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Blinken, Abbas Hold 'Tense' Meeting in Ramallah

Riot police in front of demonstrators in Ramallah protesting the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday (Reuters)
Riot police in front of demonstrators in Ramallah protesting the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday (Reuters)
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Blinken, Abbas Hold 'Tense' Meeting in Ramallah

Riot police in front of demonstrators in Ramallah protesting the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday (Reuters)
Riot police in front of demonstrators in Ramallah protesting the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday (Reuters)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting in Ramallah that the Washington supports "tangible measures" for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Blinked stressed that the Palestinian Authority (PA) needs to make reforms in governmental and security structures for effective governance in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the future.

Palestinian sources confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that Blinken focused on reforms but was met with a barrage of difficult questions.

The Palestinian side was adamant about addressing the war in Gaza, Washington's role in stopping it, post-war plans, Gaza governance, ongoing conflicts in the West Bank, settler violence, Israeli plans to displace the Palestinians, and the fate of PA frozen funds in Tel Aviv.

According to the sources, Blinken was questioned about the funds held by Israel and how Washington could enforce its vision on more challenging issues if it couldn't secure the release of those funds, which caused tension in the meeting because it reflected Palestinian officials' skepticism about Washington's ability to implement its stated goals in the future

The relationship between the PA and the US administration became tense because of Washington's position on the war, disagreements about reform, and dealing with post-war phase.

Abbas stressed the need to immediately stop the genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, so that a political solution based on international legitimacy could be implemented, starting with the State of Palestine gaining full UN membership.

He also called for an international peace conference to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, which achieves peace and security for all.

The Palestinian President warned of the Israeli measures aimed at displacing Palestinian people from the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, including Jerusalem, following statements issued by Israeli ministers and officials, which call for the expulsion of the Palestinian people from their land.

He stressed the complete rejection of the displacement of any Palestinian citizen, whether in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, adding that "we will not allow it to happen."

Abbas reiterated that the Gaza Strip is an integral part of the Palestinian state, noting that it is not possible to accept or deal with the plans of the occupation authorities to separate it or cut off any part of it.

Palestinian funds must be released immediately, because their withholding violates agreements and international law, noted the President.

In return, Blinken tried to explain the US plan based on launching a post-war political path, aiming to establish a Palestinian state and normalization with more Arab countries.

He informed Abbas that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged that there would be no displacement of Gazans while discussions continued regarding the day after the war with the Israelis and regional leaders.

The Secretary indicated Washington ultimately wanted a "qualified Palestinian authority" to rule the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

- Arab Peace Initiative

The US is said to be floating the Arab Peace Initiative that Saudi Arabia sponsored more than 20 years ago as a possible framework to end the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Israeli Channel 12 reported, citing a source, that Washington is floating the Arab Peace Initiative that Saudi Arabia sponsored more than 20 years ago as a possible framework to end the war against Hamas in Gaza.

The 2002 initiative offers Israel normalized ties with the entire Arab world once it reaches a two-state solution to its conflict with the Palestinians.

The report stated that the Biden administration says such an agreement would be in the interests of the United States, Israel, and the region's countries.

Blinken told the Israelis that they must move towards a diplomatic horizon and that images and footage of the war in Gaza are leading to "radicalization" in Mideast countries.

He asked Israeli officials to stop harming civilians and move entirely to the third stage, release the Palestinians' money, and develop a plan for the day after the war.

Israel has refused to hand over the Gaza Strip to the Authority so far and is seeking to form local bodies to manage civil affairs while retaining security responsibility.

In Tel Aviv, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told Blinken that Israel will always act according to the Israeli interest.

"Therefore we will continue to fight with all our strength to destroy Hamas," Smotrich stated.

- Smotrich Challenges Washington

Smotrich rejected calls to release withheld tax revenues and frozen funds to transfer money to the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said that Smotrich's rejection of the US request is a blatant challenge to the administration to translate its positions into tangible actions.

The Ministry said in a statement that the extremist Smotrich brags about supporting settlement and the terrorism and crimes of the settlers.

It said the Israeli far-right minister does not recognize the rights of Palestinians and steals their lands, describing him as a staunch enemy of peace.

The Ministry wondered if Washington would be able to force Israel to protect civilians and revive the peace process if it can't force Tel Aviv to release the Palestinian-frozen funds.

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Arab World

Lebanon PM Pledges Reconstruction on Visit to Ruined Border Towns

This handout picture released by the Lebanese Government Press Office shows Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam being showered with confetti as he is received by locals during a tour in the heavily-damaged southern village of Dhayra near the border with Israel on February 7, 2026. (Lebanese Government Press Office / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Lebanese Government Press Office shows Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam being showered with confetti as he is received by locals during a tour in the heavily-damaged southern village of Dhayra near the border with Israel on February 7, 2026. (Lebanese Government Press Office / AFP)
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Lebanon PM Pledges Reconstruction on Visit to Ruined Border Towns

This handout picture released by the Lebanese Government Press Office shows Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam being showered with confetti as he is received by locals during a tour in the heavily-damaged southern village of Dhayra near the border with Israel on February 7, 2026. (Lebanese Government Press Office / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Lebanese Government Press Office shows Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam being showered with confetti as he is received by locals during a tour in the heavily-damaged southern village of Dhayra near the border with Israel on February 7, 2026. (Lebanese Government Press Office / AFP)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam visited heavily damaged towns near the Israeli border on Saturday, pledging reconstruction.

It was his first trip to the southern border area since the army said it finished disarming Hezbollah there, in January.

Swathes of south Lebanon's border areas remain in ruins and largely deserted more than a year after a US-brokered November 2024 ceasefire sought to end hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed group.

Lebanon's government has committed to disarming Hezbollah, and the army last month said it had completed the first phase of its plan to do so, covering the area between the Litani River and the Israeli border about 30 kilometers (20 miles) further south.

Visiting Tayr Harfa, around three kilometers from the border, and nearby Yarine, Salam said frontier towns and villages had suffered "a true catastrophe".

He vowed authorities would begin key projects including restoring roads, communications networks and water in the two towns.

Locals gathered on the rubble of buildings to greet Salam and the delegation of accompanying officials in nearby Dhayra, some waving Lebanese flags.

In a meeting in Bint Jbeil, further east, with officials including lawmakers from Hezbollah and its ally the Amal movement, Salam said authorities would "rehabilitate 32 kilometers of roads, reconnect the severed communications network, repair water infrastructure" and power lines in the district.

Last year, the World Bank announced it had approved $250 million to support Lebanon's post-war reconstruction, after estimating that it would cost around $11 billion in total.

Salam said funds including from the World Bank would be used for the reconstruction and rehabilitation projects.

The second phase of the government's disarmament plan for Hezbollah concerns the area between the Litani and the Awali rivers, around 40 kilometers south of Beirut.

Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of rearming, has criticized the army's progress as insufficient, while Hezbollah has rejected calls to surrender its weapons.

Despite the truce, Israel has kept up regular strikes on what it usually says are Hezbollah targets and maintains troops in five south Lebanon areas.

Lebanese officials have accused Israel of seeking to prevent reconstruction in the heavily damaged south with repeated strikes on bulldozers, excavators and prefabricated houses.

Visiting French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Friday said the reform of Lebanon's banking system needed to precede international funding for reconstruction efforts.

The French diplomat met Lebanon's army chief Rodolphe Haykal on Saturday, the military said.

Arab World

Over 2,200 ISIS Detainees Transferred to Iraq from Syria, Says Iraqi Official

One of the American buses transporting ISIS fighters, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, heads from Syria towards Iraq, in Qamishli, Syria, February 7, 2026. (Reuters)
One of the American buses transporting ISIS fighters, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, heads from Syria towards Iraq, in Qamishli, Syria, February 7, 2026. (Reuters)
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Over 2,200 ISIS Detainees Transferred to Iraq from Syria, Says Iraqi Official

One of the American buses transporting ISIS fighters, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, heads from Syria towards Iraq, in Qamishli, Syria, February 7, 2026. (Reuters)
One of the American buses transporting ISIS fighters, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, heads from Syria towards Iraq, in Qamishli, Syria, February 7, 2026. (Reuters)

Iraq has so far received 2,225 ISIS group detainees, whom the US military began transferring from Syria last month, an Iraqi official told AFP on Saturday.

They are among up to 7,000 ISIS detainees whose transfer from Syria to Iraq the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced last month, in a move it said was aimed at "ensuring that the terrorists remain in secure detention facilities".

Previously, they had been held in prisons and camps administered by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria.

The announcement of the transfer plan last month came after US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack declared that the SDF's role in confronting ISIS had come to an end.

Saad Maan, head of the security information cell attached to the Iraqi prime minister's office, told AFP on Saturday that "Iraq has received 2,225 terrorists from the Syrian side by land and air, in coordination with the international coalition", which Washington has led since 2014 to fight IS.

He said they are being held in "strict, regular detention centers".

A Kurdish military source confirmed to AFP the "continued transfer of ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq under the protection of the international coalition".

On Saturday, an AFP photographer near the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria saw a US military convoy and 11 buses with tinted windows.

- Iraq calls for repatriation -

ISIS seized swathes of northern and western Iraq starting in 2014, until Iraqi forces, backed by the international coalition, managed to defeat it in 2017.

Iraq is still recovering from the severe abuses committed by the extremists.

In recent years, Iraqi courts have issued death and life sentences against those convicted of terrorism offences.

Thousands of Iraqis and foreign nationals convicted of membership in the group are incarcerated in Iraqi prisons.

On Monday, the Iraqi judiciary announced it had begun investigative procedures involving 1,387 detainees it received as part of the US military's operation.

In a statement to the Iraqi News Agency on Saturday, Maan said "the established principle is to try all those involved in crimes against Iraqis and those belonging to the terrorist ISIS organization before the competent Iraqi courts".

Among the detainees being transferred to Iraq are Syrians, Iraqis, Europeans and holders of other nationalities, according to Iraqi security sources.

Iraq is calling on the concerned countries to repatriate their citizens and ensure their prosecution.

Maan noted that "the process of handing over the terrorists to their countries will begin once the legal requirements are completed".

Arab World

Drone Attack by RSF in Sudan Kills 24, Including 8 Children, Doctors’ Group Says

Displaced Sudanese wait to receive humanitarian aid at the Abu al-Naga displacement camp in the Gedaref State, some 420km east of the capital Khartoum on February 6, 2026. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese wait to receive humanitarian aid at the Abu al-Naga displacement camp in the Gedaref State, some 420km east of the capital Khartoum on February 6, 2026. (AFP)
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Drone Attack by RSF in Sudan Kills 24, Including 8 Children, Doctors’ Group Says

Displaced Sudanese wait to receive humanitarian aid at the Abu al-Naga displacement camp in the Gedaref State, some 420km east of the capital Khartoum on February 6, 2026. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese wait to receive humanitarian aid at the Abu al-Naga displacement camp in the Gedaref State, some 420km east of the capital Khartoum on February 6, 2026. (AFP)

A drone attack by a notorious paramilitary group hit a vehicle carrying displaced families in central Sudan Saturday, killing at least 24 people, including eight children, a doctors’ group said.

The attack by the Rapid Support Forces occurred close to the city of Rahad in North Kordofan province, said the Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks the country’s ongoing war.

The vehicle transported displaced people who fled fighting in the Dubeiker area of North Kordofan, the doctors’ group said in a statement. Among the dead children were two infants, the group said.

The doctors’ group urged the international community and rights organizations to “take immediate action to protect civilians and hold the RSF leadership directly accountable for these violations.”

There was no immediate comment from the RSF, which has been at war against the Sudanese military for control of the country for about three years.

Sudan plunged into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.

The devastating war has killed more than 40,000 people, according to UN figures, but aid groups say that is an undercount and the true number could be many times higher.

It created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with over 14 million people forced to flee their homes. It fueled disease outbreaks and pushed parts of the country into famine.