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Senior Arab Officials Warn That Trump Gaza Plan Would Inflame Middle East 

A Palestinian walks among the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia camp, north of Gaza City, 11 February 2025. (EPA)
A Palestinian walks among the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia camp, north of Gaza City, 11 February 2025. (EPA)
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Senior Arab Officials Warn That Trump Gaza Plan Would Inflame Middle East 

A Palestinian walks among the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia camp, north of Gaza City, 11 February 2025. (EPA)
A Palestinian walks among the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia camp, north of Gaza City, 11 February 2025. (EPA)

US President Donald Trump's plan to take over Gaza and resettle Palestinians, which has drawn global condemnation, will threaten a fragile ceasefire in the enclave and fuel regional instability, senior Arab officials said on Wednesday.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit warned the World Government Summit in Dubai that if Trump pressed ahead with his plan, he would lead the Middle East into a new cycle of crises with a "damaging effect on peace and stability."

Trump enraged the Arab world by declaring unexpectedly that the United States would take over Gaza, resettle its over 2-million Palestinian population and develop it into the "Riviera of the Middle East."

After 16 months of Israeli air strikes in the Gaza war following Hamas' attacks on Israel in October 2023, Palestinians fear a repeat of the "Nakba," or catastrophe, when nearly 800,000 people fled or were driven out during the 1948 war that led to the creation of Israel. Trump has said they would have no right to return.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Tuesday the ceasefire in Gaza would end and the military would resume fighting Hamas until it was defeated if the Palestinian group did not release hostages by midday on Saturday.

Hamas later issued a statement renewing its commitment to the ceasefire and accusing Israel of jeopardizing it.

Hamas has gradually been releasing hostages since the first phase of a ceasefire began on January 19, but on Monday said it would not free any more over accusations Israel was violating the deal.

"If the situation explodes militarily once more, all this (ceasefire) effort will be wasted," Aboul Gheit said.

Jasem al-Budaiwi, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, called on Trump to remember the strong ties between the region and Washington.

"But there has to be give and take, he says his opinion and Arab world should say theirs; what he is saying won’t be accepted by the Arab world."

Trump has said the Palestinians in Gaza, an impoverished tiny strip of land, could settle in countries like Jordan, which already has a huge Palestinian population, and Egypt, the Arab world's most populous state. Both have rejected the proposal.

Egypt will host an emergency Arab summit on February 27 to discuss "serious" developments for Palestinians.

Aboul Gheit said the idea of the Arab Peace Initiative floated in 2002, in which Arab nations offered Israel normalized ties in return for a statehood deal with the Palestinians and full Israeli withdrawal from territory captured in 1967, would be reintroduced.

Trump's plan has upended decades of US policy that endorsed a two-state solution in which Israel and a Palestinian state would coexist.

So far, 16 of 33 hostages taken by Hamas from Israel have been freed as part of the ceasefire deal's first phase due to last 42 days. Five Thai hostages were also let go in an unscheduled release.

In exchange, Israel has released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including some serving life sentences for deadly attacks and others detained during the war and held without charge.

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Arab World

Syria's Leader Sharaa in Berlin on Tuesday, Says German Presidency

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
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Syria's Leader Sharaa in Berlin on Tuesday, Says German Presidency

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa will be visiting Berlin next Tuesday and meet his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German presidency said.

The office of Chancellor Friedrich Merz has yet to announce whether they would also hold talks during the visit, which comes at a time when the German government is seeking to step up repatriations of Syrians to their homeland.

Arab World

US Envoy Opens File on Funds Smuggled from Iraq

Iraqis burn pictures of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the Iranian consulate in Basra, January 13, 2026 (Reuters). 
Iraqis burn pictures of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the Iranian consulate in Basra, January 13, 2026 (Reuters). 
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US Envoy Opens File on Funds Smuggled from Iraq

Iraqis burn pictures of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the Iranian consulate in Basra, January 13, 2026 (Reuters). 
Iraqis burn pictures of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the Iranian consulate in Basra, January 13, 2026 (Reuters). 

Iraqi politicians and observers warn of the potential fallout from a comprehensive review of suspicious financial transactions in Iraq as promised by US envoy Mark Savaya.

Meanwhile, a surprise decision by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, the leading vote-getter in the elections, to relinquish his right to form a government in favor of runner-up Nouri al-Maliki continues to cast a shadow over the leadership of the Coordination Framework, the umbrella alliance of Shiite political forces.

Savaya, who was praised on Wednesday by US President Donald Trump for having done “a great job in Iraq,” announced on Thursday the launch of a comprehensive review of suspicious payments and financial transactions in Iraq.

The review will be conducted in cooperation with the US Treasury Department and the Office of Foreign Assets Control, alongside discussions on potential sanctions targeting networks that undermine financial integrity and finance terrorist activities.

Savaya has not yet made an official visit to Baghdad since assuming his role as presidential envoy to Iraq, although he previously visited the country in a personal capacity. He is of Christian Iraqi origin, and his family left Iraq in the 1990s.

In a statement, Savaya said he was meeting with the US Treasury Department and OFAC to discuss key challenges and reform opportunities in Iraq’s state-owned and private banks, with a particular focus on strengthening financial governance, compliance, and institutional accountability.

According to the statement, both sides agreed to conduct a comprehensive review of records related to suspicious payments and financial transactions involving Iraqi institutions, companies, and individuals linked to smuggling operations, money laundering, and fraudulent contracts and financial projects that fund and enable terrorist activities.

Discussions also included next steps regarding potential sanctions against entities and networks that undermine financial integrity and state authority.

Savaya said relations between Iraq and the United States have never been stronger than they are today under Trump’s leadership.

Iraqi politician and former electricity minister Luay al-Khatteeb told Asharq Al-Awsat that Savaya’s message aligns with statements made by the US chargé d’affaires during his shuttle meetings with political bloc leaders regarding Washington’s official stance should a parliamentary majority vote in favor of undesirable figures.

Al-Khatteeb said the Coordination Framework must act with intelligence, seriousness, and realism by selecting credible figures who exceed US administration expectations and command international respect.

He warned that Iraq’s political scene is deeply unsettled and that the economy is in its worst condition, heading toward collapse if Shiite leaders continue clinging to failed policies and appointing ineffective and internationally unacceptable figures.

“The choices of the Coordination Framework,” he said, “will be the official response and message to the international community - and especially to the US administration - either yielding rewards or exacting a heavy price.”

 

Arab World

Doctors Without Borders: Humanitarian Work in Sudan Hampered by Bureaucratic Hurdles

Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim, International President of Doctors Without Borders (AFP) 
Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim, International President of Doctors Without Borders (AFP) 
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Doctors Without Borders: Humanitarian Work in Sudan Hampered by Bureaucratic Hurdles

Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim, International President of Doctors Without Borders (AFP) 
Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim, International President of Doctors Without Borders (AFP) 

The health system in Sudan is suffering, with massive shortage of medical staff and supplies, said Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim, International President of Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Abdelmoneim said a large number of hospitals have been damaged, or completely out of service, amid widespread disease outbreaks like cholera and measles, pushing an already fragile health system to the brink.

Earlier, the World Health Organization said about 65% of the population lack access to healthcare and between 70 – 80% of health facilities are not functioning due to the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023.

Abdelmoneim said assistance in Sudan is urgent, including in the fields of maternal and childcare, treatment of injuries, infant and childbirth, infectious diseases, and malnutrition.

Also, the population in Sudan is in urgent need of safe drinking water, sanitation services, psychological support, and assistance for survivors of sexual violence due to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

He reported that access to health service facilities remains severely restricted due to insecurity and persistent bureaucratic obstacles.

Abdelmoneim noted that while MSF is not directly affected by these restrictions, other humanitarian organizations face an additional hurdle of limited funding and reduced aid.

Concerning the situation in El Fasher, the official said MSF treated residents who had been trapped in the city, which was under siege by the RSF for approximately 500 days.

After the RSF took control of the city, many survivors fled, often walking 60 km to the nearby town of Tawila, where MSF teams provided emergency medical care.

Abdelmoneim said the survivors arrived exhausted, malnourished, dehydrated, with traumatic injuries, gunshot wounds, and infected wounds.

On their journeys, they saw many dead bodies, and suffered torture, kidnappings for ransom, sexual violence, humiliation, and had everything they owned stolen, he said.

Concerning civilians who were still alive in El Fasher before 26 October, Abdelmoneim said they faced extreme violence including massacres, ethnic cleansing inside the city, and while escaping.

100 Violence Incidents

Abdelmoneim then mentioned the attacks on health care facilities, resulting in deaths and injuries.

He said that since April 2023, MSF has documented 100 incidents of violence targeting its staff, facilities, vehicles and supplies, including looting and destruction of clinics, theft of medicines, assaults, and threats to health workers.