Secret Document for Normalization of Ties with Damascus Includes Exit of Foreign Forces

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad receives UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed in Damascus (EPA)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad receives UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed in Damascus (EPA)
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Secret Document for Normalization of Ties with Damascus Includes Exit of Foreign Forces

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad receives UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed in Damascus (EPA)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad receives UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed in Damascus (EPA)

Jordan’s document and its confidential addendum for normalizing ties with Damascus display that the final goal for Arab countries restoring their relationship with the Syrian capital is that foreign forces and fighters exit Syria.

According to the document, which Asharq Al-Awsat reviewed, US and International Coalition forces in northeastern Syria and Al-Tanf military base near borders with Jordan and Iraq would also need to withdraw from the war-torn country.

However, the rolling back of forces will take place according to a “step-by-step” approach that works to “curb Iranian influence in certain parts of Syria and recognizes the legitimate interests of Russia.”

The Jordan-sponsored document, which does not include a timetable, underpins the steps taken by Arab countries towards Damascus.

It covers Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Miqdad’s meetings with nine Arab ministers in New York, official Jordanian-Syrian visits, contacts between Arab leaders and President Bashar al-Assad, and Assad’s meeting with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed in Damascus on Tuesday.

Jordan had prepared this plan months ago, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II discussed it with US President Joe Biden, Russian Vladimir Putin, and with Arab and foreign leaders.

The six-page document included a revision of the last decade and the policy of “regime change” in Syria.

It later proposes “a gradual change in the behavior of the Syrian regime” after noting that “regime change” policies had failed in Syria.

In an interview with CNN, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi stated that coexistence with the current situation in Syria is not a good option.

A political solution in accordance with international law is still needed in Syria, and Jordan is in talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for “failing to see an effective strategy for resolving the Syrian conflict,” al-Safadi told CNN.

“11 years have passed since the crisis and no results have been achieved,” added the minister, highlighting that Jordan had suffered gravely because of the Syrian civil war.

Besides drugs and terrorism crossing borders, al-Safadi noted that Jordan is hosting 1.3 million Syrian refugees without global support.

“We have talked with the US about the efforts made to get closer to Syria,” affirmed al-Safadi.

Matching al-Safadi’s statements, the Director of Jordanian General Intelligence, Major General Ahmed Hosni Hatouqi, announced that Jordan was dealing with the Syrian file as a “fait accompli.”

Above all, the document comes to reflect al-Safadi’s statements.

“After 10 years passing since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis, there are no real prospects for its resolution,” reads the document.

While it adds that there is “no comprehensive strategy for a clear political solution in Syria,” the document points out that “narrow approaches” cannot resolve different aspects of the crisis.

“Everyone agrees that there is no military end to the current crisis. Changing the ruling Syrian regime is not an effective goal in and of itself. The stated goal is to find a political solution based on UN Security Council Resolution 2254.”

“However, there is no significant progress on this path. The current situation results in more suffering for the Syrian people and strengthens the positions of the opponents. The current approach to dealing with the crisis has proven a costly failure.”

Syrians
According to the latest UN data, some 6.7 million Syrians have fled their homes with 6.6 million internally being displaced. At least 13 million Syrians need humanitarian assistance.
While six million Syrian citizens are in extreme need, 12.4 million are suffering from food insecurity, and more than 80% of Syrians are living below the poverty line.
As it stands, 2.5 million children have been cast outside the education system in Syria, in addition to 1.6 million children that are at risk of dropping out of school.

Terrorism
The terrorist organization ISIS has been defeated but not completely eradicated. Its members are trying to rearrange their ranks and are re-emerging in parts of the country from which ISIS has been expelled, such as southwest Syria.
ISIS elements are also working to consolidate their presence in other regions such as southeast Syria. Other terrorist organizations continue to operate in different parts of Syria, taking advantage of safe havens in the country’s northeast.

Iran
Iran continues to impose its economic and military influence on the Syrian regime, and on several vital parts of Syria.
Besides exploiting the suffering of the people to recruit militias, Iranian proxies are growing in strength in key areas, especially south of the country. Moreover, smuggling drugs is generating significant income for these groups and poses a growing threat to the region and beyond.

Refugees
None of the refugees – except a select few - are returning to Syria due to the lack of improvement in the security, economic and political conditions in the country. International funding for refugees, as well as host communities, is diminishing, threatening the infrastructure supporting refugees.

What Should be Done?
The document proposes a new approach that could refocus attention on the political solution in Syria and address the humanitarian crisis and its security impact on the country and the region.

The approach would adopt a series of accumulative steps that would focus on “combating terrorism and containing Iran’s growing influence,” and halt further deterioration that is detrimentalto to our collective interests.

In return, Damascus would be offered incentives that would reflect positively on the Syrian people and allow the return of refugees and the displaced.
According to the document, five steps are required to move forward:
Developing a phased approach to a political solution based on UNSC Resolution 2254
Gathering needed support from like-minded regional and international partners
Seeking to agree on this approach with Russia
Deciding on a mechanism to engage the Syrian regime

Implementation

Ultimately, the document tables a “step-by-step approach for all partners and allies to encourage positive behavior and leverage collective influence.”

This approach provides incentives to the Syrian regime in exchange for it taking desired measures and implementing required political changes that will directly impact the Syrian people.

The initial focus will be on humanitarian issues with gradual progress towards political matters.

The culmination of the process will lead to the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 2254.



Dozens of Children and Adults in Gaza Have Starved to Death in July as Hunger Surges 

Naima Abu Ful holds her malnourished 2-year-old child, Yazan, at their home in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (AP)
Naima Abu Ful holds her malnourished 2-year-old child, Yazan, at their home in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (AP)
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Dozens of Children and Adults in Gaza Have Starved to Death in July as Hunger Surges 

Naima Abu Ful holds her malnourished 2-year-old child, Yazan, at their home in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (AP)
Naima Abu Ful holds her malnourished 2-year-old child, Yazan, at their home in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (AP)

Five starving children at a Gaza City hospital were wasting away, and nothing the doctors tried was working. The basic treatments for malnourishment that could save them had run out under Israel's blockade. The alternatives were ineffective. One after another, the babies and toddlers died over four days.

In greater numbers than ever, children hollowed up by hunger are overwhelming the Patient's Friends Hospital, the main emergency center for malnourished kids in northern Gaza.

The deaths last weekend also marked a change: the first seen by the center in children who had no preexisting conditions. Symptoms are getting worse, with children too weak to cry or move, said Dr. Rana Soboh, a nutritionist. In past months, most improved, despite supply shortages, but now patients stay longer and don't get better, she said.

“There are no words in the face of the disaster we are in. Kids are dying before the world ... There is no uglier and more horrible phase than this,” said Soboh, who works with the US-based aid organization Medglobal, which supports the hospital.

This month, the hunger that has been building among Gaza’s more than 2 million Palestinians passed a tipping point into accelerating death, aid workers and health staff say. Not only children — usually the most vulnerable — are falling victim under Israel’s blockade since March, but also adults.

In the past three weeks, at least 48 people died of causes related to malnutrition, including 28 adults and 20 children, the Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday. That’s up from 10 children who died in the five previous months of 2025, according to the ministry.

The UN reports similar numbers. The World Health Organization said Wednesday it has documented 21 children under 5 who died of causes related to malnutrition in 2025. The UN humanitarian office, OCHA, said Thursday at least 13 children's deaths were reported in July, with the number growing daily.

“Humans are well developed to live with caloric deficits, but only so far,” said Dr. John Kahler, Medglobal's co-founder and a pediatrician who volunteered twice in Gaza during the war. “It appears that we have crossed the line where a segment of the population has reached their limits”

“This is the beginning of a population death spiral," he said.

The UN’s World Food Program says nearly 100,000 women and children urgently need treatment for malnutrition. Medical workers say they have run out of many key treatments and medicines.

Israel, which began letting in only a trickle of supplies the past two months, has blamed Hamas for disrupting food distribution. The UN counters that Israel, which has restricted aid since the war began, simply has to allow it to enter freely.

Hundreds of malnourished kids brought daily

The Patient's Friends Hospital overflows with parents bringing in scrawny children – 200 to 300 cases a day, said Soboh.

On Wednesday, staff laid toddlers on a desk to measure the circumference of their upper arms — the quickest way to determine malnutrition. In the summer heat, mothers huddled around specialists, asking for supplements. Babies with emaciated limbs screamed in agony. Others lay totally silent.

The worst cases are kept for up to two weeks at the center's 10-bed ward, which this month has had up to 19 children at a time. It usually treats only children under 5, but began taking some as old as 11 or 12 because of worsening starvation among older children.

Hunger gnaws at staff as well. Soboh said two nurses put themselves on IV drips to keep themselves going. “We are exhausted. We are dead in the shape of the living,” she said.

The five children died in succession last Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Four of them, aged 4 months to 2 years, had suffered gastric arrest: Their stomachs shut down. The hospital no longer had the right nutrition supplies for them.

The fifth — 4 1/2-year-old Siwar — had alarmingly low potassium levels, a growing problem. She was so weak she could barely move her body. Medicine for potassium deficiency has largely run out across Gaza, Soboh said. The center had only a low-concentration potassium drip.

The little girl didn’t respond. After three days in the ICU, she died Saturday.

“If we don’t have potassium (supplies), we will see more deaths,” she said.

A 2-year-old is wasting away

In the Shati Refugee Camp in Gaza city, 2-year-old Yazan Abu Ful’s mother, Naima, pulled off his clothes to show his emaciated body. His vertebrae, ribs and shoulder-blades jutted out. His buttocks were shriveled. His face was expressionless.

His father Mahmoud, who was also skinny, said they took him to the hospital several times. Doctors just say they should feed him. “I tell the doctors, ‘You see for yourself, there is no food,’” he said,

Naima, who is pregnant, prepared a meal: Two eggplants they bought for $9 cut up and boiled in water. They will stretch out the pot of eggplant-water – not even a real soup – to last them a few days, they said. Several of Yazan’s four older siblings also looked thin and drained.

Holding him in his lap, Mahmoud Abu Ful lifted Yazan’s limp arms. The boy lies on the floor most of the day, too weak to play with his brothers. “If we leave him, he might just slip away from between our fingers, and we can’t do anything.”

Adults, too, are dying

Starvation takes the vulnerable first, experts say: children and adults with health conditions.

On Thursday, the bodies of an adult man and woman with signs of starvation were brought to Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, hospital director Mohammed Abu Selmia said. One suffered from diabetes, the other from a heart condition, but they showed severe deficiencies of nutrients, gastric arrest and anemia from malnutrition.

Many of the adults who have died had some sort of preexisting condition, like diabetes or heart or kidney trouble, worsened by malnutrition, Abu Selmia said. “These diseases don’t kill if they have food and medicine,” he said.

Deaths come after months of Israeli siege

Israel cut off entry of food, medicine, fuel and other supplies completely to Gaza for 2 ½ months starting in March, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas to release hostages. During that time, food largely ran out for aid groups and in marketplaces, and experts warned Gaza was headed for an outright famine.

In late May, Israel slightly eased the blockade. Since then, it has allowed in around 4,500 trucks for the UN and other aid groups to distribute, including 2,500 tons of baby food and high-calorie special food for children, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

That is an average of 69 trucks a day, far below the 500-600 trucks a day the UN says are needed. The UN has been unable to distribute much of the aid because hungry crowds and gangs take most of it from its trucks. Separately, Israel has also backed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which opened four centers distributing boxes of food supplies. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to reach the sites.

On Tuesday, David Mencer, spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, denied there is a “famine created by Israel” in Gaza and blamed Hamas for creating “man-made shortages” by looting aid trucks.

The UN denies Hamas siphons off significant quantities of aid. Humanitarian workers say Israel just needs to allow aid to flow in freely, saying looting stops whenever aid enters in large quantities.