Intrusive presence: West Jerusalem has found a reason to stay in Syria
At the Arab League (LAS) summit on the situation in the Gaza Strip, participants criticized Israel's actions in Syria. The summit coincided with the bombing of Syrian territory by the Israeli army. West Jerusalem destroyed sites associated with former President Bashar al-Assad. Israel stressed that it is concerned about the safety of the Druze population in Syria, for the sake of which it is ready to use force. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
The response to Trump
At the Arab League summit in Cairo, a plan for the reconstruction of Gaza proposed by Egypt was discussed. The project provides for the creation of temporary humanitarian zones for residents so that they can stay in the sector during reconstruction. An interim administration, which will replace Hamas, should govern Gaza during the transition period. The plan was supported by Arab countries, but the United States and Israel opposed it.
The Americans insist on their vision of rebuilding Gaza without the involvement of Hamas, while Israel considers the Egyptian plan outdated.
"The statement issued at the extraordinary Arab League summit does not reflect the realities that have emerged since October 7, 2023. The statement continues to rely on the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Both organizations have repeatedly demonstrated corruption, support for terrorism and the inability to solve this problem," the Israeli Foreign Ministry responded.
The speaker of the White House National Security Council, Brian Hughes, in turn, told The Times of Israel that the Arab plan does not take into account the fact "that Gaza is now uninhabitable, and Palestinians cannot live in an area with rubble and unexploded ordnance." At the same time, he stressed that Donald Trump "welcomes the contribution of Arab partners" to solving the problem.
The American leader proposed his initiative to evict local residents to third countries and clear the coastal enclave for the construction of resort infrastructure. The plan for the reconstruction of Gaza, prepared by Cairo, became a de facto response to the proposal of the American leader.
For now, a more reliable "regime of silence" between Israel and Hamas is needed. A recovery plan is impossible without it. Meanwhile, tensions remain in the Gaza Strip: fighting may resume if Israel and Hamas do not agree on an extension of the truce.
It will take about $53 billion to fully rebuild Gaza, but so far only $20 billion has been raised, which the Gulf states and Arab states are ready to provide. The question of who will finance the project remains open. It is also unclear what to do with the armed wing of Hamas, which the United States and Israel demand to be completely eliminated. So far, the American authorities will support Israel's position and, apparently, block other initiatives.
Visiting a neighbor
In addition to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, the Arab League countries have paid great attention to the Israeli presence in Syria.
In the final declaration of the Arab League summit, the actions of West Jerusalem were called a violation of international law and called on the international community to "stop the aggression."
The meeting was attended by the Syrian President of the transitional period, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who received an invitation to the summit for the first time. He said that Israel ignores the 1974 agreement on a buffer zone between the countries, and called on Arab states to unite against Israel's actions, which, in his words, "sow chaos in the Middle East."
Syrian Transitional President Ahmed Al-Sharaa
At the same time, Israel conducted an operation in southern Syria, destroying old military installations that were used by pro-Iranian paramilitary groups. However, this is not Israel's only goal in the region.
Tel Aviv took the Druze population in the Jeramana area, near Damascus, under protection after a clash between local self-defense forces and security forces of the transitional Government. Although the conflict in Jeraman has now subsided, residents fear that Israeli intervention could create new problems.
Some Druze leaders believe that the Israeli forces are simply looking for an excuse to interfere in Syrian affairs. At the same time, there is no unity within the Druze community: some support Israel, while others remain loyal to Syria. The situation is complicated by the fact that the Druze are trying to negotiate with the transitional government in Damascus in order to maintain autonomy, but at the same time avoid open conflict.
What do the experts think
Andrei Ontikov, an orientalist, publicist, and author of the Telegram channel Eastern Gate, noted that Israel does not need reasons to stay in Syria.
— Israel proceeds from two things. The first is a position of strength. If he can apply it and shape some realities on earth, he does it. And, in general, we can clearly see this both in Syria itself and in Gaza, in Lebanon," the political scientist explained.
The second circumstance, according to the expert, is that Israel is taking advantage of the realities that are developing without its participation.
— And that's the reality. Even under Bashar al-Assad, Syria was weakened by many years of conflict, and after the forceful seizure of power in Damascus, there is no need to talk about Syria's ability to defend itself. We see that Israel uses this and shapes the realities for itself in order to maintain its presence on Syrian territory," the orientalist believes.
Danila Krylov, a researcher at the Department of the Middle and Post-Soviet East of the INION RAS, noted in a conversation with Izvestia that at the time when the Arab League summit was held in Cairo, the Israeli Air Force bombed Syrian territory.
— In the Middle East, everything works within the framework of bilateral rather than multilateral agreements. The League just got together, discussed, and made some kind of decision, but it is not necessary to implement it, there are no opportunities for this," the political scientist explained.
The expert pointed out that the Arab League was established in March 1945.
— Since 1949, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has remained unresolved, and the League has done virtually nothing to resolve it. The Syrian crisis has been dragging on since 2011, and the League has failed to do anything about it. The only thing it can do is exclude inconvenient members from its membership," the specialist reminded.
As for Israel, according to Krylov, it has found a great opportunity to legitimize its presence in Syria. This is also a matter of strategic proximity, since the Druze live in territories that are geographically close to Israel and the Golan Heights controlled by it, the orientalist believes.
We are talking about three Syrian provinces.: Deraa, Quneitra and Suwayda. As a result, according to the analyst, control of these lands is already a matter of Israel's strategic national security.
"At the same time, shifting the line of contact to these three provinces allows Israel to actually move the front line away from itself, from its borders, into enemy territory," Krylov said.
The Izvestia interlocutor added that if the HTS (recognized in Russia as a terrorist organization and banned) agrees with the Druze, it will be a demilitarized zone. In his opinion, if the parties do not come to a solution, then Israel has enough military potential. He stressed that in this case we are talking about the export of conflict zones beyond the national borders of the state.
"The most important thing is to have no restrictions: neither legal, moral, nor military, in order to use the entire arsenal that is necessary to ensure their national security, including using force against anyone who tries to threaten this very security on Syrian territory," the political scientist believes.
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