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Palestinian Central Council Demands that Hamas Cede Control of Gaza

Officials are seen at the meeting in Ramallah. (EPA)
Officials are seen at the meeting in Ramallah. (EPA)
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Palestinian Central Council Demands that Hamas Cede Control of Gaza

Officials are seen at the meeting in Ramallah. (EPA)
Officials are seen at the meeting in Ramallah. (EPA)

The Palestinian Central Committee called on Hamas on Friday to cede control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority.

The council held its 32nd meeting in Ramallah that created the position of vice president in a first since 1964.

In a closing statement, the council stressed that decisions of war and peace and negotiations cannot be held by a faction or party, but these affairs are national concerns, reported the Palestinian official news agency (WAFA).

Moreover, it said that “peaceful popular resistance is the only way to achieve national goals.”

It underlined the need to unify Palestinian territories and their political, administrative and judicial systems.

Priority now, however, lies in “ending the Israeli aggression and genocide against our people in Gaza... and in rejecting the displacement of the Palestinians and attempt to annex their territories,” it added.

“Our people are committed to just and permanent peace based on the relevant international resolutions,” continued the council.

It tasked the executive committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization to follow up on every regional and international effort to that end.

It also tasked the committee with launching a national dialogue that would reach national consensus that would establish the PLO as the sole legal representative of the Palestinian people.

The dialogue must prioritize a political solution that calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The council also stressed the Palestinian refugees’ right to return to their homeland from where they were forcibly displaced in 1948, which is in line with United Nations General Assembly resolution 194.

For its part, Hamas slammed the council decision to establish the position of vice president, saying it only deepens the Palestinian division and promotes unilateral decision-making.

It described the council meeting as “disappointing” and that it “had not met its aspirations to achieve real unity that is needed to confront the ongoing genocide in Gaza and Israeli escalation in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”

Hamas noted that main factions boycotted the meeting in rejection of attempts to monopolize decisions and the “coup against the spirit of national partnership.”

Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine boycotted the meeting.

Hamas called for the “rebuilding” of the PLO and holding comprehensive elections, saying they were the “only means to restore unity.”

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Syria Announces Commissions for Missing Persons, Transitional Justice

A police vehicle of the interim Syrian government moves through a street by the Saha Mosque in Palmyra in central Syria on February 7, 2025. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
A police vehicle of the interim Syrian government moves through a street by the Saha Mosque in Palmyra in central Syria on February 7, 2025. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
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Syria Announces Commissions for Missing Persons, Transitional Justice

A police vehicle of the interim Syrian government moves through a street by the Saha Mosque in Palmyra in central Syria on February 7, 2025. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
A police vehicle of the interim Syrian government moves through a street by the Saha Mosque in Palmyra in central Syria on February 7, 2025. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

Syria on Saturday announced the formation of a national commission for missing persons and another for transitional justice, more than five months after the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
Syria's new authorities have pledged justice for victims of atrocities committed under Assad's rule, and a five-year transitional constitution signed in March provided for the formation of a transitional justice commission, AFP said.

The fate of tens of thousands of detainees and others who went missing remains one of the most harrowing legacies of Syria's conflict, which erupted in 2011 when Assad's forces brutally repressed anti-government protests, triggering more than a decade of war.

A decree signed by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and released by the presidency announced the formation of an independent "national commission for missing persons".

The body is tasked with "researching and uncovering the fate of the missing and forcibly disappeared, documenting cases, establishing a national database and providing legal and humanitarian support to their families".

A separate decree announced the formation of a national commission for transitional justice to "uncover the truth about the grave violations caused by the former regime".

That commission should hold those responsible to account "in coordination with the relevant authorities, remedy the harm to victims, and firmly establish the principles of non-recurrence and national reconciliation", according to the announcement.

The decree noted "the need to achieve transitional justice as a fundamental pillar for building a state of law, guaranteeing victims' rights and achieving comprehensive national reconciliation".

Both bodies will have "financial and administrative independence" and act over all of Syrian territory, according to the decrees signed by Sharaa.

In December, the opposition factions toppled Assad after five decades of his family's iron-fisted rule and nearly 14 years of brutal war that killed more than half a million people and displaced millions more.

Tens of thousands of people were detained and tortured in the country's jails, while Assad has been accused of using chemical weapons against his own people.

Rights groups, activists and the international community have repeatedly emphasized the importance of transitional justice in the war-torn country.

In March, Sharaa signed into force a constitutional declaration for a five-year transitional period.

It stipulated that during that period, a "transitional justice commission" would be formed to "determine the means for accountability, establish the facts, and provide justice to victims and survivors" of the former government's misdeeds.

This week, prominent Syrian human rights lawyer Mazen Darwish told AFP that lasting peace in Syria depended on the country building a strong judicial system giving justice to the victims of all crimes committed during the Assad era.