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Jordan to Host Quartet Meeting to Discuss Gas Supplies to Lebanon

Secretary-General of the Syrian Lebanese Higher Council, Nasri Khoury, speaks at a press conference in Damascus. (EPA)
Secretary-General of the Syrian Lebanese Higher Council, Nasri Khoury, speaks at a press conference in Damascus. (EPA)
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Jordan to Host Quartet Meeting to Discuss Gas Supplies to Lebanon

Secretary-General of the Syrian Lebanese Higher Council, Nasri Khoury, speaks at a press conference in Damascus. (EPA)
Secretary-General of the Syrian Lebanese Higher Council, Nasri Khoury, speaks at a press conference in Damascus. (EPA)

Jordan will host a meeting of Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon’s energy ministers on Wednesday to discuss the transit of Egyptian gas to Lebanon for electricity generation.

Observers said that Amman succeeded in lifting the siege imposed on Syria in response to the energy crisis in Lebanon amid a surplus of electrical energy production in Jordan.

The infrastructure is almost ready for the transit of Egyptian gas from Jordan and Syria to Lebanon.

Damascus announced its approval of Beirut’s request to help pass Egyptian gas and Jordanian electricity through its territory and confirmed its readiness to help with transit for Egyptian gas and Jordanian electricity, the Syrian Arabian News Agency (SANA) reported Saturday.

Jordanian King Abdullah II discussed the Lebanese energy issues during his meetings with US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past two months.

The monarch received in Amman a Lebanese delegation headed by deputy Prime Minister and acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Zeina Akar.

Top political sources told Asharq Al-Awsat there were also unannounced meetings at the royal palace with Lebanese political leaders.

King Abdullah is seeking to support Lebanon’s state institutions and army to maintain its security, stability and unity and ensure the speedy provision of its energy needs.

Amman is willing to supply Lebanon with Egyptian gas and Jordanian electricity. However, according to Jordanian sources, the electricity transmission networks require months to be prepared and will need immediate support to protect power stations inside Syria.

On Saturday, a Lebanese ministerial delegation visited Damascus for the first time since the outbreak of the conflict in 2011 to discuss gas and energy transit through Syria.

Last month, the Lebanese presidency announced that Washington has agreed to help Lebanon secure electricity and natural gas from Egypt and Jordan through Syria.

This means that the US is willing to waive sanctions that prohibit any official transactions with the Syrian government that have hampered Lebanon’s previous attempts to secure gas from Egypt.

Lebanon is suffering major fuel shortages, which have impacted various sectors, including hospitals, in light of an economic crisis described by the World Bank as one of the worst in modern times.

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Arab World

Rafah Crossing Traffic Lags Two Weeks after Reopening

Humanitarian and relief aid crosses Rafah Crossing (Egyptian Red Crescent)
Humanitarian and relief aid crosses Rafah Crossing (Egyptian Red Crescent)
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Rafah Crossing Traffic Lags Two Weeks after Reopening

Humanitarian and relief aid crosses Rafah Crossing (Egyptian Red Crescent)
Humanitarian and relief aid crosses Rafah Crossing (Egyptian Red Crescent)

Despite nearly two weeks since the reopening of the Rafah crossing in both directions, the number of people and humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip falls short of what was agreed under the “Gaza ceasefire agreement,” according to an official from the Egyptian Red Crescent in North Sinai.

The daily movement of individuals to and from Gaza does not exceed 50 people, Khaled Zayed, head of the Egyptian Red Crescent in North Sinai, told Asharq Al-Awsat. He said this figure represents only one-third of what was agreed upon in the ceasefire deal.

He added that truck traffic stands at about 100 per day, despite Gaza’s population requiring the entry of around 600 trucks daily.

On Feb. 2, Israel reopened the Rafah crossing on the Palestinian side for individual travel, allowing Palestinians to leave and return to the enclave. Indicators show that most of those departing Gaza are patients and wounded individuals, who are being received at Egyptian hospitals.

This comes as Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty stressed the need to “ensure the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid and not obstruct movement through the Rafah crossing.”

In his remarks during a ministerial Security Council session on developments in the Middle East on Wednesday, he underscored the importance of “halting all measures aimed at displacing residents or altering the demographic character of the occupied Palestinian territories.”

Israel took control of the Rafah border crossing in May 2024, about nine months after the outbreak of the war in Gaza. The reopening of the crossing was part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement that entered into force last October, though the deal remains fragile.

The Egyptian Red Crescent announced the departure of the 14th group of wounded, sick, and injured Palestinians arriving and leaving through the crossing.

In a statement on Thursday, it said humanitarian efforts to receive and see off Palestinians include a comprehensive package of relief services, psychological support for children, distribution of suhoor and iftar meals, and heavy clothing, in addition to providing “return bags” for those heading back to Gaza.

At the same time, the Red Crescent dispatched the 142nd “Zad Al-Ezza” convoy, which includes 197,000 food parcels and more than 235 tons of flour as part of the “Iftar for One Million Fasters” campaign in Gaza.

The convoy also carries more than 390 tons of medicines, relief, and personal care supplies, as well as about 760 tons of fuel, according to the organization’s statement.

Zayed said the daily number of individuals crossing through Rafah over the past two weeks does not compare with what was stipulated in the ceasefire agreement.

With the reopening of the Rafah crossing on the Palestinian side, Israel’s Arabic-language public broadcaster Makan reported that 150 people were expected to leave Gaza, including 50 patients, while 50 people would be allowed to enter the enclave.

Despite what he described as Israeli obstacles, Zayed said allowing the movement of individuals and the wounded represents “an unsatisfactory breakthrough in the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” stressing the need to fulfill the ceasefire’s obligations and advance early recovery efforts inside the territory.

The total number of Palestinians who have left through the Rafah crossing since it reopened on both sides does not exceed 1,000, according to Salah Abdel Ati, head of the International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights.

He said around 20,000 wounded and sick Palestinians require urgent evacuation, and that Israeli restrictions are hindering access to medical care, adding that the humanitarian situation requires continued pressure by mediators on Israel.

Abdelatty told Asharq Al-Awsat he was counting on the outcome of the first meeting of the Board of Peace to adopt easing measures, including lifting Israeli restrictions and establishing guarantees for the ceasefire in the Palestinian territories, as well as securing the funding needed for Gaza’s early recovery, in line with US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the enclave.

According to a statement by the Egyptian Red Crescent, Egypt continues relief efforts at all logistical hubs to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid, which has exceeded 800,000 tons, with the participation of more than 65,000 volunteers from the Egyptian Red Crescent.

Arab World

US Slaps Sanctions on Sudan’s RSF Commanders over El-Fasher Killings

FILE - A Sudanese child, who fled el-Fasher city with family after Sudan's RSF attacked the western Darfur region, receives treatment at a camp in Tawila, Sudan, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Abaker, File)
FILE - A Sudanese child, who fled el-Fasher city with family after Sudan's RSF attacked the western Darfur region, receives treatment at a camp in Tawila, Sudan, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Abaker, File)
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US Slaps Sanctions on Sudan’s RSF Commanders over El-Fasher Killings

FILE - A Sudanese child, who fled el-Fasher city with family after Sudan's RSF attacked the western Darfur region, receives treatment at a camp in Tawila, Sudan, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Abaker, File)
FILE - A Sudanese child, who fled el-Fasher city with family after Sudan's RSF attacked the western Darfur region, receives treatment at a camp in Tawila, Sudan, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Abaker, File)

The United States announced sanctions on Thursday on three Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanders over their roles in the "horrific campaign" of the siege and capture of El-Fasher.

The US Treasury said the RSF carried out "ethnic killings, torture, starvation, and sexual violence" in the operation.

Earlier Thursday, the UN's independent fact-finding mission on Sudan said the siege and seizure of the city in Darfur bore "the hallmarks of genocide."

Its investigation concluded that the seizure last October had inflicted "three days of absolute horror," and called for those responsible to be brought to justice.

"The United States calls on the Rapid Support Forces to commit to a humanitarian ceasefire immediately," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

"We will not tolerate this ongoing campaign of terror and senseless killing in Sudan."

The Treasury noted that the three sanctioned individuals were part of the RSF's 18-month siege of and eventual capture of El-Fasher.

They are RSF Brigadier General Elfateh Abdullah Idris Adam, Major General Gedo Hamdan Ahmed Mohamed and field commander Tijani Ibrahim Moussa Mohamed.

Bessent warned that Sudan's civil war risks further destabilizing the region, "creating conditions for terrorist groups to grow and threaten the safety and interests of the United States."

The UN probe into the takeover of El-Fasher -- after the 18-month siege -- concluded that thousands of people, particularly from the Zaghawa ethnic group, "were killed, raped or disappeared."

Arab World

Israel's Netanyahu Says No Reconstruction of Gaza before Demilitarization

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - File Photo/AFP
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - File Photo/AFP
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Israel's Netanyahu Says No Reconstruction of Gaza before Demilitarization

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - File Photo/AFP
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - File Photo/AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday there would be no reconstruction of war-shattered Gaza before the disarmament of Hamas, as the "Board of Peace" convened for its inaugural meeting in Washington.

Around two dozen world leaders and senior officials met for the first meeting of the board, which was set up after the United States, Qatar and Egypt negotiated a ceasefire in October to halt two years of war in the Gaza Strip.

"We agreed with our ally the US there will be no reconstruction of Gaza before the demilitarization of Gaza," Netanyahu said during a televised speech at a military ceremony on Thursday, AFP reported.

The meeting in Washington will also look at how to launch the International Stabilization Force (ISF) that will ensure security in Gaza.

One of the most sensitive issues before the board is the future of the Islamist movement Hamas, which fought the war with Israel and still exerts influence in the territory.

Disarmament of the group is a central Israeli demand and a key point in negotiations over the ceasefire's next stage.

US officials including Steve Witkoff, Trump's friend and roving negotiator, have insisted that solid progress is being made and that Hamas is feeling pressure to give up weapons.

Israel has suggested sweeping restrictions including seizing small personal rifles from Hamas.

It remains unclear whether, or how, the Palestinian technocratic committee formed to handle day-to-day governance of Gaza will address the issue of demilitarization.

The 15-member National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) will operate under the supervision of the "Board of Peace", and its head, Ali Shaath, is attending the meeting in Washington on Thursday.