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Israeli Lobby Seeks to Restore Jewish Settlement in Gaza

Displaced Palestinians are seen at a temporary tent camp in the Al-Mawasi area in Gaza. (AP)
Displaced Palestinians are seen at a temporary tent camp in the Al-Mawasi area in Gaza. (AP)
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Israeli Lobby Seeks to Restore Jewish Settlement in Gaza

Displaced Palestinians are seen at a temporary tent camp in the Al-Mawasi area in Gaza. (AP)
Displaced Palestinians are seen at a temporary tent camp in the Al-Mawasi area in Gaza. (AP)

A so-called “Parliamentary Lobby for the Israeli Victory Project,” which operates in Israel and the United States, decided to submit a demand to the US administration and the Israeli government to “seriously consider a project of voluntary transfer of Palestinians,” claiming that it was the best humanitarian solution for Israel and the Palestinians.

The lobby warned of the American plan to allow the Palestinian Authority to rule Gaza and to establish the two-state solution, claiming that this is “a recipe for repeating the Hamas attack on October 7, several times.”

These positions were announced on the eve of the meeting of the Israeli Mini Ministerial Council for Security and Political Affairs, on Thursday, to discuss the post-Gaza war stage. The lobby announced its adoption of the plan drawn up by Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, the author of the official project to deport the people of Gaza.

According to Gamliel, Hamas’ rule of the Gaza Strip should end, along with the complete destruction of its sites and tunnels and the dissolution of municipalities and village councils. She added that the entire agricultural land must become a security belt for Israel, while the Israeli army must remain in control of all border crossings and be able to continue its operations.

Transferring UNRWA materials

Gamliel stressed that transferring governing powers to the Palestinian Authority would be very dangerous for Israel.

She noted that the PA leaders share views as Hamas, saying: “They even expressed their support for the October 7 massacre. We did not fight for all this period and pay the price in blood for the establishment of an authority that is hostile to us.”

The minister emphasized that her project required interim civilian rule in the Gaza Strip, led by the United States, Egypt and Jordan, with the Israeli army maintaining its security control.

She added that among urgent tasks will be a process of complete disarmament and the termination of the Palestinian refugee file, while transferring the resources that go to UNRWA to finance the voluntary migration project so that the refugees can build a new life abroad.

The Israeli Victory Project was founded in 2017 and includes a group of deputies from both the coalition and the opposition.

‘Unrealistic illusions’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a briefing to Israeli media, described calls for the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza launched by Israeli ministers, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, as “unrealistic illusions.”

Netanyahu claimed that Israel “does not work to displace the people of Gaza and resettle them in other places in the world.”

“Even if we wanted to, Israel does not have the ability to push the residents of Gaza to leave to another country,” he said, citing legal restrictions.

American figures

Since the creation of the lobby, there have been two American figures in its leadership: Daniel Pipes, president of the Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum, and Gregg Roman, Director General of the same institute, who is a former leader of Jewish institutions and worked as an employee in the Israeli Ministry of Defense and an advisor to the Israeli Foreign Minister.

The lobby believes that the Israeli government and the American administration failed to settle the conflict during 30 years of negotiations, because they “did not deal appropriately with the Palestinian policy” of rejecting proposals, while claiming that the Israelis had to constantly make concessions to the Palestinians.

Similar American lobby

The Israeli Victory Project works in partnership with a similar US lobby that has been established in Congress since 1988. It is led by figures in the American leadership, and funded by American support.

The intense campaign by the Israeli right to promote the voluntary deportation of Palestinians is “unsettling” the American administration and many forces in Israel, who believe it will politically and legally implicate Israel at international arenas.

A political source in the opposition said the call for deportation is no longer limited to a number of far-right ministers and representatives, but is now backed by political, popular and academic forces in Israel and the United States.

These forces are trying to give momentum to this project and refuse in any way to end the war with a political settlement, according to the source.

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Syrian Letter Delivers Response to US Conditions for Sanctions Relief

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani attends a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East at the UN Headquarters in New York, April 25, 2025. (AFP)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani attends a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East at the UN Headquarters in New York, April 25, 2025. (AFP)
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Syrian Letter Delivers Response to US Conditions for Sanctions Relief

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani attends a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East at the UN Headquarters in New York, April 25, 2025. (AFP)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani attends a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East at the UN Headquarters in New York, April 25, 2025. (AFP)

Syria has responded in writing to a list of US conditions for possible partial sanctions relief, saying it had acted on most of them but others required "mutual understandings" with Washington, according to a copy of the letter seen by Reuters.

The United States last month handed Syria a list of eight conditions it wants Damascus to fulfill, including destroying any remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and ensuring foreigners are not given senior governing roles.

Syria is in desperate need of sanctions relief to kickstart an economy collapsed by 14 years of war, during which the United States, Britain and Europe imposed tough sanctions in a bid to put pressure on former president Bashar al-Assad.

In January, the US issued a six-month exemption for some sanctions to encourage aid, but this has had limited effect.

In exchange for fulfilling all the US demands, Washington would extend that suspension for two years and possibly issue another exemption, sources told Reuters in March.

Reuters was first to report that senior US official Natasha Franceschi handed the list of conditions to Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani at an in-person meeting on the sidelines of a Syria donor conference in Brussels on March 18.

Shaibani, in his first address to the United Nations Security Council on Friday, sought to show that Syria was already addressing the demands, including on chemical weapons and the search for missing Americans in Syria.

His public comments were consistent with the contents of Syria's private letter to the US, an undated copy of which was seen by Reuters. Its contents have not been previously reported.

Two Western officials and a Syrian official briefed on the letter said it was consistent with the copy seen by Reuters.

In the four-page document, Syria pledges to set up a liaison office at the foreign ministry to find missing US journalist Austin Tice and details its work to tackle chemical weapons stockpiles, including closer ties with a global arms watchdog.

But it had less to say on other key demands, including removing foreign fighters and granting the US permission for counterterrorism strikes, according to the letter.

A State Department spokesperson confirmed Washington had received a response from Syrian authorities to a US request for them to take "specific, detailed confidence building measures”.

“We are now evaluating the response and do not have anything to share at this time,” the spokesperson said, adding that the US “does not recognize any entity as the government of Syria and that any future normalization of relations will be determined by the interim authorities' actions. "

Syria's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

FOREIGN FIGHTERS

The letter said Syrian officials had discussed foreign fighters with former US envoy Daniel Rubinstein but that the issue "requires a broader consultative session."

"What can be confirmed for now is that the issuance of military ranks has been suspended following the earlier announcement regarding the promotion of six individuals," the letter says, an apparent reference to the appointment in December of foreign fighters including Uyghurs and a Turk to positions in the country's armed force.

It did not say whether those appointed ranks had been removed from the foreign fighters and did not list future steps to be taken.

A source briefed on the Syrian government's approach to the issue said Damascus would delay addressing it as much as possible given its view that non-Syrian fighters who helped oust Assad should be treated well.

On a US request for coordination on counterterrorism matters and the ability to carry out strikes on terror targets, the letter said the "matter requires mutual understandings."

It pledged that Syria's new government would not tolerate any threats to US or Western interests in Syria and vowed to put in place "appropriate legal measures," without elaborating.

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa had said in an interview earlier this year that US troops deployed in Syria were there without government approval, adding any such presence should be agreed with the state.

A Syrian official briefed on the letter said Syrian officials were brainstorming other ways to weaken extremists without explicitly giving the US permission to carry out strikes, seeing that as a controversial move after years of foreign air forces bombing Syria during its war.

'GUARANTEES'

A senior diplomat and another person briefed on the letter told Reuters that they deemed it addressed five demands in full, but that the remaining were left "outstanding".

They said the letter was sent on April 14 - just 10 days before Shaibani arrived in New York to address the Security Council. It was unclear whether the United States had sent a reply to Syria's letter.

A Syrian official and a US source briefed on the letter both said Shibani was set to discuss its contents with US officials during his trip to New York.

Syria's letter said it hoped the actions taken, which it described as "guarantees," could lead to a meeting to discuss each point in detail, including reopening embassies and lifting sanctions.

On Palestinian militants in Syria, it said Sharaa had formed a committee "to monitor the activities of Palestinian factions," and that armed factions outside state control will not be permitted. It was sent just days before Syria detained two Palestinian officials from the Islamic Jihad militant group.

"While discussions on this matter can continue, the overarching position is that we will not allow Syria to become a source of threat to any party, including Israel," it said.

The letter also acknowledged "ongoing communication" between Syria's counterterrorism authorities and US representatives in Amman over combating ISIS, and said Syria was inclined to expand that collaboration. The direct talks between Syria and the US in Amman have not previously been reported.