Blinken in Qatar for Gaza mediation push

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in Doha on Oct. 24, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 24 October 2024
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Blinken in Qatar for Gaza mediation push

  • Blinken is paying his 11th trip to the region since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel
  • Blinken said a ceasefire plan laid out by US leader Biden on May 31 remained on the table

DOHA: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Qatar for talks on Thursday with the key mediator on the war in Gaza, as he seeks momentum for a ceasefire after Israel’s killing the leader of Hamas.

After meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Blinken flew to Saudi Arabia and then Qatar, where he will meet the Gulf state’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani for assessments on where Hamas stands on a truce.

Blinken is paying his 11th trip to the region since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, after repeated disappointment as he seeks to end the Israeli retaliatory campaign in the Gaza Strip.

But days ahead of US elections, President Joe Biden has found new hope after Israel killed Hamas’s leader, Yahya Sinwar, in Gaza.

US officials had described Sinwar as intransigent in negotiations brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt on a ceasefire that would also see the release of hostages from Gaza.

Blinken said he spoke to Israel’s leaders “about the importance of determining whether Hamas is prepared to engage in moving forward, and the Egyptians, the Qataris are doing just that.”

“But I believe that with Sinwar gone, because he was the primary obstacle for realizing the hostage agreement, there is a real opportunity to bring them home and to accomplish the objective,” Blinken told reporters Wednesday as he left Israel.

Critics say the issue was not just Hamas but the Biden administration failing to press Israel, which has received a near continuous flow of billions of dollars in US weapons.

Hamas has yet to choose a successor to Sinwar.

Two Hamas sources said this week that the group was moving toward appointing a Doha-based ruling committee rather than a single heir.

Blinken said a ceasefire plan laid out by Biden on May 31 remained on the table but also hinted at a willingness to explore “new frameworks” to seek freedom for 97 hostages, including 34 confirmed dead, still held by militants in Gaza since on October 7, 2023.

Blinken is also looking for greater clarity on a plan for reconstruction and post-war governance of Gaza, seeing it as a vital component to efforts to end the war.

Hamas seized full control of Gaza in 2007 following an election, and for more than a decade has maintained an office in Qatar, initially with the blessing of Israel and the United States.

The office has allowed communication with the group, whose main patron is US arch-nemesis Iran, with Qatar — a nimble regional player which is also home to a major US base — channeling money to support Hamas governance of impoverished Gaza.

After the October 7 attack, the worst in its history, Israel vowed to eradicate Hamas and bring the hostages home.

Israel is also accused of killing Hamas’s Qatar-based political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, while he was visiting Iran in July.


UAE foreign minister holds phone call with his new German counterpart

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UAE foreign minister holds phone call with his new German counterpart

  • Ministers discussed strengthening the UAE-Germany strategic partnership and enhancing cooperation in key sectors

LONDON: UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan congratulated Johann Wadephul on his appointment as Germany’s minister of foreign affairs.

The two ministers discussed strengthening the UAE-Germany strategic partnership and enhancing cooperation in key sectors during a phone call on Tuesday, the Emirates News Agency reported.

Sheikh Abdullah hoped to achieve mutual prosperity between Germany and the UAE, whose diplomatic ties were established in 1972.

In 2023, the UAE became one of Germany’s most important business partners in the Middle East, with a bilateral trade volume exceeding €14 billion ($15.768 billion). According to Germany’s Federal Foreign Office report, German imports from the UAE experienced a 150 percent increase in the same year.

Wadephul, a veteran conservative and defense policy expert, assumed the foreign minister’s office on May 7 in Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government.


Jordan and Syria agree on roadmap to cooperate in energy, transport

Updated 26 min 40 sec ago
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Jordan and Syria agree on roadmap to cooperate in energy, transport

  • Ayman Safadi says Jordan is Syria’s gateway to the Arabian Gulf, while Syria acts as Jordan’s gateway to Europe
  • Asaad Al-Shaibani: Syrians are tired after 14 years of war, and the country wants to focus on maintaining security and stability

LONDON: Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s minister of foreign affairs, on Tuesday discussed strengthening cooperation during a meeting in Damascus with his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Al-Shaibani.

The Jordanian delegation included the ministers of water, industry, trade, energy, and transport, who discussed coordination with their Syrian counterparts and signed an agreement to establish a coordination council between the two countries.

Al-Shaibani said that diplomatic efforts resulted in the lifting of European sanctions shortly after the US announced it would lift sanctions on the country. He added that lifting sanctions on Syria would enhance cooperation with Jordan in transport and energy, positively affecting the region.

The minister said Syria shares borders with Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, and aims to maintain its security while addressing threats, as its security would affect neighboring countries.

Al-Shaibani and Safadi opposed the Israeli intervention in Syria after the change of rule in Damascus in December 2024, the SANA agency reported.

Al-Shaibani said Syrians are tired after 14 years of war, and the country wants to focus on maintaining security and stability while finding solutions for vital issues such as energy and electricity.

Safadi and Al-Shaibani have agreed to establish a roadmap to enhance cooperation in energy, transport, water, and health, SANA added.

Safadi said that Jordan is Syria’s gateway to the Arabian Gulf and the Arab world, while Syria is Jordan’s gateway to Europe, and affirmed Amman’s support for Syria.


Lebanon has ‘more’ to do on Hezbollah disarming: US deputy envoy

Updated 20 May 2025
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Lebanon has ‘more’ to do on Hezbollah disarming: US deputy envoy

  • Lebanese authorities “have done more in the last six months than they probably have in the last 15 years,” Ortagus said
  • “However, there’s a lot more to go“

DOHA: Lebanon still has “more” to do in disarming Hezbollah following the war between the Iran-backed group and Israel, Deputy US Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus said Tuesday.

As part of a deal agreed to end 14 months of fighting last November, Hezbollah was to withdraw its fighters north of Lebanon’s Litani River, while Israel was to pull all its forces from south Lebanon.

The Lebanese army has been deploying in the area as Israeli forces have withdrawn and has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure there.

UN peacekeepers are also present in the area and play a role in supervising the ceasefire.

Lebanese authorities “have done more in the last six months than they probably have in the last 15 years,” Ortagus said at the Qatar Economic Forum referring to efforts to disarm Hezbollah.

“However, there’s a lot more to go,” she added.

“We in the United States have called for the full disarmament of Hezbollah. And so that doesn’t mean just south of the Litani. That means in the whole country,” Ortagus said at the Qatar conference calling on Lebanese politicians “to make a decision.”

It has also continued to launch raids on its neighbor despite the ceasefire.

Last month, President Joseph Aoun said the army was deployed in more than 85 percent of Lebanon’s south, and that the sole obstacle to full control across the frontier area was “Israel’s occupation of five border positions.”

In defiance of the ceasefire agreement, the Israeli military continues to occupy five positions close to the border that it has declared to be strategic.


Drought-hit Syrian farmers hope sanctions reprieve will restore agriculture

Updated 20 May 2025
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Drought-hit Syrian farmers hope sanctions reprieve will restore agriculture

ALEPPO: Severe drought in Syria this year could lead to the failure of an estimated 75 percent of local wheat crops, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, threatening the food security of millions of people.
Toni Ettel, the FAO’s representative in Syria, told Reuters the agency anticipated a “food shortage of 2.7 million tons of wheat for this year, which is sufficient to feed 16.3 million people over one year.”
Under former President Bashar Assad, Damascus depended on wheat imports from Russia to support a bread subsidy program during past droughts.
Wheat farmers like Asaad Ezzeldin, 45, have seen their crops fail due to the drought. It has further strained Syria’s beleaguered agricultural sector that suffered from fighting and heavy bombardment during 13 years of civil war.
“Agriculture in Aleppo’s northern countryside has been hit because of the lack of irrigation. There is no rainfall,” he said.
Moscow, a staunch ally of Assad, suspended wheat supplies to Syria soon after Islamist rebels toppled him, citing uncertainties about the country’s new authorities.
In a surprise announcement last week, US President Donald Trump said he would order the lifting of all sanctions on Syria. Washington is likely to begin providing some sanctions relief in the coming weeks.
The flow of funds could revive the agriculture sector, providing much-needed technologies for irrigation and infrastructure renewal, Ettel said.
Unable to buy wheat and fuel, Syria’s new government had lobbied for a lifting of the sanctions that for years isolated the Syrian economy and made it dependent on Russia and Iran.
Syria’s agriculture ministry did not reply to a request for comment.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday she hoped ministers would reach an agreement on lifting EU economic sanctions on Syria. The EU has already eased sanctions related to energy, transport and reconstruction, and associated financial transactions, but some argued this was not enough to support its political transition and economic recovery.


UK sanctions Israeli settlers in West Bank

Updated 20 May 2025
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UK sanctions Israeli settlers in West Bank

Britain said on Tuesday it had sanctioned a number of individuals and groups in the West Bank who it said had been linked with acts of violence against Palestinians.

Sanctions were placed on Neria’s Farm outpost, as well as individuals residing in the outpost. Sanctions were also imposed on Nachala, Libi Construction and Infrastructure Ltd, Harel Libi, Daniella Weiss, and Coco’s Farm outpost.

The UK sanctioned Zohar Sabah for “involvement in threatening, perpetrating, permitting and supporting acts of aggression and violence against Palestinian individuals.”