalal described the alleged corruption as a reflection of power dominance and the monopolization of wealth and authority, often through illegal means and at the expense of citizens’ livelihoods.

Economist Adel Shamsan said the swift move by the Attorney General to open investigations carries important political and legal implications, reinforcing accountability and the rule of law. He noted that the action could help contain political fallout, ease polarization, and reassure markets and donors, supporting financial stability and reducing uncertainty.

According to documents reviewed by Asharq Al-Awsat, al-Zubaidi allegedly seized vast tracts of land in Aden. Many of these properties were reportedly registered in the names of relatives or close associates.

Additional allegations include oil shipments through Qena Port in Shabwa and corruption cases involving exchange and furniture companies based in Aden.