Saudi Arabia, partners seek to revitalize Palestinian-Israeli peace process at UN meet

Ministerial meeting convenes in New York, United States, on September 18, 2023 to discuss revitalizing the Middle East Peace Process. (SPA)
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Updated 19 September 2023
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Saudi Arabia, partners seek to revitalize Palestinian-Israeli peace process at UN meet

  • Israeli-Palestinian peace continues to be elusive since the peace process was launched in Madrid in 1991
  • Saudi FM chairs meeting attended by representatives from nearly 70 countries, international organizations

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia, the EU and along with Egypt and Jordan have issued a statement to revitalize the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, state news SPA reported on Tuesday.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi foreign minister, co-chaired a meeting that also including the Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the secretary-general of the Arab League; Josep Borrell, EU’s high representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; Ayman Safadi, deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Jordan; Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s foreign minister.

The meeting was attended by representatives from nearly 70 countries and international organizations, and included around 50 speakers from diverse nations.

The meeting sought to produce a Peace Supporting Package that “will maximize peace dividends for the Palestinians and Israelis once they reach a peace agreement,” report noted.

“It seeks to produce detailed programs and contributions, conditional upon achieving a final status agreement, that will support the peace, and ensure that all peoples of the region reap its benefits. The effort seeks to ensure that Peace Day is a day of opportunity and promise, thus incentivizing earnest efforts to reach it.”

The statement noted that Israeli-Palestinian peace continued to be elusive since the peace process was launched in Madrid in 1991 as signed agreements, including the Oslo accords, have not been fully honored.

“The occupation continues and with it come a number of complications and difficulties that lead the parties further away from a possible agreement. The situation on the ground is proving to be untenable and the status quo is becoming impossible to accept, all the more in an international situation plagued with conflicts. Ignoring the need to revitalize the peace process is neither helpful to the parties nor to the present and future of the Middle East.”

The renewed effort is based on the urgent need to preserve the Two State Solution ensuring a viable sovereign independent and contiguous Palestinian state based on the June 4, 1967 lines, the SPA report added.

“The need to revitalize a meaningful peace process to achieve the Two State Solution, in accordance with international law, UNSC resolutions, the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and the 2013 EU peace supporting offer cannot be overemphasized. The alternative is further deterioration that will threaten regional and international security,” the statement added.

“The Peace Day Effort builds, among others, on the Arab Peace Initiative (API), which was adopted by the Arab States to lay out their vision for a comprehensive regional peace and its terms and requirements. Predicated on the full withdrawal from all Palestinian and Arab territories occupied since 1967 in exchange for full normalization, the API was later endorsed by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and welcomed by the European Union and the United Nations.

“The Peace Day Effort also builds on the 2013 EU offer to provide an “unprecedented package of political, security and economic support” to both parties in the context of a final status agreement.”

The conveners also launched working groups charged with elaborating the components of the comprehensive Peace Supporting Package, and all participants were invited to contribute to the working groups.

The Working Groups will focus on identifying substantive elements of the Peace Supporting Package, and will convene in principle at Special Envoy or Ambassadorial level and will benefit from input by experts.


Ceasefire with Kurdish-led force extended for another 15 days, Syrian army says

Updated 25 January 2026
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Ceasefire with Kurdish-led force extended for another 15 days, Syrian army says

  • The defense ministry said the extension was in support of an operation by US forces to transfer accused Daesh militants to Iraq
  • The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed the ceasefire extension

RAQQA, Syria: Hours after the expiration of a four-day truce between the Syrian government and Kurdish-led fighters Saturday, Syria’s defense ministry announced the ceasefire had been extended by another 15 days.
The defense ministry said in a statement that the extension was in support of an operation by US forces to transfer accused Daesh militants who had been held in prisons in northeastern Syria to detention centers in Iraq.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed the ceasefire extension.
“Our forces affirm their commitment to the agreement and their dedication to respecting it, which contributes to de-escalation, the protection of civilians, and the creation of the necessary conditions for stability,” the group said in a statement.
Over the past three weeks, there have been intense clashes between government forces and the SDF, in which the SDF lost large parts of the area they once controlled.
Earlier in the day, the Kurdish-led force called on the international community to prevent any escalation.
The end of the truce came as government forces have been sending reinforcements to Syria’s northeast.
Syria’s interim government signed an agreement last March with the SDF for it to hand over territory and to eventually merge its fighters with government forces. In early January, a new round of talks failed to make progress over the merger, leading to renewed fighting between the two sides.
A new version of the accord was signed last weekend, and a four-day ceasefire was declared Tuesday. Part of the new deal is that SDF members will have to merge into the army and police forces as individuals.
The SDF said in a statement Saturday that military buildups and logistical movements by government forces have been observed, “clearly indicating an intent to escalate and push the region toward a new confrontation.” The SDF said it will continue to abide by the truce.
On Saturday, state TV said authorities on Saturday released 126 boys under the age of 18 who were held at the Al-Aqtan prison near the northern city of Raqqa that was taken by government forces Friday. The teenagers were taken to the city of Raqqa where they were handed over to their families, the TV station said.
The prison is also home to some of the 9,000 members of the Daesh group who are held in northeastern Syria. Most of them remain held in jails run by the SDF. Government forces have so far taken control of two prisons while the rest are still run by the SDF.
Earlier this week, the US military said that some 7,000 Daesh detainees will be transferred to detention centers in neighboring Iraq.
On Wednesday, the US military said that 150 prisoners have been taken to Iraq.