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Arab Countries Prepare to Hold Summit against Gaza Displacement Plan

Palestinians walk past destroyed houses along a street in Al-Shatea refugee camp amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 07 February 2025. (EPA)
Palestinians walk past destroyed houses along a street in Al-Shatea refugee camp amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 07 February 2025. (EPA)
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Arab Countries Prepare to Hold Summit against Gaza Displacement Plan

Palestinians walk past destroyed houses along a street in Al-Shatea refugee camp amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 07 February 2025. (EPA)
Palestinians walk past destroyed houses along a street in Al-Shatea refugee camp amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 07 February 2025. (EPA)

Consultations are underway to hold an emergency Arab summit to counter US President Donald Trump’s plans to displace the residents of the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

An informed diplomatic source told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday that contacts are underway between members of the Arab League to hold the summit in Cairo.

The summit aims to coordinate Arab stances to confront the Palestinian displacement proposal and to draft reconstructions plans for Gaza.

The source said talks are underway to set a date for the summit.

Egypt said on Friday it had been in contact with Arab partners including Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to firm up the region's rejection of any displacement of Palestinians.

Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty had been in communication with counterparts from 11 nations, a statement said.

Those had emphasized "the constants of the Arab position on the Palestinian cause, rejecting any measures aimed at displacing the Palestinian people from their land, or encouraging their transfer to other countries outside the Palestinian territories," it said.

Trump has suggested the US take control of Gaza from Israel and create a "Riviera of the Middle East" after resettling Palestinians elsewhere including Egypt and Jordan. But Arab nations want to see a two-state solution with a separate Palestinian homeland alongside Israel.

Moving Palestinians would represent "flagrant violation of international law, an infringement on Palestinian rights, a threat to security and stability in the region and an undermining of opportunities for peace and coexistence among its peoples," Egypt's statement said.

Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stressed to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres the need to speed up Gaza’s reconstruction to ensure that life returns to normal in the coastal enclave.

They stressed during a telephone call their rejection of the displacement of the Palestinians and the need for them to remain Gaza. They underscored the importance of international efforts to that end.

Moreover, Sisi emphasized the need for the implementation of the two-state solution that would secure the establishment of an independent Palestinian state according to the 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital.

Sisi and Guterres also tackled Egypt’s efforts to consolidate the ceasefire in Gaza. They discussed the prisoner and hostage exchange between Hamas and Israel and the delivery of aid to Gaza.

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Arab World

Sweida Activist Speaks of Preparations to Drag Governorate into Confrontation with Syrian Security

Gunmen loyal to al-Hijri on patrol in Sweida. (AFP file)
Gunmen loyal to al-Hijri on patrol in Sweida. (AFP file)
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Sweida Activist Speaks of Preparations to Drag Governorate into Confrontation with Syrian Security

Gunmen loyal to al-Hijri on patrol in Sweida. (AFP file)
Gunmen loyal to al-Hijri on patrol in Sweida. (AFP file)

An activist leader in Syria's Druze-majority Sweida governorate has warned of ongoing attempts by the so-called "National Guard" to "drag the governorate into a new, wide-scale confrontation" with the government's Internal Security Forces, "under the direction of an Israeli politician who is a former Knesset member, and Syrian Druze politicians residing abroad."
An informed source inside Sweida city did not rule out the claim, noting that "these actors are pushing for this in an attempt to thwart the formation of an Israeli government led by Gadi Eisenkot."
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, the activist, who opposes the policies of Sheikh al-Aql Hikmat al-Hijri and his "National Guard," said: "Currently, there are those trying to sow discord anew and create unrest with the villages where the (government) Internal Security Forces are deployed."
"After every period of calm and the emergence of a possibility to initiate dialogue, someone seeks to escalate the situation again," he said.
A cautious calm has held along the governorate's frontlines for roughly three weeks between Internal Security Forces and the "National Guard." Al-Hijri has also refrained from making any statements that might stoke tensions.
The source said the plot to reignite tensions in the governorate also involves "striking the sites where the (National Guard) holds detainees, in order to cover up for prisoners who were handed over in exchange for sums of money."
He believed the plan to rekindle tensions in the governorate serves multiple purposes, including "undermining the positive role Jordan is playing toward the new Syria and efforts to resolve the Sweida crisis," as well as causing "a certain embarrassment" to Israeli Prime Minister-designate Eisenkot.
The "National Guard," which controls wide swaths of the governorate, including Sweida city, "possesses the capabilities to reignite tensions" with the Internal Security Forces, "especially as it works relentlessly to fuel resentment among residents against the government," he added.
He warned: "Once the battle begins, every civilian will be forced to carry arms," stressing the need to "deprive them of the opportunity to widen the rift and ease tensions until we reach a national solution."
A source residing in Sweida city told Asharq Al-Awsat: "Instruments of the (Likud) party are pushing to drag the governorate into a confrontation with Syrian security, in order to find a pretext for Israel to intervene against the Syrian state under the guise of protecting the Druze."
Sweida Governor Mustafa al-Bakour had previously extended several invitations to residents for dialogue to resolve the governorate's crisis, which has persisted since the July 2025 unrest. His calls went unanswered.
Several sources in Sweida said this is due to "the policy of repression and treason accusations prevailing in the areas under the influence of al-Hijri and the National Guard, who reject dialogue with the government, demand the right to self-determination, and sought - with the support of outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - to separate the governorate from Syria and establish what is called the (State of Bashan)" there.

Arab World

Talabani Deepens Dispute with Barzani as Settlement Appears out of Reach

Bafel Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and son of the former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, attends the inauguration and handover ceremony for the new Iraqi president at al-Salam Palace in Baghdad, Oct. 17, 2022. (AP)
Bafel Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and son of the former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, attends the inauguration and handover ceremony for the new Iraqi president at al-Salam Palace in Baghdad, Oct. 17, 2022. (AP)
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Talabani Deepens Dispute with Barzani as Settlement Appears out of Reach

Bafel Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and son of the former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, attends the inauguration and handover ceremony for the new Iraqi president at al-Salam Palace in Baghdad, Oct. 17, 2022. (AP)
Bafel Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and son of the former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, attends the inauguration and handover ceremony for the new Iraqi president at al-Salam Palace in Baghdad, Oct. 17, 2022. (AP)

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani deepened his criticism of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), two days after KDP President Masoud Barzani called on Kurdish forces to engage in dialogue to resolve disputes between the two main parties, amid growing signs of political and administrative division between Erbil and Sulaymaniyah.

Speaking at the Sulaymaniyah Strategic Forum on Thursday, Talabani described the KDP’s actions in the Kurdistan Region parliament as a "political collapse in the history of Kurdistan," saying that shuttering the parliament prompted the PUK to no longer recognize the current legislature.

He added that the region is experiencing the reality of two governments and two administrations, accusing a minority within the KDP of rejecting any settlement that fails to meet its demands - even going so far as to block a meeting solely intended for a photo opportunity.

For his part, PUK senior official Mahmoud Khoshnaw told Asharq Al-Awsat that tensions between the two main parties "have begun to intensify day by day."

He added that hopes pinned on restoring ties following the regional parliament's November 4 session have dissipated, pushing both sides gradually toward a rift.

Khoshnaw said that Talabani’s positions, voiced on multiple occasions, are "conditional" and reflect, in his words, a commitment to safeguarding the region's entity, its constitutional rights, and the gains of the Kurdish experience.

He stressed that the current parliamentary makeup does not represent the entirety of Kurdish forces, but rather reflects the KDP's presence at a time when major Kurdish factions remain outside the legislature.

Nevertheless, he said the path to a settlement "is still not completely closed."

Criticism of US role

Among the issues raised by Talabani was his criticism of US envoy Tom Barrack's “intervention” in Kurdish disputes, stating that he disagrees with him and that the Kurdistan Region requires a fundamental resolution to its problems.

Talabani called on the US administration to understand the nature of the situation in the region, or to step back and leave the political forces in Kurdistan and Iraq to resolve their differences on their own.

He also rejected accusations that he is "under Iranian control," stating, "I am not in anyone's pocket, and I never will be," while adding that he is well-received whenever he visits the US.

Talabani praised Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, describing him as a young man with a businessman's mindset who is seeking to correct Iraq's course.

Settlement still possible

Political science professor at Mustansiriyah University Essam al-Faili told Asharq Al-Awsat that the crisis remains manageable, pointing out that Talabani favored a peaceful resolution while Barzani called for dialogue between the two sides.

He noted that Baghdad does not want the fragmentation of the region's administration.

The US is also engaged in the crisis, he remarked, saying that these factors keep the prospects for a settlement alive despite the sharp rhetoric between the two sides.

He explained that a core aspect of the dispute revolves around the distribution of sovereign posts within the region's institutions and presidencies, noting that both parties hold leverage over this file, which makes it amenable to a compromise between them.

On talk of the possibility of forming a separate Kurdish region comprising the Sulaymaniyah and Halabja governorates, constitutional and legal expert Dr. Saif al-Saadi told Asharq Al-Awsat that such a scenario is constitutionally unfeasible.

Journalist Montadhar Nasser told Asharq Al-Awsat that the internal dispute is deeply entrenched in the Kurdish political landscape, exposing a failure of institutional governance in the region as decades of efforts to unify the two administrations have fallen short.

He added that talk of establishing two separate regions may be premature, although he argued that such an outcome would better reflect reality on the ground and could resolve the ongoing debate over the nature of relations between the two parties.

Nasser suggested that this scenario could prove advantageous for Baghdad, as it would allow the federal government to deal with two regions separately, while giving both parties greater leeway to forge alliances with other political forces in the capital without being bound by conditions or restrictions imposed by one upon the other.

 

Arab World

IMF Says Its Staff in Lebanon to Discuss Banking Restructuring Strategy

A man sits at the entrance of a money transfer company office in Beirut on November 10, 2026. (AFP)
A man sits at the entrance of a money transfer company office in Beirut on November 10, 2026. (AFP)
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IMF Says Its Staff in Lebanon to Discuss Banking Restructuring Strategy

A man sits at the entrance of a money transfer company office in Beirut on November 10, 2026. (AFP)
A man sits at the entrance of a money transfer company office in Beirut on November 10, 2026. (AFP)

The ‌International Monetary Fund has begun a staff mission to discuss the country's strategy for restructuring the banking sector, IMF spokeswoman Julie Kozack said on Thursday, declining to say whether a preliminary agreement was imminent.

Kozack told reporters that the IMF's staff ‌mission in ‌Beirut was under way ‌as ⁠part of a ⁠close discussion with Lebanese authorities to underpin a comprehensive reform program to restore financial stability and support an economic recovery.

She said IMF staff would ⁠communicate at the end ‌of the mission ‌with any relevant updates.

Lebanese media ‌quoted Lebanese Finance Minister Yassine Jaber ‌telling reporters this week that the IMF mission would continue through Friday, adding his hope that ‌a preliminary agreement could be reached this week.

IMF Managing Director ⁠Kristalina ⁠Georgieva last month said there were "intense" discussions under way on support for Lebanon reflecting significant progress towards a loan program.

"We have made significant progress towards the program. We have still a bit more work to do together, and I'm confident we will be successful," she said at the time.