Sweeping new US cuts in humanitarian aid to Palestinians are already hitting hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable people, amid accusations that the Trump administration is using the issue to “blackmail” Palestinians into accepting a peace deal that critics say will favour Israel. Fears of a wholesale withdrawal of …
Read More »US peace plan: Palestinian state with east J’lem as capital, limited sovereignty
Asharq Al-Awsat reports on a developing US Mideast peace plan that recognizes east Jerusalem as Palestinian capital, no right of return, limited demilitarized sovereignty, billions in aid, Jordan Valley remaining in Israeli hands; Europeans offer arbitration assistance but unwilling to replace US. The US peace plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian …
Read More »Trump administration to pull back funding for Syria reconstruction efforts
The State Department will pull back funding it had allocated to rebuild parts of Syria once held by the Islamic State, saying Friday that other countries will now provide $230 million in planned spending. Most of the U.S. money was first announced in January by then-secretary of state Rex Tillerson to …
Read More »Egypt says suspended U.S. military exercises to resume
Egypt’s armed forces said on Tuesday that joint U.S.-Egyptian military exercises will resume this month for the first time since 2009, after U.S. officials canceled them in 2013 following an Egyptian army crackdown on protests. The joint training is usually held every two years but was also canceled in 2011 …
Read More »Egypt’s Sisi meets Kushner after U.S. holds back aid
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met U.S. presidential adviser Jared Kushner on Wednesday after the United States decided to withhold millions of dollars in aid. Two U.S. sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday that Washington had decided to deny Egypt $95.7 million in aid and to delay …
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