Middle East is being reshaped and what will emerge is unclear, UN chief tells Security Council

Middle East is being reshaped and what will emerge is unclear, UN chief tells Security Council
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses members of the Security Council about the Middle East situation, including the Palestinian Question at UN Headquarters in New York City, US, January 20, 2025. (Reuters)
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Updated 20 January 2025
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Middle East is being reshaped and what will emerge is unclear, UN chief tells Security Council

Middle East is being reshaped and what will emerge is unclear, UN chief tells Security Council
  • Antonio Guterres presents detailed vision for immediate action needed in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria to build on ceasefires, relieve suffering and embrace political processes
  • He urges Israel to end its presence in Lebanon, warns any attempt to annex West Bank would violate international law, and calls for inexorable path toward a 2-state solution

NEW YORK CITY: The Middle East is undergoing a “profound transformation” marked by both uncertainty and potential, the UN secretary-general told a high-level meeting of the Security Council on Monday. 

Antonio Guterres praised Egypt, Qatar and the US for their efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage-release agreement between Hamas and Israel. The deal reached last week came into effect on Sunday, when the first phase of hostage releases by both sides took place and the number of trucks entering Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid to the starving population began to ramp up.

Guterres urged all parties to honor their commitments, fully implement the agreement, and ensure it leads to the release of all hostages and a permanent ceasefire in the territory.

He called for the wider effects of the deal to include an assurance that all UN agencies are able to perform their duties “without hindrance,” including the Relief and Works Agency, the largest aid agency for Palestinians, which is under threat from an imminent Knesset ban on operating in Israel.

“The UN must have rapid, safe and unimpeded access through all available channels and crossings to deliver food, water, medicine, fuel, shelter, and materials to repair infrastructure across Gaza, including the north,” said Guterres.

The UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said that after 15 months of “relentless war, the humanitarian needs in Gaza are staggering and there is no time to lose.”

UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Monday that the entire population of Gaza, more than 2 million people, depends on aid basics to survive.

“Children account for about half of the Strip’s population, with many surviving on just one meal a day,” he added. “Our partners working on children’s welfare say the provision of food, water and medical supplies are being prioritized.”

The World Health Organization has a 60-day plan to increase bed capacity at some hospitals in northern and southern Gaza, Haq said, and to send in additional health workers from abroad to staff them. He noted that about 30,000 people in the territory sustained life-changing injuries during the conflict and need specialized care.

Enabling a surge in the amount of desperately needed relief supplies entering the territory requires that visas and permits for humanitarian workers be granted quickly, and that steps are taken to ensure safe conditions and conducive operating environments are in place, Guterres told members of the Security Council.

This includes the provision of necessary technical and protective gear, coordination between all parties and UN operatives on the ground, and the restoration of public order and safety to prevent the looting of humanitarian aid, he added. Commercial supplies must also be allowed to enter Gaza to help meet the “overwhelming needs of the population.”

Guterres also called for medical evacuations for those who need to travel for treatment, and urged UN member states to take in patients from Gaza.

In addition, people returning to homes they were forced to abandon during the war must be able to do so safely, he said.

“Explosive ordnance must be removed. The recovery of human remains must be conducted with dignity and respect,” Guterres added, and the international media must be allowed into Gaza to report “on this crucial story.”

He highlighted the need for intensifying collective efforts to establish effective governance and security arrangements in Gaza that will ultimately enable the enclave and the West Bank to reunify, as he underscored the Palestinian Authority’s desire to assume its role there.

In the West Bank itself, Guterres said the situation was growing worse, with clashes, airstrikes, the relentless expansion of illegal settlements, and demolitions of Palestinian properties. This is causing deep concern about an “existential threat” to the integrity and continuity of the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank, he added.

“Israeli administrative changes over the past two years have streamlined and accelerated the settlement-approval process,” Guterres said.

“As a result, control over many aspects of planning and daily life in Area C of the West Bank has been transferred to Israeli civilian authorities.”

Israeli officials now openly speak about their desire to annex the West Bank in the near future, but Guterres warned that “any such annexation would constitute a most serious violation of international law.”

Greater stability in the Middle East requires “irreversible action” that moves toward a two-state solution “with Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security, in line with international law, relevant UN resolutions and previous agreements, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states,” he said.

Guterres had just returned from a solidarity visit to Lebanon, where he said a “new dawn is rising” for the country, with hopes for the establishment of a state that will be able to represent all Lebanese people and guarantee their security.

While there he visited southern Lebanon, where peacekeepers from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon are stationed on the demarcation line between the country and Israel. He saluted the peacekeepers for their efforts and thanked the countries that contribute troops.

Although the ceasefire with Israel there is fragile, “it is holding,” said Guterres, and the UN peacekeepers are making “vital efforts to nurture this process” in cooperation with the Lebanese army.

He stressed that the Israeli presence in southern Lebanon needs to end, as stipulated in the recent ceasefire agreement, and that the Lebanese Armed Forces must be present in all parts of the country.

“Resolution 1701 is clear: The area between the Blue Line and the Litani River must be free of all armed personnel, assets and weapons, other than those of the government of Lebanon and UNIFIL,” he said, referring to a resolution adopted by the Security Council in 2006 with the aim of resolving the conflict that year between Israel and Hezbollah.

Regarding the situation in neighboring Syria, Guterres said a country that has been “a crossroads of civilizations” now stands at “a crossroads of history.”

He added: “Following the fall of the brutal previous regime, and years of bloodshed, there is a possibility of promise for the people of Syria.”

However, he warned that “we cannot let the flame of hope turn into an inferno of chaos,” as he called for “much more significant work in addressing sanctions and designations,” given the country’s “urgent economic needs.”

He also underscored the fact that an inclusive political transition would be “the most effective means to ensure that Syria receives more support.”


Egypt’s president El-Sisi congratulates Syria’s new president Sharaa, statement says

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. (REUTERS)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. (REUTERS)
Updated 14 sec ago
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Egypt’s president El-Sisi congratulates Syria’s new president Sharaa, statement says

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. (REUTERS)

CAIRO: Egypt President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi congratulated Syria’s new President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, who was appointed on Wednesday by armed factions, and wished him success in achieving the Syrian people’s aspirations, El-Sisi said in a statement on Friday.
Sharaa, an Islamist who was once an affiliate of Al-Qaeda, has been trying to gain support from Arab and Western leaders since he led a rebel offensive that toppled former Syrian President Bashar Assad last year.
El-Sisi has cracked down on Islamists in the most populous Arab state, which has wide influence in the Middle East and is a close ally of the United States.

 

 


UN ‘alarmed’ at reported summary executions of civilians in Sudan

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk addresses a press conference in Geneva, on December 6, 2023. (AFP)
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk addresses a press conference in Geneva, on December 6, 2023. (AFP)
Updated 8 min 8 sec ago
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UN ‘alarmed’ at reported summary executions of civilians in Sudan

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk addresses a press conference in Geneva, on December 6, 2023. (AFP)
  • After months of apparent stalemate in Khartoum, the army last week broke an almost two-year RSF siege of its Khartoum General Command headquarters.

GENEVA: The UN rights chief said Friday that he was “deeply alarmed” by reports of summary executions of civilians in Khartoum North, allegedly by Sudanese army fighters and allied militia.
“Deliberately taking the life of a civilian or anyone not or no longer directly taking part in hostilities is a war crime,” Volker Turk said in a statement.
The war between Sudan’s army (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023 has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 12 million, according to the United Nations, and pushed millions to the brink of famine.
After months of apparent stalemate in Khartoum, the army last week broke an almost two-year RSF siege of its Khartoum General Command headquarters.
On the same day, the army reported reclaiming its Signal Corps base in Khartoum North, and expelling the RSF from the Jaili oil refinery north of Khartoum.
The UN rights office said it had verified the killings of at least 18 people, including one woman, in seven separate incidents “attributed to SAF-affiliated fighters and militia since the SAF regained control of the area on 25 January.”
“Many of the victims of these incidents, which took place in the vicinity the Al Jaili oil refinery, were originally from the Darfur or Kordofan regions of Sudan,” it said.
The rights office also highlighted “further disturbing allegations emanating from Khartoum North,” which it was still corroborating.
It noted a video circulated Thursday showing men in SAF uniform and members of the Al Baraa Bin Malik Brigade in Khartoum North “reading out a long list of names of alleged RSF collaborators, saying ‘Zaili’ — Arabic for ‘killed’ — after each name.”
“These reports of summary executions, following similar incidents earlier this month in Al Jazirah State, are deeply disturbing,” Turk said, adding that “such killings must not become normalized.”
He reiterated his call for “all parties to the conflict to take urgent action to protect civilians and to uphold obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law.”
“Independent investigations must be held into these incidents in line with relevant international standards.”
The rights office voiced fear of further attacks “amid shocking threats of violence against civilians.”
It said it had reviewed a video showing a member of the Al Baraa Bin Malik Brigade “threatening to slaughter the residents of El Hadj Yusif in East Nile,” an area of Khartoum North.
The office also denounced continued RSF attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, including the shelling of a camp for displaced people in El-Fasher in North Darfur that killed nine civilians on Wednesday.
And on January 24, a drone attack on a maternity hospital in El-Fasher, attributed to the RSF, left at least 67 dead and 19 injured, it said.
“Deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian objects are abhorrent,” Turk said.
“Such attacks constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law and may constitute war crimes.”
 

 


Released Palestinian Zakaria Zubeidi blames West for Israel’s occupation

Released Palestinian Zakaria Zubeidi blames West for Israel’s occupation
Updated 01 February 2025
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Released Palestinian Zakaria Zubeidi blames West for Israel’s occupation

Released Palestinian Zakaria Zubeidi blames West for Israel’s occupation
  • Zubeidi given hero’s welcome in Ramallah after being freed as part of Gaza ceasefire
  • Former militant commander says US, UK, France have denied Palestinians their freedom

LONDON: One of the most prominent Palestinian figures freed this week by Israel as part of the Gaza ceasefire has blamed Western countries for the Israeli occupation.

Zakaria Zubeidi, a former militant commander in the West Bank, received a hero’s welcome when he arrived in Ramallah late on Thursday after his release by Israel.

The 49-year-old, who grew up in a refugee camp in Jenin, was jailed in 2019 after an Israeli military court convicted him of involvement in terrorism.

In an interview with Sky News, Zubeidi said he still believed in “a resistance that will lead us to freedom,” but claimed that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank had been allowed to continue by the international community.

He added: “Freedom has no price. But the world that has denied me my freedom — particularly Britain, France, and the United States — must return what they have taken from me and my children.

“They are the ones who need to reconsider their mistakes, not me.

“They are the ones who have wronged us, and they should think about rectifying the harm they have caused to me and my children.”

Such is Zubeidi’s popularity that he was greeted by the former Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh.

“Palestinians are desperate for peace,” Shtayyeh said. “We want a genuine peace process that does really bring peace and justice for everybody.”

A long line of people at a school in Ramallah also waited to shake Zubeidi’s hand and hug him.

Zubeidi has been banned from returning to Jenin, where Israeli forces have launched military operations after switching their focus from Gaza to the West Bank.

Zubeidi has admitted a role in a bombing attack in 2002 during the Second Intifada that killed six Israeli civilians. 

During that period he was the head of the Jenin Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the military wing of the Fatah political party.

Zubeidi’s father was arrested by Israel for being a Fatah member when Zubeidi was a child. Later, as a teenager, he was shot in the leg while throwing stones at Israeli soldiers.

Zubeidi’s mother and brother were killed in 2002 during Israeli military operations in Jenin.

His mother had hosted a theater group in Jenin to promote understanding between Palestinians and Israelis, which Zubeidi attended.

He was among six prisoners who escaped in 2021 by digging a tunnel with dining plates, before being captured five days later.


UNRWA’s work continues despite ban

UNRWA’s work continues despite ban
Updated 01 February 2025
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UNRWA’s work continues despite ban

UNRWA’s work continues despite ban
  • Britain, France, Germany on Friday reiterate their concern over Israel implementing the new law

GENEVA: The UN Palestinian relief agency said its humanitarian work across the occupied territories and Gaza was still ongoing on Friday despite an Israeli ban that took effect a day before and what it described as hostility toward its staff.

An Israeli law adopted in October bans operations by UNRWA, or UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, on Israeli land — including annexed East Jerusalem — and contact with Israeli authorities from Jan. 30.
Britain, France, and Germany on Friday reiterated their concern over Israel implementing the new law, which humanitarian agencies say will have a considerable impact on devastated Gaza as staff and supplies transit to the Palestinian enclave via Israel.
“We continue to provide services,” Juliette Touma, director of communications of UNRWA, told a press briefing in Geneva.
“In Gaza, UNRWA continues to be the backbone of the international humanitarian response. We continue to have international personnel in Gaza and bring in trucks of basic supplies.”
She said any disruptions to its work in Gaza would put a ceasefire deal that halted the war between Israel and Hamas at risk.
“If UNRWA is not allowed to continue to bring and distribute supplies, then the fate of this very fragile ceasefire is going to be at risk and is going to be in jeopardy,” she said.
Tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees in occupied East Jerusalem — whose annexation by Israel is not recognized internationally — also receive education, healthcare, and other services from UNRWA.
Touma said that its Palestinian staff in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are facing difficulties, citing examples of stone-throwing and hold-ups at checkpoints without attributing blame.
“They face an exceptionally hostile environment as a fierce disinformation campaign against UNRWA continues,” she said.
“It has been a really rough ride; it has not been easy. Our staff have not been protected.”
International staff have already left after their visas expired, she added.
Israel has long been critical of UNRWA and alleges its staff were involved in the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, which triggered the Gaza war.
The UN has said nine UNRWA staff may have been involved and were fired.
The ceasefire deal has allowed for a surge in humanitarian aid and enabled the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
Before the agreement, experts warned of imminent famine in northern Gaza.
Supplies have since risen and the World Food Programme said that more than 32,000 tonnes of food had entered Gaza since the Jan. 19 deal took effect.
At the same briefing, the World Health Organization’s Dr. Rik Peeperkorn said about 12,000-14,000 patients were waiting to be evacuated from Gaza across the Rafah crossing.
Fifty are set to be moved on Saturday amid warnings that some children could die.
He added that these would be the first medical evacuations via Rafah since it was shut in May last year.
“They (evacuations) must urgently resume, and a medical corridor must open up,” he said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel was committed to facilitating humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, saying assistance should go through other international agencies and NGOs.
“Humanitarian aid doesn’t equal UNRWA, and those who wish to support the humanitarian aid effort in the Gaza Strip should invest their resources in organizations that are alternative to UNRWA,” he said in a statement.
“We will abide by the law, and we will continue to facilitate humanitarian aid.”

 


Syria writers urge new leaders to respect public freedoms

People sit in the Rawda caffe in the centre of the Syrian capital Damascus on January 29, 2025. (AFP)
People sit in the Rawda caffe in the centre of the Syrian capital Damascus on January 29, 2025. (AFP)
Updated 31 January 2025
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Syria writers urge new leaders to respect public freedoms

People sit in the Rawda caffe in the centre of the Syrian capital Damascus on January 29, 2025. (AFP)
  • Syria’s new rulers have called on the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to hand over their weapons, rejecting demands for any self-rule

DAMASCUS: Dozens of Syrian writers, artists, and academics signed a petition posted online on Friday calling for the respect of public freedoms after the overthrow of Bashar Assad in December.
The publication of the petition came two days after the leader of the militant offensive that toppled Assad, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, was named interim president.
“We call for the restoration of fundamental public freedoms, foremost among them the freedoms of assembly, protest, expression and belief,” the petition said.
“The state must neither impose nor interfere in people’s customs regarding food, drink, clothing, or other aspects of daily life,” it added, alluding to fears that the new authorities might impose religious law.
Al-Sharaa promised on Thursday to hold a “national dialogue conference” to help shape a “constitutional declaration” that will serve as a “legal reference” during the country’s transition.

BACKGROUND

Ahmad Al-Sharaa promised on Thursday to hold a ‘ national dialogue conference’ to help shape a ‘constitutional declaration’ that will serve as a ‘legal reference’ during the country’s transition.

The signatories called for “the election of a constituent assembly under a fair electoral law and adopting a new constitution that guarantees freedom and dignity for all citizens, men and women alike.”
Among the signatories were award-winning filmmaker Waad Al-Kateab and Mustafa Khalifa, author of “The Shell,” an autobiographical account of an activist imprisoned for years.
Since Assad’s overthrow, deadly fighting has continued in northern Syria between militants and forces loyal to a Kurdish-led administration in the northeast.
The petition called for a “just resolution to the Kurdish question” that “must uphold the legitimate cultural, linguistic, and political rights of our Kurdish citizens within a mutually agreed framework of administrative decentralization.”
Syria’s new rulers have called on the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to hand over their weapons, rejecting demands for any self-rule.
During more than half a century of rule by the Assad family, public displays of dissent were savagely repressed.
After Bashar Assad succeeded his father, Hafez, in June 2000, there was a period of greater openness, but it was short-lived.
Al-Sharaa, in his speech on Thursday, said he would form a small legislative body to fill the parliamentary void until new elections were held after the Syrian parliament was dissolved on Wednesday.
He said he would also, in the coming days, announce the formation of a committee that would prepare to hold a national dialogue conference that would be a platform for Syrians to discuss the future political program of the nation.
That would be followed by a “constitutional declaration,” he said, in an apparent reference to drafting a new Syrian constitution.
Al-Sharaa has previously said that drafting a new constitution and holding elections may take up to four years.