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Arab World

France Cools Expectations of Swift Palestinian State Recognition

France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot delivers a speech during the inauguration of the Choiseul Library as the first site labeled "Heritage of Diplomacy" ("Patrimoine de la Diplomacie") in Versailles, near Paris on June 5, 2025. (AFP)
France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot delivers a speech during the inauguration of the Choiseul Library as the first site labeled "Heritage of Diplomacy" ("Patrimoine de la Diplomacie") in Versailles, near Paris on June 5, 2025. (AFP)
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France Cools Expectations of Swift Palestinian State Recognition

France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot delivers a speech during the inauguration of the Choiseul Library as the first site labeled "Heritage of Diplomacy" ("Patrimoine de la Diplomacie") in Versailles, near Paris on June 5, 2025. (AFP)
France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot delivers a speech during the inauguration of the Choiseul Library as the first site labeled "Heritage of Diplomacy" ("Patrimoine de la Diplomacie") in Versailles, near Paris on June 5, 2025. (AFP)

France on Friday dampened expectations Paris could rapidly recognize a Palestinian state, with the French foreign minister saying while it was "determined" to make such a move, recognition had to be more than "symbolic".

France is due later this month to co-host with Saudi Arabia a UN conference in New York on a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

There had been expectations that France could recognize a Palestinian state during that conference, with President Emmanuel Macron also growing increasingly frustrated with Israel's blocking of aid to the Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip.

"France could have taken a symbolic decision. But this is not the choice we made because we have a particular responsibility" as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said, while saying Paris was still "determined" to make the move.

Several EU countries including Ireland, Spain and Sweden recognize a Palestinian state. But Germany, while backing a two-state solution, has said recognition now would send the "wrong signal".

France is reportedly working closely on the issue with the United Kingdom, which also so far has not recognized a Palestinian state, at a time when French-British diplomatic ties are becoming increasingly tight after Brexit.

Macron on Thursday said that he expected the conference in New York would take steps "towards recognizing Palestine", without being more specific.

He has said he hopes French recognition of a Palestinian state would encourage other governments to do the same and that countries who do not recognize Israel should do so.

Barrot meanwhile also stressed the "absolute necessity" to address the issue of the disarmament of Palestinian group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.

Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants abducted 251 hostages, 55 of whom remain in Gaza, including 32 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive in Hamas-run Gaza has killed 54,677 people, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry there, figures the United Nations deems reliable.

Relations between Israel and France have deteriorated over the last weeks, with Israel's foreign ministry accusing Macron of undertaking a "crusade against the Jewish state" after he called on European countries to harden their stance if the humanitarian situation in Gaza did not improve.

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Arab World

Syria Welcomes the Permanent Repeal of Sweeping US Sanctions

A convoy of buses carry Syrian refugees who return home from Lebanon, arrive at the Syrian border crossing point, in Jdeidet Yabous, Syria, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP)
A convoy of buses carry Syrian refugees who return home from Lebanon, arrive at the Syrian border crossing point, in Jdeidet Yabous, Syria, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP)
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Syria Welcomes the Permanent Repeal of Sweeping US Sanctions

A convoy of buses carry Syrian refugees who return home from Lebanon, arrive at the Syrian border crossing point, in Jdeidet Yabous, Syria, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP)
A convoy of buses carry Syrian refugees who return home from Lebanon, arrive at the Syrian border crossing point, in Jdeidet Yabous, Syria, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP)

Syria’s government and its allies on Friday welcomed the final lifting of the most draconian sanctions imposed on the country in recent decades.

The US Congress imposed the so-called Caesar Act sanctions on Syria’s government and financial system in 2019 to punish then-President Bashar al-Assad for human rights abuses during the country’s nearly 14-year civil war that began in 2011.

After Assad was ousted in a lightening opposition offensive in December 2024, advocates, including some who had previously lobbied for the imposition of the sanctions, pushed to have the penalties removed. They argued that the sanctions were preventing international investors from launching reconstruction projects and blocking Syria from rebuilding its battered economy and infrastructure.

US President Donald Trump, who had previously lifted the penalties temporarily by executive order, signed off on the final repeal late Thursday after Congress passed it as part of the country’s annual defense spending bill.

Some lawmakers had pushed for making the repeal conditional on steps by the new Syrian government to protect religious minorities, among other measures. In the end, the sanctions were repealed without conditions but with a requirement for periodic reports to Congress on Syria’s progress on issues including minority rights and counterterrorism measures.

Syria’s foreign ministry in a statement Friday thanked the US for the move and said it will “contribute to alleviating the burdens on the Syrian people and open the way for a new phase of recovery and stability.”

It called for Syrian businesspeople and foreign investors to “explore investment opportunities and participate in reconstruction,” the cost of which the World Bank has estimated at $216 billion.

Central Bank Governor Abdulkader Husrieh said in a statement that the Caesar Act repeal will facilitate the country's reintegration in the international financial system by allowing it to seek a sovereign credit rating.

“Syria will likely start with a low rating, which is normal for countries emerging from conflict,” he said. “The real value lies in the benchmark set by the rating and the road map it provides for improvement.”

Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar also welcomed the move.

“We hope that this step will contribute to strengthening stability, security and prosperity in Syria by further promoting international cooperation towards the country’s reconstruction and development,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said in a statement.

The Saudi foreign ministry commended “the significant and positive role played by US President Donald Trump” in lifting the sanctions.

Trump previously said that he had moved to remove the sanctions at the urging of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Also Friday, the United Kingdom, which had previously removed its own broad sanctions against the Syrian government and financial institutions, imposed new sanctions on organizations and individuals it said were “involved in violence against civilians” in Syria.

They include four people affiliated with Assad’s government in either a military or financial role as well as two people and three armed groups affiliated with the military of the new Syrian government who were allegedly responsible for attacks on civilians during sectarian violence on Syria’s coast earlier this year.

Arab World

Gaza No Longer in Famine After Aid Access Improves, Hunger Monitor Says

Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen after the global hunger monitor, in Gaza City, August 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo
Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen after the global hunger monitor, in Gaza City, August 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo
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Gaza No Longer in Famine After Aid Access Improves, Hunger Monitor Says

Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen after the global hunger monitor, in Gaza City, August 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo
Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen after the global hunger monitor, in Gaza City, August 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo

There is no longer famine in Gaza, a global hunger monitor said on Friday, after access for humanitarian and commercial ​food deliveries improved following a fragile October 10 ceasefire in the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants.

The latest assessment by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification comes four months after it reported that 514,000 people - nearly a quarter of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip - were experiencing famine. The IPC warned on Friday that the situation in the enclave remained critical, Reuters reported.

"Under a worst-case scenario, which would include renewed hostilities and a halt in humanitarian and commercial inflows, the entire Gaza Strip (would be) at risk of famine through mid-April 2026. This underscores the severe and ongoing humanitarian crisis," the IPC said in the report.

Israel controls all access to the coastal enclave. COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, in August disputed that there was famine in Gaza. COGAT says 600-800 trucks have entered Gaza daily since the start of the truce in October, ‌and that food made ‌up 70% of all those supplies.

COGAT rejected the report's findings.

"The report relies on ‌severe ⁠gaps in ​data collection ‌and on sources that do not reflect the full scope of humanitarian assistance. As such, it misleads the international community, fuels disinformation and presents a false depiction of the reality on the ground."

Israel's Foreign Ministry said that far more aid was going into Gaza than what was reflected in the report and that food prices there had dropped sharply since July.

Hamas disputes Israel's aid figures, saying far fewer than 600 trucks a day have made it into Gaza. Aid agencies have repeatedly said far more aid needs to get into the small, crowded territory and have said Israel is blocking needed items from entering, which Israel denies.

NO FAMINE, BUT STILL CATASTROPHIC CONDITIONS

The IPC said five famines have been confirmed in the past 15 years: in Somalia ⁠in 2011, South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, Sudan in 2024, and most recently in Gaza in August.

For a region to be classified as in famine at least 20% of people ‌must be suffering extreme food shortages, with one in three children acutely malnourished and ‍two people out of every 10,000 dying daily from starvation or malnutrition ‍and disease.

"No areas are classified in famine," the IPC said of Gaza on Friday. "The situation remains highly fragile and is contingent on ‍sustained, expanded and consistent humanitarian and commercial access."

Even if a region has not been classified as in famine because those thresholds have not been met, the IPC can determine households are suffering catastrophic conditions, which it describes as an extreme lack of food, starvation and significantly increased risks of acute malnutrition and death.

The IPC said on Friday that more than 100,000 people in Gaza were experiencing catastrophic conditions, but projected that figure to decline to around 1,900 people by ​April 2026. It said the entire Gaza Strip was classified in an emergency phase, one step below catastrophic conditions.

"Over the next 12 months, across the entire Gaza Strip, nearly 101,000 children aged 6–59 months are expected to suffer from acute ⁠malnutrition and require treatment, with more than 31,000 severe cases," the IPC said.

"During the same period, 37,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will also face acute malnutrition and require treatment," it said.

AID CHALLENGES REMAIN

Antoine Renard, the top UN World Food Programme official in Gaza and the West Bank, said there were signs of improvement in the dire hunger situation in Gaza.

"The fact that most of the population is having two meals per day is actually a clear sign that we are actually having a bit of reversal," he told reporters on Thursday.

However, he said it was "a constant struggle" to get streamlined access to Gaza at scale and speed with humanitarian and commercial trucks facing congestion at the border crossings.

The United Nations and aid groups also warned on Wednesday that humanitarian operations in Gaza were at risk of collapse if Israel does not lift impediments that include a "vague, arbitrary, and highly politicized" registration process.

The International Rescue Committee’s Zoe Daniels said high food prices meant it was hard for many people in Gaza to obtain enough high-quality food even when it was available in the market, while Jolien Veldwijk of CARE said the situation in Gaza had not improved as much as it ‌should have.

"People are relying on canned food that is pre-cooked or community kitchens, and they don’t hold the nutritional value that is needed for people to recover from malnutrition.”

Arab World

Lebanon-Israel Truce Committee Talks Widen as Hezbollah Disarmament Deadline Nears

People inspect a damaged building, after Israeli military said on Sunday that it struck a militant from the Lebanese Iran-aligned Hezbollah group, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon November 23, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
People inspect a damaged building, after Israeli military said on Sunday that it struck a militant from the Lebanese Iran-aligned Hezbollah group, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon November 23, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Lebanon-Israel Truce Committee Talks Widen as Hezbollah Disarmament Deadline Nears

People inspect a damaged building, after Israeli military said on Sunday that it struck a militant from the Lebanese Iran-aligned Hezbollah group, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon November 23, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
People inspect a damaged building, after Israeli military said on Sunday that it struck a militant from the Lebanese Iran-aligned Hezbollah group, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon November 23, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

The committee overseeing the Hezbollah-Israel truce in Lebanon focused on Friday on how to return displaced people to their homes, addressing civilian issues to help prevent ​renewed war if a year-end deadline to disarm Hezbollah is not met.

The 15th meeting of the committee reflected a long-standing US push to broaden talks between the sides beyond monitoring the 2024 ceasefire, in line with President Donald Trump's agenda of cementing peace deals across the volatile Middle East, according to Reuters.

Israel has publicly urged Lebanese authorities to fulfil a commitment under the truce to disarm Hezbollah, ‌warning that ‌it would act "as necessary" if Lebanon does not ‌take ⁠steps ​against the ‌Iran-aligned proxy militia.

At Friday's meeting in the south Lebanon coastal town of Naqoura, civilian participants discussed steps to support safe returns of residents uprooted by the 2023-24 war and advance economic reconstruction, the US Embassy in Beirut said.

A source familiar with the discussions told Reuters they also addressed disputes over how to limit weaponry south of the Litani River ⁠and deploying the Lebanese army into Hezbollah's stronghold region.

The Lebanese and Israeli participants agreed ‌that durable political and economic progress was essential ‍to reinforcing security gains and ensuring ‍long-term stability and prosperity, the US Embassy added in a ‍statement.

The committee added that a strengthened Lebanese army, which participants described as the guarantor of security south of the Litani River but was for many years outgunned by Hezbollah, was critical to sustaining stability.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun ​affirmed the priority of returning residents of border villages to their homes, a presidency statement said, adding that the ⁠committee would reconvene on January 7.

Lebanon and Israel have been officially enemy states for more than 70 years. Since the US-brokered truce, the two sides have traded accusations of violations while Israel has continued to carry out strikes that have killed hundreds, saying it is targeting Hezbollah attempts to rebuild military capabilities.

At the committee's December 3 meeting, the first including civilians from both sides, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he hoped civilian participation would help defuse tensions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said then the atmosphere at the meeting was good and ‌that the sides agreed to put forth ideas for economic cooperation, but that Hezbollah must be disarmed regardless.