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Abbas Wants Negotiations with Israel to Begin with Border Demarcation

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (AFP)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (AFP)
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Abbas Wants Negotiations with Israel to Begin with Border Demarcation

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (AFP)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (AFP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suggested to the United States, Egypt, Jordan, and other parties that the negotiations with Israeli parties begin with “border demarcation,” a well-informed Palestinian source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The source added that President Abbas would present his suggestions to the Israeli Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, during their meeting next week in Ramallah.

The president will inform Gantz that confidence-building measures and support for the Palestinian Authority (PA) are in no way a substitute for political negotiations, warning that he will resort to measures if the Israeli government does not engage in such talks.

The Palestinian source confirmed that Abbas would inform Gantz that the plan he launched at the UN would be implemented if the current Israeli government insisted on following a path away from political negotiations.

In September, Abbas launched an initiative during which he gave Israel has one year to withdraw from the Palestinian territory it occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem, threatening to withdraw recognition of Israel.

The Central Council, the highest Palestinian legislative body, will discuss various options if it holds its upcoming meeting at the beginning of next month.

Abbas will meet Gantz next week, accompanied by the Israeli Regional Cooperation Minister Issawi Frej.

Frej said he believes that the meeting aims to strengthen the PA and calm tensions amid a wave of attacks.

The meeting, which will be Gantz and Abbas’ second meeting, is also expected to address security and economic cooperation.

In a meeting that aimed to break the deadlock in relations, Abbas first met with Gantz in late August at the presidential headquarters in the central West Bank.

After the meeting, Israel authorized permits to work in Israel for an additional 15,000 Palestinian workers. It allowed the Palestinian territories to get 4G cellular service. It also agreed to grant tens of thousands of Palestinians the right to family reunification.

But Gantz ignored requests to return the bodies of dozens of Palestinians held by Israel, stop storming Palestinian areas classified as A, work to stop settler violence in the West Bank, and reformulate the Paris Agreements regulating economic relations between the two parties.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that his government strongly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state and that state-like entities do not succeed.

Bennett also believes that no one in the region believes it is possible to go to a peace negotiation process.

Sources confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that regional countries, along with the US administration, sent messages to Abbas stating that the current situation does not allow the launch of a political process due to the composition of the current Israeli government.

As a result, Abbas decided to present an initiative based on launching negotiations or escalation.

“I had a conversation this week with Gantz… and I believe in the coming days there will be an interesting meeting,” Frej told Channel 12 news.

Asked if he meant another meeting between the defense minister and Abbas, Frej said the two may “meet again.”

The meeting would likely deal with proposals for security and economic cooperation aimed at helping the PA govern in the West Bank and weakening the rival Hamas group.

Abbas is trying to push a political solution forward, and for that, he visited Russia, Jordan, Qatar, and other countries.

Abbas also requested meetings with Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid. However, it was not clear if Lapid would respond to the Egyptian request to meet Abbas and join Gantz on his visit to Ramallah.

Bennett has refused to meet with Abbas so far, considering that it is useless in the current circumstances.

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Arab World

Lebanese Army Chief to Make Pivotal Visit to Washington Next Month

Lebanese army chief General Rodolphe Haykal. Photo: Army command
Lebanese army chief General Rodolphe Haykal. Photo: Army command
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Lebanese Army Chief to Make Pivotal Visit to Washington Next Month

Lebanese army chief General Rodolphe Haykal. Photo: Army command
Lebanese army chief General Rodolphe Haykal. Photo: Army command

Lebanese army chief General Rodolphe Haykal is gearing up for an official visit to Washington in early February, after the US cancelled meetings with him in November.

The visit comes at a sensitive time, preceding the Paris conference to supporting the Lebanese army in March.

Ministerial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Haykal’s visit to Washington has been set for between February 3 and 5, saying the army’s needs, cooperation between the US and Lebanese militaries, and continued American support for the Lebanese army will be high on the agenda of the talks.

Military sources said that the visit’s postponement in November has not frozen contacts between the two sides. On the contrary, intense contacts have since been made to reschedule the visit, resulting in setting a new date next month.

The army’s plan to confiscate all unauthorized arms and extend state authority over all Lebanese territory will most likely top the agenda of the visit. This plan has drawn broad international attention.

A statement issued by the army command on January 8 regarding the achievement of the objectives of the first phase of the weapons-control plan will constitute a key component of Haykal’s briefing to US officials.

The army said in that statement that it had achieved the initial goal to clear non-state weaponry from the southern area near the Israeli border by the end of 2025.

It said it secured areas south of the Litani River, excluding positions still held by Israeli forces, though there was more work to be done clearing unexploded ordnance and tunnels.

Haykal’s briefing will most likely refer to the challenges hindering the full implementation of the plan, foremost among them ongoing Israeli attacks and the occupation of a number of sites inside Lebanese territory, in addition to the establishment of buffer zones that restrict freedom of movement, as well as the daily violations of the ceasefire agreement of November 27, 2024.

The army chief will also stress continued close cooperation with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and with the ceasefire monitoring committee known as the mechanism, which held its last meeting on January 7 at the military level in the absence of civilians.

Ministerial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the mechanism will not hold meetings this month. “We are awaiting the return of the US general who is abroad, as well as the appointment of a civilian representative to replace US envoy Morgan Ortagus, who has been relieved of her duties,” they said.

Meanwhile, Lebanon continues its preparations for the Paris conference to support the army, scheduled for March 5.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told a recent security meeting that the army and security forces should prepare accurate reports on their needs and brief the conferees to secure the required assistance for their institutions.

Arab World

Al-Khanbashi: Hadramout Has Been Liberated from Al-Zubaidi, UAE's Hegemony

Hadramout Governor and a member of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Salem al-Khanbashi gives a media briefing in the port city of Mukalla in Hadramout, Yemen, January 19, 2026. (Reuters)
Hadramout Governor and a member of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Salem al-Khanbashi gives a media briefing in the port city of Mukalla in Hadramout, Yemen, January 19, 2026. (Reuters)
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Al-Khanbashi: Hadramout Has Been Liberated from Al-Zubaidi, UAE's Hegemony

Hadramout Governor and a member of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Salem al-Khanbashi gives a media briefing in the port city of Mukalla in Hadramout, Yemen, January 19, 2026. (Reuters)
Hadramout Governor and a member of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Salem al-Khanbashi gives a media briefing in the port city of Mukalla in Hadramout, Yemen, January 19, 2026. (Reuters)

Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) member and Governor of Yemen's eastern Hadramout province Salem al-Khanbashi accused on Monday the United Arab Emirates of exploiting its participation in the coalition to support legitimacy in Yemen to pursue its own agenda.

Speaking at a press conference in Mukalla city, he said the UAE's actions in Hadramout were a shock to the people and local authorities.

The authorities had hoped that the UAE would act as a supporter to the Yemeni people as part of the coalition, but its actions on the ground went against those expectations, he remarked.

Hadramout has suffered from the hegemony of armed factions affiliated with Aidarous al-Zubaidi, leader of the Southern Transitional Council, with direct support from the UAE, added all-Khanbashi.

Hadramout has been liberated from al-Zubaidi and the UAE's hegemony, he stressed.

He accused groups loyal to al-Zubaidi of looting public institutions, terrorizing the people and committing wide violations against them, leading to instability in Hadramout.

He vowed that the authorities will take "all legal measures" against the UAE and al-Zubaidi's armed groups.

Justice will prevail, he declared, pledging to support the victims of the violations and hold to account the perpetrators.

Moreover, al-Khanbashi revealed that the UAE was running "several large secret prisons" in Hadramout. Explosives were also stored in the al-Riyan airbase that were going to be used to in assassinations and attacks in the province.

He said that Hadramout has closed a "dangerous and bitter chapter" in its history through direct support from Saudi Arabia.

This backing has helped restore stability, boost the state's authority and end a period of chaos and violations, he continued.

Arab World

Syria Says Sharaa, Trump Discuss Kurdish Rights as Forces Deploy in Country’s North, East

Syrian government forces brandish their weapons as they take possession of the SDF military base as they enter the city of Raqqa on January 19, 2026. (AFP)
Syrian government forces brandish their weapons as they take possession of the SDF military base as they enter the city of Raqqa on January 19, 2026. (AFP)
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Syria Says Sharaa, Trump Discuss Kurdish Rights as Forces Deploy in Country’s North, East

Syrian government forces brandish their weapons as they take possession of the SDF military base as they enter the city of Raqqa on January 19, 2026. (AFP)
Syrian government forces brandish their weapons as they take possession of the SDF military base as they enter the city of Raqqa on January 19, 2026. (AFP)

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and US President Donald Trump discussed guaranteeing Kurdish rights in a phone call on Monday, Syria's presidency said, a day after Damascus reached a deal with Kurdish forces including a truce.

Sharaa met Mazloum Abdi, head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, to discuss the agreement, which includes integrating the Kurds' administration into the state, but a Kurdish source with knowledge of the talks told AFP they were not positive.

Analysts said the deal -- following rapid government gains in Kurdish-controlled territory after driving Kurdish fighters out of Aleppo city earlier this month -- marked a blow for the minority's long-held ambitions of preserving the de facto autonomy they had exercised in swathes of north and northeast Syria for over a decade.

In the phone call, Sharaa and Trump, "emphasized the need to guarantee the Kurdish people's rights and protection within the framework of the Syrian state", the Syrian presidency said.

They "affirmed the importance of preserving the unity and independence of Syrian territory" and discussed "cooperation on combating" the ISIS extremist group, it added.

Requesting anonymity, the Kurdish source with knowledge of Monday's talks between Sharaa and Abdi said differences concerned "the mechanism for implementing the terms of the agreement".

Despite the ceasefire, brief clashes erupted on Monday evening in Raqqa city, with an AFP correspondent hearing heavy bombardment.

The SDF said government forces shelled the Al-Aqtan prison "which holds ISIS members and leaders, in an attempt to storm it".

Raqqa was once the extremist group's de facto capital in Syria.

A defense ministry source later told AFP that the clashes had halted, without elaborating.

- 'Stability' -

Sunday's agreement included the Kurdish administration's immediate handover of Arab-majority Deir Ezzor and Raqqa provinces to the government, which will also take responsibility for ISIS prisoners and their families held in Kurdish-run jails and camps.

A defense ministry map published on Monday showed the government controlled all of Deir Ezzor and Raqqa provinces, while the eastern parts of Hasakeh province were still under Kurdish control.

In Deir Ezzor province, an AFP correspondent saw military vehicles heading east of the Euphrates, while cars and pedestrians waited at a bridge leading to the eastern bank.

Driver Mohammed Khalil, 50, told AFP that "we hope things will be better than before. There was... no freedom" under the SDF.

Teacher Safia Keddo, 49, said that "we're not asking for a miracle, we just want stability and a normal life".

Authorities announced a curfew in Hasakeh province's Shadadi after the army said the SDF released ISIS detainees from the town's prison, while the Kurds said they lost control of the facility after an attack by Damascus.

The sides had earlier traded blame for attacks that the military said killed three soldiers.

The SDF had seized swathes of Deir Ezzor and Raqqa provinces as they expelled ISIS during Syria's civil war, supported by an international coalition led by Washington.

- 'Protecting civilian lives' -

Raqqa resident Khaled al-Afnan, 34, said "we support Kurdish civil rights... but we don't support them having a military role".

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a close ally of Damascus who is hostile to the SDF, hailed Syria's army for its "careful" offensive despite what he called "provocations".

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas instead said "all military activities must cease immediately".

The SDF on Sunday withdrew from areas under its control including the Al-Omar oil field, the country's largest, and the Tanak field.

Local fighters from tribes in the Arab-majority Deir Ezzor province sided with Damascus and seized the areas before the arrival of government forces.

The SDF's Abdi said Sunday he agreed to the deal to avoid civil war and end a conflict "imposed" on the Kurds.

Mutlu Civiroglu, a Washington-based analyst and expert on the Kurds, said the government's advance had raised "serious doubts about the durability" of the ceasefire and a March agreement between the government and the Kurds.

Sharaa had on Friday issued a decree granting the Kurds official recognition, but the Kurds said it fell short of their expectations.

In Qamishli, the main Kurdish city in the country's northeast, activist Hevi Ahmed, 40, said Sunday's deal was "a disappointment after years of hope that the Syrian constitution might contain a better future for the Kurds".