Fatah Eyes Regulating Arms in Gaza, not Demilitarization

Palestinian fighters of the Ezz Al-Din Al Qassam militia, the military wing of Hamas, pose with weapons between a destroyed houses in Al-Shejaeiya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City, 27 August 2014. EPA
Palestinian fighters of the Ezz Al-Din Al Qassam militia, the military wing of Hamas, pose with weapons between a destroyed houses in Al-Shejaeiya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City, 27 August 2014. EPA
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Fatah Eyes Regulating Arms in Gaza, not Demilitarization

Palestinian fighters of the Ezz Al-Din Al Qassam militia, the military wing of Hamas, pose with weapons between a destroyed houses in Al-Shejaeiya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City, 27 August 2014. EPA
Palestinian fighters of the Ezz Al-Din Al Qassam militia, the military wing of Hamas, pose with weapons between a destroyed houses in Al-Shejaeiya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City, 27 August 2014. EPA

Security among Palestinians has been a part of the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation agreement and it is odd that many have chosen to give this topic the spotlight, a high-ranking Palestinian source told Asharq Al-Awsat on Tuesday.

Both parties agreed to resolve the security crisis with patience and tolerance, added the source.

“There is an agreement between the two movements to avoid dealing with this file hastily, keep it away from media, and solve it calmly in the second stage.”

“So as not to fail reconciliation efforts,” explained the source.

They also reaffirmed that the Egyptian side is aware of this agreement and encourages the initiative, and will be responsible for restructuring Gaza security services. Egyptian guardianship is well-recognized by both Palestinian parties.

Addressing Palestinians, the source urged everyone to keep spokes out of the wheel of reconciliation.

According to the source, this file will gain momentum as Fatah-Hamas meetings unfold.

Discussing and calibrating security needs time, effort and specialized committees.

“Security will not be resolved in a session or two,” added the source.

The source’s remarks were in response to Palestinian criticism striking hard on the absence of security, and in reply to the envoy of US President to the Middle East, Jason Greenblatt, who asked the Palestinian Authority to impose its security responsibility on Gaza.

Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, have sweeping control over the Gaza Strip with a sufficient number of fighters, weapons and rockets.

It is worth noting that the Qassam Brigades, in a single decade, have entered into three major confrontations with Israel.

More so, Hamas says that its armed wing is preparing for liberation.

But Nasser al-Kidwa, a member of Fatah's central committee, hinted that the only means to securing stability is a practical vision involving compromise on both ends.

This compromise sees that both sides could agree on stabilizing security without definitive disarmament, said Kidwa.

The Fatah official also discussed regulating arms power several times.

"Weapon must be subjugated to a Palestinian national and political leadership and under the authority of one government," said Kidwa in a Tuesday statement.

All Palestinian factions should be a part of a national consensus program based on the principle of full political partnership between all Palestinian parties, he added.



Italy Arrests 7 Accused of Raising Millions for Hamas

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Italy Arrests 7 Accused of Raising Millions for Hamas

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Italian police said Saturday that they have arrested seven people suspected of raising millions of euros for Palestinian group Hamas.

Police also issued international arrests for two others outside the country, said AFP.

Three associations, officially supporting Palestinian civilians but allegedly serving as a front for funding Hamas, are implicated in the investigation, said a police statement.

The nine individuals are accused of having financed approximately seven million euros ($8 million) to "associations based in Gaza, the Palestinian territories, or Israel, owned, controlled, or linked to Hamas."

While the official objective of the three associations was to collect donations "for humanitarian purposes for the Palestinian people," more than 71 percent was earmarked for the direct financing of Hamas" or entities affiliated with the movement, according to police.

Some of the money went to "family members implicated in terrorist attacks," the statement said.

Among those arrested was Mohammad Hannoun, president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, according to media reports.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi posted on X that the operation "lifted the veil on behavior and activities which, pretending to be initiatives in favor of the Palestinian population, concealed support for and participation in terrorist organizations."


Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
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Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)

Türkiye held a military funeral ceremony Saturday morning for five Libyan officers, including western Libya’s military chief, who died in a plane crash earlier this week.

The private jet with Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, four other military officers and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Ankara, Türkiye’s capital, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.

Al-Hadad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing, UN-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military.

The high-level Libyan delegation was on its way back to Tripoli, Libya’s capital, after holding defense talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.

Saturday's ceremony was held at 8:00 a.m. local time at the Murted Airfield base, near Ankara, and attended by the Turkish military chief and the defense minister. The five caskets, each wrapped in a Libyan national flag, were then loaded onto a plane to be returned to their home country.

Türkiye’s military chief, Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, was also on the plane headed to Libya, state-run news agency TRT reported.

The bodies recovered from the crash site were kept at the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institute for identification. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told reporters their DNA was compared to family members who joined a 22-person delegation that arrived from Libya after the crash.

Tunc also said Germany was asked to help examine the jet's black boxes as an impartial third party.


Syrian Foreign Ministry: Talks with SDF Have Not Yielded Tangible Results

SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
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Syrian Foreign Ministry: Talks with SDF Have Not Yielded Tangible Results

SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)

A source from the Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the talks with the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) over their integration into state institutions “have not yielded tangible results.”

Discussions about merging the northeastern institutions into the state remain “hypothetical statements without execution,” it told Syria’s state news agency SANA.

Repeated assertions over Syria’s unity are being contradicted by the reality on the ground in the northeast, where the Kurds hold sway and where administrative, security and military institutions continue to be run separately from the state, it added.

The situation “consolidates the division” instead of addressing it, it warned.

It noted that despite the SDF’s continued highlighting of its dialogue with the Syrian state, these discussions have not led to tangible results.

It seems that the SDF is using this approach to absorb the political pressure on it, said the source. The truth is that there is little actual will to move from discussion to application of the March 10 agreement.

This raises doubts over the SDF’s commitment to the deal, it stressed.

Talk about rapprochement between the state and SDF remains meaningless if the agreement is not implemented on the ground within a specific timeframe, the source remarked.

Furthermore, the continued deployment of armed formations on the ground that are not affiliated with the Syrian army are evidence that progress is not being made.

The persistence of the situation undermines Syria’s sovereignty and hampers efforts to restore stability, it warned.