Keystone
Eight days after the fall of ruler Bashar al-Assad, the situation in Syria is occupying the foreign ministers of the EU member states.
At their meeting in Brussels today, the chief diplomats want to discuss how the European Union can contribute to stabilizing the country. This will also involve facilitating the return of the many refugees from Syria living in Europe.
According to the EU, it had no contact with the Islamist group Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) until recently. This group was at the forefront of the rebel alliance that toppled Assad. The group and people associated with it are still on the United Nations terror list and are subject to EU sanctions.
The new EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas recently said that there are legitimate concerns about the risks of sectarian violence, the resurgence of extremism and a government vacuum. The former Estonian head of government will chair the consultations for the first time.
Rebel leader promises to disarm all militias
The leader of the HTS, Ahmed al-Sharaa, promised a measure that could help stabilize the country, which has been torn apart by civil war. According to the opposition television station Syria TV, he said that all armed groups and militias would be disarmed. Priority would now be given to reconstruction and providing housing for people living in refugee camps.
Al-Sharaa, who until recently went by his combat name Mohammed al-Julani, also addressed his compatriots who had fled abroad. “I invite them all to come home so that we can rebuild Syria properly and benefit from the experience they have gained abroad,” Syria TV quoted him as saying.
Is Israel taking hold of the Golan?
Israel used the power vacuum following the fall of Assad to advance its troops across the ceasefire line on the Golan Heights. The leadership in Jerusalem justifies this by saying that armed groups hostile to Israel should be prevented from attacking the Jewish state from the high plateau.
The area on this side of the ceasefire line, which extends as far as the Sea of Galilee, was conquered by Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967 and unilaterally annexed in 1981. Under international law, it belongs to Syria – at least that is the view of most states, including Germany. However, the Israeli government approved a plan on Sunday to invest the equivalent of more than ten million euros in the occupied Golan Heights.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan aims to double the population there, his office announced. Currently, more than 50,000 people live on the rocky plateau, just over half of them Jewish Israelis and the rest Druze and Alawites. The background to the decision is the war and the “new front” with Syria, according to the statement.
Arab countries condemn Israeli move
Saudi Arabia condemned Israel’s decision to expand the settlement of the Golan Heights. The Arab kingdom spoke of a violation of international law and called on the international community not to tolerate Israel’s actions. The statement issued by the foreign ministries in the capital Riyadh also stated that the Golan Heights are occupied Arab and Syrian land. The Gulf emirate of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also condemned the Israeli decision in statements issued by their foreign ministries.
Netanyahu talks to Trump: no interest in conflict
Meanwhile, in a telephone conversation with US President-elect Donald Trump about the situation in Syria, the Israeli Prime Minister reaffirmed his peaceful intentions. “We have no interest in a conflict with Syria”, Netanyahu said according to a statement. Israel’s approach would be based on the circumstances on the ground. Syria had been an “active enemy state” for decades and had repeatedly attacked Israel.
The civil war-torn country has also allowed others to attack Israel from its territory. Syria has also allowed Iran to arm the Shia militia Hezbollah in Lebanon from its territory. “To ensure that this does not happen again, we have taken a series of intensive measures in recent days,” said Netanyahu, also referring to the bombing of strategic military facilities in the neighboring country.
Kiev wants to help with food
Meanwhile, according to President Volodymyr Selensky, Ukraine is prepared to provide humanitarian aid for Syria. In consultation with his government, food aid from the “Grain from Ukraine” program had been discussed in order to help the Syrian population, Selensky said in his evening video address. Specifically, the logistics must now be discussed with Syrian representatives. “We will definitely support this region so that the calm there can become a pillar for our movement towards real peace.”
The humanitarian programme launched in 2022 provides for donor states and other organizations to buy agricultural products directly from Ukrainian producers and send them to countries on the brink of famine – especially in Africa and Asia.
Many dead after Israeli attack in Gaza
At least 40 people have been killed in an Israeli attack on a former school in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the civil defense, which is controlled by the Islamist Hamas. The building in the town of Beit Hanun had served as accommodation for people displaced by the war, a spokesman said. Many of the victims were burned to death. The information could not be independently verified.
The Israeli military announced on its Telegram channel that it had targeted a gathering of Hamas fighters in Beit Hanun. Dozens of terrorists had been killed from the air and during ground operations. This information could not be independently verified either.
The Gaza war was triggered by the massacre of Palestinian terrorists from the coastal area in Israel on October 7 last year, which left 1,200 dead and around 250 people missing. Since then, Israel has been fighting against the Islamist Hamas in Gaza, where 44,976 people have been killed so far, according to Palestinian figures released on Sunday. However, the figures do not differentiate between fighters and civilians.
Israel wants to retrieve all hostages
Netanyahu’s talks with Trump were also about efforts to secure the release of Israeli hostages still held by the Islamist Hamas. “We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that all our hostages, living and deceased, return home,” the Israeli Prime Minister emphasized. According to Israeli sources, around 100 hostages – including dead bodies – are still being held by Hamas.
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