Netanyahu in Washington for ceasefire talks; Iran condemns Trump plan to relocate Palestinians – Center East disaster reside

Talks between Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, on the presidential palace within the Turkish capital of Ankara will concentrate on “joint steps to be taken for economic recovery, sustainable stability and security” in Syria, Fahrettin Altun, head of communications on the presidency, mentioned.

“We believe that the Turkey-Syria relations, which were re-established after Syria regained its freedom, will be strengthened and gain dimension,” he added.

Ahmed al-Sharaa, the previous chief of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist insurgent group which led the army operation to topple the previous president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, will go to Turkey on Tuesday on his second worldwide go to because the insurgent offensive.

Sharaa “will pay a visit to Ankara on Tuesday at the invitation of our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,” Fahrettin Altun, head of communications on the presidency, wrote in a submit on X.

Sharaa, who final week was appointed president of Syria for a “transitional period”, has been making an attempt to realize help from Arab and western leaders since Assad was toppled in December.

Because the fall of Assad, al-Sharaa, who was formally designated a terrorist by the US in 2013 due to his former management of al-Nusra Entrance, a splinter group of al-Qaida, has struck a conciliatory tone, calling for Syrian unity, the safety of minorities and the disbanding of insurgent factions. However some officers consider it’s too early to evaluate his sincerity.

Since Syrian rebels launched an offensive to take the nation in November, Turkish-backed fighters have focused Kurdish forces, taking quite a few cities. In the meantime, the Turkish army has maintained strain on Kurdish fighters in each Syria and northern Iraq.

Iran has condemned Donald Trump’s broadly criticised proposal to relocate Palestinian folks from the Gaza Strip to neighbouring international locations, warning it could quantity to “ethnic cleansing”.

Overseas ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has been quoted by the Agence France-Presse (AFP) information company saying that the worldwide group ought to assist Palestinians “secure their right to self-determination… rather than pushing for other ideas that would be tantamount to ethnic cleansing”.

As a reminder, Trump prompted outrage final weekend when he proposed that giant numbers of Palestinian folks ought to go away Gaza with the intention to “just clean out” the entire strip, saying neighbouring international locations corresponding to Jordan and Egypt ought to absorb extra Palestinians, both briefly or for the long run. The Palestinian Authority, Hamas and the US’s regional allies have been amongst those that condemned Trump’s proposal.

Jordan is already house to a number of million Palestinians, whereas tens of hundreds reside in Egypt. Each international locations and different Arab nations reject the concept of Palestinians in Gaza being moved to their international locations.

Palestinian information company Wafa is reporting that the Israeli army is constant its raid on the West Financial institution metropolis of Jenin for the 14th consecutive day, which the outlet says has killed at the least 25 Palestinian folks, injured dozens of others and has concerned the demolition of dozens of houses. A spokesperson for the Israeli military mentioned 23 buildings have been destroyed on Sunday in Jenin “to prevent terrorist infrastructure from being established there”.

Town’s mayor, Mohammad Jarar, was quoted as saying that about 15,000 folks have been displaced from the Jenin camp and the al-Hadaf neighbourhood, whereas Israeli troopers driving bulldozers are, based on Wafa, “destroying homes” within the al-Damj neighbourhood.

A 73-year-old man was killed by Israeli gunfire in Jenin’s refugee camp, the Palestinian well being ministry mentioned yesterday, the newest casualty in Israel’s army operation on the town, which Benjamin Netanyahu says was launched to “eradicate terrorism” within the space.

Jenin’s refugee camp, considered one of 19 throughout the West Financial institution constructed within the aftermath of Israel’s creation in 1948 to deal with displaced Palestinians, is a centre of armed Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation.

Because the begin of the battle in October 2023, which has sparked a wave of violence within the West Financial institution, Israel has raided or carried out airstrikes in Jenin a number of occasions, killing dozens and leaving a trial of heavy destruction there.

The UN has expressed concern that the ceasefire in Gaza could possibly be endangered by Israel’s army ways within the West Financial institution, which have concerned what the UN human rights spokesperson labelled “unnecessary or disproportionate use of force”.

Benjamin Netanyahu, who was one of many first to congratulate Donald Trump when he beat Kamala Harris within the November US presidential election, has known as the Republican president the “best friend Israel has ever had in the White House”.

Throughout Trump’s first time period, he delivered important diplomatic wins for the Israeli prime minister, together with recognising Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in 2019 and supporting the Abraham accords with Gulf states.

Final month, Trump mentioned he had ordered the resumption of shipments of among the largest bombs to Israel after Joe Biden had paused supply of them over issues about their use in densely populated Gaza.

On this story, my colleague Peter Beaumont writes that, whereas allies, Netanyahu and Trump have competing agendas coming into their assembly tomorrow. Right here is an extract from his piece:

On Trump’s facet is the obvious need to have quiet within the Center East to pursue his coverage of widening the 2020 Abraham accords – wherein Israel established relations with Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates throughout his first time period – to incorporate Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has made clear that any progress depends upon an finish to the battle in Gaza or the institution of a path in direction of Palestinian statehood.

On Netanyahu’s facet, the target – based on Israeli officers who briefed the Axios information web site – is to grasp the place Trump stands on the deliberate begin of negotiations for the second section of a Gaza ceasefire deal, which Netanyahu was reluctantly pushed into by Trump.

These talks are supposed to start on Monday, the sixteenth day of section one of many ceasefire. However it now appears unlikely they are going to begin till after the Trump-Netanyahu assembly, which has been characterised as an try to discover a joint US-Israeli place going into the talks.

Different key points more likely to dominate the assembly are a “day after” plan for Gaza, not least how it is going to be run and by whom, and what place to tackle Iran.

Howdy and welcome to our reside protection of the Center East.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is predicted to start talks right this moment on brokering a second section of the ceasefire with Hamas, his workplace mentioned, as he visits the brand new Trump administration in Washington.

Forward of his departure, Netanyahu instructed reporters he would talk about “victory over Hamas”, with out defining what this could imply in sensible phrases, contending with Iran and liberating all hostages when he meets with the US President on Tuesday.

It will likely be Trump’s first assembly with a international chief since returning to the White Home in January, a prioritisation Netanyahu known as “telling”.

“I think it’s a testimony to the strength of the Israeli-American alliance,” he mentioned earlier than boarding his flight.

He was welcomed to the US capital on Sunday night time by Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, who harassed the approaching Trump-Netanyahu assembly would strengthen “the deep alliance between Israel and the United States and will enhance our cooperation”.

Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned he would start discussions with Trump’s Center East envoy Steve Witkoff on Monday over phrases for the second section of the truce.

The preliminary, 42-day section of the deal is because of finish subsequent month. The following stage is predicted to cowl the discharge of the remaining captives and to incorporate discussions on a extra everlasting finish to Israel’s battle on Gaza.