Middle-East
Teenagers from Islamic State families undergo rehabilitation in Syria, but future still uncertain
For at least four years, thousands of children have been growing up in a camp in northeast Syria housing families of Islamic State group militants, raised in an atmosphere where the group's radical ideology still circulates and where they have almost no chance for an education.
Fearing that a new generation of militants will emerge from al-Hol Camp, the Kurdish officials who govern eastern and northern Syria are experimenting with a rehabilitation program aimed at pulling children out of extremist thought.
It means, however, removing them from their mothers and families for an unknown period of time, a practice that has raised concerns among rights groups. And even if they are deemed rehabilitated, the childrens' future remains in limbo with their home countries reluctant to take them back.
"If these children stay in the camp, this will lead to the rise of a new generation of extremists who could be more fanatic(al) than those who were before," said Khaled Remo, co-chair of the Kurdish-led administration's office of justice and reform affairs.
Recently, an Associated Press team was allowed to visit the Orkesh Center, a rehabilitation facility that opened late last year. It's home to dozens of young boys taken from al-Hol. Ranging in age between 11 and 18, they represent about 15 different nationalities, including France and Germany.
At Orkesh, boys are taught drawing and music, all with the theme of tolerance. They also learn skills for future jobs like a tailor or a barber. They wake up early and have breakfast at 7 a.m., then have classes until 3 p.m., after which they can play soccer and basketball. They live in dormitory-type rooms, where they are expected to keep order and their beds made. They are allowed contact with parents and siblings.
Authorities did not permit the AP to speak to the boys at the center, citing privacy concerns. During a separate visit to al-Hol, residents were hostile, and none agreed to be interviewed. The AP also approached families that were released from al-Hol, but none responded to requests for comment. The newness of the program makes it difficult to assess its effectiveness.
Still, the center underscores how U.S.-backed Kurdish authorities are wrestling with the legacy of Islamic State, years after the group was defeated in a brutal war in Syria and Iraq that ended in 2019.
Al-Hol Camp is an open wound left by that conflict. The camp holds about 51,000 people, the vast majority women and children, including the wives, widows and other family members of IS militants. Most are Syrians and Iraqis. But there are also around 8,000 women and children from 60 other nationalities who live in a part of the camp known as the Annex. They are generally considered the most die-hard IS supporters among the camp residents.
The camp population is down from its height of 73,000 people, mostly because of Syrians and Iraqis who were allowed to go home. But other countries have largely balked at taking back their nationals, who traveled to join IS after the radical group seized large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
Though Kurdish-led security forces run the camp, they have struggled to keep control. IS radicalism remains rife, with fervent followers intimidating others, particularly in the Annex, home to more than 5,000 children.
Children in al-Hol have little to do and little chance for education. Fewer than half the 25,000 children in the camp attend reading and writing classes at its teaching centers.
During a recent tour by the AP inside al-Hol, some young boys threw stones at the reporters. One drew a finger across his throat in a beheading motion as he looked at the journalists.
"Those kids once they reach the age of 12, they could become dangerous and could kill and beat up others," the camp's director Jihan Hanan told the AP.
"So we had a choice, which is to put them at rehabilitation centers and keep them away from the extreme ideology that their mothers carry," she said.
Sheikhmous Ahmad, a Kurdish official overseeing camps for displaced people, said that once the boys turn 13, IS loyalists make them get married to young girls — another reason for removing them.
So far, the number of children going through rehabilitation is small, around 300, all of them boys from the Annex. Ninety-seven are at the recently-launched Orkesh Center, near the border town of Qamishli about a two-hour drive from al-Hol. The rest are at al-Houri, another center that began taking in boys for rehabilitation in 2017, as U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led forces took back territory from IS in Syria.
Al-Houri underscores the long-term problem: Some of the boys have been at the center for years since there is nowhere else to go. The only alternative would be to send them back to al-Hol. Only four children have been repatriated from al-Houri, administrators said.
"While the transfer of these boys to separate detention centers may be well-intentioned, this is not rehabilitation. This is indefinite detention without charge of children, who are themselves victims of ISIS," said Letta Tayler, associate director of the Crisis and Conflict Division at Human Rights Watch.
She said removal from the family may be appropriate if the mother or another relative is victimizing the child. Otherwise, separation could cause further trauma.
"For many of these children, who have survived unimaginable horrors under ISIS and in the camps where they have been held since the fall of ISIS, the mother and other family members are their only source of stability," she said.
Kathryn Achilles, media director of the Syria Response Office at Save the Children International, said separation from the mother "should only ever be as a last resort, addressed by individual countries after families return, in line with their laws."
Hanan, the administrator of al-Hol, said they had few other options. One proposal is to set up rehabilitation centers in or near the camp, she said.
"Maybe in the future we can agree on something with international organizations regarding such centers as they are the best solution for these children," Hanan said.
But Kurdish officials and humanitarian agencies agree that the only real solution is for home countries to take back their citizens.
"Once home, children and other victims of ISIS can be offered rehabilitation and reintegration. Adults can be monitored or prosecuted as appropriate," said Tayler of Human Rights Watch.
The U.N.-backed Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria called in March for repatriation to be sped up. It added that the suffering inflicted on the camp's residents "may amount to the war crime of committing outrages on personal dignity."
Until a solution is found, the centers create "an environment that is suitable to pave the way for mental change for these children," said Remo, the Kurdish official.
Turkey’s Erdogan turns away reform-minded challenger to win another term
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan turned away a challenger who sought to reverse his authoritarian-leaning changes, securing five more years to oversee the country at the crossroads of Europe and Asia that plays a key role in NATO.
Erdogan prevailed by winning more than 52% of the vote in Sunday’s presidential runoff, which came two weeks after he fell short of scoring an outright victory in the first round. A majority of Turkish voters in the second round chose him over challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu, showing their support for a man who they see as a strong, proven leader.
Voters were divided between loyalty to Erdogan, who has ruled for two decades, and hopes for the opposition candidate, who promised to return to democratic norms, adopt more conventional economic policies and improve ties with the West.
With his immediate political future secure, Erdogan must now confront skyrocketing inflation that has fueled a cost-of-living crisis and rebuild in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people.
In two speeches — one in Istanbul and one in Ankara — Erdogan thanked the nation for entrusting him with the presidency again.
“We hope to be worthy of your trust, as we have been for 21 years,” he told supporters on a campaign bus outside his home in Istanbul.
He said the divisions of the election are over, but he continued to rail against his opponent.
“The only winner today is Turkey,” Erdogan said outside the presidential palace in Ankara, promising to work hard for Turkey’s second century, which he called the “Turkish century.” The country marks its centennial this year.
Supreme challenges lie ahead, starting with the economy that has taken a beating from what critics view as Erdogan’s unorthodox policies. He also must tend to massive rebuilding efforts in 11 provinces hit by the Feb. 6 earthquake that leveled entire cities.
Kilicdaroglu said the election was “the most unjust ever,” with all state resources mobilized for Erdogan.
“We will continue to be at the forefront of this struggle until real democracy comes to our country,” he said in Ankara. He thanked the more than 25 million people who voted for him and asked them to “remain upright.”
The people have shown their will “to change an authoritarian government despite all the pressures,” Kilicdaroglu said.
Voters in Turkey choose between Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu in presidential runoff
Voters in Turkey returned to the polls Sunday to decide whether the country’s longtime leader stretches his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade, or is unseated by a challenger who has promised to restore a more democratic society.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been at Turkey’s helm for 20 years, is favored to win a new five-year term in the second-round runoff, after coming just short of an outright victory in the first round on May 14.
The divisive populist finished four percentage points ahead of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the candidate of a six-party alliance and leader of Turkey’s center-left main opposition party. Erdogan’s performance came despite crippling inflation and the effects of a devastating earthquake three months ago.
The two candidates offered sharply different visions of the country’s future, and its recent past.
“This election took place under very difficult circumstances, there was all sorts of slander and defamation,” the 74-year-old Kilcdaroglu (pronounced KEH-lich-DAHR-OH-loo) told reporters after casting his ballot. “But I trust in the common sense of the people. Democracy will come, freedom will come, people will be able to wander the streets and freely criticize politicians.”
Speaking to reporters after casting his vote at a school in Istanbul, Erdogan noted that it’s the first presidential runoff election in Turkey’s history. He also praised high voter turnout in the first round and said he expected participation to be high again on Sunday. He voted at the same time as Kilicdaroglu, as local television showed the rivals casting ballots on split screens.
“I pray to God, that it (the election) will be beneficial for our country and nation,” he said.
More than 64 million people are eligible to cast ballots. The polls opened at 8 a.m.
Turkey does not have exit polls, but the preliminary results are expected to come within hours of the polls closing at 5 p.m.
The final decision could have implications far beyond Ankara. Turkey stands at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and it plays a key role in NATO.
His government vetoed Sweden’s bid to join NATO and purchased Russian missile-defense systems, which prompted the United States to oust Turkey from a U.S.-led fighter-jet project. But under Erdogan, Turkey also helped broker a crucial deal that allowed Ukrainian grain shipments and averted a global food crisis.
The May 14 election saw 87% turnout, and strong participation is expected again Sunday, reflecting voters’ devotion to elections in a country where freedom of expression and assembly have been suppressed.
Critics blame Erdogan’s unconventional economic policies for skyrocketing inflation that has fueled a cost-of-living crisis. Many also faulted his government for a slow response to the earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey.
In the mainly Kurdish-populated province of Diyarbakir — one of 11 regions that was hit by the Feb. 6 earthquake — 60-year-old retiree Mustafa Yesil said he voted for “change.”
“I’m not happy at all with the way this country is going. Let me be clear, if this current administration continues, I don’t see good things for the future,” he said. “I see that it will end badly — this administration has to change.”
Mehmet Yurttas, an Erdogan supporter, disagreed.
“I believe that our homeland is at the peak, in a very good condition,” the 57-year-old shop owner said. “Our country’s trajectory is very good and it will continue being good.”
Erdogan has retained the backing of conservative voters who remain devoted to him for lifting Islam’s profile in the Turkey, which was founded on secular principles, and for raising the country’s influence in world politics.
If he wins, Erdogan, 69, could remain in power until 2028. Erdogan is already Turkey’s longest-serving leader. He occupies a powerful presidency that is largely his own creation, following three stints as prime minister. A devout Muslim, he heads the conservative and religious Justice and Development Party, or AKP.
The first half of Erdogan’s tenure included reforms that allowed the country to begin talks to join the European Union, and economic growth that lifted many out of poverty. But he later moved to suppress freedoms and the media and concentrated more power in his own hands, especially after a failed coup attempt that Turkey says was orchestrated by the U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen. The cleric denies involvement.
Erdogan transformed the presidency from a largely ceremonial role to a powerful office through a narrowly won 2017 referendum that scrapped Turkey’s parliamentary system of governance. He was the first directly elected president in 2014, and won the 2018 election that ushered in the executive presidency.
The May 14 election was the first that Erdogan did not win outright.
Kilicdaroglu is a soft-mannered former civil servant who has led the pro-secular Republican People’s Party, or CHP, since 2010. He campaigned on promises to reverse Erdogan’s democratic backsliding, to restore the economy by reverting to more conventional policies, and to improve ties with the West.
In a frantic effort to reach out to nationalist voters in the runoff, Kilicdaroglu vowed to send back refugees and ruled out peace negotiations with Kurdish militants if he is elected.
Earlier in the week, Erdogan received the endorsement of the third-place candidate, nationalist politician Sinan Ogan, who garnered 5.2% of the votes and is no longer in the race. Meanwhile, a staunchly anti-migrant party that had supported Ogan’s candidacy, announced it would back Kilicdaroglu.
A defeat for Kilicdaroglu would add to a long list of electoral losses to Erdogan, and put pressure on him to step down as party chairman.
Erdogan’s AKP party and its allies retained a majority of seats in parliament following a legislative election that was also held on May 14. Parliamentary elections will not be repeated Sunday.
Erdogan’s party also dominated in the earthquake-hit region, winning 10 out of 11 provinces in an area that has traditionally supported the president. Erdogan came in ahead in the presidential race in eight of those provinces.
Sunday also marks the 10th anniversary of the start of mass anti-government protests that broke out over plans to uproot trees in Istanbul’s Gezi Park, and became one of the most serious challenges to Erdogan’s government.
Erdogan’s response to the protests, in which eight people were convicted for alleged involvement, was a harbinger of a crackdown on civil society and freedom of expression.
Following the May 14 vote, international observers pointed to the criminalization of dissemination of false information and online censorship as evidence that Erdogan had an “unjustified advantage.” They also said that strong turnout showed the resilience of Turkish democracy.
Erdogan and pro-government media portrayed Kilicdaroglu, who had received the backing of the country’s pro-Kurdish party, as colluding with “terrorists” and of supporting what they described as “deviant” LGBTQ rights.
Kilicdaroglu “receives his orders from Qandil,” Erdogan repeatedly said at recent campaign rallies, a reference to the mountains in Iraq where the leadership of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, is based.
“We receive our orders from God and the people,” he said.
The election was being held as the country marked the 100th anniversary of its establishment as a republic, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
Advocacy group says Iran, Taliban fight on border with Afghanistan as sound of gunfire heard
The Taliban and Iran reportedly exchanged gunfire Saturday on the Islamic Republic's border with Afghanistan, an advocacy group said, as tensions rise over water rights between the two nations.
Neither Iranian state media nor Taliban-controlled media in Afghanistan acknowledged the fighting on the border of Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province and the Afghan province of Nimroz.
The advocacy group HalVash, which reports on issues in the predominately Sunni province of Sistan and Baluchestan, quoted residents in the area describing the fighting as starting Saturday morning. The group put the fighting near the Kang district of Nimroz, saying some people in the area had fled the violence.
Videos posted online, purportedly from the area, included the crackle of machine gun fire in the distance. HalVash later posted an image of what appeared to be the remains of a mortar round, saying that "heavy weapons and mortars are being used."
The apparent clash comes as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi earlier this month warned the Taliban not to violate Iran's water rights to the Helmand River. Raisi's remarks represented some of the strongest yet over the long-running concerns about water in Iran.
Drought has been a problem in Iran for some 30 years, but has worsened over the past decade, according to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization. The Iran Meteorological Organization says that an estimated 97% of the country now faces some level of drought.
Earlier on Saturday, the Taliban's Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met with an Iranian envoy to Afghanistan to discuss the Helmand River water rights, according to tweets from Afghan Foreign Ministry official Zia Ahmad. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency acknowledged the meeting, saying "that issues between the two countries will be better resolved through dialogue."
But tensions have otherwise been rising. Another video posted online in recent days purportedly showed a standoff with Iranian forces and the Taliban as Iranian construction workers tried to reinforce the border between the two countries.
In recent days, pro-Taliban accounts online also have been sharing a video with a song calling on the acting defense minister to stand up to Iran
Iran unveils latest version of ballistic missile amid wider tensions over nuclear program
Iran unveiled on Thursday what it dubbed the latest iteration of its liquid-fueled Khorramshahr ballistic missile amid wider tensions with the West over its nuclear program.
Authorities showed off the Khorramshahr-4 to journalists at an event in Tehran, with the missile on a truck-mounted launcher. Defense Minister Gen. Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said the missile could be prepared for launch in a short period.
Iranian officials described the missile as having a 2,000-kilometer (1,240-mile) range with a 1,500-kilogram (3,300-pound) warhead. They also released undated video footage purportedly showing a successful launch of the missile.
The Khorramshahr-4 is named after an Iranian city that was the scene of heavy fighting during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. The missile also is called Kheibar, after a Jewish fortress conquered by the Muslims in the 7th century — in what is now Saudi Arabia.
Regional tensions likely played a role in Iran's missile display Thursday. A miniature example of Jerusalem's golden Dome of the Rock on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a holy site in both Islam and Judaism that Jews call the Temple Mount, stood next to the mobile launcher.
Iran views Israel as its archenemy and arming anti-Israeli militant groups in the Palestinian territories and surrounding countries. Tensions between the two nations are high, particularly as Iran enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. The Khorramshahr would be able to reach Israel.
It remains unclear, however, why the missile has been called Khorramshahr-4 as only two other variants of the missile are publicly known. It is modeled after North Korea's Musudan ballistic missile.
3 Palestinians killed in Israeli raid in occupied West Bank; US slams latest settlement expansion
Three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli army raid in a West Bank refugee camp early on Monday, Palestinian health officials said, while the Biden administration sharply condemned Israel's latest act of settlement expansion.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, the three men were killed during a raid in Balata, a refugee camp near the city of Nablus. Six people were wounded, including one who was in critical condition, the ministry said.
The army later confirmed soldiers had raided Balata; it said troops came under fire and killed three Palestinians. Israel has stepped up raids in response to a spate of Palestinian attacks and said Monday's operations netted weapons and an explosives manufacturing operation in a home, which it detonated.
Also Read: Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza trade fire; 2 Palestinians killed in West Bank raid
Meanwhile, the Biden administration issued a sharply worded statement on Sunday criticizing Israel for moving to reestablish settlers at the formerly evacuated outpost of Homesh in northern West Bank.
In March, the Israeli government repealed a 2005 act that dismantled four West Bank settlements. Over the weekend, the top Israeli army general in the West Bank signed an order attaching Homesh to a local settler regional council — a move paving the way for reconstruction of the outpost.
The United States was "deeply troubled" by what U.S. State Department spokesman Mathew Miller said was Israel's illegal policy on the outpost in the occupied territory.
Miller also expressed Washington's concerns about ultranationalist National Security Minister Itmar Ben-Gvir's visit to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. The contested site is also home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam.
Also Read: Israeli army kills 2 Palestinians in West Bank raid
"This holy space should not be used for political purposes, and we call on all parties to respect its sanctity," Miller said in the statement.
Under longstanding arrangements, Jews are permitted to visit the site, but not to pray there. But in recent years, a growing number of Jewish visitors have begun to quietly pray, raising fears among Palestinians that Israel is plotting to divide or take over the site. Ben-Gvir has long called for increased Jewish access.
Ben-Gvir visited the hilltop compound earlier on Sunday, declaring that "we are in charge," while the Israeli Cabinet held a rare meeting in Jerusalem's Old City to celebrate its control of the area. Ben-Gvir's visit drew condemnations from the Palestinians and Israel's neighbor, Jordan.
Ben-Gvir, a former West Bank settler leader and far-right activist who years ago was convicted of incitement and supporting a Jewish terror group, now serves as Israel's national security minister, overseeing the country's police force.
More than 250 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the spring of 2022. About 50 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis.
Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were militants, but stone throwing youths protesting the incursions and people not involved in the confrontations have also been killed.
Last week, Israelis marked Jerusalem Day, which celebrates Israel's capture of east Jerusalem, including the Old City, in the 1967 Mideast war. Flag-waving nationalists marched through the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalem's Old City, some singing racist anti-Arab chants, while hundreds of Jews visited the sensitive hilltop shrine.
Israel also captured the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories for a future independent state, with east Jerusalem as its capital. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move unrecognized by most of the international community and considers the city its undivided, permanent capital.
Tensions at the disputed compound have fueled past rounds of violence.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, the most right-wing in Israeli history, includes ultra-Orthodox and far-right nationalist parties and has made West Bank settlement construction a top priority.
Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements, home to 700,000 people in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, to be illegal and obstacles to peace.
Earlier this month, fighting also erupted between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip. Israeli strikes killed 33, many of them militants but also women and children. Two people were killed in Israel by militant rocket fire.
Iran executes 3 men over violence during last year’s anti-government protests
Iran on Friday executed three men accused of deadly violence during last year's anti-government protests despite objections from human rights groups.
Mizan, the judiciary's website, announced the executions of Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi, without saying how they were carried out. Authorities say they killed a police officer and two members of the paramilitary Basij group in Isfahan in November during nationwide protests.
Rights groups say the three were subjected to torture, forced into televised confessions and denied due process.
The protests erupted last September after the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, who had been detained by the country's morality police for allegedly violating its strict Islamic dress code. The demonstrations rapidly escalated into calls for the overthrow of the theocracy that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The demonstrations have largely subsided in recent months, though there are still sporadic acts of defiance, including the refusal of a growing number of women to wear the mandatory Islamic headscarf, known as the hijab.
Iran has executed a total of seven people in connection with the protests. Rights groups say they and several others who have been sentenced to death were convicted by secretive state security courts and denied the right to defend themselves.
“The prosecution relied on forced ‘confessions,’ and the indictment was riddled with irregularities that reveal this was a politically motivated case,” Hadi Ghaemi, the executive director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, said of the three executed on Friday.
The group said Kazemi had called a relative and accused authorities of torturing him by flogging his feet, using a stun gun and threatening him with sexual assault.
London-based Amnesty International also criticized the cases.
“The shocking manner in which the trial and sentencing of these protesters was fast-tracked through Iran’s judicial system amid the use of torture-tainted ‘confessions’, serious procedural flaws and a lack of evidence is another example of the Iranian authorities’ brazen disregard for the rights to life and fair trial,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Iran launched a heavy crackdown on the protests, portraying them — without evidence — as a foreign-backed conspiracy. The protesters said they were fed up after decades of repression and poor governance. Iran's economy has been in a tailspin since the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement and restored crippling sanctions.
Robert Malley, the U.S. envoy for Iran, had spoken out against the imminent execution of the three men, calling it “an affront to the human rights and basic dignity of all Iranians" that showed the government “has learned nothing from the protests.”
“The United States will continue to stand with the Iranian people. We are coordinating closely with our allies and partners to expose and confront the Iranian regime’s unremitting human rights abuses,” Malley tweeted on Thursday.
More than 500 people were killed during months of protests, including dozens of members of the security forces. Some 19,000 people were arrested, though many have since been released.
Iran is one of the world's leading executioners. At least 582 people were executed in 2022, up from 333 the previous year. The surge in executions, including for drug violations and vague charges of “enmity against God” and “spreading corruption on earth,” has drawn criticism from U.N. officials and human rights activists.
Syrian president heads to Saudi Arabia for regional summit, sealing country's return to Arab fold
Syrian President Bashar Assad headed to Saudi Arabia on Thursday to attend a regional summit, his first visit to the oil-rich kingdom since Syria's conflict began in 2011, the president's office said.
Assad's attendance at the Arab League summit, which starts Friday, is expected to seal Syria's return to the Arab fold following a 12-year suspension and open a new chapter of relations after more than a decade of tensions.
The 22-member league, which is convening in the Saudi city of Jeddah, recently reinstated Syria and is now poised to welcome Assad, a long-time regional pariah, back into the fold. The Syrian president was officially invited to attend the summit last week.
During Syria's civil war, Saudi Arabia had been a key backer of armed opposition groups attempting to overthrow Assad. However, in recent months, Riyadh has called for dialogue to end the conflict that has killed half a million people and displaced half of Syria's pre-war population.
Assad's troops have taken control of much of Syria thanks to his main allies Russia and Iran that helped tip the balance of power in his favor.
Relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia had been turbulent since Assad took office in 2000, following the death of his late father and former president, Hafaz Assad. The two countries cut relations in 2012, at the height of Syria's conflict. Last week they agreed on reopening their embassies.
In April, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad visited Riyadh and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, visited Damascus and met with Assad. Mekdad also took part in Arab foreign ministers meeting in Jeddah on Wednesday ahead of the summit.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been pushing for peace in the region and over the past months, Riyadh has improved its relations with Iran, restored ties with Syria and is ending the kingdom's yearslong war in Yemen. Iran, a main backer of the Syrian government in the country's conflict, signed an agreement in China in March to resume relations with Saudi Arabia.
The renewed Saudi-Iran ties are expected to have positive effects on Middle East countries where the two support rival groups.
However, investments in war-torn Syria are unlikely as crippling Western sanctions against Assad's government remain in place and could prevent oil-rich Arab countries from rushing to release reconstruction funds.
Washington has been strongly opposed to normalization of relations with Assad, saying a solution to Syria's conflict based on U.N. Security Council resolutions should happen first.
Diplomatic contacts intensified between Damascus and Arab countries following the Feb. 6, earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria killing more than 50,000 people, including over 6,000 in Syria.
Israel deploys heavy police presence ahead of Jerusalem march
Israel deployed over 2,000 police on Thursday for a march by flag-waving Jewish nationalists through the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalem’s Old City, a contentious event that comes as tensions are already running high.
Authorities say the beefed up security is a determined effort to ensure the march passes without violence.
Police have decided to allow the thousands of marchers to take the traditional route through the Old City’s Damascus Gate — despite an uptick in Israeli-Palestinian violence over the past year and heavy fighting between Israel and Palestinian in Gaza last week.
Also read: 75th Nakba Day: PM reiterates country's support for Palestinian state
Early Thursday, hundreds of Jews were ascending to a sensitive Jerusalem site holy to both Jews and Muslims as part of the day’s activities, visits the Palestinians view as provocative. Among them was at least one Israeli Cabinet minister from the country's right-wing government, according to Jewish activists leading the visits.
While Israeli officials describe the march as a festive parade, it has been marred by anti-Arab racist chants and violence toward local Palestinians by some of the marchers. Two years ago, it helped spark an 11-day war between Israel and Palestinianin Gaza, and the Hamas group has urged Palestinians to confront the parade this year.
Chief Supt. Yoram Segal, a senior Jerusalem police official, told reporters Wednesday that authorities were determined to prevent violence this time around.
He said some 2,500 officers were being deployed throughout the area, both to ensure safety and to react quickly toward any potential violence.
Also read: 31 killed as Israel-Palestine fighting continues, Egypt pushes truce
“We are going to deal harshly with anyone who tries to disturb the peace,” he said. He said past troubles were caused by a tiny minority of people, but said there there would be no tolerance for incitement or violence that could “endanger the people that are along the route or living along the route.”
Segal said police have been working “hand in hand” with Jewish and Palestinian community leaders to keep things peaceful. He also confirmed that there had been a number of pre-emptive arrests of people who were believed to be planning violent disruptions. He declined to elaborate.
The march marks “Jerusalem Day,” which celebrates Israel’s capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its eternal capital, but its annexation of the eastern sector, home to the city’s most important holy sites, is not internationally recognized. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as capital of their future state.
Each year, thousands of Israeli nationalists participate in the march, waving blue and white Israeli flags and singing songs. But in some cases, protesters chant anti-Arab slogans as they pass by Palestinian onlookers and businesses.
Israel's national security minister, far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, has joined the march in past years. It was not known whether he would join this year, his first as a Cabinet minister.
On Wednesday, Gaza’s ruling Hamas group called on Palestinians to oppose the parade.
“We ask the people of Jerusalem to mobilize the masses to confront the march of the flags in Jerusalem tomorrow,” said Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas official in Gaza.
Hamas urged Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and inside Israel to “clash with the occupation.” It also said it would hold a demonstration, with people waving Palestinian flags along Gaza’s heavily fortified frontier with Israel.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for the Palestinian president, said allowing the march to snake through the Palestinian areas of the Old City "will only lead to a rise in tension and could lead to an explosion.”
In a test ahead of the parade, about 300 Jews were visiting Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site early Thursday, according to Beyadenu, an activist group that promotes Jewish visits to the site. Police were seen escorting groups of Jewish visitors walking through the compound and several coalition lawmakers also arrived at the site.
The hilltop compound is known to Jews as the Temple Mount, home to the ancient Jewish Temples, and is the holiest site in Judaism. Palestinians revere it as the Noble Sanctuary, and today it is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam.
Under longstanding agreements, Jews are permitted to visit the site but not pray there. But an increase in such visits, along with scenes of some Jews quietly praying, have raised concerns among Palestinians that Israel is trying to alter the status quo — a charge Israel denies.
The competing claims to the site lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and often spill over into violence, including the 2021 war between Israel and Hamas.
The parade comes as fighting in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem is at its highest level in two decades. It also comes just days after a cease-fire took effect ending five days of heavy fighting between Israel and the Islamic Jihad group in Gaza.
Hamas stayed on the sidelines during the fighting, and Israel avoided attacking the group in an effort by both sides to contain the violence.
But if unrest erupts in Jerusalem, Hamas could enter the fray. Two years ago, weeks of unrest in Jerusalem erupted into the 11-day war during the parade.
“The resistance is ready to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque and prevent the Judaization of Jerusalem,” al-Masri said.
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Arab foreign ministers meet ahead of Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia
Arab foreign ministers met Wednesday in Saudi Arabia ahead of the Arab League's annual summit in the kingdom to discuss the upcoming gathering's agenda and draft resolutions.
This year's summit, starting Friday in the city of Jeddah, will mark the readmittance of war-torn Syria into the 22-member league, after a 12-year suspension. Syria's membership was frozen following Syrian President Bashar Assad's brutal crackdown on the 2011 mass protests against his rule. The country quickly descended into a brutal civil war that has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of the country's pre-war population of 23 million.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Wednesday that the region is at a crossroads, facing a host of challenges. He called for cooperation between Arab countries to achieve security, stability, and economic prosperity.
Bin Farhan also welcomed Syria's return, as did the league's Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf.
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad held bilateral meetings this week in the kingdom with several of his counterparts as Damascus continues to appeal for much-needed investment in the war-torn country — crippled by the conflict and Western sanctions — and has moved to restore ties with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq.
Syria's return to the Arab fold comes as Damascus is also trying to amend ties with Turkey, a key backer of the armed Syrian opposition groups in the country's northwest.
But a few Arab countries remain skeptical of Syria's return to the league, primarily Qatar.
Qatar's top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said Wednesday that his country opposes Syria's return but that it doesn't want to stand "against the Arab consensus." Each Arab country, however, can unilaterally normalize relations with Syria, he said.
For that to happen from Qatar's perspective, Syria needs to go "through a just and comprehensive solution" to its conflict, Sheikh Mohammed added.
The summit also comes as Arab governments are scrambling to resolve the conflict in Sudan between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The fighting in the East African country, which broke out in mid-April, has left over 600 people dead and displaced tens of thousands.
In Wednesday's meeting, top diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Algeria called for a cease-fire in Sudan and an end to the escalating violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories.