Aqaba Meeting: Israelis, Palestinians Pledge to Curb Violence

Israeli troops are seen deployed in the West Bank. AFP
Israeli troops are seen deployed in the West Bank. AFP
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Aqaba Meeting: Israelis, Palestinians Pledge to Curb Violence

Israeli troops are seen deployed in the West Bank. AFP
Israeli troops are seen deployed in the West Bank. AFP

Israel committed to stop authorization of any settler outposts in the occupied West Bank for six months during a meeting on Sunday with Palestinian officials in Jordan when the sides pledged to prevent more violence.

In a joint statement at the end of a meeting in the Red Sea resort of Aqaba, Israeli and Palestinian officials said that after "thorough and frank discussions" they would work closely to prevent "further violence" and "reaffirmed the necessity of committing to de-escalation on the ground".

Host nation Jordan, along with Egypt and the United States, considered "these understandings as major progress towards re-establishing and deepening relations between the two sides," the statement said.

The meeting brought together top Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs for the first time in many years, officials said, and aimed to restore calm in Israel, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Israel and the Palestinian Authority "confirmed their joint readiness and commitment to immediately work to end unilateral measures for a period of 3-6 months," the statement said.

"This includes an Israeli commitment to stop discussion of any new settlement units for four months and to stop authorization of any outposts for six months," the statement said.

The participants also agreed to meet again in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt in March. "The participants stressed the importance of the Aqaba meeting, the first of its kind in years," the statement said.

"They agreed to continue meeting under this formula, maintain positive momentum and expand this agreement towards wider political process leading to a just and lasting peace."

US President Joe Biden’s Middle East adviser Brett McGurk is attending, along with Jordanian and Egyptian officials.

Jordan's King Abdullah II met McGurk and stressed "the importance of intensifying efforts to push for calm, de-escalation in the Palestinian territories, and stopping any unilateral measures that would destabilize stability and undermine the chances of achieving peace," a royal court statement said.



Syrians Recover Human Remains from Site Used by Hezbollah and Other Assad Allies

An aerial view taken with a drone shows members of the Syrian Civil Defense group, the White Helmets, loading human remains in body bags on a truck in the Sayyida Zeinab district of Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
An aerial view taken with a drone shows members of the Syrian Civil Defense group, the White Helmets, loading human remains in body bags on a truck in the Sayyida Zeinab district of Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
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Syrians Recover Human Remains from Site Used by Hezbollah and Other Assad Allies

An aerial view taken with a drone shows members of the Syrian Civil Defense group, the White Helmets, loading human remains in body bags on a truck in the Sayyida Zeinab district of Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
An aerial view taken with a drone shows members of the Syrian Civil Defense group, the White Helmets, loading human remains in body bags on a truck in the Sayyida Zeinab district of Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024. (EPA)

The Syrian Civil Defense group, known as the White Helmets, uncovered at least 21 corpses as well as incomplete human remains on Wednesday in the Sayyida Zeinab suburb of the capital Damascus.

The discovery was made at a site previously used by Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran-backed Iraqi militias, both allies of deposed President Bashar al-Assad during the country’s civil war.

The site included a field kitchen, a drugstore and a morgue, according to Ammar al-Salmo, an official with the White Helmets, a volunteer organization that operated in areas that were controlled by the opposition.

Rescue teams in white hazmat suits searched the site, located not far from the revered shrine of Sayyida Zeinab. The remains were placed into black bags and loaded onto a truck as bystanders from the neighborhood looked on.

“Some (of the remains) are skeletons, others are incomplete, and there are bags of small bones. We cannot yet determine the number of victims,” al-Salmo said.

“Damascus has become a mass grave,” he said, pointing out the growing reports of war-related graves and burial sites in the capital and other places in Syria.

Iran and Hezbollah provided Assad’s government with military, financial and logistical support during the civil war.