Latest news with #Gideon Sa'ar
LBCI
a day ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Israeli involvement in Syria: Israel expands military presence in southern Syria under guise of Druze aid
Report by Amal Shehadeh, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar has approved a $600,000 budget to support the Druze community in Syria's Sweida province, a move widely seen as deepening Tel Aviv's involvement in the Syrian conflict under the pretext of humanitarian assistance, including food, medicine, and first aid. Simultaneously, Israel has ramped up its military posture along the Syrian front. The Israeli army reinforced its ground forces with internal security units, and its air force deployed dozens of surveillance drones operating around the clock, particularly over Jabal al-Druze, Mount Hermon, and the buffer security zone in southern Syria. The military buildup has been justified as a protective measure for the Druze population, aimed at deterring Syrian regime forces from advancing toward them. On the political front, Israeli Security Minister Israel Katz, speaking from Washington, firmly rejected any withdrawal from areas occupied by Israeli forces in southern Syria, namely Mount Hermon and the buffer zone. During a meeting with U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, Katz dismissed recent efforts to reach a security agreement with Damascus, stating that Israel no longer trusts Ahmed al-Sharaa or the Syrian regime. Several military and political figures welcomed the Security Minister's statements, though others argued that Israel's interests are better served through dialogue and security arrangements. Amid concerns over potential military escalation if Syrian regime forces attempt to return to what Israel considers red-line areas, the Israeli military confirmed it had returned hundreds of Israeli Druze who had crossed into Syria, and pushed Syrian Druze back beyond the ceasefire line. Troop reinforcements were deployed not only to contain what Israel described as chaos on both sides of the border, but also to block the potential infiltration of hostile fighters. The underlying goal is the establishment of a wide buffer zone inside Syrian territory—an Israeli-controlled strip that would serve as a shield against any future attacks.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel's dynamic with Syria, Lebanon massively shifting, amb. to the EU tells 'Post'
"This was an intimate gathering aimed at discussing regional developments and exploring how the EU could help promote cooperation,' Regev explained. The Ambassador to the European Union, Haim Regev, said that he could not recall the last time an Israeli foreign minister was in the same room as those of Lebanon and Syria. 'The foreign ministers of Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, and Morocco sat in the same room. This is something that has happened before. However, this time, the Syrian and Lebanese ministers also joined in. The very fact that they were sitting there sends a message,' Regev told The Jerusalem Post. He was referring to a recent meeting on Monday between the EU's foreign ministers and their Mediterranean counterparts, including Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar. 'I'm not talking about the kind of forum you see at the UN, where nearly 200 countries sit together. This was an intimate gathering aimed at discussing regional developments and exploring how the EU could help promote cooperation,' Regev said. When asked whether this meeting signaled a breakthrough in relations between Israel and these two countries, he replied: 'We shouldn't exaggerate, but it is certainly another sign of the shifting dynamics in the region, particularly in relation to Syria and Lebanon.' Sa'ar's visit to the EU comes at a time when several countries in the European Union are promoting initiatives against Israel. 'There are countries like Spain and Ireland that are obsessively anti-Israel and have called for a review of EU-Israel cooperation, including the Association Agreement that serves as the foundation of that collaboration,' Regev told the Post. 'On the other hand, there are countries like Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Italy that stand by Israel and work to prevent any further deterioration in relations. For better or worse, the EU is made up of 27 countries, and decisions require consensus.' Calls for reassessing EU-Israel relations emerged in response to Israeli military actions in Gaza, prompting the Vice-President of the European Commission, Kaja Kallas, to launch an inquiry titled: 'Is Israel Violating International Law in Gaza?' Ensuring Israel's interests are protected In recent weeks, Sa'ar, Regev, and other Foreign Ministry diplomats have been engaged in numerous meetings and discussions to ensure that Israel's interests are safeguarded. Last week, Sa'ar and Kallas announced a new agreement under which the EU will play a more active role in addressing the humanitarian situation in Gaza. 'There will be additional EU aid trucks entering Gaza, increased access to food distribution through bakeries and public kitchens, and other efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the enclave — all of which have been approved by Israel's cabinet,' Regev said. 'When you take such steps and demonstrate a willingness to improve the situation, it empowers Kallas to return to her colleagues and say, 'There's constructive dialogue, and we're seeing progress,'' Regev said. 'This helps to ease tensions. Some countries are already saying, 'If there's movement, there's no need for punitive measures against Israel.'' Solve the daily Crossword
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
EU seems to suddenly discover it has leverage on Israel
The European Union 's foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas has spent a lot of time on the phone to Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar over the last few weeks. For most of Israel's 22-month war in Gaza the EU has been seen as a bystander, paralysed by its inability to come to a joint position. Then word came through late last week that Israel had committed to letting a lot more humanitarian aid into the devastated Palestinian enclave, in a deal brokered by the EU. This would mean a 'substantial' increase in the number of trucks bringing food and other vital aid allowed into Gaza. Food supplies to kitchens and bakeries would resume, power lines to a plant supplying clean drinking water would be repaired, and closed border crossings would be opened, as part of the deal. The promise from Israel to stop choking off the flow of food, medicine and fuel into Gaza was unlikely to have been the result of a sudden change of heart by prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu 's government. The concessions were more likely an attempt to head off what had been growing momentum inside the EU to – finally – sanction Israel, or threaten to do so, if the dire conditions in Gaza did not improve. It seems it took nearly two years of a war in which at least 58,000 Palestinians have been killed for the EU to discover it has some leverage over Israel. The 11-week total blockade stopping aid entering Gaza, which left a cohort of its civilian population at risk of starvation, pushed the EU to up the pressure on Israel. An effort started by Ireland and Spain, and more recently taken up by the Dutch, forced a review that found Israel had breached obligations to respect human rights made in an 'association agreement' with the EU. The EU's foreign ministers this week debated a set of options the union could take in response. They included suspending the agreement, which governs EU-Israel relations, or shelving a free trade deal. A paper put on the table by Kallas said the EU could ban imports from illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, blacklist certain Israeli politicians or end visa-free travel for Israelis to the EU. There has been a huge amount of behind-the-scenes lobbying from Israel recently. That suggests a real concern about the reputational damage of being sanctioned by the EU. The deal on humanitarian aid was announced six days before EU foreign ministers were meeting in Brussels to debate options. The commitment to let more aid into Gaza has shifted the focus on to whether Israel follows through on that pledge, limiting the appetite to press ahead with any penalty for now. Most of the potential sanctions would require the unanimous support of all 27 capitals. That is a non-starter. Hungary, Germany, Italy, Austria and Czech Republic have blocked efforts to have the EU hold Israel accountable for its military campaign in Gaza. Suspending the free trade deal only requires a sizeable majority of support. That would be a major blow to Netanyahu, as the EU is Israel's biggest trading partner. However, for that to happen either Germany or Italy would need to switch positions, given their size, to secure enough support to suspend the trade deal. Both governments opposed the EU pursuing any of the proposed sanctions against Israel at the meeting of foreign ministers this week. They pointed to the tentative aid commitments as a win, thanks to backchannel dialogue with Israel. 'If the threat of the stick is not plausible then you have no leverage,' says Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, a former EU ambassador to the Palestinian territories. The EU's response to Israel's war in Gaza had been defined by a 'complete absence of action', he says. There was a big question mark over whether Israel would stick to commitments it had made in its agreement with the EU, he says. One note of caution should be the fact Kallas has not said how many extra aid trucks Israel has agreed to let enter Gaza a day. Kühn von Burgsdorff served as head of the EU mission to the West Bank and Gaza from 2020 until mid-2023, where he says he 'saw the injustice before my eyes'. A German who spent 31 years as a diplomat for the EU, Kühn von Burgsdorff says the union's timid response to Israel's bombardment of Gaza is a 'disaster' for its standing in the world. It is a point the governments of Ireland and Spain have been making since the start of the conflict. 'It's about who we are, the Europeans, how we want our voice to be heard and influence the world,' Spain's foreign minister José Manuel Albares said this week. 'Europe is about human rights, about democracy, about international law and that's what we should uphold, whether it is in Ukraine or in Gaza,' he said.
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Israeli pledge to let more aid into Gaza will be kept under ‘close watch', EU says
A commitment by Israel to allow substantially more humanitarian aid into Gaza will be kept under 'close watch' by the European Union , its foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas has said. In a likely bid to head off growing momentum for EU sanctions, Israel promised it would let more aid into the Palestinian enclave, which has been devastated by 22 months of war. The deal between Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar and Ms Kallas came days before EU foreign ministers were to discuss the possibility of putting sanctions on Israel, after the union concluded Israel's military campaign in Gaza had breached human rights obligations. Options on the table during the meeting in Brussels on Tuesday included suspending an EU-Israel 'association agreement' that includes a free trade deal. READ MORE Ministers were told the EU could also put economic sanctions on Israeli politicians, an embargo on weapons sales to Israel and cut off Israel's access to research funding schemes. EU ministers did not agree to press forward with any of the options. EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said the situation in Gaza remains 'catastrophic'. Photograph: EPA Germany and other states traditionally supportive of Israel opposed moving ahead with any sanctions, particularly in light of the tentative agreement to allow more aid into Gaza. Many of the options to penalise Israel would require unanimous agreement from all 27 capitals, or in some cases a large majority in support of action, which has been lacking to date. Spain's foreign minister José Manuel Albares said he welcomed the aid deal but more information was needed about how it would work on the ground. [ Irish physiotherapist in Gaza: 'Nobody is safe, there's no end in sight' ] 'I think it's good, anything that will allow food stuffs, medicines, fuel to enter Gaza will be welcome from us, but I want to know more details about the agreement and the mechanism of follow-up that the European Union will have to be able to check the implementation,' he said. The Swedish government said the continued deterioration in the conditions in Gaza was 'indefensible'. The Nordic state said it was not ruling out support for 'additional measures to pressure the Israeli government'. Thomas Byrne, Minister of State for European Affairs: 'We need to use leverage in our dialogue to get results.' Photograph: Seb Daly/Sportsfile Minister of State for European affairs Thomas Byrne said Israel's promise to allow more vital aid into Gaza was a result of pressure from the EU. 'We need to understand that we have that leverage. Dialogue is very important, but it's not enough, we need to use leverage in our dialogue to get results,' he said. Mr Byrne, who was representing the Irish Government, said the situation in Gaza had not changed. 'There's still slaughter going on, there's still denial of access to food and water,' he said. Speaking after the meeting, Ms Kallas said the EU would 'keep a close watch' on the level of aid flowing into Gaza. Foreign ministers could return to possible sanctions if the Israeli government 'does not live up to its pledges', she said. The EU's top diplomat said the aim was not to 'punish' Israel but improve the situation in Gaza, which remained 'catastrophic'. The EU wanted to see evidence more aid was reaching people, she said. 'It is clear that we are in the situation where we don't have a ceasefire and that's why it is so much harder to provide aid,' the former Estonian prime minister said. [ 'Famine is spreading and people are dying': UN urges Israel to allow fuel into Gaza Opens in new window ] The EU's failure to suspend its free trade agreement with Israel was a 'cruel and unlawful betrayal', which would be remembered as a 'disgraceful' moment in the union's history, said Agnès Callamard, secretary general of human rights organisation Amnesty International. At least 58,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel's invasion and bombardment of Gaza, in response to the October 7th, 2023 attacks by Hamas militants. Aid agencies have warned a blockade of food, medicine and fuel in recent months left many civilians in Gaza at risk of starving to death.
Irish Times
10-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Israel promises to increase aid supplies to Gaza
Israel has promised it will allow a 'substantial' increase of humanitarian aid, food and other supplies into Gaza , following negotiations with the European Union. The move comes several days before EU foreign ministers were due to debate taking action to put pressure on Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu to end the humanitarian blockade that has choked off the supply of aid flowing into Gaza. In a deal agreed in recent hours, Israel committed to allow trucks full of aid waiting at the border to Gaza to enter the devastated Palestinian enclave , a spokesman for the European Commission said. The deal, aimed at addressing the humanitarian crisis and heading off the starvation of Palestinian civilians, was negotiated by the EU's foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas and Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar. READ MORE 'These measures are or will be implemented in the coming days with the common understanding that aid at scale must be delivered directly to the population and that measures will be continued to be taken to ensure there is no aid diversion to Hamas,' a spokesman for Ms Kallas said on Thursday. Under the agreement Israel has committed to allow a greater number of aid trucks into Gaza, open more crossing points in the north and the south of the territory, including routes for aid to get into the strip from Jordan and Egypt. The EU said the deal would also allow for the resumption of fuel deliveries to humanitarian facilities, and the repairing of vital infrastructure. EU officials said Israel agreed to stop blocking off the power supply of a water desalination facility which had provided clean drinking water to civilians in Gaza. The commission, which is the EU's executive arm, said the agreement would also enable 'the distribution of food supplies to bakeries and public kitchens throughout the Gaza Strip'. At least 57,500 Palestinian have been killed during Israel's 21-month military occupation and bombardment of Gaza, according to health authorities in the Palestinian territory. Political pressure increased on Israel after a total blockade of aid for 11 weeks earlier this year brought the population in Gaza to the point of starvation. Aid agencies have said deliveries of food, medicine and fuel into the war-torn enclave since then have been wholly insufficient. There have been multiple incidents of civilians being shot and killed by Israeli forces while trying to pick up aid from a small number of designated distribution centres set up under effective Israeli control in recent weeks. The concessions from Israel come several days before the EU's 27 foreign ministers were to discuss a range of options they could take to increase pressure on Israel to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
