عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Palestinian Groups Hamas and Fatah Discuss Post-Gaza Plans

15 May 2024, Australia, Canberra: Protesters hold flags at a pro-Palestine rally outside Parliament House in Canberra. (dpa)
15 May 2024, Australia, Canberra: Protesters hold flags at a pro-Palestine rally outside Parliament House in Canberra. (dpa)
TT
TT

Palestinian Groups Hamas and Fatah Discuss Post-Gaza Plans

15 May 2024, Australia, Canberra: Protesters hold flags at a pro-Palestine rally outside Parliament House in Canberra. (dpa)
15 May 2024, Australia, Canberra: Protesters hold flags at a pro-Palestine rally outside Parliament House in Canberra. (dpa)

Leaders from Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement discussed plans for cooperation after the war in Gaza in a new round of talks in Cairo on Wednesday, a Hamas official told Reuters.

The talks are the first since the two groups met in China in July and agreed steps to form a Palestinian unity government for Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

They are also part of long-running and previously unsuccessful efforts to heal a schism that hardened when Hamas seized control of Gaza in a brief conflict with Fatah in 2007.

The Hamas delegation is led by Khalil Al-Hayya, the group's Qatar-based second-in-command and chief negotiator, Hamas media official Taher Al-Nono said.

A Palestinian official said the Fatah delegation was led by Fatah's second-in-command, Mahmoud Al-Aloul. There was no immediate comment from Fatah.

"The meeting will discuss the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and the challenges facing the Palestinian cause," Nono said.

The issue of the administration of Gaza after the end of the year-old Israel-Hamas war is one of the thorniest issues facing the Palestinians.

Israel, which began its military campaign to wipe out Hamas in Gaza after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, has ruled out the group's inclusion in a post-war administration.

It says it also does not trust the Abbas-led Palestinian Authority, which partially governs the Israeli-occupied West Bank, to do the job.

The Palestinian factions say their post-war plans are an internal affair, and reject Israeli conditions.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

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
TT
TT

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.