A person waves a flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, as people gather during a celebration called by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) near the Umayyad Mosque, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Photo: December 20, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo

i24 News – The new administration’s president in Syria, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, conducted an interview with the Saudi Arabia-based Al Arabiya channel on Sunday to address key issues facing the country. Toppling Assad’s regime ensured and guaranteed the security of the region, the Gulf, and Syria for the next 50 years, he said, noting that the transition of power is “as smooth as possible.” Syria will witness many steps and stages until a new president is elected for Syria. Elections will be held in Syria in four years at most, with a timeline for a constitution expected for three years.

The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham organization will be disassembled, al-Sharaa said, which will be announced at an upcoming National Dialogue Conference.

“We hope the incoming Trump Administration will not follow the policy of its predecessor,” he told the Saudi channel.

Al-Sharaa criticized the UN’s lack of action, which “failed to secure the release of a single detainee or facilitate the return of a single refugee.”

“Negotiations are ongoing with the SDF to resolve the crisis in northeastern Syria,” he said, with the goal being, eventually, to integrate the militia into the national army.

“There will be no division of Syria in any way,” he said. The Kurdish area will not be a launching ground for PKK attacks against Turkey, al-Sharaa added.

Regarding the transitional government, he called them “essential for the period and not intended to exclude anyone.” This comes after worries by minorities that he will turn the state into an jihadist fundamentalist country. Faction-sharing, however, could derail the process for a fully-formed government.

He said that citizens have rights to express opinions peacefully, following protests by various groups in the wake of the fall of Assad, as long as public institutions are not harmed.

“During the liberation process, we ensured that there were no casualties or displacement,” al-Sharaa said.

He added that he made sure not to attack Iranian positions, which was a good will gesture to the Islamic Republic that will pay in dividends.

“I don’t consider myself a Syrian liberator but everyone who offered sacrifices liberated the country,” he said.

Al-Sharaa said that all who took part in the former regime’s crimes will receive their punishment and will be prosecuted.

He concluded that Syria does not want Russia to leave the country so as not to damage the relations between the two countries – despite the stalwart support Moscow gave the Assad regime.

The post Syria’s New Leader Says Elections Expected in 4 Years, Constitution in 3 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Illustrative. Children land at Ben-Gurion Airport and are greeted by Nefesh B’Nefesh co-founders Rabbi Yehoshua Fass and Tony Gelbart, as well as Israel’s Minister of Aliyah and Integration, Sofa Landver. Photo: Shahar Azran.

i24 News – About 35,000 Jews have made Aliyah (immigration to Israel) since October 7, 2023, according to figures published on Sunday by the Jewish Agency for Israel. Of these 35,000 people, originating from a hundred different countries, 31,000 have immigrated to Israel in the year 2024. A third of all immigrants were aged 18-35 years old.

The Jewish Agency’s Global Aliyah Center in Jerusalem has recorded a massive increase in the opening of aliyah files in Western countries. The Massa organization, jointly created by the Jewish Agency and the Israeli government, has meanwhile continued to bring thousands of young Jews to Israel despite the war.

The agency has also worked to mobilize Jews in the diaspora to help Israel. According to the data, 11,000 families affected by terrorism in Israel have received donations, emergency aid, and reconstruction assistance from Jews in the Diaspora. The donations amounted to a total of 80 million shekels ($20.8 million).

Since October 7, 2023, the Jewish Agency has also worked to strengthen the security of Jewish communities outside of Israel by sending over 2,300 emissaries to 65 countries. These individuals have also helped to mobilize support for the State of Israel on the world stage and to raise public awareness about the release of hostages. The Agency’s Security Fund has invested more than 19 million shekels ($5 million) for the safety of these Jewish communities in the face of a sharp increase in antisemitic acts.

“The mutual commitment between the Jews of the world and Israel is a ray of light in one of the most challenging periods in our shared history,” said the director of the Jewish Agency, Yehuda Setton, as quoted by the Jerusalem Post. “We worked together to strengthen Israel in the shadow of war and the security of Jewish communities following waves of antisemitism around the world. The Jewish Agency will continue to build the strategic partnership between Diaspora Jews and Israel and enable every Jew in the world to take part in building our shared future.”

“The Jewish Agency works to strengthen and revitalize the State of Israel in a variety of ways that are possible thanks to the connection we forge with Diaspora Jews,” said Major General (res.) Doron Almog, the chairman of the Jewish Agency. “This is a connection of existential importance that is an expression of strength and unity.”

The post 35,000 Jews Immigrated to Israel Since October 7 Massacre first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

A drone view shows smoke above Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, as seen from near Kibbutz Nir Am in southern Israel, December 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg/File Photo

Israeli forces carrying out a weeks-long offensive in northern Gaza ordered any residents remaining in Beit Hanoun to leave the town on Sunday, citing Palestinian terrorist rocket fire from the area, residents said.

The instruction to leave has caused a new wave of displacement, although it was not immediately clear how many people were affected, the residents said.

Israel says its almost three-month-old campaign in northern Gaza is aimed at Hamas terrorists and preventing them from regrouping. Its instructions to civilians to evacuate are meant to keep them out of harm’s way, the military says.

Palestinian and United Nations officials say no place is safe in Gaza and that evacuations worsen the humanitarian conditions of the population.

Much of the area around the northern towns of Beit Hanoun, Jabalia and Beit Lahiya has been cleared of people and razed, fueling speculation Israel intends to keep the area as a closed buffer zone after the fighting in Gaza ends.

The Israeli military announced its new push into the Beit Hanoun area on Saturday. It said the rocket fire into Israel continued throughout Sunday despite the intense operation there.

The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said it had lost communication with people still trapped in the town, and it was unable to send teams into the area because of the raid.

HOSPITALS

Health officials said an Israeli tank shell on Sunday had hit the upper floor of the Al-Ahly Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City near the X-ray division.

The Israeli military said the strike targeted members of the Hamas “Aerial Defence Unit,” who operated from the compound, saying the place no longer served as a hospital. It said the militants was using the compound to plan and execute attacks against Israeli troops in the immediate future.

On Friday, Israeli forces stormed the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, detaining more than 240 Palestinians, including medics.

The military said the hospital had been used as a command center for Hamas, adding on Sunday that 15 of those detained had participated in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and that its operation there had killed about 20 militants.

Hamas denies Israel’s claim that its fighters operate from hospitals, and called for U.N. observers to be sent to Gaza’s medical facilities.

The raid on Kamal Adwan, one of three medical facilities on the northern edge of Gaza, put the last major health facility in the area out of service, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a post on X.

The post Israeli Forces Order New Evacuation of Besieged Northern Gaza Town, Residents Say first appeared on Algemeiner.com.