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Arab World

Spain Hosts Meeting on Israel-Palestinian Two-State Solution

(From Front-L) Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borell, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Manuel Albares, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Jordanian Foreign Minster Ayman Safadi, Slovenia’s Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon, and (From Back-L) Quatar's Minister of State Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide, Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hissein Brahim Taha and Bahrain's Foreign Affairs subsecretary Sheik Abdulla bin Ahmed al-Khalifa pose for a group picture after a meeting on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Madrid on September 13, 2024. (AFP)
(From Front-L) Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borell, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Manuel Albares, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Jordanian Foreign Minster Ayman Safadi, Slovenia’s Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon, and (From Back-L) Quatar's Minister of State Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide, Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hissein Brahim Taha and Bahrain's Foreign Affairs subsecretary Sheik Abdulla bin Ahmed al-Khalifa pose for a group picture after a meeting on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Madrid on September 13, 2024. (AFP)
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Spain Hosts Meeting on Israel-Palestinian Two-State Solution

(From Front-L) Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borell, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Manuel Albares, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Jordanian Foreign Minster Ayman Safadi, Slovenia’s Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon, and (From Back-L) Quatar's Minister of State Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide, Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hissein Brahim Taha and Bahrain's Foreign Affairs subsecretary Sheik Abdulla bin Ahmed al-Khalifa pose for a group picture after a meeting on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Madrid on September 13, 2024. (AFP)
(From Front-L) Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borell, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Manuel Albares, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Jordanian Foreign Minster Ayman Safadi, Slovenia’s Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon, and (From Back-L) Quatar's Minister of State Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide, Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hissein Brahim Taha and Bahrain's Foreign Affairs subsecretary Sheik Abdulla bin Ahmed al-Khalifa pose for a group picture after a meeting on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Madrid on September 13, 2024. (AFP)

Ministers from Muslim and European countries along with the European Union's foreign affairs chief gathered Friday in Madrid to discuss how to advance a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Together, we want to identify the concrete actions that will enable us to make progress towards this objective," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on social network X.

"The international community must take a decisive step towards a just and lasting peace in the Middle East," the Socialist premier added.

Sanchez welcomed participants at his official residence before the start of the meeting at the foreign ministry in central Madrid, hosted by his top diplomat Jose Manuel Albares.

In attendance were Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa and the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye -- all members of the Arab-Islamic Contact Group for Gaza -- as well as the heads of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

The European Union was represented by its foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell as well as the foreign ministers of Ireland, Norway and Slovenia in addition to Spain.

"The implementation of the two-state solution is the only way to ensure a just and lasting peace in the region through the peaceful and secure coexistence of the state of Palestine and the state of Israel," Albares told a news conference.

Asked about Israel's absence from the meeting, he said the country had not been invited because it belonged "neither to the group of Europeans nor to the Arab-Islamic contact group" but stressed he would be "delighted" if Israel took part in discussions on the two-state solution.

Calls for the solution have grown since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, which began with Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.

That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Hamas also seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel has responded with an offensive that has killed at least 41,118 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. The UN rights office says most of the dead are women and children.

Sanchez has been one of the staunchest critics in Europe of Israel's Gaza offensive since the start of the conflict.

Under his watch, Spain on May 28 along with Ireland and Norway formally recognized a Palestinian state comprising the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Earlier this month he announced that the first "bilateral summit between Spain and Palestine" would be held before the end of the year. He said he expected "several collaboration agreements between the two states" to be signed.

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Arab World

Israeli Defense Minister: We Will Never Withdraw our Forces from Gaza

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz. (dpa)
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz. (dpa)
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Israeli Defense Minister: We Will Never Withdraw our Forces from Gaza

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz. (dpa)
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz. (dpa)

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Israel “will never withdraw from the Gaza Strip,” announcing that new settlement outposts will be established in the northern part of the enclave “when the appropriate time comes.”

Israeli media reported that Katz made the remarks during a ceremony held in Beit El, stating: “We will do this in the right way and at the right time. There will be those who protest, but we are ministers.”

Arab World

A Shaky Start for Lebanon’s Financial Gap Bill

Depositors hold protest banners against the draft deposit recovery law during popular demonstrations on the road to the Presidential Palace (Asharq Al-Awsat). 
Depositors hold protest banners against the draft deposit recovery law during popular demonstrations on the road to the Presidential Palace (Asharq Al-Awsat). 
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A Shaky Start for Lebanon’s Financial Gap Bill

Depositors hold protest banners against the draft deposit recovery law during popular demonstrations on the road to the Presidential Palace (Asharq Al-Awsat). 
Depositors hold protest banners against the draft deposit recovery law during popular demonstrations on the road to the Presidential Palace (Asharq Al-Awsat). 

A widening wave of objections in Lebanon to the draft “financial gap” bill has exposed the hurdles facing its passage in parliament.

Prepared by a ministerial and legal committee chaired by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, the bill has drawn resistance from influential political and sectoral actors, bolstering the opposition voiced by depositors’ associations and the banking lobby.

Conflicting ministerial positions ahead of Monday’s special cabinet session to review the final draft underscore the sharp disputes likely to intensify once the bill is formally sent to parliament, a senior financial official told Asharq Al-Awsat.

With parliamentary elections due next spring, candidates are wary of confronting voters or powerful interest groups.

According to the government’s forthcoming brief, the bill marks the end of years of disorder and the start of a clear path to restore rights, protect social stability, and rebuild confidence in the financial system after six years of paralysis, silent erosion of deposits, and crisis mismanagement.

It is framed not as a narrow technical fix, but as a strategic shift, from denying losses and letting them fall haphazardly, to acknowledging and organizing them within an enforceable legal framework.

The government argues the plan would protect about 85% of depositors by enabling access to a guaranteed portion of savings, up to $100,000 over four years, while preserving the nominal value of all deposits via central bank–guaranteed bonds maturing in 10, 15, and 20 years.

Banks, however, have openly declared their “fundamental reservations and strong objection” to the bill on financial regularization and deposit treatment.

Professional associations and unions have joined depositors’ groups in opposing proposals they say would load the bulk of losses onto depositors, either through direct haircuts or by stretching repayment over one to two decades.

The Beirut Order of Engineers added its voice, warning that the near-final draft manages collapse rather than delivers reform, distributing losses unfairly at the expense of depositors and productive sectors, and failing to explicitly protect union funds.

Legal objections have also surfaced over provisions with retroactive effect, taxes, levies, and accounting adjustments applied to transfers made after the crisis erupted in autumn 2019, as well as to past deposit returns.

Banks say such measures constitute an unjustified infringement of rights and lack sound legal and financial grounding or precedent.

The financial official noted that these retroactive elements could be challenged before the State Council, as they contradict the principle that laws apply only after promulgation. Most transactions, he added, were conducted under then-valid laws and central bank approvals.

By contrast, previous governments compelled the central bank to spend more than $11 billion on poorly controlled subsidies, much of which was smuggled abroad, notably to Syrian markets.

Banks insist that any credible solution must begin with a precise, transparent assessment of the financial gap at the Central Bank, based on audited, unified accounts and realistic financial modeling.

They argue that the plan effectively wipes out banks’ capital and - under loss-sharing rules set by Law 23/2025 - ultimately hits depositors, while the state avoids settling its debts to the central bank or covering its balance-sheet shortfall.

 

 

 

Arab World

Gazans Fear Renewed Displacement after Israeli Strikes

This overview shows a destroyed mosque and other buildings in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 7, 2024 on the first anniversary of the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
This overview shows a destroyed mosque and other buildings in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 7, 2024 on the first anniversary of the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Gazans Fear Renewed Displacement after Israeli Strikes

This overview shows a destroyed mosque and other buildings in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 7, 2024 on the first anniversary of the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
This overview shows a destroyed mosque and other buildings in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 7, 2024 on the first anniversary of the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

When her children, trembling with fear, ask where the family can go to escape Israel's continued bombardment in southern Gaza's Khan Yunis area, Umm Ahmed has no answer.

In her small, devastated village near Khan Yunis city, recent Israeli drone and artillery strikes shattered the tenuous sense of peace delivered by a ceasefire that has largely held since October 10, AFP said.

Residents say the strikes have targeted neighborhoods east of the so-called Yellow Line -- a demarcation established under the truce between Israel and Hamas.

The Israeli military says its troops are deployed in the area in accordance with the ceasefire framework, accusing Hamas militants of "crossing the Yellow Line and carrying out terrorist activities".

More than two years after Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel sparked a devastating war, tens of thousands of Gazans still live in tents or damaged homes in these areas, where the Israeli army maintains control and operates checkpoints.

Now, many fear being forced from their homes, compelled to move west of the Yellow Line.

"We don't sleep at night because of fear. The bombardments in the east are relentless," said Umm Ahmed, 40.

"My children tremble at every explosion and ask me, 'Where can we go?' And I have no answer."

Her home in Bani Suheila has been completely destroyed, yet the family has stayed, pitching a tent beside the ruins.

"Staying close to our destroyed home is easier than facing the unknown," Umm Ahmed said.

Crossing the Yellow Line to Al-Mawasi, west of Khan Yunis, is not an option for them.

There, makeshift camps stretch as far as the eye can see, housing tens of thousands of Palestinians who fled the fighting.

"There is no place left for anyone there, and not enough food or water," Umm Ahmed said, as Gaza remains trapped in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

- 'We will not leave' -

The Israeli military blames continued threats from the Hamas group for its actions in the area.

The Israeli military said in a statement to AFP that the army’s “current operations in Gaza, and their deployment in the Yellow Line area in particular, are carried out to address direct threats from terrorist organizations in Gaza.”

The war in Gaza began with Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 that resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Since the war began, more than 70,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

The vast majority of Gaza's more than two million residents were displaced during the war, many multiple times.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since October 10, though both sides regularly accuse each other of violations.

Under the truce, Israeli forces withdrew to positions east of the Yellow Line.

Earlier this month, Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir described the Yellow Line as the "new border line" with Israel.

"The Yellow Line is a new border line -- serving as a forward defensive line for our communities and a line of operational activity," he said to reserve soldiers in Gaza.

For Palestinian officials, the line is seen as a tool for permanent displacement.

"The objective is to frighten residents, expel them from their areas, and force them west," said Alaa al-Batta, mayor of Khan Yunis, denouncing the bombardments as "violations of the ceasefire agreement".

Mahmud Baraka, 45, from Khuzaa, east of Khan Yunis, described constant artillery fire and home demolitions in the area.

"It feels like we are still living in a war zone," he said.

"Explosions happen as if they are right next to us. The objective of the occupation is clear: to intimidate us and drive us out, so the region is emptied."

For now, residents feel trapped between bombardment and displacement, uncertain how long they can endure.

Despite the danger, Abdel Hamid, 70, refuses to leave his home located north of Khan Yunis, where he lives with his five children.

"We will not leave... this is our land," he said.

"Moving would not be a solution, but yet another tragedy."