Arab Parliament Condemns Israel’s Al-Mawasi Massacre in Gaza

Smoke rises after Israeli strikes, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Smoke rises after Israeli strikes, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
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Arab Parliament Condemns Israel’s Al-Mawasi Massacre in Gaza

Smoke rises after Israeli strikes, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Smoke rises after Israeli strikes, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

The Arab Parliament strongly condemned the massacre committed by Israeli forces in Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza.
The massacre, which resulted in the deaths and injuries of dozens, is a continuation of the policy of genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people, and a clear violation of international laws and charters, particularly international humanitarian law, the Arab Parliament said.
In a statement, it stated that impunity and lack of deterrence further encourage the Israeli occupation forces to commit more crimes and massacres against innocent civilians.

It also said that the international community, the Security Council, and the US administration are fully responsible for these massacres, which are carried out on a daily basis amid shameful international silence.
The Arab Parliament urged the international community, the Security Council, and the international community to assume their responsibilities and exert pressure on the occupation forces to halt the genocide and the brutal massacres committed against Palestinian civilians.
The parliament also asked that the Palestinian civilians be granted protection and that humanitarian and medical assistance be immediately allowed into the Gaza Strip to alleviate the famine and tragic conditions there, as well as an immediate stop to the attacks on innocent civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.



Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Meets HTS Leader in Damascus

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
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Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Meets HTS Leader in Damascus

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)

Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Sunday, Türkiye’s foreign ministry said, without providing further details.

Photographs and footage shared by the ministry showed Fidan and Sharaa, leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which led the operation to topple Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, walking ahead of a crowded delegation before posing for photographs.

The two are also seen shaking hands, hugging, and smiling.

On Friday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that Türkiye would help Syria's new administration form a state structure and draft a new constitution, adding Fidan would head to Damascus to discuss this new structure, without providing a date.

Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Türkiye’s MIT intelligence agency, also visited Damascus on Dec. 12, four days after Assad's fall.

Ankara had for years backed opposition fighters looking to oust Assad and welcomed the end of his family's brutal five-decade rule after a 13-year civil war. Türkiye also hosts millions of Syrian migrants it hopes will start returning home after Assad's fall, and has vowed to help rebuild Syria.

Fidan's visit comes amid fighting in northeast Syria between Türkiye-backed Syrian fighters and the Kurdish YPG militia, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeast and Ankara regards as a terrorist organization.

Earlier, Türkiye’s defense minister said Ankara believed that Syria's new leadership, including the Syrian National Army (SNA) armed group which Ankara backs, will drive YPG fighters from all territory they occupy in the northeast.

Ankara, alongside Syrian allies, has mounted several cross-border offensives against the Kurdish faction in northern Syria and controls swathes of Syrian territory along the border, while repeatedly demanding that its NATO ally Washington halts support for the Kurdish fighters.

The SDF has been on the back foot since Assad's fall, with the threat of advances from Ankara and Türkiye-backed groups as it looks to preserve political gains made in the last 13 years, and with Syria's new rulers being friendly to Ankara.