DAMASCUS: Syria’s new interim president, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, said he plans to establish a transitional justice committee, in a speech Tuesday after the opening of a national dialogue conference.
Sharaa, whose Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham toppled longtime president Bashar Assad in December, also emphasized the unity of Syria and the state’s “monopoly” on weapons.
The national dialogue conference, held in the presidential palace in Damascus, marks the start of a crucial phase for the country’s future governance after a devastating civil war.
“Over the past two months, we have worked on pursuing those who committed crimes against Syrians,” Sharaa told the gathering.
“We will work on forming a transitional justice body to restore people’s rights, ensure justice, and, God willing, bring criminals to justice.
“The unity of arms and their monopoly by the state is not a luxury but a duty and an obligation,” the interim leader said.
“Syria is indivisible; it is a complete whole, and its strength lies in its unity.”
Hundreds of people were seen arriving for the conference in footage published by the official SANA news agency, before discussions got underway.
New Syria leader says plans to set up transitional justice committee
https://arab.news/85dby
New Syria leader says plans to set up transitional justice committee
- The national dialogue conference marks the start of a crucial phase for the country’s future governance
Israel agrees to ‘limited reopening’ of Rafah crossing: PM’s office
- The announcement came after visiting US envoys reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza
JERUSALEM: Israel said Monday it would allow a “limited reopening” of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt once it had recovered the remains of the last hostage in the Palestinian territory.
The announcement came after visiting US envoys reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza.
Reopening Rafah forms part of a Gaza truce framework announced by US President Donald Trump in October, but the crossing has remained closed after Israeli forces took control of it during the war.
The Israeli military also said it was searching a cemetery in the Gaza Strip on Sunday for the remains of the last hostage, Ran Gvili, a non-commissioned officer in the police’s elite Yassam unit.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the reopening would depend on “the return of all living hostages and a 100 percent effort by Hamas to locate and return all deceased hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said on X.
It said Israel’s military was “currently conducting a focused operation to exhaust all of the intelligence that has been gathered in the effort to locate and return” Gvili’s body.
“Upon completion of this operation, and in accordance with what has been agreed upon with the US, Israel will open the Rafah Crossing,” it said.
