Syria's new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, said in remarks broadcast on Monday he believes U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to resettle Palestinians from Gaza and take over the Strip "is a serious crime that will ultimately fail".
Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa © Mena Today
Syria's new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, said in remarks broadcast on Monday he believes U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to resettle Palestinians from Gaza and take over the Strip "is a serious crime that will ultimately fail".
Trump had said the U.S. would take over the war-ravaged Gaza Strip and develop it economically after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere. He said Palestinians would not have the right of return to Gaza under his proposal.
In an interview with a UK podcast, Sharaa, an Islamist whose militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham was once an affiliate of al Qaeda, said Trump's proposal would not succeed.
"I believe no power can drive people from their land. Many countries have tried to do it and they have all failed, especially during the recent war in Gaza over the past year and a half," he said.
Sharaa, declared president for a transitional phase after his group's fighters led the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, said it would be neither "wise nor morally or politically right" for Trump to lead an effort to force Palestinians out of their land.
"Over 80 years of this conflict, all attempts to displace them have failed; those who left have regretted their decision. The Palestinian lesson that every generation has learned is the importance of holding on to their land," he added.
The Islamist Ahmed al-Sharaa, self-proclaimed president of Syria, would do better to focus his energy on rebuilding his country and establishing a democracy before concerning himself with the future of Gaza.
By Jana Choukeir
Britain has asked Cyprus to extradite a dual British-Azerbaijani national suspected of spying on a British air base on the Mediterranean island and passing his findings to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, London police said on Friday.
U.S. President Donald Trump said talks in Cairo between mediators and Hamas leaders on Thursday have led to a phased disarmament agreement in Gaza, but a Hamas official described the deal as a draft and U.S. officials said Israel was skeptical the militant Palestinian group would surrender its weapons.
The United States on Thursday issued new sanctions on Thursday targeting global networks supporting Mahan Air, the Iranian carrier Washington says transports Iran's Revolutionary Guards personnel, as well as weapons and drones.
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