Lapid Meeting with PA Official Stirs Partisan Objections on Both Sides

Children playing in a pool of water collected from heavy rain that hit the Gaza Strip in recent days (DPA)
Children playing in a pool of water collected from heavy rain that hit the Gaza Strip in recent days (DPA)
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Lapid Meeting with PA Official Stirs Partisan Objections on Both Sides

Children playing in a pool of water collected from heavy rain that hit the Gaza Strip in recent days (DPA)
Children playing in a pool of water collected from heavy rain that hit the Gaza Strip in recent days (DPA)

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Palestinian Authority Civil Affairs head Hussein al-Sheikh met on Sunday, in the first meeting to be made public between Lapid, who is also alternate prime minister, and a senior Palestinian figure.

The meeting sparked a wave of criticism from both right-wing and left-wing parties on both sides.

Right-wing opposition forces in Israel considered it “a decline towards negotiations for the establishment of a Palestinian state,” according to a Likud party spokesperson.

“We have aborted terror funding by the Palestinian Authority, but the Bennett-Lapid government is reviving and strengthening its role,” said the spokesperson.

On the Palestinian side, the opposition came from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which demanded that the Palestinian Authority stop any meetings with Israeli officials.

Hamas condemned the meeting between Lapid and Sheikh late on Sunday, calling the “ridiculous” meetings between Israeli and Palestinian officials a “betrayal that must be halted immediately.”

“PA’s conversations [with Israel] reflect how far the authority has fallen,” Hamas reportedly said in a statement. “Continuation of these ridiculous meetings is a betrayal and must be halted immediately.”

For his part, Lapid said that the meeting with Sheikh is part of a series of meetings in search of ways to reduce tension and open up prospects for positive change for the benefit of both parties and to advance towards more Israeli facilities for the lives of Palestinians.

He confirmed that he briefed both Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Benny Gantz about the meeting before it took place.

The briefing dealt with security and economic conditions.

“I met this evening with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, and we discussed several political and bilateral issues,” Sheikh said on Twitter.

“I have highlighted the need for a political horizon between the two parties based on international legitimacy,” he added, without saying where the encounter took place.

In late December, Gantz hosted talks with PA head Mahmoud Abbas.

At that time, Israel’s defense ministry announced “confidence-building measures” with the PA.

These included a $32 million (100 million shekel) advance payment to the PA in taxes collected on its behalf by Israel, and the granting of 600 extra permits allowing Palestinian businessmen to cross into Israel.

It also announced the regularization of 6,000 more Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank, which has been under Israeli control since the Six-Day War of 1967.

Sheikh had welcomed Abbas’ meeting with Gantz, saying at the time that it had been a “serious and courageous effort” towards a “political” solution.



Tom Barrack: There Is One Syria

Syria's interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, right, meets with US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack at the People's Palace in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Syria's interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, right, meets with US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack at the People's Palace in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
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Tom Barrack: There Is One Syria

Syria's interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, right, meets with US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack at the People's Palace in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Syria's interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, right, meets with US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack at the People's Palace in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack described on Saturday the lifting of US sanctions on Syria as a “strategic fresh start” for the war-ravaged nation and said that the US was not intending to pursue “nation-building or federalism.”

The Syrian state news agency, SANA, quoted Barrack as telling the Arab News website, that the Trump administration’s removal of sanctions on May 13 was aimed at offering the Syrian people “a new slice of hope” following over a decade of civil war.

He described the Middle East as a “difficult zip code at an amazingly historic time.”

“President (Trump)’s message is peace and prosperity,” Barrack said, adding that “sanctions gave the people hope. That’s really all that happened at that moment.”

He noted that the US policy shift is intended to give the emerging Syrian regime a chance to rebuild.

The envoy clarified that the original US involvement in Syria was driven by counter-ISIS operations, and not aimed at regime change or humanitarian intervention.

He reaffirmed Washington’s position against a federal model for Syria, saying the country must remain unified with a single army and government.

“There’s not going to be six countries. There’s going to be one Syria,” he said, ruling out the possibility of separate autonomous regions.

Barrack added: “The US is not dictating terms but would not support a separatist outcome: We’re not going to be there forever as the babysitter.”

Last Wednesday, the Syrian government welcomed any path with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that would enhance the unity and territorial integrity of the country, reiterating its unwavering commitment to the principle of “One Syria, One Army, One Government,” and its categorical rejection of any form of partition or federalism.

Barrack confirmed that the US is closely monitoring the announcement that the first group of PKK fighters had destroyed their weapons in northern Iraq.

“This could be the first step towards long-term resolution of the Kurdish issue in Türkiye,” he said, but cautioned that questions remain about the SDF’s ongoing ties to the PKK leadership. “They (the SDF) have to decide: Are they Syrians? Are they Kurds first? That’s their issue.”

The envoy stressed that the current US strategy offers a narrow but real chance at stability.