Sinwar: Hamas will not Return to the Rule in Gaza

The head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yehya Sinwar, October 3, 2017. (Khalil Hamra/AP)
The head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yehya Sinwar, October 3, 2017. (Khalil Hamra/AP)
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Sinwar: Hamas will not Return to the Rule in Gaza

The head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yehya Sinwar, October 3, 2017. (Khalil Hamra/AP)
The head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yehya Sinwar, October 3, 2017. (Khalil Hamra/AP)

The head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yehya al-Sinwar, said that his movement would not return to the rule of the Gaza Strip, and will not be part of the division anymore.

He added during his meeting with a number of civil society organizations in Gaza, that Hamas’ decision in this regard is “strategic and irreversible.”

“The movement will withdraw from the scene of division forever,” he stated.

“The Palestinian division has harmed Hamas as a resistance movement and harmed us as a people; it has severely damaged the liberation project; therefore, division must end forever regardless of the circumstances and the prices that we must pay,” Sinwar added.

The head of Hamas in Gaza stressed that his movement has made concessions and was ready “to move forward.”

He warned, however, of the failure to achieve reconciliation, saying: “We fear that if the current reconciliation failed, division will prevail for many years.”

Sinwar went on to say that the continuation of the present situation would lead to disastrous results, and therefore “Hamas will not be part of this devastating scene.”

He underlined the need to speed up the reconciliation process in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

“What Trump has done is a real opportunity to overcome all obstacles” towards reconciliation, he said.



Syrian Authorities Announce Closure of Notorious Desert Camp

 A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
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Syrian Authorities Announce Closure of Notorious Desert Camp

 A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)

A notorious desert refugee camp in Syria has closed after the last remaining families returned to their areas of origin, Syrian authorities said on Saturday.

The Rukban camp in Syria's desert was established in 2014, at the height of Syria's civil war, in a de-confliction zone controlled by the US-led coalition fighting the ISIS group, near the borders with Jordan and Iraq.

Desperate people fleeing ISIS extremists and former government bombardment sought refuge there, hoping to cross into Jordan.

Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government rarely allowed aid to enter the camp and neighboring countries closed their borders to the area, isolating Rukban for years.

After an opposition offensive toppled Assad in December, families started leaving the camp to return home.

The Syrian Emergency Task Force, a US-based organization, said on Friday that the camp was "officially closed and empty, all families and residents have returned to their homes".

Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa said on X on Saturday that "with the dismantlement of the Rukban camp and the return of the displaced, a tragic and sorrowful chapter of displacement stories created by the bygone regime's war machine comes to a close".

"Rukban was not just a camp, it was the triangle of death that bore witness to the cruelty of siege and starvation, where the regime left people to face their painful fate in the barren desert," he added.

At its peak, the camp housed more than 100,000 people. Around 8,000 people still lived there before Assad's fall, residing in mud-brick houses, with food and basic supplies smuggled in at high prices.

Syrian minister for emergency situations and disasters Raed al-Saleh said on X said the camp's closure represents "the end of one of the harshest humanitarian tragedies faced by our displaced people".

"We hope this step marks the beginning of a path that ends the suffering of the remaining camps and returns their residents to their homes with dignity and safety," he added.

According to the International Organization for Migration, 1.87 million Syrians have returned to their places of origin since Assad's fall, after they were displaced within the country or abroad.

The IOM says the "lack of economic opportunities and essential services pose the greatest challenge" for those returning home.