Palestinian PM Says Ready to Distribute Qatari Grant Funds in Gaza

A worker carries out reconstruction in Gaza. (AP)
A worker carries out reconstruction in Gaza. (AP)
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Palestinian PM Says Ready to Distribute Qatari Grant Funds in Gaza

A worker carries out reconstruction in Gaza. (AP)
A worker carries out reconstruction in Gaza. (AP)

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said his government is ready to distribute the funds of the Qatari grant to the Gaza Strip through the Ministry of Social Affairs.

During a cabinet meeting on Monday, he welcomed cooperation with Qatar to alleviate the suffering in the impoverished coastal enclave.

The PM’s proposal resolves a long-standing dispute on how to access the grant.

Israel has halted the transfer of the funds since the end of the latest round of hostilities between it and Gaza militants in May. Israel has been demanding that the funds be transferred through the Palestinian Authority and United Nations to avoid them falling in the hands of the Hamas movement.

Salama Marouf, chairman of the government's media office in Gaza, had last week announced that an agreement was reached over the grant.

Shtayyeh urged the international community and the United States, in particular, to work on ending the Israeli policies of persecution, racism, and ethnic cleansing committed against Palestinians in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighborhoods.

He said the Israeli judicial system is covering up oppressive Israeli policies against the Palestinian people throughout the occupied territories.

The PM slammed such policies that represent a violation of international laws and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

He cited a Human Rights Watch report that accused Israeli authorities of committing crimes against humanity of apartheid against Palestinians.



Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said his administration would announce the new structure of the defense ministry and military within days.

In a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday, al-Sharaa said that his administration would not allow for arms outside the control of the state.

An official source told Reuters on Saturday that Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, had been named as defense minister in the interim government.
Sharaa did not mention the appointment of a new defense minister on Sunday.
Sharaa discussed the form military institutions would take during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA said.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said last week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former opposition factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.

Earlier Sunday, Lebanon’s Druze leader Walid Jumblatt held talks with al-Sharaa in Damascus.

Jumblatt expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”

“Syria was a source of concern and disturbance, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” al-Sharaa said, referring to the Assad government. “Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon," he added.