Hello,
This week was a week of ‘will they, won’t they?’ as hopes for a ceasefire were reignited by talks in Doha and comments from US President Donald Trump. At the time of writing, both the hopes for a ceasefire and the killing in Gaza continued.
In the newsroom, we were following mediation efforts for a ceasefire that were part of a wider theme of political de-escalation in parts of the region this week. As US President Donald Trump received Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, negotiators in Cairo and Doha were meeting to finalise plans for a 60 day ceasefire.
Elsewhere, the PKK’s imprisoned leader Abdallah Ocalan renewed his call for peace with Turkey in his first video address in 26 years ahead of a symbolic ceremony of laying down arms by the PKK in neighbouring Iraq.
Meanwhile, US Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack met with officials in Lebanon and Syria to find ways to disarm Hezbollah, and stabilise Syria, including a deal with its Kurds.
Separately, and yet related, Syria-US ties were further solidified as Washington removed the terrorist designation from the main body governing Syria, Hayat Tahrir AlSham. Meanwhile, in Abu Dhabi, Armenia and Azerbaijan held peace talks, with ‘normalisation’ as a goal.
For many, talks can appear futile, but when the alternative is war, one can only hope that talks can lead to peace deals that end wars.
Wishing you a more peaceful week ahead
