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Abbas Interested in Confederation with Jordan, Israel

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressing the Central Council mid-August, 2018. (AP)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressing the Central Council mid-August, 2018. (AP)
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Abbas Interested in Confederation with Jordan, Israel

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressing the Central Council mid-August, 2018. (AP)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressing the Central Council mid-August, 2018. (AP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has expressed interest in a tripartite confederation with Jordan and Israel.

In a meeting with Israeli lawmakers and activists on Sunday, Abbas referred to a conversation he had with US envoys Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt in Ramallah in 2017.

The envoys “asked me whether I believed in a confederation with Jordan. I said, yes, I want a three-way confederation with Jordan and Israel,” Abbas said.

He added rhetorically, “I asked them if Israelis would agree to such a proposal.”

But Abbas did not elaborate on any further details as such a proposal was not discussed widely.

He accused the United States and Israel of revoking the possibility of achieving peace, and he even described the US as an enemy of the Palestinians.

He said US President Donald Trump and his Middle East peace envoys were “hostile” to the Palestinian people, citing Washington’s decision to dramatically cut aid.

The President met members of the Israeli Peace Now group, including executive director Shaqued Morag, and members of the Knesset Meretz MK Mossi Raz (a former Peace Now director) and Ksenia Svetlova.

Peace activists from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party attended the meeting as well.

At the meeting, Abbas said he supports Israel’s security, underlining that the Palestinian and the Israeli security forces work together “on a daily basis.”

“I have a problem with Netanyahu, not with Likud,” Abbas stressed.

He further said that the Israeli government refuses to conduct negotiations with the Palestinians, despite the fact that Russia, Japan, Belgium, and the Netherlands have repeatedly offered to host peace talks.

Abbas also criticized the US for its alleged determination “to completely destroy UNRWA,” the international agency caring for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians considered refugees by much of the international community.

“Seventy percent of Gaza residents are refugees. Most of them live off UNRWA’s assistance,” Abbas told his Israeli guests.

“How is it possible that on one hand you cancel UNRWA and on the other hand help Palestinian residents?,” he asked in reference to a recent US decision to end all funding for the UN agency.

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Arab World

Former Regime Elements, Drug Traffickers Targeted in Western Homs and Damascus Campaigns

The Anti-Narcotics Department seizes a drug depot belonging to Maher al-Assad in the Sabura area in the Damascus countryside (Ministry of Interior).
The Anti-Narcotics Department seizes a drug depot belonging to Maher al-Assad in the Sabura area in the Damascus countryside (Ministry of Interior).
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Former Regime Elements, Drug Traffickers Targeted in Western Homs and Damascus Campaigns

The Anti-Narcotics Department seizes a drug depot belonging to Maher al-Assad in the Sabura area in the Damascus countryside (Ministry of Interior).
The Anti-Narcotics Department seizes a drug depot belonging to Maher al-Assad in the Sabura area in the Damascus countryside (Ministry of Interior).

The Syrian Military Operations Administration has been pressing its security campaigns aimed at disarming former regime militia remnants and combating drug traffickers across Syria.

On Tuesday, for the third time, the administration, in collaboration with the General Security Directorate, launched a large-scale operation in western rural Homs. The campaign focused on the villages of Jabbourin Rafain, Al-Haysa, Jabbourin, Qaniyat Al-Assi, Tasnin, Kafrnan, Akrad Al-Dasniya, and their surroundings. Simultaneous campaigns were conducted in Aleppo’s Nairab district, Jaramana in the Damascus countryside, and northern Daraa.

Security sources said the operation in rural Homs targets “remnants of Assad militias who refused to surrender their weapons, arms depots, drug dealers, and traffickers,” according to an official statement from the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). Military reinforcements were dispatched to support the campaign in the targeted areas.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the operation in the village of Jabbourin in rural Hama marked the second such operation within a week. The observatory noted that several civilians and military personnel, including those who had reconciled with the government, were arrested. Some detainees were later released, while others remain under investigation.

Residents in rural Homs expressed significant concern about the proliferation of weapons, incidents of abductions, and the escalating fear of retribution. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, they noted a prevailing sense of unease and insecurity, as anonymous actors exploit the current chaos to fuel tensions and instability.

The General Security Directorate in Homs has urged residents in western rural Homs villages and towns to fully cooperate with its forces and the Military Operations Administration to ensure the success of the campaign’s objectives.

In Daraa, southern Syria, the Daraa 24 network reported that the General Security Directorate carried out a raid in the city of Izraa, north of Daraa. During the operation, large quantities of weapons were seized, and warnings were issued to individuals still in possession of firearms to surrender them “to preserve the region’s security and stability.”

An earlier security operation in the Lajat region, located between the Suwayda and Daraa governorates, resulted in the arrest of 18 individuals described as former regime remnants, drug traffickers, and arms dealers. The Syrian Interior Ministry also announced the arrest of “remnant elements and members of a gang involved in the theft of weapons from a warehouse in the Mazraa project area of Damascus.”

Meanwhile, the General Security Directorate released several former regime elements in Damascus after verifying their lack of involvement in violations against the Syrian people. According to local sources cited by Syrian Television, several conscripts detained in Adra Prison in Damascus were freed on Tuesday, with additional releases expected in the coming days.

Last week, the General Security Directorate released 360 detainees, including former regime officers, out of approximately 800 people arrested as part of the Homs security campaign. Following investigations, the authorities confirmed that those individuals were not in possession of weapons and had pledged not to engage in activities against the new Syrian administration.