Jordan, Syria carry out first anti-narcotics operation since Assad regime’s collapse
Jordan, Syria carry out first anti-narcotics operation since Assad regime’s collapse/node/2617871/middle-east
Jordan, Syria carry out first anti-narcotics operation since Assad regime’s collapse
Members of the Syrian security forces gather bags of narcotics at a defunct drug factory inside an abandoned building near the village of Hawik in the countryside of Al-Qusayr, Feb. 12, 2025. (File/AFP)
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Updated 11 sec ago
Arab News
Jordan, Syria carry out first anti-narcotics operation since Assad regime’s collapse
The operation was the result of months of field coordination and intelligence sharing
It is the first joint Jordanian and Syrian crackdown on drugs since the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024
Updated 11 sec ago
Arab News
LONDON: Jordanian and Syrian anti-narcotics authorities have cracked down on drug networks in a cross-border coordination effort, foiling several smuggling attempts and seizing large quantities of toxic substances.
The Anti-Narcotics Departments of Jordan and Syria announced in a joint statement on Sunday that their forces have foiled seven smuggling attempts along the Jordanian-Syrian border and seized nearly one million narcotic pills that were intended for illegal distribution across the Middle East.
It is the first major operation between the two countries’ anti-narcotics authorities since the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024, which has been accused of profiting from the production and trafficking of drugs, specifically the Captagon pill.
Jordanian and Syrian authorities said that the joint operation was the result of months of field coordination and intelligence sharing, which led to the dismantling of organized criminal networks that posed a direct threat to the security of both countries.
Authorities arrested multiple individuals involved in criminal activities in both Jordan and Syria, disrupting their plans to manufacture, smuggle, and distribute illegal drugs, according to the Petra news agency.
The anti-narcotics departments of Jordan and Syria reaffirmed their commitment to ongoing security and intelligence cooperation to combat drug trafficking and smuggling across the region.
They reaffirmed their determination to protect society from the dangers of narcotics and their destabilizing effects on regional security, the Petra added.
The operation follows a Jordanian-Syrian agreement in January to establish a joint security committee aimed at securing their border, combating arms and drug smuggling, and preventing the resurgence of the terror group Daesh.
Kuwait dispatches 16th relief aircraft to help Palestinians in Gaza
The plane carrying 10 tonnes of food supplies landed on Sunday at Al-Arish Airport in northern Sinai, Egypt
KRCS organized the aid delivery to Gaza in cooperation with the Kuwaiti ministries of foreign affairs, defense, and social affairs
Updated 05 October 2025
Arab News
LONDON: Kuwait dispatched on Sunday its 16th plane carrying aid and relief supplies bound for the territory of Gaza as the Arab Gulf state continues its humanitarian airbridge to support Palestinians.
Talal Al-Hindi, representative of the Kuwaiti Red Crescent Society, said that the Air Force plane, carrying 10 tonnes of food supplies, landed on Sunday at Al-Arish Airport in northern Sinai, Egypt.
The aid consisted of 540 food baskets provided by the Kuwaiti charity association Khairat.
KRCS organized the aid delivery to Gaza in cooperation with the Kuwaiti ministries of foreign affairs, defense, and social affairs.
Al-Hindi added that several Kuwaiti charities contributed to the shipment and that the Kuwaiti Embassy in Egypt, along with the Egyptian Red Crescent Society, is supporting and facilitating the delivery of aid to Palestinian families in Gaza.
The second phase of Kuwaiti air support has transported over 150 tonnes of essential humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
Israeli authorities detained several Kuwaiti nationals last week who participated in the Global Freedom Flotilla, which aimed to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza, where at least 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since late October 2023.
Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry said that the government is working to secure the release of its citizens and is monitoring their safety in Israeli detention.
An Israeli army soldier behind a mounted machine gun in the vicinity of the Jordanian Field Hospital in Gaza City, Oct. 3, 2025.
Updated 36 min 50 sec ago
Reuters
Rubio says Gaza war is not yet over, priority is to get hostages out
He told NBC’s Meet the Press that Hamas had “basically” agreed to President Donald Trump’s proposal and the framework for releasing the hostages
Updated 36 min 50 sec ago
Reuters
WASHINGTON: The war in Gaza has “not yet” ended, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday, describing the release of the hostages held by Hamas as the first phase, while details on what happens after that still need to be worked out.
He told NBC’s Meet the Press that Hamas had “basically” agreed to President Donald Trump’s proposal and the framework for releasing the hostages, while meetings were underway to coordinate the logistics of that.
“They have also agreed, in principle and generalities, to enter into this idea about what’s going to happen afterwards,” he said. “A lot of details are going to have to be worked out there.”
Speaking later to Fox News Sunday, Rubio said that nothing was certain.
“No one can tell you it’s a 100 percent guarantee,” he said. Rubio told NBC the US would know “very quickly” whether Hamas was serious or not during the current technical talks to coordinate the release of the hostages.
“Priority number one, the one that we think we can achieve something very quickly on hopefully, is the release of all the hostages in exchange for Israel moving back” to the yellow line — where Israel stood within Gaza in the middle of August — Rubio said.
He described the second phase of the long-term future of Gaza as “even harder.”
“What happens after Israel pulls back to the yellow line, and potentially beyond that, as this thing develops? How do you create this Palestinian technocratic leadership that’s not Hamas?” Rubio said.
“How do you disarm any sort of terrorist groups that are going to be building tunnels and conducting attacks against Israel? How do you get them to demobilize?“
“All that work, that’s going to be hard, but that’s critical, because without that, you’re not going to have lasting peace,” he added.
Israel to expand Mitzpe Yeshai settlement on Palestinian land near Qalqilya
Israeli plan includes building 58 new housing units at the settlement
Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories break international law, hindering the establishment of a Palestinian state
Updated 05 October 2025
Arab News
LONDON: Israeli authorities approved a new settlement plan on Sunday to confiscate 35 dunams (9 acres) of land from the Palestinian village of Kafr Qaddum, located east of Qalqilya in the occupied northern West Bank.
The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, which monitors settlement activities in the Palestinian territories, reported that the Israeli plan includes the construction of 58 new housing units at the Mitzpe Yeshai settlement, which is situated on the land of Kafr Qaddum.
Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are a breach of international law and UN resolutions, hindering the potential for establishing a Palestinian state, the Wafa news agency said.
In early September, Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right Israeli finance minister, revealed plans to annex 82 percent of the West Bank, a move that would effectively end the prospect of realizing the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli forces and settlers have carried out more than 38,000 attacks in the West Bank, including 767 fires deliberately set on Palestinian homes and lands, and more than 1,000 demolitions that destroyed nearly 3,700 structures, including homes and agricultural facilities, according to the commission’s report.
The commission also documented the displacement of 33 Palestinian Bedouin communities caused by settler violence and the establishment of 114 new settler outposts. Israeli forces set up more than 900 permanent and temporary checkpoints in the West Bank, restricting movement throughout the occupied territory.
According to official Palestinian figures, at least 1,048 Palestinians have been killed, and about 10,300 injured by Israeli gunfire, since October 2023.
Mourners react at the funeral of Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday, according to medics, at Nasser Hospital.
Updated 29 min 3 sec ago
AFP
MSF outraged by death of 15th colleague in Gaza
Abed El Hameed Qaradaya, 43, succumbed to shrapnel injuries sustained in the attack which happened on Thursday
MSF said the attack was carried out by Israeli forces
Updated 29 min 3 sec ago
AFP
GENEVA: The medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) voiced sorrow and outrage following the death on Sunday of a colleague fatally hit in Gaza.
Abed El Hameed Qaradaya, 43, succumbed to shrapnel injuries sustained in the attack which happened on Thursday and which had killed MSF colleague Omar Hayek and injured several others.
MSF said the attack was carried out by Israeli forces.
It said its staff were waiting for a bus to the charity’s field hospital at the time, and were all were wearing MSF vests.
El Hameed is the 15th MSF staff member killed in the near two-year conflict, and the third in less than 20 days.
“His loss is immense and has a tragic impact on his loved ones, MSF and the health system in Gaza,” the Geneva-based NGO said in a statement.
“For 18 years, Abed El Hameed was a cornerstone of MSF’s physiotherapy department in Gaza. He was a unique and invaluable specialist in both physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
“Abed was dedicated not only to his patients’ physical recovery but also to restoring their hope and sense of dignity.”
MSF said he innovated and adapted tools, and was the driving force behind opening a 3D physiotherapy department.
“We are profoundly grieved and outraged by the loss of our colleagues — a stark reminder of the pattern of complete disregard for civilian lives and human dignity,” it said.
The United Nations and rights groups have frequently condemned the high death toll of humanitarians and aid workers in the Palestinian territory, as Israel pursues its offensive against the Islamist group Hamas.
Hamas calls for swift prisoner release as Cairo talks set to begin
Foreign ministers of several countries say the talks a “real opportunity” to achieve a comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza
The diplomatic push follows the Palestinian militant group’s positive response to US President Donald Trump’s roadmap
Updated 05 October 2025
AFP
CAIRO: Hamas on Sunday called for a swift start to a hostage-prisoner exchange with Israel as negotiators from the two warring sides meet in Egypt for crucial talks aimed at ending the nearly two-year war.
Foreign ministers of several countries, including Egypt, said the talks were a “real opportunity” to achieve a comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza.
“Hamas is very keen to reach an agreement to end the war and immediately begin the prisoner exchange process in accordance with the field conditions,” a senior Hamas official said on condition of anonymity.
The diplomatic push follows the Palestinian militant group’s positive response to US President Donald Trump’s roadmap for the release of captives in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Negotiators are due to hold talks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing hope that hostages held in Gaza could be released within days.
Netanyahu said Saturday he had instructed negotiators to go to Egypt “to finalize the technical details,” while Cairo confirmed it would also be hosting a delegation from Hamas for talks on “the ground conditions and details of the exchange of all Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners.”
Egyptian state-linked media said the two parties would hold indirect talks on Sunday and Monday, just before the second anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war.
The White House said Trump had sent two envoys to Egypt — his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff.
“During communications with mediators, Hamas insisted that it is essential for Israel to halt military operations across all areas of the Gaza Strip, cease all air, reconnaissance, and drone activity, and withdraw from inside Gaza City,” a Palestinian source close to Hamas said.
“In parallel with the cessation of Israeli military activity, Hamas and the resistance factions will also halt their military operations and actions,” he added.
According to Trump’s plan, Israel is expected to release 250 Palestinian prisoners with life sentences and more than 1,700 detainees from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, triggering the ongoing war.
But Trump warned he would “not tolerate delay” from Hamas, urging the group to move quickly toward a deal “or else all bets will be off.”
Trump said on Truth Social that Israel had agreed to an initial line of withdrawal in Gaza and that this had been shared with Hamas.
“When Hamas confirms, the Ceasefire will be IMMEDIATELY effective, the Hostages and Prisoner Exchange will begin, and we will create the conditions for the next phase of withdrawal,” he posted, alongside a map of the proposed line.
Netanyahu said that “in the coming days we will be able to bring back all our hostages... during the Sukkot holidays,” referring to the week-long Jewish festival that begins on Monday.
Strikes continue
Despite Trump calling on Israel to halt its bombings, Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Gaza.
AFPTV footage showed thick smoke billowing into the skyline over the coastal territory on Sunday.
Gaza civil defense agency, a rescue force operating under Hamas authority, said Israeli strikes killed at least five people in Gaza City in the morning, after several attacks through the night.
On Saturday, nearly 60 people were killed in Israeli strikes, including 40 in Gaza City alone, the agency reported.
“The decision to occupy Gaza, the collapse of multi-story buildings, and the intensity of IDF operations in the city have led to the evacuation of roughly 900,000 residents to the south, creating immense pressure on Hamas and the countries that support it,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a speech on Sunday.
The United Nations had estimated that around one million people were living the area before the start of the assault.
“There has been a noticeable decrease in the number of air strikes (since last night). The tanks and military vehicles have slightly pulled back, but I believe this is a tactical move, not a withdrawal,” said Muin Abu Rajab, 40, a resident of Al-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City.
No role for Hamas
Hamas has insisted it should have a say in the territory’s future.
Trump’s roadmap stipulates that Hamas and other factions “not have any role in the governance of Gaza,” while also calling for a halt to hostilities, the release of hostages within 72 hours, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Hamas’s disarmament.
Under the proposal, administration of the territory would be taken up by a technocratic body overseen by a post-war transitional authority headed by Trump himself.
“Netanyahu will not be able to escape this time... (Trump) is the only one who can force Israel to comply and stop the war,” said Sami Adas, 50, who lives in a tent in Gaza City with his family.
Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 67,139 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.
