Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa attended an Arab League summit in Cairo focused on Gaza, his first since ousting Assad. He met key officials and condemned Trump’s proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza, calling it a “very huge crime that cannot happen.” Sharaa’s participation reflects Syria’s growing diplomatic engagement post-isolation.
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa attended an Arab League summit in Cairo focused on Gaza, marking his first participation since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad nearly three months ago. According to the state news agency SANA, Sharaa was present to address developments regarding the Palestinian issue.
During the summit, Sharaa met with prominent officials, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas. His attendance follows a swift offensive by his group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led to Assad’s ousting on December 8, ending decades of Assad family rule.
After being appointed interim president for an unspecified transitional period in January, Sharaa’s presence in Cairo was facilitated by a travel ban exemption from a UN Security Council committee. This allowed him to engage with regional leaders despite being on a sanctions list.
The summit was convened as a rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal suggesting that the U.S. should rebuild Gaza while relocating its Palestinian inhabitants to neighboring countries. Sharaa denounced this plan as a “very huge crime that cannot happen.”
The attendance of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the Arab summit underscores a significant shift in Syria’s diplomatic engagement after years of isolation due to the civil war and Assad’s rule. The discussions underscored the urgent need to address the Palestinian issues amid ongoing regional strife and international proposals that threaten Palestinian rights. Sharaa’s participation also reflects the changing dynamics in the Middle East and Syria’s ongoing political transitions.
Original Source: www.france24.com
