Jordan Calls for Syria's Return to Arab League at Algeria Summit

Christmas decoration seen in Damascus, Syria. (AFP)
Christmas decoration seen in Damascus, Syria. (AFP)
TT

Jordan Calls for Syria's Return to Arab League at Algeria Summit

Christmas decoration seen in Damascus, Syria. (AFP)
Christmas decoration seen in Damascus, Syria. (AFP)

Jordan's parliament Speaker Abdul Karim al-Daghmi called for Syria to be fully reinstated to the Arab League during the upcoming summit in Algeria.

"We, as the Arab Parliament, must put pressure on our governments and ask our leaders to green-light Syria's return to the Arab League when next summit convenes in Algeria, and to allow its delegation to participate in the Arab Parliament sessions as well," Daghmi said during a press conference on the sidelines of a session of the Arab Parliament in Amman on Thursday.

The next Arab summit is scheduled to be hel in Algeria in March.

"It is now high time for Syria to return to its Arab origins and rejoin the Arab League," said Daghmi, adding: "We must build on victories achieved by our brethren in Syria and Iraq over terrorist groups, step up our efforts in support of the unity, and security and stability of our nations as well as the territorial integrity of our countries."

In October, Jordan's King Abdullah II received a call from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the first conversation between the two leaders since the war erupted in Syria.

Observers believe the phone call signals the beginning of the end of Damascus' diplomatic isolation with Arab states.

Jordanian authorities recently reopened the Jaber-Nassib border crossing with Syria for travelers and cargo after about two months of its closure due to a limited military escalation in Syria's southern Daraa governorate.

Arab countries have been slowly restoring relations with Syria in recent years years.

The UAE has been at the forefront of efforts by some Arab states to normalize ties with Damascus and earlier this year called for Syria to be readmitted to the Arab League. After seven years of diplomatic estrangement, it reopened its embassy in Damascus in 2018.

The UAE's foreign minister confirmed months ago that Syria's return to the Arab League is in its interest and the interest of other countries in the region.

The Arab League suspended Syria's membership after the outbreak of the war in 2011. Several Arab states cut ties with Damascus, including the UAE, while others, including Jordan, maintained limited relations, except Oman.

Syria has denounced the move as "illegal and a violation of the organization's charter."



Israel Media Report Accuses Troops of Indiscriminate Killing of Gaza Civilians

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) arrives at the Netzarim Corridor just south of Gaza City - AFP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) arrives at the Netzarim Corridor just south of Gaza City - AFP
TT

Israel Media Report Accuses Troops of Indiscriminate Killing of Gaza Civilians

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) arrives at the Netzarim Corridor just south of Gaza City - AFP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) arrives at the Netzarim Corridor just south of Gaza City - AFP

A leading Israeli newspaper, citing unnamed soldiers serving in Gaza, described indiscriminate killings of Palestinian civilians in the territory's Netzarim Corridor, prompting a firm rejection Friday from the military.

Haaretz, a left-leaning Israeli daily that has faced severe criticism from the country's right-wing government, quoted soldiers, career officers and reservists who said commanders were given unprecedented authority to operate in the Gaza Strip.

According to AFP, they alleged commanders had ordered or allowed the killing of unarmed women, children and men in the Netzarim Corridor, a seven-kilometre-wide (4.3-mile-wide) strip of land that cuts across Gaza from Israel to the Mediterranean, and which has been turned into a military zone.

The report quoted an officer who recalled an incident in which a commander had announced that 200 militants were killed, when actually "only 10 were confirmed as known Hamas operatives".

Soldiers meanwhile told Haaretz they received questionable orders to open fire on "anyone who enters" Netzarim.

"Anyone crossing the line is a terrorist -- no exceptions, no civilians. Everyone's a terrorist," a soldier quoted a battalion commander as saying.

The soldiers also described how division commanders received "expanded powers" allowing them to bomb buildings or launch airstrikes that previously required approval from the army's top echelons.

The allegations contained in the Haaretz report could not be independently verified.

In a statement to AFP, the military rejected the accusations.

"All activities and operations conducted by (Israeli army) forces in the Gaza Strip, including in the Netzarim Corridor, are carried out in accordance with structured combat procedures, plans and operational orders approved by the highest ranks in the (army)," it said.

- 'No innocents in Gaza' -

The military added that "all strikes in the area (of Netzarim) are conducted in accordance with the mandatory procedures and protocols, including targets that are struck in an urgent time frame due to essential operational circumstances where ground forces face immediate threats".

"Incidents that give rise to concerns of deviations from army orders or ethical standards are thoroughly examined and addressed."

Many soldiers who spoke to Haaretz pointed to a specific commander, Brigadier General Yehuda Vach, who last summer took charge of Division 252, which has been based in Netzarim.

One of the soldiers said of Vach -- who was born in the settlement of Kiryat Arba in the occupied West Bank -- that "his worldview and political positions were clearly driving his operational decisions".

Another soldier said Vach had declared "there are no innocents in Gaza".

The military told AFP that the "statements attributed to him... were not made by him".

"Any claim asserting otherwise is entirely baseless."

The Haaretz report said Israeli soldiers spoke to the newspaper so that the Israeli "people need to know how this war really looks like, and what serious acts some commanders and fighters are committing inside Gaza".

"They need to know the inhuman scenes we're witnessing".

Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel sparked the current war, also reacted to the Haaretz report.

It said the testimonies offered "new evidence of unprecedented war crimes and full-fledged ethnic cleansing operations, carried out in an organised manner".

Hamas demanded that the United Nations and the International Court of Justice "document these testimonies and take the necessary steps to stop the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip".