Latest news with #PalestinianLiberationOrganization
Roya News
31-07-2025
- Politics
- Roya News
US imposes sanctions on Palestinian Authority officials
The United States has announced new sanctions targeting officials from the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA), citing their failure to uphold obligations under US law and actions deemed "harmful to the Middle East peace process." In a statement released Thursday, the US Department of State said it had formally reported to Congress that both the PLO and PA are not in compliance with their commitments under the PLO Commitments Compliance Act of 1989 and the Middle East Peace Commitments Act of 2002. As a result, visa restrictions are being imposed on PLO and PA members, as outlined in Section 604(a)(1) of the latter act. The State Department accused the Palestinian leadership of engaging in actions that contradict key elements of the peace framework, particularly United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, which call for "negotiated solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." The report cites the PA's efforts to involve international legal bodies, including the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ), in disputes with 'Israel', as well as its support for what the US described as 'incitement and glorification of violence,' particularly in school curricula. Additionally, Washington criticized the ongoing financial support provided by the PA to Palestinians convicted of carrying out attacks, including stipends paid to prisoners and their families. US officials have repeatedly described this policy, often referred to by critics as 'pay-for-slay,' as an incentive for terrorism. 'It is in our national security interests to impose consequences and hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments and undermining the prospects for peace,' the statement said. The move signals a further deterioration in US-Palestinian relations, which have been strained amid rising regional tensions and international criticism of US support for 'Israel'. There was no immediate response from Palestinian officials to the visa restrictions. It remains unclear how many individuals will be affected or how long the measures will remain in place.
Time Magazine
25-07-2025
- Politics
- Time Magazine
Israel, U.S. Slam France's Recognition of Palestinian State
Israeli and U.S. leaders have denounced President Emmanuel Macron's announcement that his country will recognize Palestinian statehood, becoming the first major Western power to do so. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 'strongly condemned' the move, saying that it 'rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became.' 'What he says doesn't matter,' President Donald Trump said in reaction to Macron's decision while speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday. "He's a very good guy. I like him, but that statement doesn't carry weight." The United States 'strongly rejects' Macron's plan, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. 'This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace,' he wrote. 'It is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th.' France will officially recognize Palestine as an independent state at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in September, Macron announced on Thursday. 'It is essential to build the State of Palestine, ensure its viability, and enable it, by accepting its demilitarization and fully recognizing Israel, to contribute to the security of all in the Middle East. There is no alternative,' the French President said in a post on X. The decision could add momentum to a push for Palestinian statehood that has so far largely been driven by smaller nations. While meeting with criticism from Israel and the U.S., Macron's announcement was celebrated by other countries that have already made similar moves, as well as by Hamas and Palestinian leadership. Hamas called it 'a positive step in the right direction to achieve justice for our oppressed Palestinian people and support their legitimate right to self-determination.' Palestinian Liberation Organization Vice President Hussein Al Sheikh thanked Macron, saying that his announcement 'reflects France's commitment to international law and its support for the Palestinian people's rights to self-determination.' What does Macron's decision mean for a Palestinian state? France will be the biggest Western power and first member of the group of economic superpowers known as the Group of 7 (G7) to recognize Palestine as an independent state. Nearly 150 out of the 190 U.N. member states now do so, including several other European countries—Spain, Ireland and Norway—that have formally recognized Palestine since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023. France has signaled it is hopeful other major powers will follow suit. 'I've had other colleagues on the phone and I'm sure that we won't be the only ones recognizing Palestine in September,' a senior official with the French presidency told CNN. Macron has not specified what territory France would recognize as being part of a Palestinian state. Palestinians seek a state including parts of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, all of which are considered occupied territories by the United Nations. The French President did say that he wishes to ensure the demilitarization of Hamas and rebuild Gaza. Macron will hold calls with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday to discuss the situation in Gaza. On Thursday, Starmer said that 'statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people. A cease-fire will put us on a path to the recognition of a Palestinian state and a two-state solution which guarantees peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis.' A divided response Macron's announcement comes amid international outcry over what humanitarian organizations warn is a deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as the enclave's health ministry reports that more than 100 people have died of hunger since the war began. The starkly divergent responses to France's decision from world leaders reflect deeper divisions over the conflict. 'The audacity of the French president to create, with mere words, a permanent order in our land is absurd and unserious,' Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Thursday. He added that 'a Palestinian state would be a Hamas state,' in a statement on social media. Israeli far right politician and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said that Macron's recognition of Palestine provides a reason to 'finally implement Israeli sovereignty' over the West Bank. 'This will be our legitimate Zionist response to the unilateral pressures and coercive maneuvers of Macron and his allies,' he continued on X. On Wednesday, the Israeli Parliament voted in favor of a non-binding motion for Israel to annex the West Bank. Smotrich, as well as fellow far-right politician Itamar Ben Gvir, were both recently sanctioned by the U.K., Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Norway for inciting 'extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights,' particularly in the West Bank. Other countries that have recognized Palestine met the announcement with a very different tone. 'I warmly welcome President Macron's intervention, this is very significant, the first G7 nation to recognize the state of Palestine,' Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin told reporters on Friday. He added that it was significant for peace efforts to 'create a future landscape for a two-state solution.' Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has 'celebrated' France's decision to recognize Palestine. 'Together, we must protect what Netanyahu is trying to destroy. The two-state solution is the only solution.' China has offered a more nuanced response. When asked on Friday about Macron's decision to recognize Palestine, China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said: 'The Palestinian question is at the heart of the Middle East situation. The only viable way to resolve it lies in the two-State solution,' adding that China will continue working towards the 'just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question.'
Al-Ahram Weekly
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Top Palestinian official meets US ambassador to Israel in Ramallah - Region
Hussein al-Sheikh, vice-president of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), on Tuesday said he met the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, in the occupied West Bank. Sheikh, a close aide to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, said the meeting took place in his office. The meeting was Huckabee's first official visit to Ramallah, which is home to key Palestinian Authority institutions. "Discussions were held regarding support for efforts to stop the war in the Gaza Strip, release the hostages and deliver urgent aid to the Palestinian people there," he wrote on X. "The current situation in the West Bank was also discussed, including the severe economic and financial crisis and settler violence. "Ways to strengthen bilateral relations were explored, as well as the importance of the American role in achieving stability, security, and peace in the region." I met with the United States Ambassador, Mr. Huckabee, today at my office in Ramallah. @GovMikeHuckabee Discussions were held regarding support for efforts to stop the war in the Gaza Strip, release the hostages, and deliver urgent aid to the Palestinian people there. The… — حسين الشيخ Hussein Al Sheikh (@HusseinSheikhpl) July 22, 2025 Sheikh, a veteran of Abbas's Fatah party, was appointed as vice-president of the PLO leadership in April, a newly created position. Founded in 1964, the PLO is empowered to negotiate and sign international treaties on behalf of the Palestinian people, while the Palestinian Authority is responsible for governance in parts of the Palestinian territories. Relations between the United States and the Palestinian Authority were strained during Donald Trump's first term as president, during which he moved the US embassy to Jerusalem and recognised it as Israel's capital, in a break with international consensus. Last Saturday, Huckabee visited Taybeh, a Christian village in the occupied West Bank, where he called for justice after an attack on a church blamed by locals on Israeli settlers. The ambassador is a leading figure on the conservative Christian right in the United States and is close to pro-settlement groups. Nevertheless, Huckabee urged Israel to "aggressively investigate the murder of Saif Mussallet", a Palestinian-American beaten to death by Israeli settlers, calling it "a criminal and terrorist act". Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Nahar Net
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Nahar Net
Can Lebanon chart path away from region conflicts after Hezbollah weakening?
Mireille Rebeiz, Dickinson College After a 12-day war launched by Israel and joined briefly by the United States, Iran has emerged weakened and vulnerable. And that has massive implications for another country in the region: Lebanon. Hezbollah, Tehran's main ally in Lebanon, had already lost a lot of its fighters, arsenal and popular support during its own war with Israel in October 2024. Now, Iran's government has little capacity to continue to finance, support and direct Hezbollah in Lebanon like it has done in the past. Compounding this shift away from Hezbollah's influence, the U.S. recently laid down terms for a deal that would see the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon in return for the total disarmament of the paramilitary group – a proposal seemingly backed by the Lebanese government. As an expert on Lebanese history and culture, I believe that these changing regional dynamics give the Lebanese state an opening to chart a more neutral orientation and extricate itself from neighboring conflicts that have long exacerbated the divided and fragile country's chronic problems. The shaping of modern Lebanon Ideologically, developments in Iran played a major role in shaping the circumstances in which Hezbollah, the Shiite Islamist political party and paramilitary group, was born. The Iranian Revolution of 1978-79 toppled the widely reviled and corrupt Western-backed monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza and led to the establishment of an Islamic republic. That revolution resonated among the young Shiite population in Lebanon, where a politically sectarian system that was intended to reflect a balanced representation of Muslims and Christians in the country had led to de facto discrimination against underrepresented groups. Since Lebanon's independence from France in 1943, most of the power has been concentrated in the hands of the Maronite Christians and Sunnis, leaving Shiite regions in south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley lacking in development projects, social services and infrastructure. At the same time, Lebanon for decades had been irreparably changed by the politics of its powerful neighbor in Israel. In the course of founding its state in 1948, Israel forcibly removed over 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland – what Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, or "catastophe." Many fled to Lebanon, largely in the country's impoverished south and Bekaa Valley, which became a center of Palestinian resistance to Israel. In 1978, Israel invaded Lebanon to push Palestinian fighters away from its northern borders and put an end to rockets launched from south Lebanon. This fighting included the massacre of many civilians and the displacement of many Lebanese and Palestinians farther north. In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon again with the stated purpose of eliminating the Palestinian Liberation Organization that had moved its headquarters to the country's south. An estimated 17,000 to 19,000 Lebanese and Palestinian civilians and armed personnel were killed during the conflict and the accompanying siege of Beirut. It was in this cauldron of regional and domestic sectarianism and state abandonment that Hezbollah formed as a paramilitary group in 1985, buoyed by Shiite mobilization following the Iranian revolution and Israel's invasion and occupation. Hezbollah's domestic spoiler status Over time and with the continuous support of Iran, Hezbollah become an important player in the Middle East, intervening in the Syrian civil war to support the Assad regime and supporting the Kata'ib Hezbollah, a dominant Iraqi pro-Iranian militia. In 2016, Secretary General of Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah officially recognized Iran's role in funding their activities. With Tehran's support, Hezbollah was effectively able to operate as a state within a state while using its political clout to veto the vast majority of Lebanese parliamentary decisions it opposed. Amid that backdrop, Lebanon endured three long presidential vacuums: from November 2007 to May 2008; from May 2014 to October 2016; and finally from October 2022 to January 2024. Lebanon also witnessed a series of political assassinations from 2005 to 2021 that targeted politicians, academics, journalists and other figures who criticized Hezbollah. How the equation has changed It would be an understatement, then, to say that Hezbollah's and Iran's weakened positions as a result of their respective conflicts with Israel since late 2023 create major political ramifications for Lebanon. The most recent vacuum at the presidential level ended amid Hezbollah's military losses against Israel, with Lebanon electing the former army commander Joseph Aoun as president. Meanwhile, despite the threat of violence, the Lebanese opposition to Hezbollah, which consists of members of parliament and public figures, has increased its criticism of Hezbollah, openly denouncing its leadership and calling for Lebanon's political neutrality. These dissenting voices emerged cautiously during the Syrian civil war in 2011 and have grown after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and the subsequent war on Gaza. During the latest Israel-Iran war, the Lebanese opposition felt emboldened to reiterate its call for neutrality. Enabled by the U.S's growing tutelage over Lebanon, some opposition figures have even called to normalize relations with Israel. These efforts to keep Lebanon out of the circle of violence are not negligible. In the past, they would have been attacked by Hezbollah and its supporters for what they would have considered high treason. Today, they represent new movement for how leaders are conceiving of politics domestically and diplomacy across the region. The critical regional context going forward As the political system cautiously changes, Hezbollah is facing unprecedented financial challenges and is unable to meet its fighters' needs and the promise to rebuild war-destroyed homes. And with its own serious internal challenges, Iran now has much less ability to meaningfully support Hezbollah from abroad. But none of that means that Hezbollah is defeated as a political and military force, particularly as ongoing skirmishes with Israel give the group an external pretext. The Hezbollah-Israel war ended with a ceasefire brokered by the United States and France on Nov. 27, 2024. However, Israel has been attacking south Lebanon on an almost daily basis, including three incidents over the course of 10 days from late June to early July that have left several people dead and more than a dozen wounded. Amid these violations, Hezbollah continues to refuse to disarm and still casts itself as the only defender of Lebanon's territorial integrity, again undermining the power of the Lebanese army and state. Lebanon's other neighbor, Syria, will also be critical. The fall of the Assad regime in December 2024 diminished Hezbollah's powers in the region and land access to Iraq and Iran. And the new Syrian leadership is not interested in supporting the Iranian Shiite ideology in the region but rather in empowering the Sunni community, one that was oppressed under the Assad dictatorship. While it's too early to say, border tensions might translate into sectarian violence in Lebanon or even potential land loss. Yet the new Syrian government also has a different approach toward its neighbors than its predecessor. After decades of hostility, Syria seems to be opting for diplomacy with Israel rather than war. It is unclear what these negotiations will entail and how they will impact Lebanon and Hezbollah. However, there are real concerns about new borders in the region. The U.S. as ever will play a major role in next steps in Lebanon and the region. The U.S. has been pressing Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah, and the U.S Ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack said he was "unbelievably satisfied" by Lebanon's response thus far. But so far, there has been no fundamental shift on that front. Meanwhile, despite the calls for neutrality and the U.S. pressure on Lebanon, it is hard to envision a new and neutral Lebanon without some serious changes in the region. Any future course for Lebanon will still first require progress toward peace in Gaza and ensuring Iran commits not to use Hezbollah as a proxy in the future. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here:
Arab Times
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab Times
Palestinian people's blood ... between Netanyahu and Hamas
A NEW holocaust, by all standards, is unfolding today in the Gaza Strip, but this time, the perpetrator is different. While the world was horrified by Hitler's attempted genocide during World War II, what Netanyahu and his extremist government are doing is even more horrific than what has been reported about the Nazis. Back then, the world, especially the victorious European powers, sought to atone for their guilt by accelerating the establishment of the Jewish state. This cause gained traction at a time when the Arabs lacked the power to defend their rights, as they were still reeling from the shock of Sykes-Picot and the calamities it had brought upon them. Conversely, the Arabs failed to capitalize on UN Resolution No. 181, which called for the partition of Palestine, marking the first stage of the conflict, at a time when the Zionist propaganda was still relatively weak. This situation remained unchanged during the subsequent wars Israel waged to expand its territory, culminating in the complete occupation of all Palestinian lands in June 1967. As usual, the Arabs exchanged accusations and failed to formulate a unified strategy for confrontation. They rejected all initiatives, starting with that of the late Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba, who advocated for the principle of 'take and demand.' Bourguiba was accused of treason and ostracized. The same fate befell the Rogers Initiative in 1970, also known as the Second Rogers Plan, which was approved by the then-Egyptian President Jamal Abdel Nasser but rejected by the leaders of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). On the other hand, Tel Aviv seized upon these events to its advantage, spreading the narrative that the Arabs do not seek peace. When King Fahd's initiative was approved at the Fez Summit, Israel immediately rejected it, just as it did with King Abdullah's initiative. Israel has never accepted, nor will it ever accept, the establishment of a self-governing Palestinian state as stipulated in the Camp David Accords. Today, 147 countries around the world have recognized the Palestinian state, with four others declaring their intention to do so. Yet, none of these countries offered anything substantial to remove the Israeli 'knife' from the Palestinians' throats. What they have provided are nothing more than political statements that can be retracted at any time. We must acknowledge that the Palestinian division has played a significant role in prolonging the conflict and complicating the path to a resolution. Each Palestinian faction sought to fulfill the interests of its external supporters, which is why many of these groups emerged in the 1970s and 1980s as terrorist organizations and hijacked civilian planes, incited violent events such as Black September, and positioned themselves as a de facto authority during the Lebanese Civil War. This history is well-known across the world. Therefore, when Sinwar and Hamas orchestrated the events of October 7, 2023, we saw Western leaders, led by former US President Joe Biden, flock to Netanyahu's residence. Today, the Israeli government in Tel Aviv resembles a 'vampire regime' that is clinging to unattainable utopian dreams. The establishment of a Palestinian state, with approximately 13 million Palestinians, while the Jewish population is only around 5.5 million, poses an existential threat to Israel. As a result, Israel has pursued policies aimed at either exterminating the population of the Gaza Strip or transferring them to another state, along with displacing the residents of the West Bank to Jordan. Through this, Israel aims to establish the Jewish state, as enshrined in the 2018 Knesset law, by exploiting the fragmentation and weakness of the Arabs, and benefiting from Western support. Israel continues to advance its goals, while the Arabs remain divided, with their Arab League reduced to issuing mere statements of concern and condemnation. Based on the above, the proposed solutions for resolving the Palestinian issue seem like acts of surrender, as there is no unified vision that can convince the world that we, the Arabs, genuinely seek peace. Moreover, there is a lack of will to form a cohesive Arab pressure group. This cycle will continue. Netanyahu will leave, but another like him will take his place to carry on the violence. A new Yahya Sinwar will rise, and Hamas will continue to exploit the Palestinian cause, while innocent Palestinian civilians will continue to be slaughtered daily.
