Israeli PM Prevents Gantz from Meeting Jordanian King in Ramallah

Prime Minister Nafatali Bennett (L) and Defense Minister Benny Gantz at a graduation ceremony for Israeli Air Force pilots at the Hatzerim airbase in southern Israel, June 24, 2021. (AFP)
Prime Minister Nafatali Bennett (L) and Defense Minister Benny Gantz at a graduation ceremony for Israeli Air Force pilots at the Hatzerim airbase in southern Israel, June 24, 2021. (AFP)
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Israeli PM Prevents Gantz from Meeting Jordanian King in Ramallah

Prime Minister Nafatali Bennett (L) and Defense Minister Benny Gantz at a graduation ceremony for Israeli Air Force pilots at the Hatzerim airbase in southern Israel, June 24, 2021. (AFP)
Prime Minister Nafatali Bennett (L) and Defense Minister Benny Gantz at a graduation ceremony for Israeli Air Force pilots at the Hatzerim airbase in southern Israel, June 24, 2021. (AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has barred Defense Minister Benny Gantz from attending a meeting in Ramallah on Monday between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah II so as not to divert attention from the Negev summit, a political source in Tel Aviv said.

The foreign ministers of Israel, the United States, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Egypt are scheduled to meet in the Negev Desert on Tuesday.

The meeting is being described as "historic" because it will bring together Arab countries which have normalized relations with Israel.

Media reports said last week that Gantz was due to take part in this week’s Abbas-Abdullah II meeting to discuss efforts to prevent an escalation in violence during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which begins in early April.

However, the sources said Bennett thought that Gantz’s attendance would overshadow the historic meeting with Arab leaders in the Negev desert. Relations between the Israeli officials are already strained.

"The Negev meeting is rare and unique and has never happened before. It is historic and therefore the prime minister wants to guarantee it is not overshadowed by any other event," the same source said.

However, other political sources said Bennett took the decision when he found out about the meeting from an "Arab source" instead of the minister himself, in what he believed was an attempt to undermine his authority.

He feared that the meeting would come up with political statements that are not supported by the right-wing parties in government.

However, despite Bennett’s opposition, political sources in Ramallah said King Abdullah is keen on Gantz attending the meeting.

The sources said Jordanian Prime Minister Ayman al-Safadi might attend the Negev Summit on condition that his Palestinian counterpart, Riad al-Maliki, join too.

"This proposal is not welcomed by Bennett who does not want to bring the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict back to the forefront," the sources added.



Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
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Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)

Scores of US-backed Kurdish fighters left two neighborhoods in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo Friday as part of a deal with the central government in Damascus, which is expanding its authority in the country.

The fighters left the predominantly Kurdish northern neighborhoods of Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh, which had been under the control of Kurdish fighters in Aleppo over the past decade.

The deal is a boost to an agreement reached last month between Syria’s interim government and the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast. The deal could eventually lead to the merger of the main US-backed force in Syria into the Syrian army.

The withdrawal of fighters from the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) came a day after dozens of prisoners from both sides were freed in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that government forces were deployed along the road that SDF fighters will use to move between Aleppo and areas east of the Euphrates River, where the Kurdish-led force controls nearly a quarter of Syria.

Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh had been under SDF control since 2015 and remained so even when forces of ousted President Bashar al-Assad captured Aleppo in late 2016. The two neighborhoods remained under SDF control when forces loyal to current interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa captured the city in November, and days later captured the capital, Damascus, removing Assad from power.

After being marginalized for decades under the rule of the Assad family rule, the deal signed last month promises Syria’s Kurds “constitutional rights,” including using and teaching their language, which were banned for decades.

Hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who were displaced during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, will return to their homes. Thousands of Kurds living in Syria who have been deprived of nationality for decades under Assad will be given the right of citizenship, according to the agreement.

Kurds made up 10% of the country’s prewar population of 23 million. Kurdish leaders say they don’t want full autonomy with their own government and parliament. They want decentralization and room to run their day-to day-affairs.