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Tension Awaits Pence In Jerusalem Wednesday

A Palestinian demonstrator stands near burning tires during clashes with Israeli troops. - Reuters
A Palestinian demonstrator stands near burning tires during clashes with Israeli troops. - Reuters
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Tension Awaits Pence In Jerusalem Wednesday

A Palestinian demonstrator stands near burning tires during clashes with Israeli troops. - Reuters
A Palestinian demonstrator stands near burning tires during clashes with Israeli troops. - Reuters

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah Movement called on the Palestinians to attend a massive demonstration next week to protest against the visit of US Vice President Mike Pence to Jerusalem, and reject Washington’s decision to recognize the holy city as Israel’s capital.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Movement said: "We stress on the need to stage protests at the entrances to Jerusalem and in its Old City to coincide with the visit of US Vice President Mike next Wednesday.”

Fatah also called for a complete coordination with Christians on Sunday evening to massively attend candle-lighting ceremonies in the city of Bethlehem.

On Saturday, thousands of Palestinians attended the funeral of four men who were killed on Friday during confrontations with the occupying Israeli army.

Tens of Palestinians were also injured on Saturday while attending angry demonstration against the US decision.

Meanwhile, Abbas rejected any change in the borders of the occupied “east Jerusalem.”

"We will not accept any changes to the 1967 border of east Jerusalem," Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Abbas, said Saturday.

"This American position proves once again that the current US administration is completely out of the peace process," he added.

The response came a day after senior official in Washington said the US expects the Western Wall in Jerusalem to be part of Israel.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s King Abdullah II will meet at the Vatican on Tuesday with Pope Francis for talks on developments related to Jerusalem following the US decision to recognize it as the capital of Israel and move the US embassy there.

Jordanian official news agency Petra said that from the Vatican, the King will head to France where he will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on the latest developments in the Middle East, also mainly those related to Jerusalem.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.