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Pope Urges Release of All Hamas Hostages, Concerned by Gaza Siege

Pope Francis meets French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palais du Pharo, in Marseille, France, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. (Andreas Solaro/AFP via AP, Pool)
Pope Francis meets French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palais du Pharo, in Marseille, France, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. (Andreas Solaro/AFP via AP, Pool)
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Pope Urges Release of All Hamas Hostages, Concerned by Gaza Siege

Pope Francis meets French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palais du Pharo, in Marseille, France, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. (Andreas Solaro/AFP via AP, Pool)
Pope Francis meets French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palais du Pharo, in Marseille, France, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. (Andreas Solaro/AFP via AP, Pool)

Pope Francis on Wednesday called on the Hamas group to release all hostages captured during its weekend attack on Israel, while expressing grave concerns about the "total" Israeli siege imposed on Gaza.
"I pray for those families who saw a feast day turn into a day of mourning, and I ask that the hostages be immediately released," he said during his weekly audience.
Referring to Israel's response to Hamas, Francis said: "It is the right of those who are attacked to defend themselves, but I am very worried by the total siege in which Palestinians in Gaza live, where there have also been many innocent victims”, Reuters reported.

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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said his administration would announce the new structure of the defense ministry and military within days.

In a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday, al-Sharaa said that his administration would not allow for arms outside the control of the state.

An official source told Reuters on Saturday that Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, had been named as defense minister in the interim government.
Sharaa did not mention the appointment of a new defense minister on Sunday.
Sharaa discussed the form military institutions would take during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA said.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said last week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former opposition factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.

Earlier Sunday, Lebanon’s Druze leader Walid Jumblatt held talks with al-Sharaa in Damascus.

Jumblatt expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”

“Syria was a source of concern and disturbance, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” al-Sharaa said, referring to the Assad government. “Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon," he added.