English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For January 13/2025
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Those Who measure themselves by one another, and compare themselves with one another, they do not show good sense.
Second Letter to the Corinthians 10/12-18/:"We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another, and compare themselves with one another, they do not show good sense. We, however, will not boast beyond limits, but will keep within the field that God has assigned to us, to reach out even as far as you. For we were not overstepping our limits when we reached you; we were the first to come all the way to you with the good news of Christ. We do not boast beyond limits, that is, in the labours of others; but our hope is that, as your faith increases, our sphere of action among you may be greatly enlarged, so that we may proclaim the good news in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in someone else’s sphere of action. ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’For it is not those who commend themselves that are approved, but those whom the Lord commends.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 12-13/2025
Text & Video: Najib Mikati’s Return As PM Will Doom President Joseph Aoun’s Term, Perpetuate Hezbollah’s Occupation, and Block Reform and Change/Elias Bejjani/January 11/2025
Lebanese whose homes were destroyed in the war want to rebuild. Many face a long wait/Sally Abou Aljoud/BEIRUT (AP)/January 12, 2025
Shareh Congratulates Aoun on His Election
Israeli Raids in the Districts of Nabatyeh and Baalbeck-Hermel
Lebanon's Civil Defense recovers bodies following Israeli strikes
Ending decades of quotas: Joseph Aoun's plan for institutional reform
Lebanon's FM calls for Arab-led reconstruction plan for Lebanon and Syria
Israeli airstrike sparks fire in Jbal El Botm in Tyre district
Iraqi PM congratulates Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on election, reaffirms support
Rai Hails President Aoun's National Vision for Building the State
Audi: Aoun’s Election Gave the Lebanese Renewed Hope
Twelve Killed in Blast at Yemen Natural Gas Facility
Iran Expands Military Drills to Additional Nuclear Sites
Is Flexibility on Lebanon’s Prison Crisis Looming?/Fady Noun/This is Beirut/January 12/2025

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 12-13/2025
Italy releases Iranian citizen held on a US warrant over drone attack in Jordan
Biden Calls for Immediate Gaza Ceasefire in Call with Netanyahu
Top Israeli security delegation in Doha for Gaza talks
Doha talks enter critical phase: Can a prisoner exchange deal be reached before Trump's inauguration?
Israel to use withheld Palestinian tax income to pay electric co debt
Biden, Netanyahu discuss latest in effort to reach an Israel-Hamas war ceasefire
Germany's top diplomat calls for 'smart approach' to sanctions at start of Riyadh meeting on Syria
Germany pledges $51m in aid for Syria
Saudi Arabia Urges Syria Sanctions Relief at Talks with Regional, EU Diplomats
EU ministers will consider easing sanctions on Syria at a meeting later in January
Canada's former leader Chrétien has blunt advice for Trump: 'Give your head a shake!'

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on January 12-13/2025
Who Really Denied Statehood to the Palestinian People?/Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/January 12, 2025
Trump can use Russia’s space program to end the war in Ukraine/Mark R. Whittington, opinion contributor/The Hill/January 12, 2025
16 dead, 16 missing as fire crews try to corral Los Angeles blazes before winds return this week/Christopher Weber And Holly Ramer/LOS ANGELES (AP)/January 12, 2025
The Ten Priorities In Syria/Dr. Abdulaziz Hamad Al-Aweisheg/Asharq Al Awsat/12 January 2025
Iran: Fitting Pieces of the Wrong-existent Puzzle/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/12 January 2025
What is Happening in Sudan?/Jumah Boukleb/Asharq Al Awsat/12 January 2025
Could we see a Palestinian state during Mahmoud Abbas’s 20th year in office thanks to the global coalition?/ANAN TELLO & ROBERT EDWARDS/Arab News/January 12, 2025
Multipolarity reinforces Gulf's powerhouse status/Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/January 12, 2025

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 12-13/2025
Text & Video: Najib Mikati’s Return As PM Will Doom President Joseph Aoun’s Term, Perpetuate Hezbollah’s Occupation, and Block Reform and Change
Elias Bejjani/January 11/2025
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2025/01/138949/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-avRPmDoAHs&t=26s
There is no doubt that the sin of designating Mr. Najib Mikati to form the first government under President General Joseph Aoun constitutes a harsh blow to the aspirations of the Lebanese people for reform, change, the implementation of UN resolutions, and the end of Hezbollah’s armed and occupying role. Mikati is not just a traditional politician; he is a corrupt businessman and a prominent figure within the system of corruption and foreign dependency that has driven Lebanon into its current crises during the Syrian occupation, and later under the ongoing Iranian occupation.
It should not be forgotten by anyone in Lebanon or abroad that Mr. Mikati entered politics under the direct sponsorship of the Assad Syrian regime, which ruled Lebanon with iron and fire. He was a financial partner to key Syrian figures like Rami Makhlouf, amassing his vast wealth through influence peddling and shady deals.
His history is filled with corruption cases, from subsidized housing loans redirected for his personal gain, to exploiting banks and public institutions for profit while Lebanon's economy collapsed and poverty rates soared.
Most dangerously, since entering politics, Mikati has never been independent in his stances or decision-making domains. He has always been a tool fully submissive to the dominance of the Syrian and later Iranian occupiers. His repeated appointments as Prime Minister in Lebanon were imposed through the coercion and intimidation of the Syrian regime and later Hezbollah, with his role consistently reduced to a mere puppet rather than a decision-maker.
During the recent military confrontation between the terrorist Hezbollah and Israel, Mikati chose suspicious silence, failing to uphold his responsibilities as Prime Minister. Instead, he echoed Hezbollah’s narratives justifying war and destruction, in blatant collusion against Lebanon’s national interest. This subservience is nothing new. In 2011, Mikati led the so-called “Black Shirts” government, imposed by Hezbollah through force after toppling Prime Minister Hariri’s government while he was meeting the U.S. President in the White House.
Sadly, reinstating Mikati today as the head of the first government under President Joseph Aoun is perfectly described in the Holy Bible: “No one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out, and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:16-17)
Lebanon needs courageous, honest, and independent leaders capable of confronting corruption and rescuing the nation from Iranian hegemony and terrorism, not the recycling of figures who lost legitimacy long ago. Additionally, implementing the ceasefire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel requires a Prime Minister who is fearless, unwilling to appease Hezbollah, and refuses to engage in deceptive compromises that derail Lebanon's liberation and recovery.
In conclusion, Najib Mikati’s political history is entirely incompatible with the aspirations of President Joseph Aoun’s mission. Meanwhile, we believe strongly that even if there is regional, international, or Arab consensus on his reappointment, this consensus must be rejected, even if it requires the Lebanese people to take to the streets and protest against this disastrous political farce. Mikati’s return to power would only solidify Hezbollah’s occupation, obstruct the implementation of the UN resolutions, sabotage all prospects for reform and change, and simply doom the new presidency from its very inception.

Lebanese whose homes were destroyed in the war want to rebuild. Many face a long wait
Sally Abou Aljoud/BEIRUT (AP)/January 12, 2025
Six weeks into a ceasefire that halted the war between Israel and Hezbollah, many displaced Lebanese whose homes were destroyed in the fighting want to rebuild — but reconstruction and compensation are slow in coming. Large swaths of southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as Beirut’s southern suburbs, lie in ruins, tens of thousands of houses reduced to rubble in Israeli airstrikes. The World Bank estimated in a report in November — before the ceasefire later that month — that losses to Lebanon's infrastructure amount to some $3.4 billion. In the south, residents of dozens of villages along the Lebanon-Israel border can't go back because Israeli soldiers are still there. Under the U.S.-negotiated ceasefire deal, Israeli forces are supposed to withdraw by Jan. 26 but there are doubts they will. Other terms of the deal are also uncertain — after Hezbollah's withdrawal, the Lebanese army is to step in and dismantle the militants' combat positions in the south. Israeli officials have complained the Lebanese troops are not moving in fast enough — to which they say the Israeli troops need to get out first.
Reconstruction prospects — and who will foot the bill — remain unclear.
In 2006, after the monthlong Israel-Hezbollah war, Hezbollah financed much of the $2.8 billion reconstruction with ally Iran's support. The Lebanese militant group has said it would do so again and has begun making some payments. But Hezbollah, which is also a powerful political party, has suffered significant losses in this latest war and for its part, Iran is now mired in a crippling economic crisis. The cash-strapped and long paralyzed Lebanese government is in little position to help and international donors may be stretched by the post-war needs in the Gaza Strip and neighboring Syria. Many Lebanese say they are waiting for Hezbollah's promised compensation. Others say they received some money from the group — much less than the cost of the damage to their homes. Manal, a 53-year-old mother of four from the southern village of Marjayoun has been displaced with her family for over a year, since Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza. Israel responded with shelling and airstrikes in southern Lebanon. In July, Manal's family heard that their home was destroyed. The family has now sought compensation from Hezbollah. “We haven’t received any money yet,” said Manal, giving only her first name for fear of reprisals. “Maybe our turn hasn’t arrived."On a recent day in southern Beirut, where airstrikes had hit just 100 meters (yards) away from his home, Mohammad watched as an excavator cleared debris, dust swirling in the air.He said his father went to Hezbollah officials and got $2,500 — not enough to cover $4,000 worth of damage to their home. “Dad took the money and left, thinking it was pointless to argue,” said Mohammad, who also gave only his first name for fear of repercussions. He said his uncle was offered only $194 for a similarly damaged home.
When the uncle complained, Mohammad said, Hezbollah asked him, “We sacrificed our blood, what did you do in the war?”
Others, however, say Hezbollah has compensated them fairly.
Abdallah Skaiki, whose home — also in southern Beirut — was completely destroyed, said he received $14,000 from Qard Al-Hasan, a Hezbollah-linked microfinance institution. Hussein Khaireddine, director of Jihad Binaa, the construction arm of Hezbollah, said the group is doing as much as it can. Its teams have surveyed over 80% of damaged houses across Lebanon, he said. “We have begun compensating families,” he said. “We have also started providing payments for a year’s rent and compensations for furniture.”Khaireddin said their payments include $8,000 for furniture and $6,000 for a year’s rent for those living in Beirut. Those who are staying elsewhere get $4,000 in money for rent. Blueprints for each house are being prepared, he said, declining to elaborate on reconstruction plans. “We are not waiting for the government," he added. “But of course, we urge the state to act."
There is little the government can do.
The World Bank's report from mid-November said Lebanon's infrastructure and economic losses from the war amount to $8.5 billion. And that estimate doesn't take into account the last month of the war, Deputy Prime Minister Saadi Chami told The Associated Press. “The government does not have the financial resources for reconstruction,” he said bluntly. The World Bank said 99,209 housing units were damaged — and 18% of them were completely destroyed. In southern Beirut suburbs alone, satellite analysis by Lebanon’s National Center for Natural Hazards and Early Warning identified 353 buildings completely destroyed and over 6,000 homes damaged. Lebanese officials have appealed to the international community for funding. The government is working with the World Bank to get an updated damage assessment and hopes to set up a multi-donor trust fund. The World Bank is also exploring an “emergency project for Lebanon,” focused on targeted assistance for areas most in need, Chami said, though no concrete plan has yet emerged. “If the World Bank gets involved, it will hopefully encourage the international community to donate money,” Chami said. Ali Daamoush, a Hezbollah official, said earlier this month that the group has mobilized 145 reconstruction teams, which include 1,250 engineers, 300 data analysts and hundreds of auditors — many apparently volunteers. The compensations paid so far have come from “the Iranian people,” Daamoush said, without specifying if the money was from Iran's government or private donors. Jana, a 29-year-old architect, is volunteering with Hezbollah teams to survey the damage to her hometown of Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon. Much of the city is destroyed, including an Ottoman-era market. Her father’s warehouse was hit by airstrikes, and all the medical supplies stored there were consumed by a fire. Hezbollah officials "told us not to promise people or discuss reconstruction because there is no clear plan or funding for it yet,” she told the AP. She did not give her last name because she wasn't authorized to talk about Hezbollah's actions. “They advised us to offer support and show the people that someone genuinely cares about their situation,” she added.

Shareh Congratulates Aoun on His Election
This is Beirut/January 12/2025
The head of the Syrian administration, Ahmad al-Shareh called on Sunday president Joseph Aoun to congratulate him after his election as head of State. During the discussion, president Aoun stressed "the importance of bilateral cooperation in order to resolve all pending issues between the two countries," according to a statement issued by the Lebanese presidency. Al-Shareh, in turn highlighted “the importance of developing the fraternal relations between the Syrian and Lebanese peoples”.His press office said in a statement that both men “expressed the need to develop positive relations between Lebanon and Syria and the common ground that links them”. Aoun also received a call from Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Soudani, who congratulated him, and called for “the development and consolidation of bilateral relations in all areas".

Israeli Raids in the Districts of Nabatyeh and Baalbeck-Hermel
This is Beirut/January 12/2025
The Israeli army carried out a series of raids in several areas of southern Lebanon, Sunday night. Shortly before midnight, the Israeli warplanes launched at least four raids in the valleys between Arabsalim, Houmine el-Fawka, Derir el-Zahrani and Roumine. Detonations could be heard for miles around in the Nabatyeh caza. Another air strike targeted the outskirts of Janta, in the Baalbeck-Hermel district. According to the Israeli army radio, a “number of weapon storage facilities” belonging to Hezbollah were targeted. Furthermore, the bodies and remains of 11 individuals were recovered on Sunday from the rubble in the village of Tayr Harfa and 5 more in the village of Alma al-Shaab, where the Lebanese army is deployed. Both towns are in the district of Tyre. The Israeli army, which is still present in several border localities in southern Lebanon, dynamited five houses in the village of Aita al-Shaab on Sunday. It blew up later more houses in Kfar Kila and Aitaroun and carried out sweeps with heavy and medium machine guns on the outskirts of Maroun al-Ras and Yaroun. An Israeli patrol entered the Khansa valley and the Rayhana area in Marjayoun. Later on, during the afternoon, an Israeli drone carried out an air strike in the Jabal al-Botm sector, in the Tyre district, causing a fire. In addition, the Israeli army's Arabic-speaking spokesman, Avichaï Adraee, renewed on Sunday his call to the residents of the border strip villages, to avoid returning, "until further notice", to their homes. “The Israeli army has no intention of targeting you (...) Anyone heading south of the (line of control) is in danger,” Adraee said. The villages banned are: Dhayra, Taybeh, Al-Tiri, Naqoura, Abou Shash, Ebl al-Saqi, Al-Bayada, Al-Jabin, Al-Khaibra, Khiam, Kharba, Matmura, Al-Mari, Odaisseh, Klayaa, Oumm Touta, Slaib, Arnoun, Bint Jbeil, Bayt Lif, Blida, Bani Hayan, Al-Bustan, Ain Arab, Marjeyoun, Dbaal, Deir Mimas, Deir Serian, Hula, Halta, Hanine, Tayr Harfa, Yohmor, Yaroun, Yarine, Kfar Hammam, Kfar Kila, Kfarchouba, Al-Zloutiyeh, Mhaybib, Mays al-Jabal, Maisat, Marwahine, Maroun al-Ras, Markaba, Adshit al-Qusayr, Ain Ebel, Ainata, Aita al-Shaab, Aitaroun, Alma al-Shaab, Arab al-Lwayseh, Al-Qouzah, Rab al-Thalathin, Ramya, Rmeish, Rashaya al-Foukhar, Shebaa, Chihine, Shamaa, Tallouseh. Moreover, the municipality of Mays al-Jabal announced in a statement that the Lebanese army is preparing to deploy in the village, in accordance with a plan drawn up for this purpose under the supervision of the international truce monitoring committee. The statement made clear, however, that residents will not be able to return to their homes immediately. “The Lebanese army will have to take exceptional measures until the end of the inspection and deployment operations. Roads remain closed, neighborhoods are booby-trapped and unexploded munitions must be defused”, warned the municipality. The army must also remove the bodies still under the rubble before allowing access to the village, it added.

Lebanon's Civil Defense recovers bodies following Israeli strikes
LBCI/January 12/2025
The Directorate General of Civil Defense announced in a statement that its search and rescue teams, under the direction of Acting Director General Brigadier General Nabil Farah and in coordination with the Lebanese army, successfully recovered 11 bodies from the town of Tayr Harfa and five bodies from Alma al-Shaab. These efforts are part of ongoing operations to locate those missing after the recent Israeli aggression on Lebanon. The recovered remains have been handed over to the relevant authorities for DNA testing to confirm the identities of the victims. The Civil Defense also stated that its rescue teams continue daily operations in collaboration with the army, aiming to locate all missing persons. The efforts include comprehensive surveys of targeted areas as part of an established plan. Meanwhile, in the town of Arzoun, Civil Defense teams ensured public safety as the army carried out controlled detonations of remnants from the Israeli strikes. The operation seeks to remove the hazards posed by unexploded ordnance, safeguarding the lives of residents in affected areas.

Ending decades of quotas: Joseph Aoun's plan for institutional reform
LBCI/January 12/2025
General Joseph Aoun has been elected President of the Republic, marking the beginning of a new era for Lebanon. His presidency is characterized by a commitment to reforming the country's decayed state structures with a modern approach, breaking away from a system that has failed the nation over the past three decades. The challenges facing President Aoun are immediate and significant, beginning with the appointment of a prime minister, new ministers, and critical administrative reassignments, particularly for top-tier positions. Aoun has clarified that he intends to adopt a rotation policy in appointing first-category officials, emphasizing merit over sectarian and political considerations. The first test lies in the formation of the government.
To complete the picture of change initiated with the election of a president outside the traditional political framework, it is crucial that the new prime minister and cabinet align with the president's vision. The government must operate with a fresh mindset, free from the sectarian and political quotas that have dominated Lebanese governance. Ministers will be chosen for their competence rather than their allegiance to a specific sect, politician, or party to meet the needs of the next phase. Following the government's formation, the next challenge is appointments, particularly to 96 vacant or temporarily held first-category positions. Among these are the leadership roles in Lebanon's security and military institutions, which often change with the presidency. The role of Army Commander, traditionally filled by a Maronite selected by the president, is especially critical. This position carries substantial responsibilities, including implementing the ceasefire agreement, adhering to UN Resolution 1701, and maintaining the integrity of the military institution.
Other key security posts include the General Director of the Internal Security Forces (ISF), a Sunni position currently held by Major General Imad Osman, and the General Director of State Security, traditionally a Shiite role but presently occupied on an acting basis by Maronite General Elias Al-Baysari. These positions have historically been filled based on sectarian allocations determined by religious and political leaders.
Beyond security, the appointment of a new governor for the Banque du Liban (BDL) is paramount. Traditionally a Maronite role, the governor must address Lebanon's financial crises, including monetary policy stabilization, bank restructuring, depositor reimbursement, and negotiations with international creditors like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Eurobond holders. Additional key appointments include filling roles currently held on an acting basis, such as the Director General of Customs, the Head of Civil Defense, and the Public Prosecutor. Other critical positions soon to require appointments include members of the Judicial Council, the Chairman of Electricité du Liban (EDL), the Director General of Télé Liban, and various ambassadorial posts, notably in France and the United States.
In addition, the terms of the Director General of Ogero, the Financial Prosecutor, and other positions will end soon. Under previous administrations, such appointments were typically based on consensus and quotas among political factions, perpetuating a system of patronage. However, President Aoun has vowed to depart from this practice. He aims to prioritize qualifications and integrity over sectarian or political affiliation, empowering appointees to perform their duties without external interference. This commitment to reform is not limited to names or positions but extends to the systemic changes needed to restore confidence in Lebanon's institutions. Aoun has pledged to end the decades-long dominance of political favoritism and blind allegiance in state employment, emphasizing national interest over personal or sectarian gain. As the president embarks on his term, the question remains: Will Joseph Aoun deliver on his promise to uphold the principle of rotation in first-category positions, regardless of the political and sectarian backlash?

Lebanon's FM calls for Arab-led reconstruction plan for Lebanon and Syria
LBCI/January 12/2025
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib emphasized the need for a comprehensive Arab initiative akin to the Marshall Plan to support Lebanon and Syria's recovery. Speaking after the ministerial meeting on Syria in Riyadh concluded, Bou Habib stressed the importance of structural reforms as part of a unified effort to integrate the two nations with their regional surroundings.
Bou Habib described the Riyadh meeting as one of the most successful he has attended in terms of preparation and outcomes. "There was a remarkable consensus and harmony achieved regarding priorities and objectives," he noted.

Israeli airstrike sparks fire in Jbal El Botm in Tyre district
LBCI/January 12/2025
Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported that an Israeli airstrike targeted the outskirts of Jbal El Botm in the Tyre district, resulting in a fire breaking out in the area.

Iraqi PM congratulates Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on election, reaffirms support
LBCI/January 12/2025
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani held a phone call with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Sunday to extend his congratulations on Aoun's election as President of Lebanon. During the conversation, Al-Sudani underscored the deep fraternal ties between Iraq and Lebanon and highlighted the importance of strengthening bilateral relations to serve the two nations' shared interests. The Iraqi Prime Minister reaffirmed his country's support for Lebanon across various sectors, emphasizing the necessity of fostering stability in Lebanon to help the country overcome the recent war's aftermath.

Rai Hails President Aoun's National Vision for Building the State
This is Beirut/January 12/2025
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai hailed President Joseph Aoun for strongly emphasizing the state’s “exclusivity of bearing arms, investing in the Lebanese Army and adopting positive neutrality.” In the inauguration address of the first Sunday sermon after Joseph Aoun’s election, Rai said that Aoun outlined a new national strategy based on the Taif Accord and the Constitution. Rai noted that in addition to advocating for a comprehensive defense strategy, “diplomatically, economically and militarily,” the President underlined reform ideas to energize the work of security institutions in order to reinforce security and manage the borders. The Patriach highlighted Aoun’s pledge to remedy political performance and strengthen the rule of law. He added that “there will be no immunity for the corrupt or criminal, but rather combating drug trafficking and money laundering.” Rai also applauded Aoun’s determination to have Palestinian refugee camps under state control, saying, “President Aoun stressed his refusal to resettle Palestinians in Lebanon and his resolve to assume responsibility for the security of the refugee camps.”He also thanked God for “inspiring MPs to elect General Joseph Aoun as President of the Republic” after more than two years of vacancy in the post.

Audi: Aoun’s Election Gave the Lebanese Renewed Hope
This is Beirut/January 12/2025
The Metropolitan of Beirut, Elias Audi, congratulated the Lebanese on the election of Joseph Aoun as President of the Republic, “which has given them renewed hope after so much hardship and suffering.” In his Sunday homily, he stated, “the President comes from an institution (the army) that trains its men on love of the homeland and sacrifice for it, without counting the cost.”“We pray that God will bless him with success in his new endeavor and support him in all his righteous deeds for the benefit of Lebanon and its citizens,” Audi added. In addition, he expressed his hope that Aoun would be “an exceptional president in these exceptional circumstances” and that he would institute a new system of governance founded on competence, honesty, accountability and transparency, as well as on avoiding factional politics in Lebanon and upholding the law and its application. “We also hope that he and his government will be able to build a modern, just and strong state, and that he will be able to implement all that he promised in his speech,” he added. Audi reiterated that the government should “impose its authority on all and restore the dignity of justice.”He prayed for God to protect Lebanon, its president and its citizens “so that they may embark on the path of reform with determination and restore Lebanon, the pearl of the East, and its pride.”

Twelve Killed in Blast at Yemen Natural Gas Facility
This is Beirut/AFP/January 12/2025
Twelve people were killed and over 100 injured in an explosion at a natural gas refilling facility in the Yemeni rebel-held Al-Bayda province, two officials told AFP on Sunday. "Twelve people from Al-Bayda died and there are more than 100 injured" in an explosion on Saturday at the storage facility of a refilling station in the Al-Zaher area, the province's communications chief Aref al-Ghamri said. Another local official said "the gas refilling station exploded while customers were present", adding that the facility's location near a market contributed to the large number of deaths. Social media users circulated videos, the authenticity of which AFP was unable to verify, showing flames engulfing dozens of cars in the vicinity of the station. This is not the first time that Yemen has witnessed such an incident.The cause of the explosion -- which occurred in an area considered a front line between the Iran-backed Houthis and government forces and which experiences occasional clashes -- is not yet known.

Iran Expands Military Drills to Additional Nuclear Sites
This is Beirut/January 12/2025
Iran has expanded military drills to cover two additional nuclear facilities in the west and centre of the country, state media reported on Sunday. The drills -- dubbed Eqtedar, or "might" in Farsi -- began last week and are set to continue until mid-March. They involve the army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the ideological branch of Iran's military. On Tuesday, the IRGC announced the drills were initially focused on the Natanz nuclear enrichment plant in central Iran. "The exercises are currently being held at the Fordow and Khondab nuclear facilities," in central and western Iran respectively, state TV reported Sunday. They involve missile and radar units, electronic warfare units, electronic intelligence and reconnaissance command carrying out "offensive and defensive missions", it said. The military activities are taking place with Iran's nuclear programme under close watch ahead of US president-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House. In his first term, Trump pulled the United States out of a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, and he also ordered the killing of a IRGC general in a drone strike in Iraq. Iran is set to hold nuclear talks with France, Britain and Germany on January 13 in Switzerland.
In January, US news website Axios reported that White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan had presented President Joe Biden with options for a potential US strike on Iran's nuclear facilities if Tehran moved toward developing an atomic weapon before January 20, when Trump takes office.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei criticised the reports, saying threats against the country's nuclear facilities were "a gross violation of international law".Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes and denies any intention to develop atomic weapons.
Iran has in recent years increased its manufacturing of enriched uranium, and it is the only non-nuclear weapons state to possess uranium enriched to 60 percent, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog says.
That level is well on the way to the 90 percent required for an atomic bomb.

Is Flexibility on Lebanon’s Prison Crisis Looming?
Fady Noun/This is Beirut/January 12/2025
Although the issue was not explicitly mentioned during the joint press conference between Syria’s new leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, and Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, the matter of Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons – an intersection of humanitarian, judicial and political concerns – was reportedly discussed during their meeting in Damascus on Saturday. At the same time, families of “Syrian rebels detained in Lebanese prisons” held a symbolic rally in Damascus, calling for their release. Mikati’s official visit to Syria, prompted by an invitation from Sharaa following their January 3 phone conversation, comes in a context rife with political undertones. According to well-informed sources, Syria’s new leader has already advocated for the release without trial of Islamist prisoners held in Lebanon, many of whom are accused of affiliation with terrorist organizations, particularly Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Sharaa is the former leader of HTS, which the United States classifies as a terrorist organization.
The question of releasing Islamists detained for alleged ties to terrorism without trial inevitably raises the broader issue of a “general amnesty” for all prisoners in Lebanon. This all-encompassing approach has repeatedly hindered progress, leading to deadlocks year after year.
Calls for general amnesty often align along sectarian lines, with each community advocating for its members’ benefit. This has consistently resulted in impasses. Christian communities, for instance, demand amnesty for Lebanese accused of collaborating military or economically with Israel, who fled the country following the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon in 2000. These individuals face prison sentences upon return and are unable to register their children in Lebanon’s civil registry. While awaiting parliamentary debate on potential amnesty legislation, Mikati called for the urgent formation of a prison inspection committee. It would include a judge from the Court of Cassation, an Internal Security Forces (ISF) officer and a representative of the Red Cross.
Overcrowded Prisons
Prison overcrowding is a major argument for advocates of amnesty. Across the board, stakeholders agree on the severity of the issue. According to Colonel Bilal Omar, Lebanon’s Director General of Prisons, the country’s incarceration facilities operate at an alarming 300% capacity, as he told This is Beirut. This problem has been exacerbated by the destruction of six prisons during the recent Israel-Hezbollah war (September-November 2024), including facilities in Nabatieh, Marjayoun, Tebnine, Bint Jbeil, Tyre and Baalbeck.“Overcrowding is one of the harshest aspects of incarceration,” noted Father Najib Baaklini, the President of Justice and Mercy, an Antonine organization focused on prisoner rehabilitation and reintegration. A recent report from the Beirut Bar Association’s Prison Committee documented 8,402 prisoners in Lebanese jails, with 83% awaiting trial – a figure widely criticized as unacceptable for a country claiming democratic principles. President Joseph Aoun indirectly addressed this issue in his inaugural speech, pledging judicial independence and faster trial proceedings – essential steps to alleviating the overcrowding crisis.Colonel Omar estimates there are 1,800 Syrian inmates in Lebanese prisons, but only 330 have undergone trial, making them eligible for extradition under existing agreements. Once extradited, the new Syrian regime will decide their fate, which could involve completing their sentences or being released. However, for some, release hinges on their prior compensation to victims.
The figure of 83% of detainees awaiting trial underscores the urgency of judicial reform. Delays in trials are partly attributed to Lebanon’s economic crisis. For instance, a modern courtroom built in Roumieh Central Prison to expedite trials remains rarely used due to inadequate incentives for judges.
The government formed under President Aoun is expected to address these pressing issues. Proposed reforms include shortening the judicial year from nine to six months and differentiating between drug users and dealers – or between small-time and large-scale traffickers – in sentencing. These measures could significantly reduce overcrowding.
Among the Islamist detainees in Lebanon are fighters affiliated with factions now in power in Syria. Father Baaklini predicts that many of these detainees – whether Lebanese or Syrian – are likely to be released, particularly if their detention is based solely on affiliation with these factions. However, he emphasizes that amnesty cannot extend to those convicted of killing soldiers or law enforcement officers, or participating in terrorist acts resulting in casualties. The prison issue remains fraught with complexities. In Roumieh Prison’s Building B, where Islamists, both Lebanese and Syrian, are incarcerated, reports suggest they have established a “pseudo-emirate,” enjoying certain privileges while imposing strict internal hierarchies. Notable among these detainees is Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir, arrested in 2015 and sentenced to death for leading deadly clashes against the Lebanese Army in Abra, near Saida, in 2013.
In a video released last week, Assir urged the Lebanese authorities to resolve the Islamist detainee issue and called for fostering “neighborly relations” with Syria.With the fall of Syria’s previous regime and the anticipated disarmament of Hezbollah, there is cautious optimism that long-standing sectarian tensions may begin to ease.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 12-13/2025
Italy releases Iranian citizen held on a US warrant over drone attack in Jordan
Giada Zampano/The Associated Press/January 12, 2025
Italy on Sunday released an Iranian citizen wanted by the U.S. over a drone attack in Jordan that killed three Americans a year ago, after the Italian justice minister asked a court to revoke his arrest. Mohammad Abedini has already returned to Iran, Iranian state TV said on Sunday afternoon.He was scheduled to appear at a Milan court on Wednesday in connection with his bid for house arrest pending extradition to the U.S. Abedini was arrested on a U.S. warrant on Dec. 16, three days before Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was detained while on a reporting trip to Iran. Sala, who was believed held as a bargaining chip for Abedini's release, returned home last week. The U.S. Justice Department has accused Abedini of supplying the drone technology to Iran that was used in a January 2024 attack on a U.S. outpost in Jordan that killed three American troops. An official note on the case released by the Italian Justice Ministry on Sunday said that under Italy-U.S. extradition treaties, “only crimes that are punishable according to the laws of both sides can lead to extradition, a condition which, based on the state of documents, can’t be considered as existing.”The ministry said that the potential charge against Abedini — criminal association for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a U.S. federal law — “did not correspond to any conduct recognized by Italian law as a crime.”Iranian state TV said the release and return of Abedini came after Iran’s foreign ministry pursued the case, as well as “talks” between Iran’s intelligence ministry and the Italian intelligence service. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni described a “diplomatic triangulation” with Iran and the United States as being key to securing Sala’s release, confirming for the first time that Washington’s interests entered into the negotiations.
Sala’s release came after Meloni made a surprise trip to Florida to meet U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Biden Calls for Immediate Gaza Ceasefire in Call with Netanyahu
Asharq Al Awsat/January 12, 2025
US President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said, as US officials race to reach a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20. Biden and Netanyahu discussed efforts underway to reach a deal to halt the fighting in the Palestinian enclave and free the remaining hostages there, the White House said in a statement after the two leaders spoke by telephone. Biden "stressed the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and return of the hostages with a surge in humanitarian aid enabled by a stoppage in the fighting under the deal," Reuters quoted it as saying. Netanyahu updated Biden on progress in the talks and on the mandate he has given his top-level security delegation now in Doha in order to advance a hostage deal, Netanyahu said in a statement. The two leaders also discussed "the fundamentally changed regional circumstances following the ceasefire deal in Lebanon, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, and the weakening of Iran’s power in the region," the White House said. Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN's "State of the Union" program earlier on Sunday that the parties were "very, very close" to reaching a deal, but still had to get it across the finish line. He said Biden was getting daily updates on the talks in Doha, where Israeli and Palestinian officials have said since Thursday that some progress has been made in the indirect talks between Israel and militant group Hamas. "We are still determined to use every day we have in office to get this done," Sullivan said, "and we are not, by any stretch of imagination, setting this aside." He said there was still a chance to reach an agreement before Biden leaves office, but that it was also possible "Hamas, in particular, remains intransigent." During their call, Netanyahu also thanked Biden for his lifelong support of Israel and "the extraordinary support from the United States for Israel’s security and national defense," the White House said.

Top Israeli security delegation in Doha for Gaza talks
Maayan Lubell/JERUSALEM (Reuters)/January 12, 2025
A top level Israeli security delegation arrived in Qatar on Sunday for talks on a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, in a possible sign of so-far elusive agreements nearing. Qatar and fellow mediators Egypt and the United States are making renewed efforts to reach a deal to halt the fighting in the enclave and free the remaining 98 hostages held there before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20. Netanyahu's office said on Saturday that the delegation includes Mossad Head David Barnea, the head of the Shin Bet domestic security service Ronen Bar and the military's head of the hostage brief, Nitzan Alon. Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, met on Saturday with Netanyahu, after having met on Friday with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Israeli and Palestinian officials have said since Thursday that some progress has been made in the indirect talks between Israel and militant group Hamas but did not elaborate. The sides have been keeping a tight lid on the details being worked out. It is unclear how they will bridge one of the biggest gaps that has persisted throughout previous rounds of talks: Hamas demands an end to the war while Israel says it won't end the war as long as Hamas rules Gaza and poses a threat to Israelis. Israel launched its assault in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave laid to waste and gripped by a humanitarian crisis, and most of its population displaced.

Doha talks enter critical phase: Can a prisoner exchange deal be reached before Trump's inauguration?
LBCI/January 12, 2025
Amid a mix of cautious optimism and skepticism, Israelis and Palestinians await the outcome of negotiations in Doha. The urgency stems from U.S. President Donald Trump's demand for a ceasefire agreement before January 20, nine days before his administration leaves office.
An Israeli delegation rushed to Doha following late-night talks on Saturday in Tel Aviv with Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on adding nine Israeli hostages to the prisoner exchange list but reportedly agreed to negotiate the second phase of the deal during the implementation of the first. This includes the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Philadelphi Corridor after the second phase. Despite intensive discussions, Israeli officials and those familiar with the negotiations revealed no agreement on core issues. Progress remains elusive unless Hamas concedes its demand for a ceasefire or Netanyahu backs down on continuing military operations. In the meantime, Israel has intensified its military pressure on Hamas. The Israeli army has relocated the 188th Brigade from Lebanon to Jabalia and announced preparations for a large-scale military operation should talks fail. This escalation comes as calls grow louder within Israel to end the war, following the deaths of ten soldiers and dozens of injuries in Gaza over the past week. On the Palestinian side, optimism is tempered by caution. The head of the Palestinian Authority's Prisoners and Detainees Affairs Commission expressed hope for progress, revealing that the initial prisoner exchange list includes 1,200 Palestinian detainees. Additional numbers will depend on negotiations for the nine hostages Netanyahu added to the list. Among the prisoners to be released are 200 individuals serving life sentences, some of whom may face exile to countries such as Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey. The list also includes 48 prisoners who were previously freed in the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal, as well as all female detainees, children, and elderly prisoners.

Israel to use withheld Palestinian tax income to pay electric co debt
Steven Scheer/JERUSALEM (Reuters)/January 12, 2025
Israel plans to use tax revenue it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority to pay the PA's nearly 2 billion shekel ($544 million) debt to state-run Israel Electric Co (IEC), Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Sunday. Israel collects tax on goods that pass through Israel into the occupied West Bank on behalf of the PA and transfers the revenue to Ramallah under a longstanding arrangement between the two sides. Since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, triggered the war in Gaza, Smotrich has withheld sums totalling 800 million shekels earmarked for administration expenses in Gaza.
Those frozen funds are held in Norway and, he said at Sunday's cabinet meeting, would instead be used to pay debt owed to the IEC of 1.9 billion shekels. "The procedure was implemented after several anti-Israeli actions and included Norway's unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state," Smotrich told cabinet ministers. "The PA's debt to IEC resulted in high loans and interest rates, as well as damage to IEC's credit, which were ultimately rolled over to the citizens of Israel." The Palestinian Finance Ministry said it had agreed for Norway to release a portion of funds from an account held since last January with 1.5 billion shekels, calling money in the account "a punitive measure linked to the government’s financial support for Gaza". The ministry said as part of the deal, 767 million shekels of the Norwegian-held funds will pay Israeli fuel companies for weekly fuel purchases over the coming months. A similar amount will be used to settle electricity-related debts owed by Palestinian distribution companies to IEC. Smotrich has been opposed to sending funds to the PA, which uses the money to pay public sector wages. He accuses the PA of supporting the Oct. 7 attack in Israel led by the Islamist movement Hamas, which controlled Gaza. The PA is currently paying 50-60% of salaries. Israel also deducts funds equal to the total amount of so-called martyr payments, which the PA pays to families of militants and civilians killed or imprisoned by Israeli authorities. The Palestinian finance ministry said 2.1 billion shekels remain withheld by Israel, bringing the total withheld funds to over 3.6 billion shekels as of 2024. Israel, it said, began deducting an average of 275 million shekels monthly from its tax revenues in October 2023, equivalent to the government’s monthly allocations for Gaza. "This has exacerbated the financial crisis, as the government continues to transfer these allocations directly to the accounts of public servants in Gaza," the ministry said. It added it was working with international partners to secure the release of these funds as soon as possible.

Biden, Netanyahu discuss latest in effort to reach an Israel-Hamas war ceasefire
Wafaa Shurafa And Natalie Melzer/DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP)/January 12, 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden spoke Sunday about efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Israel-Hamas war, a sign of the intensifying push to reach a deal before Donald Trump’s inauguration next week. Talks mediated over the past year by the United States, Egypt and Qatar have repeatedly stalled at moments when they seemed close to a deal. Still, in recent days, U.S. officials have expressed hope of sealing an agreement. Sunday’s call between Biden and Netanyahu came as the head of Israel’s Mossad foreign intelligence agency, David Barnea, and Biden’s top Mideast adviser, Brett McGurk, were both in the Qatari capital Doha. Barnea’s presence, confirmed by Netanyahu’s office, meant high-level Israeli officials who would need to sign off on any agreement are now involved in talks. McGurk has been working on final details of a text to be presented to both sides, Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told CNN’s “State of the Union.” But he said he would not predict whether a deal can be reached by Jan. 20, the day of the inauguration. “We are very, very close,” he said. “Yet being very close still means we’re far because until you actually get across the finish line, we’re not there.”
The White House and Netanyahu’s office both confirmed the phone call between the two leaders without providing details. Just one brief ceasefire has been achieved in 15 months of war, and that was in the earliest weeks of fighting. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week a deal is “very close” and he hoped to complete it before handing over diplomacy to the incoming Trump administration. Under discussion now is a phased ceasefire, with Netanyahu signaling he is committed only to the first phase, a partial hostage release in exchange for a weekslong halt in fighting. Hamas has insisted on a full Israeli troop withdrawal from the largely devastated territory, but Netanyahu has insisted on destroying Hamas’ ability to fight in Gaza. Issues in the talks have included which hostages would be released in the first part of a phased ceasefire deal, which Palestinian prisoners would be released and the extent of any Israeli troop withdrawal from population centers in Gaza. Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, the majority women and children, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, whose count does not give a breakdown between fighters and civilians. Israel’s campaign was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack, in which militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted around 250 others. Families of the roughly 100 hostages still held in Gaza are pressing Netanyahu to reach a deal to bring their loved ones home. Israelis rallied again Saturday night in the city of Tel Aviv, with photos of hostages on display.
In Gaza, Palestinians were tempering their hopes for a stop to Israel’s campaign, which has devastated much of the territory and driven more than 80% of its 2.3 million people from their homes. “We hear that there are negotiations every day, but we see nothing,” said Mazen Hammad, a resident of the southern city of Khan Younis. “When we see it on the ground, then we believe that there is a truce.”

Germany's top diplomat calls for 'smart approach' to sanctions at start of Riyadh meeting on Syria
Baraa Anwer/RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP)/January 12, 2025
Germany’s foreign minister said Sunday that sanctions against Syrian officials responsible for war crimes must remain in place but called for a “smart approach” to provide relief to the Syrian population after last month's overthrow of President Bashar Assad. Annalena Baerbock spoke to reporters after arriving in Saudi Arabia for a conference on Syria's future attended by top European and Middle Eastern diplomats. Germany is one of several countries that imposed sanctions on the Assad government over its brutal crackdown on dissent. Those penalties could hinder Syria's recovery from nearly 14 years of civil war that killed an estimated 500,000 people and displaced half the prewar population of 23 million. “Sanctions against Assad’s henchmen who committed serious crimes during the civil war must remain in place,” Baerbock said. “But Germany proposes to take a smart approach to sanctions, providing rapid relief for the Syrian population. Syrians now need a quick dividend from the transition of power.”Baerbock announced an additional 50 million euros ($51.2 million) in German aid for food, emergency shelters and medical care, highlighting the ongoing struggles of millions of Syrians displaced by the war.
Last week, the United States eased some of its restrictions on Syria, with the U.S. Treasury issuing a general license, lasting six months, that authorizes certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions. The U.S. has also dropped a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of Ahmad al-Sharaa, a Syrian rebel leader formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month. Al-Sharaa was a former senior al-Qaida militant who broke with the group years ago and has pledged an inclusive Syria that respects the rights of religious minorities. The rebels led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. Much of the world severed ties with Assad and imposed sanctions on his government — and its Russian and Iranian allies — over alleged war crimes and the manufacturing of the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon, which reportedly generated billions of dollars as packages of the little white pills were smuggled across Syria’s porous borders. With Assad out of the picture, Syria’s new authorities hope that the international community will pour money into the country to rebuild its battered infrastructure and make its economy viable again.

Germany pledges $51m in aid for Syria
Lama Alhamawi/Arab News/January 12, 2025
RIYADH: Germany will spend €50 million ($51.3 million) on humanitarian aid for Syria, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced on the sidelines of the Riyadh meetings on Syria hosted by Saudi Arabia on Sunday. “Syrians now need a quick dividend from the transition of power, and we continue to help those in Syria who have nothing as we have done in all of the years of civil war,” Baerbock said. During a press briefing, the minister said: “We will provide another €50 million for food, emergency shelter, and medical care because we know that over the last year not only millions have suffered, didn’t have enough food, didn’t have enough treatment for the children, but we also know that the new displacement attacks the women and children, especially. “We will stand with the people of Syria to contribute to a peaceful transition for everyone,” she said. The foreign minister said that the aid is not only needed to help those in Syria, but also serves as an investment in security in Germany and throughout Europe. Baerbock also expressed her gratitude to Saudi Arabia for gathering countries both within the region and from Europe “to discuss the countless unresolved issues facing Syria together.”

Saudi Arabia Urges Syria Sanctions Relief at Talks with Regional, EU Diplomats
Asharq Al Awsat/January 12, 2025
Saudi Arabia on Sunday called for the lifting of sanctions on Syria after meetings with top diplomats from the Middle East and Europe that focused on the war-ravaged country's future. "We stressed the importance of lifting unilateral and international sanctions imposed on Syria, as their continuation hinders the aspirations of the Syrian people to achieve development and reconstruction," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said after Sunday's talks concluded in Riyadh. The agenda included a meeting of Arab officials as well as a broader gathering that also included Türkiye, France, the European Union and the United Nations. Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led the main opposition group in the alliance that overthrew Bashar Al-Assad, is pushing for sanctions relief. His administration is represented at the Riyadh talks by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani. This month Saudi Arabia sent food, shelter and medical supplies to Syria by land and by plane. "We also emphasized the importance of continuing to provide various forms of humanitarian and economic support, as well as efforts to build the capacity of the Syrian state, achieve stability, and facilitate reconstruction," Prince Faisal said in his statement.
"This includes creating a conducive environment for the return of Syrian refugees."

EU ministers will consider easing sanctions on Syria at a meeting later in January
Baraa Anwer/The Associated Press/January 12, 2025
European Union foreign ministers will meet in late January to discuss easing sanctions imposed on Syria, the bloc's foreign policy chief said Sunday. However, she said the move would depend on Syria's new rulers carrying out an inclusive political transition after last month’s overthrow of President Bashar Assad.
Kaja Kallas' comments came at a gathering of top European and Middle Eastern diplomats in the Saudi capital of Riyadh to discuss Syria’s future. Saudi Arabia called for the lifting of sanctions, which threaten to undermine Syria's recovery from nearly 14 years of civil war that killed an estimated 500,000 people and displaced half the country's prewar population of 23 million. European countries and the United States have been wary over the Islamist roots of the former insurgents who drove Assad out of power and who now lead an interim government. The former rebels have promised to hold a national dialogue summit that includes different groups across Syria to agree upon a new political road map leading to a new constitution and an election. Kallas said EU foreign ministers will look at how to ease sanctions during a Jan. 27 meeting in Brussels. “But this must follow tangible progress in a political transition that reflects Syria in all its diversity,” she said in a post on the social media platform X. She also posted a photo of herself meeting the new Syrian foreign minister, Asaad al-Shibani at Sunday’s gathering.
Germany urges ‘smart approach’ to sanctions
The U.S., the EU and some Arab nations began imposing sanctions on Syria after Assad’s brutal crackdown on the 2011 uprising against his rule and tightened them as the conflict spiraled into war. Some of the measures are against individuals in Assad’s government, including freezing of assets. But many target the government in general, including bans on many financial and banking dealings, on oil purchases and on investment or trade in some sectors, crippling the wider Syrian economy. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said sanctions against “Assad’s henchmen who committed serious crimes” must remain in place. But she called for “a smart approach to sanctions, providing rapid relief for the Syrian population. Syrians now need a quick dividend from the transition of power.” Baerbock did not elaborate but announced an additional 50 million euros ($51.2 million) in German aid for food, emergency shelters and medical care. At the gathering, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said international and unilateral sanctions on Syria should be lifted. Continuing them “will hinder the aspirations of the brotherly Syrian people to achieve development and reconstruction,” he said. He praised steps taken so far by the interim Syrian government, including promises to start a political process “that includes various components” of the Syrian people.
Turkey urges ‘balance’ in international demands of Syria
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his country, which was a strong supporter of the Syrian opposition to Assad, would try to help Syria in normalizing ties with the international community. He said it was important to establish a “balance between the expectations of the international community and the realities faced by the new administration in Syria.” He pledged Turkish support to the new government, especially in combating threats from the Islamic State group. “As Turkey, we are ready to do our part to ease the difficult path ahead for the Syrian people,” he said in comments carried by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency.
Washington has eased some restrictions
Last week, Washington eased some of its restrictions on Syria, with the U.S. Treasury issuing a general license, lasting six months, that authorizes certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions. The U.S. has also dropped a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of Ahmad al-Sharaa, a Syrian rebel leader formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month. Al-Sharaa was a former senior al-Qaida militant who broke with the group years ago and has pledged an inclusive Syria that respects the rights of religious minorities. The rebels led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. Much of the world severed ties with Assad and imposed sanctions on his government — and its Russian and Iranian allies — over alleged war crimes and the manufacturing of the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon, which reportedly generated billions of dollars as packages of the little white pills were smuggled across Syria’s porous borders. With Assad out of the picture, Syria’s new authorities hope that the international community will pour money into the country to rebuild its battered infrastructure and make its economy viable again.

Canada's former leader Chrétien has blunt advice for Trump: 'Give your head a shake!'
JIM MORRIS/VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP)/January 12/2025
President-elect Donald Trump’s remarks that Canada should become the 51st state drew condemnation and a patriotic outburst on Saturday from a former Canadian prime minister who offered blunt advice to the incoming U.S. leader: “Give your head a shake!”Jean Chrétien, who was Canada’s prime minister from 1993 to 2003, joined a chorus of officials from the northern U.S. neighbor who say Trump's remarks are no longer a joke and may undermine America’s closest ally. Canada would never agree to become part of the United States, Chrétien wrote in an article published in The Globe and Mail newspaper, celebrating his 91st birthday. He extolled his nation's love of independence and said Trump's remarks amounted to “totally unacceptable insults and unprecedented threats” to Canadian sovereignty. “To Donald Trump, from one old guy to another, give your head a shake!” Chrétien said. “What could make you think that Canadians would ever give up the best country in the world — and make no mistake that is what we are — to join the United States? Trump has tossed expansionist rhetoric not just at Canada but also at other U.S. allies, with arguments that the frontiers of American power need to be extended to the Danish territory of Greenland, and southward to include the Panama Canal. And while many European leaders have been measured in their response, Canadians have not held back. “If you think that threatening and insulting us is going to win us over, you really don’t know a thing about us,” Chrétien wrote in the article. “We may look easy-going, mild-mannered. But make no mistake, we have spine and toughness.” The U.S. imports approximately 60% of its crude oil from Canada, which is also the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian ($2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. Canadian officials have been talking to incoming Trump administration officials about increasing border security in an effort to avoid a sweeping 25% tariff that Trump has threatened to impose on all Canadian products. When Trump imposed higher tariffs during his first term in office, other countries responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own. Canada announced billions of new duties in 2018 against the U.S. in a tit-for-tat response to new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on January 12-13/2025
Who Really Denied Statehood to the Palestinian People?
Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/January 12, 2025
Israel agreed to Palestinian statehood in 1937-1938, 1947-1948, 1967, 2000-2001, and 2007. In each case, it was the Palestinian leadership that refused to agree to the two-state solution....
The Jews accepted the [1937] Peel partition plan, while the Arabs categorically rejected it, demanding that all of Palestine be placed under Arab control and that most of the Jewish population of Palestine be "transferred" — ethnically cleansed — out of the country...
The Jewish leadership [in 1948] declared statehood in the area allocated to it by the UN. The Arab leadership responded by declaring a genocidal war against the new state of the Jewish people. They did not want a Palestinian state. And they wanted there to be no Jewish state.
No one, therefore, should believe that it was Israel that has made the Palestinian people stateless. It was the Palestinians themselves... The current anti-Israel protesters in the West are not calling for a Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel. They, like the failed Palestinian leadership, just wants to end Israel's existence. It is not going to happen. Until the Palestinians recognize this reality, they will be denying themselves any possibility of statehood.
In 1937, the Jews accepted the partition plan of the Peel Commission, while the Arabs categorically rejected it, demanding that all of Palestine be placed under Arab control and that most of the Jewish population of Palestine be "transferred" — ethnically cleansed — out of the country.
One of the most pervasive myths of the Palestinian protest movement is that Israel has denied statehood to the Palestinian people. To the contrary, Israel agreed to Palestinian statehood in 1937-1938, 1947-1948, 1967, 2000-2001, and 2007. In each case, it was the Palestinian leadership that refused to agree to the two-state solution that would have created a Palestinian state, alongside a state for Jewish inhabitants.
In 1937 – in the midst of the terrorist revolt inspired by Adolf Hitler's ally, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem – the British published the Palestine Royal Commission Report (also known as the Peel Commission Report).
The Commission recommended a partition plan by which to resolve what it characterized as "irrepressible conflict... between two national communities within the narrow bounds of one small country." Because of the general hostility and hatred of the Jews by the Muslims, "national assimilation between Arabs and Jews is... ruled out." Nor could the Jews be expected to accept Muslim rule over them, especially since Husseini made it clear that most of the Jews would be transferred out of Palestine if the Muslims gained complete control. The Peel Commission concluded that partition was the only solution.
The Peel Commission plan proposed a Jewish state in areas in which there was a clear Jewish majority. Divided into two non-contiguous sections, the northern portion extended from Tel Aviv to the current border with Lebanon. It consisted largely of a 10-mile-wide strip of land from the Mediterranean east to the end of the coastal plain, then a somewhat wide area from Haifa to the Sea of Galilee. A southern portion, disconnected from the northern one by a British controlled area that included Jerusalem, with its majority Jewish population, extended from South Jaffa to north of Gaza.
The proposed Arab state was, on the other hand, entirely contiguous and encompassed the entire Negev, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. It was several times larger than the proposed Jewish state. The population of the proposed Jewish state would have included 300,000 Jews and 190,000 Arabs. Another 75,000 Jews lived in Jerusalem, which would have remained under British control.
The Commission also alluded to how partition would help the rescue of Europe's Jews from Nazism.
The Jews accepted the Peel partition plan, while the Arabs categorically rejected it, demanding that all of Palestine be placed under Arab control and that most of the Jewish population of Palestine be "transferred" — ethnically cleansed — out of the country, because "this country [cannot] assimilate the Jews now in the country." The Peel Commission implicitly recognized that it was not so much that the Arabs wanted self-determination as that they did not want the Jews to have self-determination or sovereignty over the land the Jews themselves had cultivated and in which they were a majority.
The Arabs of Palestine wanted to be part of Syria and be ruled over by a distant monarch. They simply could not abide the reality that the Jews of Palestine had created for themselves a democratic homeland pursuant to the League of Nations mandate and binding international law. Even if turning down the Peel proposal resulted in no state for the Arabs, that was preferable to allowing even a tiny, non-contiguous state for the Jews.
Following the end of World War II, the United Nations also recommended partition of the area into two states -- one for the Arab population, the other for the Jewish population. Once again, the Arab leadership rejected the two-state solution, while the Jewish leadership accepted it. The Jewish leadership declared statehood in the area allocated to it by the UN. The Arab leadership responded by declaring a genocidal war against the new state of the Jewish people. They did not want a Palestinian state. And they wanted there to be no Jewish state.
As soon as Israel declared its independence, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded it, with help from Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Libya. Arab armies, with the help of local Arab terrorists, determined to destroy the new Jewish state and exterminate its population.
After the Six Day War of 1967, which resulted in Israel capturing the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and east Jerusalem, Israel signaled its willingness to negotiate land for peace. However, the Arab League met in Khartoum and issued the famous "Three No's": no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, and no negotiations with Israel. This led Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Abba Eban, to equip: "I think that this is the first war in history that has ended with the victors suing for peace and the vanquished calling for unconditional surrender."
According to former US President Bill Clinton, the Israelis, in 2000-2001, offered to withdraw from approximately 96% of the West Bank and 100% of the Gaza Strip in exchange for peace. The Palestinians were offered large land swaps from Israel in exchange for the small amount of land that would remain under Israeli control. Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat rejected that offer and -- presumably to change the subject and deflect the blame -- initiated a wave of terrorist attacks that left thousands dead.
In 2007, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered an even better deal. Once again, the Palestinian leadership did not accept the offer. As one Israeli leader put it, "The Palestinians don't know how to take yes for an answer."
It is therefore not correct to claim that Israel denied the Palestinians statehood. The Palestinian leadership did.
The Palestinians may deserve to have a peaceful state, but their claim is no greater than that of the Tibetans, the Kurds, the Chechens, and other stateless groups. These other groups, unlike the Palestinians, have never even been offered statehood, let alone repeatedly turned it down.
No one, therefore, should believe that it was Israel that has made the Palestinian people stateless. It was the Palestinians themselves, through their anti-Jewish leadership. The current anti-Israel protesters in the West are not calling for a Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel. They, like the failed Palestinian leadership, just wants to end Israel's existence. It is not going to happen. Until the Palestinians recognize this reality, they will be denying themselves any possibility of statehood.
*Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus at Harvard Law School, and the author most recently of War Against the Jews: How to End Hamas Barbarism, and Get Trump: The Threat to Civil Liberties, Due Process, and Our Constitutional Rule of Law. He is the Jack Roth Charitable Foundation Fellow at Gatestone Institute, and is also the host of "The Dershow" podcast.

Trump can use Russia’s space program to end the war in Ukraine
Mark R. Whittington, opinion contributor/The Hill/January 12, 2025
US sends Ukraine final Biden-approved weapons, financial packageScroll back up to restore default view. The Russians have big ambitions for their space program. They are planning a new space station to replace their share of the International Space Station when it ends its operational life around 2030. They have made an alliance with China to participate in its lunar base project, with a nuclear reactor to power it. The question arises, then: Is Russia in any position to fulfill these and other ambitious objectives? A recent study from the Foreign Policy Research Institute casts some doubt. It notes that “multiple factors have made the sustainable development of the Russian space program impossible.” The issues include “sanctions, an embargo on advanced industrial equipment, workforce shortages, limited financial resources spread among too many projects, cancellation of space cooperation with Western partners except operations on the International Space Station and the economic inefficiency of the Russian space industry.” The article suggests that the current decline in the fortunes of the Russian space program dates back as early as 2014, when Putin seized Crimea from Ukraine, and certainly from 2022, when Russia invaded its neighbor with a goal of conquering it.
Truth be told, the Russian space program has not been the same since the fall of the Soviet Union. The decline dates back to the 1966 death of the famous “chief designer,” Sergei Korolev, the father of the Soviet space program and, ironically, given recent events, a Ukrainian. As a result of Korolev’s death after a botched operation, the Soviets lost the race to the moon three years later. Ars Technica mentions another symptom of the Russian space program’s doldrums. Recently, the Russians launched a rocket from the R-7 family of launch vehicles for the 2,000th time. The R-7, designed by Korolev, was Russia’s first intercontinental ballistic missile. It was used to launch the first Sputnik in 1957. An improved version of it launched Yuri Gagarin into space. Russia has been relying on variants of the R-7 ever since. As Russian rocket development has stagnated, the U.S. has increasingly relied on cost-competitive launch vehicles built by SpaceX and Rocket Lab. Blue Origin’s New Glenn is in the middle of testing and SpaceX’s Starship is in development.
Still, Russia might have restored some of its lost space glory. The alliance with NASA on the space station was mutually beneficial. The U.S. got a foreign policy rationale for the space station that finally convinced enough members of Congress to approve funding. Russia was able to maintain cosmonauts in space after the Mir space station ended its operational life. Russia might have offered to participate in the Artemis program to return to the moon and go on to Mars. But Russian President Vladimir Putin had other priorities and chose poorly.
Money that Russia is spending in its futile attempt to conquer Ukraine could be spent buttressing its space program. Moreover, skilled Russian engineers and scientists are leaving Russia for fear of being fed into the Ukraine meat grinder. Western sanctions, which are bound to increase with the reelection of Donald Trump, are not helpful, either.
The situation that Russia finds itself in has provided an opportunity for Trump, should he take it. Trump pledged to end the war in Ukraine. He could sweeten the deal by making Putin an offer he can’t refuse.
If Putin were to come to terms with Ukraine, ending his war of conquest, Trump could offer Russia a role in the Artemis program in exchange. The incoming U.S. president could point out that Russia has prospered as a result of the International Space Station partnership. Without that partnership, Russia would not be any kind of space power, If Putin were to agree to peace in Ukraine, Russia could see cosmonauts on the lunar surface in the near future — something that the Soviet Union tried and failed to accomplish in the 1960s race to the moon. Russia would enjoy access to American technology and American commercial providers such as SpaceX. Russia would also be obliged to sign the Artemis Accords, joining a growing community of nations pledged to the peaceful exploration and economic development of space. As a happy side effect, Russia’s nascent space alliance with China would be broken, leaving that country isolated. Russia would be presented with a choice. On the one hand, war and ruin. On the other hand, peace and prosperity. Let’s hope it chooses wisely this time.
**Mark R. Whittington is the author of “Why is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon?” as well as “The Moon, Mars and Beyond,” and, most recently, “Why is America Going Back to the Moon?” He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

16 dead, 16 missing as fire crews try to corral Los Angeles blazes before winds return this week
Christopher Weber And Holly Ramer/LOS ANGELES (AP)/January 12, 2025
Firefighters scrambled Sunday to make further progress against wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed 16 people in the Los Angeles area as forecasters again warned of dangerous weather with the return of strong winds this week. At least 16 people were missing, and authorities said that number was expected to rise. The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for severe fire conditions through Wednesday, with sustained winds of 50 mph (80 kph) and gusts in the mountains reaching 70 mph (113 kph). The most dangerous day will be Tuesday, said weather service meteorologist Rich Thompson. “You’re going to have really strong gusty Santa Ana winds, a very dry atmosphere and still very dry brush, so we still have some very critical fire weather conditions out there,” Thompson said at a community meeting Saturday night. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone said 70 additional water trucks arrived to help crews fend off flames spread by renewed gusts. “We are prepared for the upcoming wind event,” he said.
Fierce Santa Anas have been largely blamed for turning the wildfires sparked last week into infernos that leveled entire neighborhoods around the city where there has been no significant rainfall in more than eight months. Twelve people were missing within the Eaton Fire zone and four were missing from the Palisades Fire, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said. Luna added that “dozens” more reports might have come in Sunday morning and investigators were reconciling whether some of the missing might be among the dead. There are no children among those reported missing, he said.
Meanwhile, the death toll rose to 16 over the weekend. Five of the deaths were attributed to the Palisades Fire and 11 resulted from the Eaton Fire, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said in a statement Saturday evening. Officials said they expected that figure to increase as teams with cadaver dogs conduct systematic grid searches in leveled neighborhoods. Authorities have established a center where people can report the missing. Officials also were building an online database to allow evacuated residents to see if their homes were damaged or destroyed. In the meantime, LA city Fire Chief Kristin Crowley urged people to stay away from scorched neighborhoods. “There are still active fires that are burning within the Palisades area, making it extremely, extremely dangerous for the public," Crowley said at a Sunday briefing. "There’s no power, there’s no water, there’s broken gas lines, and we have unstable structures. The first responders are working as quickly as possible to ensure that it is safe for you to return into your communities.”Officials warned the ash can contain lead, arsenic, asbestos and other harmful materials. About 150,000 people in Los Angeles County remained under evacuation orders, with more than 700 residents taking refuge in nine shelters, Luna said. By Sunday morning, Cal Fire reported the Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth and Hurst fires had consumed more than 62 square miles (160 square kilometers), an area larger than San Francisco. The Palisades Fire was 11% contained and containment on the Eaton Fire reached 27%. Those two blazes accounted for 59 square miles (nearly 153 square kilometers). Crews from California and nine other states are part of the ongoing response that includes 1,354 fire engines, 84 aircraft and more than 14,000 personnel, including newly arrived firefighters from Mexico.
Fighting to save public and private areas
Minimal growth was expected Sunday for the Eaton Fire “with continued smoldering and creeping” of flames, an LA County Fire Department incident report said. Most evacuation orders for the area have been lifted. After a fierce battle Saturday, firefighters managed to fight back flames in Mandeville Canyon, home to Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities near Pacific Palisades not far from the coast, where swooping helicopters dumped water as the blaze charged downhill.The fire ran through chaparral-covered hillsides and also briefly threatened to jump over Interstate 405 and into densely populated areas in the Hollywood Hills and San Fernando Valley.
Arrests for looting
Looting continues to be a concern, with authorities reporting more arrests as the devastation grows. Michael Lorenz, a captain with the Los Angeles Police Department, said seven people have been arrested in the last two days. “We even made arrests of two individuals that were actually posing as firefighters coming and in and out of houses, so we’re paying very, very close attention to everybody,” Lorenz said at Saturday evening's community meeting. Asked exactly how many looters have been arrested, Lorenz said he couldn’t give a precise number but that officers were detaining about 10 people a day. California National Guard troops arrived Friday to help guard properties. California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on X Saturday that “California will NOT allow for looting.”
Historical cost
The fires that began Tuesday just north of downtown LA have burned more than 12,000 structures. No cause has been determined for the largest fires and early estimates indicate the wildfires could be the nation's costliest ever. A preliminary estimate by AccuWeather put the damage and economic losses so far between $135 billion and $150 billion. In an interview that aired Sunday on NBC, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the fires could end up being the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. “I think it will be in terms of just the costs associated with it, in terms of the scale and scope,” he said.
Inmate firefighters on the front lines
Along with crews from other states and Mexico, hundreds of inmates from California’s prison system were also helping firefighting efforts. Nearly 950 incarcerated firefighters were dispatched “to cut fire lines and remove fuel to slow fire spread,” according to an update from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Though the state has long relied on prison labor to fight fires, the practice is controversial as the inmates are paid little for dangerous and difficult work. Inmates are paid up to roughly $10.24 each day, with additional money for 24-hour shifts, according to the corrections department.
Overflowing kindness
Volunteers overflowed donation centers and some had to be turned away at locations including the Santa Anita Park horse racing track, where people who lost their homes sifted through stacks of donated shirts, blankets and other household goods. Altadena resident Jose Luis Godinez said three homes occupied by more than a dozen of his family members were destroyed. “Everything is gone,” he said, speaking in Spanish. "All my family lived in those three houses and now we have nothing.”
Rebuilding will be a challenge
Newsom issued an executive order Sunday aimed at fast-tracking the rebuilding of destroyed property by suspending some environmental regulations and ensuring that property tax assessments are not increased. “We’ve got to let people know that we have their back,” he said. “Don’t walk away because we want you to come back, rebuild, and rebuild with higher quality building standards, more modern standards. We want to make sure that the associated costs with that are not disproportionate, especially in a middle-class community like this.” LA Mayor Karen Bass said Sunday that she has spoken with members of the incoming presidential administration and said she expects Donald Trump will come visit the devastated region.
Leadership accused of skimping
Bass faces a critical test of her leadership during the city's greatest crisis in decades, but allegations of leadership failures, political blame and investigations have begun. Newsom on Friday ordered state officials to determine why a 117 million-gallon (440 million-liter) reservoir was out of service and some hydrants had run dry. Crowley, the LA fire chief, said city leadership failed her department by not providing enough money for firefighting. She also criticized the lack of water. “When a firefighter comes up to a hydrant, we expect there’s going to be water,” Crowley said.

The Ten Priorities In Syria
Dr. Abdulaziz Hamad Al-Aweisheg/Asharq Al Awsat/12 January 2025
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was among the first actors to engage with the shift in Syria positively. The country’s new circumstances were discussed during the GCC’s Kuwait Summit on the first of December. The Summit’s Final Statement stressed the need to respect Syria’s sovereignty, political independence, and territorial integrity, as well as to give primacy to reason and dialogue. However, the Gulf was disappointed with Bashar al-Assad’s intransigence, his failure to respect the commitments he had made to the Arab League, and his refusal to cooperate with the United Nations to reach a political solution. After the summit, GCC foreign ministers held an extraordinary meeting to review recent developments. The statement issued on December 26 laid out the Council’s position in more detail. Subsequently, a high-level Gulf delegation visited Damascus to meet with the new Syrian leadership, which affirmed its commitment to establishing a close partnership with GCC states, focusing on shared interests and restoring the two sides’ historical relationship.
The manner of the GCC’s engagement with Syria’s historic shift reflects the priorities of the Gulf states, which align with those of the Syrian people. Respect for Syria’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity is the ultimate priority. That requires preventing interference in Syria’s affairs and allowing the Syrian people the opportunity to resolve their issues on their own. For instance, Israel and Iran should withdraw their influence from Syria, Russia should respect the decision that the Syrian people reach regarding its forces stationed there, and Türkiye and the United States must acknowledge Damascus’s role vis a vis the Kurdish question. The Biden administration has shown some flexibility in this regard, President-elect Donald Trump might follow a similar path. Russia has also shown some flexibility. On the other hand, Israel has intensified its attacks on Syria, seized more of Syrian territory, and unilaterally canceled the disengagement agreement, as well as maintaining its claim to sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Türkiye’s position remains ambiguous, and it may ultimately hinge on how things develop about the Kurdish question.
Second, the GCC supports the Syrian people’s effort to build an open and inclusive system of governance, moving beyond Assad’s sectarian policies. A transitional justice process must hold members of the deposed regime who had committed crimes. Still, national reconciliation and the integration of those who are innocent of such crimes are equally essential. Syria has long taken pride in its rich cultural diversity, and citizens’ roles in the country should depend on merit rather than being determined by the sectarian or ethnic quotas that have plagued some of its neighbors.
Thirdly, the GCC welcomed Syria’s decision to disband militias and armed factions, thereby ensuring that the state maintains a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence, the rule of law, and the safety of all citizens.
Fourth, the Council welcomed the new administration’s statements affirming that Syria will no longer pose a threat to its Arab neighbors and that it will be contributing to the maintenance of regional security and stability. That approach breaks with the previous regime’s, which had allied with anti-Arab forces, harboring terrorist groups and drug trafficking networks that targeted the Gulf states. Fifth, the GCC was reassured by Damascus’s remarks about constructive engagement with the Arab world and the international community. This contrasts with the former regime’s refusal to cooperate with the Arab League and the United Nations, which had been pushing for a political solution in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254.
Sixth, the Council calls on international partners to act swiftly and collectively to restore stability and ensure that Syria can recover as soon as possible. The war has devastated the economy. Syria’s GDP shrank by 87% in ten years, from $68 billion in 2011 to $9 billion, while GDP per capita has plummeted to $400 annually. The export sector has collapsed, dropping to $2 billion (15% of what it had been) during the same period. Only 1% of Syrians were facing food insecurity, and the war had raised that number to 52% by 2022. Additionally, much of this infrastructure, including electricity, roads, schools, and places of worship, has been destroyed.
Although GCC countries rushed to send aid to Syria, this help does not meet Syria’s needs. Therefore, the Council proposed holding an international conference to push for humanitarian and economic assistance, as well as to stimulate the economy and ensure that state institutions can meet responsibilities to citizens. Seventh, facilitating the safe and voluntary return of refugees and displaced persons is particularly crucial to the effort to restore stability and normalcy. The war forced the majority of Syrians to flee its horrors. According to the United Nations, over 12 million Syrians (52% of the population) do not live in their homes- 7 million citizens are internally displaced within Syria and 5 million are refugees. The speed at which they return will depend on how quickly security and basic services are restored, as well as the pace at which critical infrastructure is rebuilt, especially in health, education, housing, and utility networks like electricity and water. Eighth, the GCC has engaged positively with the United Nations Secretary-General’s suggestion that a UN mission be sent to help bring back normalcy in Syria, reinforcing its ability to face political, economic, and security challenges. Syria taking the lead, with international and regional actors and bodies playing a supporting role, would be optimal. The Syrian leadership has announced that it intends to hold a national dialogue conference, a promising step toward rebuilding national unity and social cohesion.
Ninth, the GCC has called on the international community to help Syria turn the page on the past by lifting sanctions, providing assistance that helps restore stability and ensures an early recovery, and encouraging the private sector to play a vital role in driving economic growth once again. At the same time, international cooperation is crucial to the fight against terrorism and preventing the resurgence of ISIS. European countries should take back citizens who had gone to Syria and ISIS, as well as their families, rather than leaving them in camps that place a burden on Syria and pose security threats. Türkiye and the United States must encourage the Kurds to reach an agreement on a unified Syrian state with Damascus. The United States should also pressure Israel to abandon its belligerence in Syria. Finally, the Gulf Cooperation Council strongly supports Syria’s reintegration into its Arab world, as well as its reclamation of its historic role in promoting regional security and stability, so that Syria can become part of the economic and cultural renaissance in the region. Indeed, Syria has always been a beacon of culture. All of these aspirations contrast with Assad’s policies. He was a traitor who served the enemies of the Arab nation, relying on its adversaries to crush his own people and attack his Arab neighbors.

Iran: Fitting Pieces of the Wrong-existent Puzzle
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/12 January 2025
As they prepare to leave office, some members of the Biden administration are penning op-eds and making speeches to advise the incoming Trump team on a range of issues. The gist of their message is simple: Do what we tried to do but failed! One such issue is the perennial headache that Tehran has caused eight US presidents over almost half a century. One outgoing official Richard Nephew, who headed the Iran desk in the National Security Council, calls for “dialogue and negotiations” with the enthusiasm of a street urchin looking at candy store’s window.
His enthusiasm has found an echo among the new presidential team in Tehran. Muhammad Reza Aref, who has self-upgraded to “Vice President” for President Masoud Pezeshkian writes: “We are keen on dialogue and negotiations” and adds that diplomacy provides the key to all problems
(He is an assistant to president as there is no vice-presidential post in the Khomeinist system.). The official news agency IRNA goes further by pretending that several countries including Japan, Oman and Iraq could act as “mediators” paving the way for negotiations. Majid Takht-e-Ravanchi, who is cast as Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, plays the same tune in a more scherzo mode. He cast aside his minister Abbas Arqachi’s emphatic statement last October that JCPOA is “dead and buried” and tries to paint a tantalizing horizon at which nuclear talks would extend to “all other issues.”
Joe Biden had expressed a similar illusion at the start of his four-year tenure at the White House with his tart slogan “Diplomacy is back!” Now, however, we know that diplomacy which had supposedly been booted out by President Donald J Trump didn’t come back for two reasons. The first was that Biden and many others before him had a fetishistic understanding of diplomacy not as a tool for achieving policy goals but as an end in itself.
Henry Kissinger took a walk up the garden path with his naïve understanding of détente that implied equivalence between the Soviet Union and the “Free World” led by the United States, and arguably helped prolong the life of the Evil Empire. The late Jimmy Carter prided himself in concluding the notorious Strategic Arms Limitation Agreement (SALT) that lightened the burden of a massive arms race from the broken shoulders of the USSR. Carter never wondered that if strategic arms are a threat to US security, why not aim at eliminating rather than limiting them? Diplomatic fetishists noted that before SALT, a thermonuclear war between the two “superpowers” could destroy the world 22 times, while after SALT it could be destroyed only 20 times over.
The next reason for diplomatic failure was that successive US administrations tried to build a puzzle from disparate pieces that kept changing because no overall guiding image was available. IRNA recalls the “Algiers Accord” mediated by Algeria. But it forgets that the accord in question was only dealt with releasing US diplomats held hostage in Tehran, something that Carter needed to keep his chances of re-election. It did not even lead to an end of hostage-taking by the mullahs who in the four decades that followed, seized over 1,500 hostages from 43 countries, including many Americans.
The Obama “nuke deal” was another example of a tree hiding the woods from the view. Obama never wondered why a country that has only one nuclear power station - the fuel for which is guaranteed by its Russian builder for its entire life-span - needs to spend huge sums enriching uranium that has no obvious peaceful use. Obama’s Secretary of State John Kerry hailed the “nuke deal” as a diplomatic triumph because Tehran agreed not to enrich uranium above 6 percent until 2025 when the “deal” is supposed to end. Kerry didn’t know that once you have the industrial wherewithal to enrich uranium you could accelerate the process to reach the level needed for building the bomb.
That was one example of fitting a place a piece into a puzzle without knowing what its final shape is supposed to be. The question that Obama and Kerry didn’t tackle was why the mullahs might want to build a bomb and that if they did what they might do with it.
Robert Malley, the pro-mullah part-time diplomat that Biden named as his “Iran talks man” had the answers. He noted that Iran behaved the way it did because it felt vulnerable and insecure and thus needed its nuclear program, its missiles stockpile and its proxy forces around the region as a triple deterrent. Thus he recommended full surrender across the lines set by “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei. What Malley didn’t ask was why should a regime feel as vulnerable and threatened as to need such deterrents?
The answer was obvious: because the Guide openly talked of wiping Israel off the map, exporting revolution, seizing hostages, creating a state within the state in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and the eastern portion of Yemen and sending murder-squads to kill real or imagined opponents in 11 countries including the United States. If the mullahs decided not to do any of those things, who would wish to threaten them because of a putative nuclear arsenal? After all, the US and allies have never imposed sanctions on any nation because of nuclear weapons.
Unlike US politicians and pundits, Khamenei, however, sees the big picture of the puzzle he has helped shape. Here is what he says: “The assumption that the country’s problems can be solved through talks or even relations with America is a manifest error. America has fundamental problems with the very nature of our regime. Will our problems with America end if we retreated on the nuclear issue? No, sir! They will raise the issue of our missiles. Why do you need so many missiles and what do you mean to do with them? Then they will raise the issue of the Axis of Resistance that we have created (across the region). If we solve those problems and retreat, they will raise the issue of human rights. But, even if you retreated on that, they will demand a separation of religion and state. In other words, they want us to become an ordinary country something that a system created by Imam Khomeini can never be!”
There you go!
Khamenei offers a full agenda for any negotiations with Iran.
Accept on its own terms warts and all or don’t fall for the fetishistic diplomatic clap-trap peddled by Obama, Kerry, Malley and Kerry.

What is Happening in Sudan?
Jumah Boukleb/Asharq Al Awsat/12 January 2025
Two years into the conflict that has been raging in the country, the war in Sudan has suddenly caught the eye of Western media. In Britain, “The Times” called it the "forgotten war." Oh God!
Now, it is too little too late. Indeed, According to international aid organizations, Only after 150,000 people have died, millions have been displaced, and a famine similar to that seen in Ethiopia in the early 1980s looms, did Western media outlets remember the devastating war in Sudan. They have begun to raise the alarm, warning of a deadly famine that awaits Sudanese survivors- those who haven’t been killed, displaced, or forced to live in refugee camps in neighboring countries.
Calling the conflict in Sudan a civil war, as some commentators have done consistently, is not accurate. A war of generals vying for power and influence is a more fair qualification. These are the very same generals who, only a few months before their falling out, came together to thwart Sudan’s democratic experiment and end civilian governance by orchestrating a coup. They are the same generals who ordered their soldiers to open fire on young Sudanese protesters, men, and women who marched through the streets of Khartoum and other cities demanding that the army return to its barracks and restore civilian rule. They are the same generals who opened the door to foreign meddling, turning the conflict into a proxy war between several powers. They are also the same generals who will lead Sudan into the abyss by fueling divisions and fragmenting the country.
In response to international relief organizations’ reports about the dire conditions in Sudan that warn of an unprecedented famine, the Biden administration recently issued a decision to ban the commander of the “Rapid Support Forces” (RSF) and his immediate family from entering the United States because of his forces' brutal crimes against civilians. While the US is sending millions of dollars in aid to Ukraine and Israel every week, its assistance to Sudan and the starving Sudanese women, elderly people, and children has not gone beyond barring General Hemedti and his family from entering the US! It is as though the administration believes that this is an unprecedented humanitarian gesture to the Sudanese people that will save them from the looming famine.
Meanwhile, international aid organizations are asking the international community for $2.7 billion in humanitarian assistance to the people of Sudan, but they have received less than half of the money they need, according to their reports. Refugee shelters in neighboring countries cannot accommodate the growing influx of Sudanese refugees. Meanwhile, the generals on both sides of the conflict continue to obstinately rebuff negotiations or any settlement that could spare Sudan and its people a famine and save the country from division, as well as allow refugees, the displaced, and those without homes to return. It has also become increasingly clear to us all that many foreign countries are fueling the conflict by steadily supplying both sides with arms and ammunition. The news coming out of Sudan every day is deeply unsettling. International organizations are warning that the looming famine resulting from the damage to the irrigation system puts 26 million people at risk. Cholera is spreading, and rape, ethnic cleansing, and torture are becoming increasingly commonplace. Added to this is the growing number of Sudanese seeking refuge in Europe to escape death.
The misfortune of Sudan and its people is compounded by the fact that their generals chose the wrong time to go to war. They lit the fuse at a time when the international community was busy with the Russian-Ukrainian war. The situation was made even worse by the outbreak of another genocidal war in Gaza. As these two conflicts raged, the global community turned its back on the catastrophe in Sudan. The African Union has made some attempts to calm the situation, urging both sides to negotiate, but after its calls and initiatives were ignored, the African Union turned its back as well. Meanwhile, the Arab League has made no real efforts to push for negotiations between the warring parties. We see nothing in the media but the reports of various international agencies and organizations.

Could we see a Palestinian state during Mahmoud Abbas’s 20th year in office thanks to the global coalition?
ANAN TELLO & ROBERT EDWARDS/Arab News/January 12, 2025
LONDON: As Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas marks 20 years in office, his leadership remains a complex chapter in the Palestinian national story, characterized by division, disillusionment, but also dogged determination.
Having succeeded Yasser Arafat in 2005, Abbas’ lengthy tenure has been shaped by challenges that have profoundly impacted the Palestinian people, the pursuit of statehood, and the prospects for peace with Israel.
“Ever since taking office, President Abbas has focused all his attention on the realization of an independent Palestinian state using diplomatic and political means,” Daoud Kuttab, an award-winning Palestinian journalist and author, told Arab News. Abbas’s term was originally meant to last four years, meaning elections should have been held in 2009. However, no presidential elections have taken place since, primarily due to political rivalries between the main parties. This 20-year milestone invites a reflection on Abbas’ legacy, the ongoing divisions within Palestinian politics, and whether his 20th year in power since succeeding Arafat might see tangible progress toward an independent Palestinian state. When Abbas assumed the presidency on Jan. 15, 2005, he inherited a fractured political landscape. Arafat’s death in November 2004 left a void in Palestinian leadership, particularly given his unique ability to unite diverse factions under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Abbas, known for his more pragmatic and diplomatic approach, was seen as a leader who could gain international credibility and potentially re-ignite peace talks with Israel. However, Arafat’s departure also brought long-simmering divisions among Palestinians to the fore.
“Abbas followed a revolutionary leader in Yasser Arafat and had to confront an Islamic movement that is focused on armed resistance,” said Kuttab, referring to the Palestinian militant group Hamas that controls Gaza.
“He attacked Hamas for their rocket attacks on Israel and has been silently disapproving of the Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border Hamas act that has caused huge loss of life as a result of the brutal Israeli revenge response.”
The Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel left 1,200 people dead, the majority of them civilians, saw some 250 taken hostage, including many foreign nationals, and triggered Israel’s devastating retaliatory war in Gaza.
Fifteen months on, the war has cost the lives of more than 45,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza, although a new study published by the Lancet medical journal has placed the death toll at 64,260 as of last June.
The rivalry between Abbas’ Fatah and Hamas escalated into a full-blown schism in 2007. Following a short conflict, Hamas seized control of Gaza, leaving Abbas’ Fatah-dominated PA governing only parts of the West Bank.
This division has not only weakened the Palestinian cause but has also complicated efforts to present a unified front in negotiations with Israel.
Abbas began his presidency with optimism. His platform emphasized nonviolent resistance, institution-building, and a commitment to achieving a two-state solution through negotiations. His efforts gained initial support from the international community, particularly the US and the EU. The 2005 Israeli withdrawal from Gaza was seen as a potential breakthrough, despite being unilateral and limited. However, hopes for progress soon faded. The victory of Hamas in the 2006 legislative elections, coupled with the failure to reach a consensus on governance, exacerbated divisions.
Meanwhile, peace talks with Israel stalled repeatedly over issues such as settlement expansion, security arrangements, and the status of Jerusalem.
The situation worsened after the 2008-09 Gaza war, further entrenching the divide between Hamas and Fatah. For many Palestinians, Abbas’ commitment to negotiations began to appear futile, especially as Israel’s settlement activity in the West Bank continued unabated. Critics accused Abbas of presiding over a corrupt and ineffective administration, eroding public trust in the PA.
The split between the West Bank and Gaza remains one of the defining challenges of Abbas’ presidency. Efforts at reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas have repeatedly faltered, with each side blaming the other for the impasse. The Oct. 7 attack and the war in Gaza have done little to heal the rift. On Saturday, Fatah issued a rare statement criticizing Hamas for sacrificing Palestinian interests for Iran and causing destruction in Gaza.
The statement supports Fatah’s recent security crackdown in the Jenin refugee camp targeting Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other armed groups, accusing Tehran of funding these factions. Fatah also condemned the Oct. 7 attack, rejecting Hamas’ strategy of armed conflict, and accused it of seeking to incite chaos in the West Bank. Talks in December between Fatah and Hamas about a nonpartisan Gaza administration have seen no clear progress. Meanwhile, the future governance of Gaza remains uncertain as Israeli leaders debate involving the PA following the defeat of Hamas.
Despite his long absence from the Palestinian Territories in the UAE, Mohammed Dahlan, a former Gaza security chief who was blamed by some within Fatah for the loss of Gaza, has since been tipped as a potential leader of the enclave — if Hamas were removed from power. The Fatah Central Committee voted to expel Dahlan from the party in June 2011 after Abbas accused him of corruption and of plotting against him. Dahlan denied the allegations and accused Abbas of targeting him for his criticism of Abbas’ handling of the peace process.
In spite of this history of division among the Palestinians, Abbas’ administration has achieved some notable successes on the international stage, including securing Palestine’s recognition as a non-member observer state at the UN in 2012. This diplomatic victory underscored Abbas’ commitment to pursuing Palestinian statehood through nonviolent means and international legitimacy.
However, Abbas’ prolonged tenure has not been without controversy. Now aged 89, he has faced growing criticism for failing to hold elections since 2006, effectively extending his rule far beyond his original mandate.
Many Palestinians view the PA as increasingly authoritarian, accusing it of suppressing dissent and prioritizing security coordination with Israel over the needs of its people. The PA’s reliance on international aid has also raised questions about its sustainability. Economic dependency on donor funding has left the PA vulnerable to political pressure, particularly from the US and Israel. This dependency has fueled perceptions that the PA is complicit in managing the occupation rather than resisting it. Meanwhile, Abbas has faced internal challenges from younger Fatah leaders and other political factions who view his leadership as out of touch. Calls for generational change have grown louder, with many Palestinians demanding a more inclusive and dynamic approach.
Despite these challenges, Abbas’ 20th year in office arrives at a moment of renewed international focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Saudi Arabia’s emergence as a regional power broker has brought fresh hope for advancing the two-state solution. Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Kingdom has taken a proactive role in mediating conflicts and fostering dialogue, including between Israel and the Arab world.
In October 2024, Saudi Arabia announced the formation of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution. The coalition includes key players such as the US, the EU, and Arab states, with a mandate to address core issues including borders, settlements, refugees, and the status of Jerusalem.
Riyadh’s initiative has been bolstered by an ongoing Arab dialogue with Israel, which includes conditions tied to advancing Palestinian statehood in line with the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.
“No doubt Saudi Arabia is playing a leading role in this coalition, leveraging its regional and international influence as well as its longstanding support for the Palestinian cause,” Hani Nasira, an Egyptian writer and political expert, told Arab News. “The Kingdom has consistently emphasized that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state is essential for peace and stability in the region and that any steps toward normalization with Israel must first secure Palestinian rights.”Since the global alliance for the two-state solution was launched amid the Gaza war, the push for Palestinian statehood championed by Mahmoud Abbas has gained momentum. (Anadolu)
This diplomatic strategy reflects Saudi Arabia’s commitment to balancing regional stability with the aspirations of the Palestinian people.
The question remains whether Abbas’ final years in power will witness the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Much depends on the success of Saudi Arabia’s initiative and the willingness of all parties to engage in meaningful negotiations.
“Observers believe that the chances of establishing a Palestinian state under President Mahmoud Abbas remain viable, though significant challenges persist,” said Nasira. “These obstacles require internal Palestinian unity and robust Arab and international support — something Saudi Arabia is actively seeking to provide. “Additionally, many countries and international organizations continue to support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders under the current Palestinian leadership. “This includes the EU and most Islamic nations, as President Abbas seeks backing for a peace initiative rooted in the two-state solution and international resolutions.
“It is therefore clear that the Global Alliance reflects Saudi Arabia’s steadfast commitment to supporting the Palestinian cause and its relentless pursuit of a just and comprehensive peace in the region. “This initiative aims to guarantee Palestinian rights and establish normalized relations among all countries in the region.”For Abbas, the stakes are high. His legacy will ultimately be defined by whether he can translate decades of advocacy for Palestinian statehood into tangible results. The PA has expressed cautious optimism about the Saudi-led coalition, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive approach that addresses historic injustices and ensures Palestinian sovereignty. However, significant obstacles persist. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown little appetite for concessions, particularly on settlements and security issues, and has even dismissed the two-state solution out of hand.
As Abbas marks two decades in office, the Palestinians find themselves at a crossroads. While statehood remains elusive, renewed international focus on the conflict offers a glimmer of hope.
Abbas’ presidency has been a tale of resilience, missed opportunities, and unfulfilled aspirations. While his commitment to a two-state solution has earned him international respect, the lack of progress on the ground has left many Palestinians disillusioned.
“The Palestinian president remained focused on his peaceful mythology but failed to gain enough support in terms of electoral legitimization of his efforts,” Kuttab told Arab News.
“While Abbas’ direction directly reflected the recommendations of all of Palestine’s allies, they failed to engage or reward him for his rejection of violence and insistence of a politically negotiated solution to the Palestinian conflict.
“Nevertheless, President Abbas’ quest — that is, the national aspiration of Palestinians — remains to be the most logical step forward. Palestinian statehood is the best way to bring peace to the entire Middle East.”

Multipolarity reinforces Gulf's powerhouse status
Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/January 12, 2025
Strategically located at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe, the Gulf has historically facilitated international trade as a highway between East and West. It is also central to planned intercontinental trade corridors such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. Today, countries in the region are enhancing these historical trade links as they seek to diversify their economies away from oil. They are actively creating business-friendly environments to attract foreign direct investment and build new trade partnerships.
This comes as the global order is becoming increasingly multipolar, with the ascent of emerging economies such as China, Russia, India and Turkiye. The Gulf states are navigating the new world order by positioning themselves as economic and geopolitical powerhouses. Key to this transition is diversifying trade and investment relations, particularly as the West turns its focus to the Asia-Pacific. This strategic pivot has enabled the Gulf states to expand their influence beyond the Arab world, reshaping their role in global trade and diplomacy.
Historically, the West, particularly the US and the EU, has been the key international trade partner for the Gulf Cooperation Council. Early Western investments in the region’s energy sector laid the foundation for enduring trade relationships. In 2023, the total trade value between the US and GCC countries surpassed $80 billion. The EU, similarly, has robust trade relations with the GCC and is the latter’s second-largest trade partner. In 2023, the EU accounted for 11.1 percent of the GCC’s total trade in goods.
Today, the Gulf is rapidly forming new trade partnerships with emerging economies, especially in Asia. China is the region’s largest trade partner and in 2023 accounted for more than 20 percent of the Gulf’s exports. It is closely followed by India, which accounted for 15 percent of Gulf energy exports. Asia now absorbs more than 70 percent of GCC oil and gas exports, with major consumers including China, India, Japan and South Korea. Africa is another priority region for GCC trade and investments as the Gulf secures its global influence. GCC investments in Africa, valued at more than $53 billion in 2023, have focused on infrastructure, energy and technology. China and India are critical trade partners for the Gulf. With the world’s largest populations and ever-growing oil and gas demands, they are of particular relevance for the oil-exporting Gulf states. Between 2021 and 2022, Gulf-Asia trade grew by 34.7 percent, compared to a 32 percent increase in trade with the US, UK and Western Europe in the same period. Increased US self-sufficiency in oil production and Europe’s transition to renewable energy have reduced Western dependence on Gulf oil. This pivot toward Asia and Africa allows the Gulf states to secure their economic future and geopolitical influence in a multipolar world order.
The Gulf states are navigating the new world order by positioning themselves as economic and geopolitical powerhouses. Despite a reorientation toward the Global South, the West remains relevant for the region. A forthcoming Gulf-UK free trade agreement is projected to boost trade by 16 percent, add $2.1 billion to the UK economy and allow the Gulf access to British technology, resources and expertise. This highlights the continued interdependence of the Gulf and its Western partners, a relationship that will not disappear but rather evolve as the Gulf boosts trade ties with emerging markets.
The GCC’s robust international trade is complemented by the rise of regional financial centers, notably the Dubai International Financial Centre, Abu Dhabi Global Market, King Abdullah Financial District and the Qatar Financial Centre. By creating a business-friendly environment through these institutions, the region is carving a place for itself in global finance and attracting significant FDI.
The Dubai and Abu Dhabi centers have emerged as leading financial hubs underpinned by English Common Law frameworks. These centers specialize in sectors like banking, fintech and sustainable finance, with a strong emphasis on innovation and digital transformation. The Dubai International Financial Centre reported a 24 percent growth in registered companies in the first half of 2024, while Abu Dhabi Global Market saw a 20 percent increase in licenses issued during the same period. Both centers have consistently reported increases in assets under management, reflecting their growing global appeal.
Saudi Arabia, through the creation of King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh, is providing incentives for international investment in the Kingdom. With regulatory reforms, tax incentives and a business-friendly environment, it has become a significant financial hub. In 2024, 127 international companies moved their regional headquarters to Riyadh, including global technology giants Apple, Google and Microsoft. Between 2017 and 2023, FDI inflow to Saudi Arabia increased by 61 percent to reach $215 billion, highlighting the success of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and its subsidiary Regional Headquarters Program in drawing international finance.
Faced with a multipolar global order, the Gulf states have found the opportunity to not only diversify trade partnerships but also position themselves as sites of economic and strategic influence. The success of their domestic financial hubs reflects the Gulf’s economic potential and its sustained ability to attract Western investments despite geopolitical disturbances and strategic realignment in the region. The upswing in international trade and investment between the Gulf and Western and emerging economies reinforces the Gulf’s position as an economic powerhouse.
**Zaid M. Belbagi is a political commentator and an adviser to private clients between London and the Gulf Cooperation Council. X: @Moulay_Zaid