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Abbas Threatens to Take 'Strategic Decisions' in Wake of Israeli Aggression

Muslim worshippers wrapped in the Palestinian flags pray during the holy month of Ramadan in front of the Dome of the Rock at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Friday, April 15, 2022. (AP)
Muslim worshippers wrapped in the Palestinian flags pray during the holy month of Ramadan in front of the Dome of the Rock at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Friday, April 15, 2022. (AP)
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Abbas Threatens to Take 'Strategic Decisions' in Wake of Israeli Aggression

Muslim worshippers wrapped in the Palestinian flags pray during the holy month of Ramadan in front of the Dome of the Rock at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Friday, April 15, 2022. (AP)
Muslim worshippers wrapped in the Palestinian flags pray during the holy month of Ramadan in front of the Dome of the Rock at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Friday, April 15, 2022. (AP)

The Palestinian leadership threatened to take strategic decisions during a meeting on Sunday aimed at addressing Israeli aggression in the West Bank.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had called for the meeting.

The presidency warned it would implement the decisions taken by the Central Council in February, which included suspending recognition of Israel.

Hussein al-Sheikh, member of the Fatah Central Committee and Palestinian Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee, denounced Israel’s escalation against Palestinians, stressing that the ongoing “massacre cannot be tolerated.”

He slammed the Israeli government’s instructions to its army to kill Palestinians without restraint, holding it fully responsible for the repercussions of its aggression, which is taking place under international cover.

He appealed to all Palestinian factions, including Hamas, to sit together and unite to face the aggressive Israeli measures.

Sheikh did not clarify what strategic decisions the leadership would take at Sunday’s meeting.

However, the official spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, hinted at the implementation of the Central Council decisions.

“United Nations resolutions alone are no longer sufficient, and the occupation is pushing things to a dead end,” he stressed.

In February, the Palestinian Central Council decided to suspend recognition of Israel until Tel Aviv recognizes a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 border. It also decided to end all commitments to agreements reached with Israel and halt all forms of security coordination with it.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat, however, that the decisions will not be adopted on Sunday.

Rather, Abbas may warn that the ongoing aggression will eventually lead to their gradual implementation.

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Syrian Opposition Leader Says Lebanon Truce Opened Door to Aleppo Assault

An anti-regime fighter tears off a poster depicting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and his brother Maher at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
An anti-regime fighter tears off a poster depicting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and his brother Maher at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
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Syrian Opposition Leader Says Lebanon Truce Opened Door to Aleppo Assault

An anti-regime fighter tears off a poster depicting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and his brother Maher at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
An anti-regime fighter tears off a poster depicting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and his brother Maher at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024. (AFP)

Syrian opposition fighters began preparations to seize Aleppo a year ago, but the operation was delayed by war in Gaza and ultimately launched last week when a ceasefire took hold in Lebanon, the head of Syria's main opposition abroad told Reuters.

The factions were able to seize the city and parts of neighboring Idlib province so quickly in part because Hezbollah and other Iran-backed fighters were distracted by their conflict with Israel, Hadi al-Bahra said in an interview on Monday.

The Turkish military, which is allied with some of the opposition and has bases across its southern border in Syria, had heard of the armed groups' plans but made clear it would play no direct role, he added.

The assault in northwestern Syria was launched last Wednesday, the day that Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah began a truce ending more than a year of fighting.

"A year ago they started really training and mobilizing and taking it more seriously," said Bahra, president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, the internationally-recognized Syrian opposition.

"But the war on Gaza ... then the war in Lebanon delayed it. They felt it wouldn't look good having the war in Lebanon at the same time they were fighting in Syria," he said in his Istanbul office, in the first public comments on the fighters’ preparations by an opposition figure.

"So the moment there was a ceasefire in Lebanon, they found that opportunity ... to start."

The opposition operation is the boldest advance and biggest challenge to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in years in a civil war where front lines had largely been frozen since 2020.

Syrian and allied Russian forces have launched counter attacks, which Bahra said are "destabilizing" Aleppo and Idlib and pose the biggest risk to civilians, given the earlier opposition advances had sought carefully to avoid such casualties.

IRAN, RUSSIA

The opposition retaking of Aleppo also paves the way for hundreds of thousands of Syrians displaced elsewhere in the country and in Türkiye to return home, Bahra said.

"Due to the Lebanese war and decrease in Hezbollah forces, (Assad's) regime has less support," he said, adding Iranian militias also have less resources while Russia is giving less air cover due to its "Ukraine problem".

Damascus, which is also backed by Iran, did not immediately comment on whether the opposition sought to avoid casualties and whether it risks destabilizing the region with air raids. Assad has vowed to crush the fighters and has launched air raids.

Iran-backed Hezbollah did not immediately comment on whether its war with Israel opened the door to Syrian opposition advances in Aleppo, where it also has personnel.

Tehran has pledged to aid the Syrian government and on Monday hundreds of fighters from Iran-backed Iraqi militias crossed into Syria to help fight the factions, Syrian and Iraqi sources said.

A Turkish defense ministry official said last week that Ankara was closely monitoring the mobilization and taking precautions for its troops.

The opposition fighters are a coalition of Türkiye-backed mainstream secular armed groups spearheaded by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that has been designated a terrorist outfit by Türkiye, the US, Russia and other states.

Bahra's coalition, which does not include HTS, represents anti-Assad groups including the Türkiye-backed Syrian National Army or Free Syrian Army, which took territory north of Idlib over the last week.

It holds regular diplomatic talks with the United Nations and several states.