A plane carrying Houthi prisoners left Saudi Arabia today, Saturday , heading to Sana'a, which is controlled by the rebels.

The process, which began on Friday and will continue until Sunday, is taking place in the midst of extensive diplomatic efforts that raised hopes for an end to the Yemeni conflict between the government, which is supported by a Saudi-led military coalition, and the Houthis, who are close to Iran.

"The first plane took off from Abha (southern Saudi Arabia) to Sana'a, with 120 former detainees on board," Jessica Mosan, media advisor for the International Committee of the Red Cross, told AFP.

This is the first of three flights scheduled for Saturday between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, as the second flight will carry 16 Saudi prisoners and three Sudanese prisoners from Sanaa to Riyadh, according to the Yemeni government, while the last flight will transport 117 Houthi prisoners from Abha to the Yemeni capital.

The Yemeni conflict began in 2014 when the Houthis, backed by Iran, took control of several areas in the country, including the capital, Sanaa. The following year, Saudi Arabia intervened at the head of a military coalition, exacerbating the conflict that left hundreds of thousands dead and caused one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

During negotiations held in Berne last month, the Houthis and the government reached an agreement to exchange more than 880 prisoners. Under the agreement, the Houthis will release 181 prisoners, including Saudis and Sudanese, in exchange for 706 detainees held by government forces.

On the first day of the exchange, Friday, 318 prisoners were transported on four flights between Aden in the south, the seat of government, and the capital, by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Among them are the former Minister of Defense, Major General Mahmoud Al-Subaihi, and Major General Nasser Mansour Hadi, the brother of former President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who later went to Riyadh, where his brother resides.

Before the departure of the Saturday flight, the prisoners were transported in at least three buses to the runway of Abha Airport, which had previously been attacked by Houthi drones, and wheelchairs were placed near the buses before the prisoners began to be transferred to the plane, according to an AFP photographer.

In addition to the flights between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will operate three other flights on Saturday between Mocha (western Yemen), which is under the control of government forces, and Sanaa, to transport 100 Houthi prisoners.

In Sana'a, red carpets were spread on the grounds of the runway, awaiting the reception of the Houthi prisoners, while dozens of elements wearing phosphorous vests stood on both sides of a long line near armed elements, with the Saudi and Sudanese prisoners passing between them at a later time on their way to the plane.

Analysts say that after eight years of coalition operations to overthrow the Houthis, the Saudis have realized that this goal will not be achieved and are looking forward to ending their military involvement in Yemen.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was 29 when he was defense minister and launched the military alliance, became the kingdom's de facto ruler in 2017 and has since been keen to protect the domestic reform agenda, "Saudi Vision 2030."

Last month, Saudi Arabia's exit strategy received support from a Chinese-brokered agreement to resume diplomatic relations with Iran, which could mean reshaping the political landscape of the Middle East, given the two countries' involvement in regional conflicts, including Yemen.

Likewise, Saudi Arabia is pressing for Syria's return to the Arab League after more than a decade of suspending its membership due to the regime's suppression of protest movements. On Friday, it hosted ministers and diplomats from the Gulf states and three Arab countries in Jeddah for talks on Syria, then issued a statement highlighting "the importance of an Arab leadership role" to end the crisis.

In Yemen, a Saudi delegation visited Sanaa last Sunday for talks centered on reviving the truce and laying the groundwork for a more sustainable ceasefire. The delegation, headed by Ambassador Mohammed al-Jaber, left Thursday evening with an agreement to hold further talks, according to Houthi and Yemeni government sources.

A Houthi official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there had been "a preliminary agreement on a truce" that might be announced later, while the Houthis' chief negotiator, Mohammed Abdel Salam, described the talks as "serious and positive".

Riyadh is believed to have requested security guarantees from the Iranians, including stopping Houthi drone and missile attacks on Saudi territory.

However, even if the kingdom manages to negotiate a way out of the war, fighting could break out again between the various Yemeni factions within Yemen.

"Saudi Arabia is striving to reduce its military involvement in Yemen (...) and is seeking a lasting, long-term peace that allows it to focus on its economic priorities," Sanam Wakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House, told AFP.

"But despite this goal, it will be the mediator, investor and guarantor of the conflict in Yemen for a long time," she added.

The final statement of the ministerial consultative meeting of the countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf , the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , the Arab Republic of Egypt , and the Republic of Iraq affirmed the centrality and priority of the Palestinian cause.

The final statement condemned the illegal Israeli practices that undermine the two-state solution and the chances of achieving a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution, which embodies the independent and sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital on the borders of June 4, 1967 AD, and in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative.

It also condemned the Israeli attacks on the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Qudsi Al-Sharif, and the violation of the sanctity of the holy places, and stressed the need to respect the historical and legal situation existing therein, and that the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Quds Al-Sharif is a pure place of worship for Muslims, and that the Jordanian administration of the Jerusalem Endowments and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs It is the body empowered with exclusive jurisdiction to manage the affairs of the mosque and regulate access to it within the framework of the historical Hashemite Custodianship over the Islamic and Christian holy places in Jerusalem.

The final statement stated that the consultative meeting comes within the framework of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's keenness and interest in everything that would serve the issues of the Arab nation and promote the interests of its countries and peoples, at the invitation of Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom, and within the framework of consultation and endeavor to coordinate positions. And uniting efforts towards a number of issues of common concern.

The foreign ministers of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq participated in the meeting, which was held in Jeddah.

A child was killed and a boy was injured, on Saturday morning, as a result of a quarrel that occurred in the town of Rahat in the Negev , in the occupied interior .

According to the Hebrew website Ynet, the child Muhammad Salama Abu Hawash (14 years old) was killed during the fight, while a boy (17 years old) was seriously injured.

While it was announced that Shadi al-Najjar, a resident of Shefa Amr , died of his wounds after he was shot by unknown assailants in Haifa .

According to the Hebrew website, the number of victims of crimes inside the occupied territories rose to 49, including 3 since Friday morning.

"The Ramallah and Al-Bireh Police arrested a suspect in a murder," said the police spokesman, Colonel Louay Irzeigat , on Friday evening.

The suspect had participated in the murder of two civilians in the town of Jayyous, east of Qalqilya , last month.

Thousands of demonstrators in Iran and Arab countries celebrated Friday " Quds Day " in support of the Palestinian cause, amid the escalation of violence in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iranians have celebrated "Quds Day" every year on the last Friday of Ramadan, in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Marches were also organized on this occasion in a number of Arab countries and the Palestinian territories.

In Iran, rallies took place in Tehran and in many other cities such as Tabriz (northwest), Hamedan (west), Yazd (east), Bandar Abbas (south) and Abadan (southwest), according to state media.

Demonstrators chanted "Death to Israel and America", waving the flags of Palestine, Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

The demonstrators carried banners reading "The destruction of Israel is near" and "Palestine is the centerpiece of the unity of the Islamic world."

And in central Tehran, demonstrators burned the American and Israeli flags and pictures of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to AFP correspondents.

This year's "Quds Day" comes amid escalating acts of violence, bloody confrontations and attacks in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel, and the firing of rockets from Gaza, Lebanon and Syria at the Hebrew state, which responded to the fire in kind.

"Today, the Palestinians are resolutely resisting the Israeli aggression against Gaza," Parliament Speaker Baqer Qalibaf said in a speech he delivered in Tehran on Friday.

In the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, where pro-Iranian parties share power, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets to commemorate "Quds Day."

The demonstrators raised banners and pictures of the Iraqi Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Khamenei, as well as Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the popular crowd, who was killed along with the Iranian military commander, Qassem Soleimani, in a raid launched by an American drone in January 2020 on a road. Baghdad airport.

One of the banners raised by the demonstrators read, "God willing, the end of Israel will be in the coming years," and they chanted slogans, including "No, no, America," and "Yes, yes to Jerusalem, no, no to normalization" with Israel.

"It is not possible to reach a solution. Israel does not want security and safety in the region," Sayed al-Husseini, a local leader in the Badr Organization, one of the armed factions affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces, told AFP.

He added, "When these factions in Iraq come out in response to Imam Khomeini's call for Quds Day, we are all a sacrifice for Jerusalem."

In turn, the retired employee of the Ministry of Health, Ziyad Abdullah Hassan (65 years), said, "Quds Day is a call to all Muslims, in Arab countries or in the world, for unity, the elimination of the Zionist entity, and the guarantee of the return of the occupied land and its capital, Jerusalem."

In Burj al-Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp in the southern suburbs, Hezbollah's stronghold, fighters from Palestinian factions participated in a march for the occasion, during which they raised the Palestinian, Lebanese and Iranian flags and a picture of Khamenei and Khomeini.

In the Yarmouk camp for Palestinian refugees in the southern countryside of Damascus, hundreds participated in a military parade amid damaged or destroyed homes.

On the facade of one of the damaged buildings, pictures of the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, his son, current President Bashar al-Assad, Khamenei, Qassem Soleimani, and a number of Palestinian leaders were raised.

The participants in the march raised several flags, especially the flags of Palestine, Hamas, Hezbollah, and other factions affiliated with Iran, and chanted, "O Jerusalem, we are coming."

Syrian, Palestinian and Iranian flags were raised on the damaged buildings that the fighters walked next to.

In Jerusalem, about 130,000 people, according to the Israeli police, and 250,000, according to the Jordanian endowment, which is responsible for Islamic institutions in the holy city, participated in Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

After the prayer, masked youths waved the flags of the Islamic movement Hamas, in addition to the flag of its military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, according to an AFP correspondent.

In Gaza, the head of the political bureau of Hamas in the Strip, Yahya Sinwar, praised Iran's support "logistically, financially, and with weapons for the Palestinian resistance," and urged Arab countries not to normalize their relations with Israel.

In a video message broadcast during a festival organized for the occasion in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, head of the Hamas movement in the Strip, on Friday evening, on the occasion of "International Jerusalem Day," praised Iran's support for the Palestinian factions, warning the Hebrew state against "tampering" with the issue of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

During the festival, a video message was broadcast to Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, in which he said that the normalization of relations by Arab countries with Israel "represents a betrayal of the Palestinian people and a stab in the back of the resistance and Palestine."

For his part, the Secretary-General of the Lebanese Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said on Friday in a speech for the occasion that the recent Iranian-Saudi agreement "will slow down the path of normalization" with Israel, to which several Arab countries opened up during the last period.

Today, Friday, 200,000 worshipers performed the Isha and Tarawih prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied city of Jerusalem.

The Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem said, "200,000 worshipers performed the obligatory dinner and the Tarawih year in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, despite the strict measures and restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities on the entry of worshipers."

About a quarter of a million worshipers performed Friday afternoon prayers at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Red Crescent teams in Jerusalem provided first aid services to about 188 people during the fourth Friday prayer of the blessed month of Ramadan , in three field clinics established on the roof of the Dome of the Rock and the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque .

The crews transferred 16 sick cases to hospitals to complete their medical treatment.

It is noteworthy that the association deployed about 130 paramedics and volunteers in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings in the town to provide first aid and humanitarian services to worshipers heading to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

While there were small ambulances inside the alleys of the Old City, to facilitate the transfer of sick cases from inside the mosque to one of the ambulances that serve in the vicinity of the Old City, and works to transfer cases to the city's hospitals.

The head of the Commission for Prisoners and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Qadri Abu Bakr , called on the whole world to intervene urgently to end the arrest of the prisoner Walid Daqqa , who is in a very serious condition in the Israeli Barzlai Hospital.

In a statement, Abu Bakr condemned the shameful international silence towards Walid, who burned (37 years) from the flower of his youth and age behind bars and in the cells and detention centers of the Israeli occupation , where he is exposed at these moments to a real medical crime that may lead to the loss of his life at any moment.

He said: "Walid suffers from cancer that spreads to several parts of his body, and he also suffers from severe infections recently, as a result of which he underwent surgery two days ago, and his condition is still unstable, and he entered a disturbing coma, and doctors fear attempts to get him out of it."

Abu Bakr added, "Walid's wish must be fulfilled to live with his patient, struggling wife, Sana, and with his daughter, who was born despite the occupation, and is still waiting for her free father, to talk to her closely, away from the barbed wire, armored glass, and the phone through which visits are made." The prisoners and detainees, and the time has come for Walid, Sana and Milad to be together with his family and loved ones, and to touch fatherhood in the space of freedom.”

Abu Bakr called on the international system to break its silence, and to be faithful to its humanitarian principles, by taking immediate action to release Walid, and to allow him treatment in any place capable of saving him from the seriousness of his condition and illness.

US President Joe Biden announced Friday that he had ordered the intelligence services to "better secure" classified documents and information after a young soldier leaked a series of top-secret defense documents, especially related to the war in Ukraine, which caused great embarrassment to Washington.

"As we continue to determine the authenticity of these documents, I have directed the military and intelligence community to take measures to better secure sensitive information and limit its distribution," Biden said in a statement.

He added, "Our team for national security affairs is coordinating closely with our partners and allies," praising the "speed" with which the security and judicial agencies moved following the leak of confidential documents.

Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the "Hamas" movement in the Gaza Strip, warned, on Friday evening, the occupation against tampering with what he called the "nuclear bomb" represented by Al-Aqsa Mosque .

In his speech on the occasion of International Al-Quds Day, Al-Sinwar sent a message to the occupation, in which he said, "If you do well, you do good to yourselves, and if you do evil, then it is for them. If the promise of the Hereafter comes, they will make your faces worse, and they will enter the mosque as they entered it the first time, and they will utterly annihilate what they have conquered."

And he considered that the recent response of the resistance from the West Bank, Gaza and southern Lebanon was like a small electric shock, as he described it, adding: "But it delivered a message to the occupation that was not understood by all the mediators."

He pointed out that the resistance is alert to the hidden intentions of the occupation beyond Ramadan, and that it is for them an observatory, and it will do its duty to defend Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa and the Palestinian people.

He called on the leaders of Arab and Islamic countries to launch expressions of condemnation, calling for a strategic change in their paths, an end to normalization with the occupation, and the closure of its embassies.

And he sent a message to the Jews of the world, in which he said: "Raise your voices by rejecting the behavior of the Zionist government, boycotting it and forcing it to change its path, otherwise you will be the first to be burned by the fire of the religious war that they are igniting."

He considered what is happening against Al-Aqsa a religious war that will ignite the entire region, indicating that the resistance is watching what is happening and will move to defend it and the stationed men and women.

In his speech, Sinwar praised Iran's role in the region and its support for the resistance, indicating that his movement supports Syria's return to the Arab League.

Today, Friday, the Israeli police arrested 18 citizens from occupied Jerusalem .

According to the Hebrew website Ynet, 17 of the detainees were arrested upon their exit from Al-Aqsa Mosque and in the Old City, after they raised slogans "inciting terrorism" and the flags of Palestinian factions.

A young man was arrested from his home in Al-Tur under the pretext that he was planning to carry out an operation, and a pipe bomb was found in his home.

The Palestinian National Liberation Movement "Fatah" affirmed that it dealt with the teachers' demands with high national responsibility, and was keen to meet them through the government, due to its belief in the fairness of these demands and to ensure the success of the academic year.

The Secretary of the Central Committee of the "Fatah" movement , Jibril Rajoub , said that this positive and responsible stance taken by the Central Committee of the movement is based on its belief in the importance of the education sector and its impact on the future of our people.

Rajoub added: "The response to these demands took place after in-depth discussions and dialogues that took place with the Independent Commission for Human Rights, and some political and social forces, as the movement announced its position in support of these demands directly, through these parties or through the media."

He continued: "Despite these positive positions adopted by the movement, and called on the government to abide by them, it became clear to us and to everyone, beyond any room for doubt, that there are political agendas among some who took advantage of what happened and sought to achieve their goals that are far from the demands of the teachers."

Rajoub stressed that the "Fatah" movement will not allow the politicization of the educational process and its exploitation, because the price will be paid by our people, our cause, and the souls of our students.

He called on all teachers to return to work starting next Monday after all their demands were met, stressing that if some insisted on continuing to politicize this issue, Fatah would provide a safety net and a national incubator for the government to take measures to ensure the success of the school year and not Losing it, according to the provisions of the law and the contract signed between the employee and the government.

He pointed out that "Fatah" is ready to ensure that what happened during the last period is overcome, by providing support and assistance to all parties, in the event that the academic year begins immediately and without any delay.

After 12 years of diplomatic isolation and continuous war, Syria is close to returning to the Arab incubator through Saudi Arabia , which is organizing a regional meeting on Friday to discuss the return of Damascus to the League of Arab States.

In November 2011, the League of Arab States (18 members out of 22) suspended Syria's participation in its meetings after Damascus refused to end the violent crackdown on popular protests that began in March 2011.

At that time, Western countries and Turkey welcomed this step, while Russia, Iran, Iraq and Lebanon criticized it.

The Arab League imposed economic sanctions on Syria, including freezing commercial transactions with it and stopping flights to and from it.

These sanctions came after months of US and European economic measures against Syrian leaders and Syrian economic interests, as well as condemnations by the United Nations.

In February 2012, the Gulf Cooperation Council states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Sultanate of Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE) announced the withdrawal of their ambassadors from Syria.

In 2013, the Syrian opposition occupied Syria's seat during the Arab League summit.

On April 12, 2023, the Syrian Foreign Minister made a surprise visit to Saudi Arabia, the first since the beginning of the war in his country.

The meeting of nine Arab countries in Jeddah on Friday to discuss the Syrian issue falls within the framework of Riyadh's desire for calm with Tehran, which supports Damascus.

In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran reached an agreement on resuming relations. This came as Riyadh seeks to get out of the civil war in Yemen, in which Riyadh and Tehran participate, either directly or through mediation.

The earthquake that occurred on February 6, 2023, and devastated vast areas in Turkey and Syria, is another reason that allowed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to resume contacts with Arab countries that sent humanitarian aid to Damascus.

A Saudi aid plane landed in February in Aleppo, the country's second largest city, the first Saudi plane to reach Syria since the start of the war.

Likewise, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi called his Syrian counterpart, in a conversation that was the first between the two presidents in 12 years, although relations were not completely severed between Cairo and Damascus. At the end of February, the Egyptian foreign minister was sent to Damascus on a "humanitarian" visit.

After the earthquake, the Syrian president received the foreign minister of Jordan, a country that maintained frosty relations with Syria during the war.

And in October 2021, Jordan's King Abdullah II called the Syrian president.

Since the end of 2018, the UAE has reopened its embassy in Damascus. Assad also visited the UAE in March 2022, his first visit to an Arab country since the war.

During his meeting with Assad in March 2023, Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan considered that it was time for Damascus to return to the Arab incubator.

Meanwhile, the two countries held discussions about resuming their consular services.

On April 12, 2023, Syria and Tunisia announced their intention to resume diplomatic relations. Tunisia had appointed a consular representative in Damascus since 2015.

On the other hand, in February 2023, Al-Assad visited the Sultanate of Oman, for the first time in 12 years of war. The sultanate was the only Gulf country to maintain formal diplomatic relations with Syria.

At the end of December 2022, the Turkish and Syrian defense ministers met with their Russian counterparts in a trilateral meeting in Moscow.

This was the first official meeting of this level between Ankara and Damascus since the beginning of the war, which caused discontent among the Kurds in northern Syria and their ally Washington.

However, al-Assad considers that rapprochement with Turkey requires an "end of the Turkish occupation" of the Syrian lands.
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The head of the Higher Commission for the Follow-up of the Affairs of Detainees and Ex-Prisoners, Amin Shoman , confirmed that the flame of freedom to mark the start of the activities of the Palestinian Prisoner’s Day will be lit on Sunday evening (April 16), from the Baladna Center in the city of Al-Bireh.

Shoman told Al-Quds.com: "After the meeting held by the national and Islamic forces, it was agreed on a national program that begins on the sixteenth of this month, with a press conference to announce the program that sheds light on the issue of prisoners, and in the evening of the same day, a job will be ignited." Freedom in the Baladna Cultural Center in the city of Al-Bireh, marking the start of the activities of the Prisoner's Day, and many speeches will be given.

According to Shoman, the Prisoner's Day program will focus on the issue of prisoners, specifically the cancer-stricken prisoners Walid Daqqa and Asif al-Rifai. The program will also focus on the issue of prisoners whose bodies are kept in the occupation's refrigerators.

On the other hand, Shoman explained that the central activities on the day of the prisoner, on the seventeenth of this month, will start with marches in city centers at twelve o'clock in the afternoon, in all places of Palestinian presence, including the diaspora.

Shoman stressed that the Prisoner's Day comes this year in light of the oppression of the prisoners by the extreme right-wing occupation government, as they were going to enter into a confrontation, but they won before Ramadan, as well as in light of the imposition of racist laws on them and attempts to impose other laws.

Shoman called on the Palestinian people to stand by the captive movement inside the prisons of the occupation and to participate in the activities of the Prisoner's Day. He also called on the captive movement to maintain its unity in the Supreme Emergency Committee that represents everyone, as it is a safety valve for their unity, as well as the need for human rights institutions to stand by the prisoners. .

Today, Friday, the European Union confirmed that it is continuing to communicate with the Palestinian government to discuss the possibility of accelerating the disbursement of European contributions to help the Authority in this critical situation, calling for the immediate resumption of the educational process.

This came during a meeting of a delegation from the European Union office with the Minister of Education, Marwan Awartani , and the Independent Commission for Citizen Rights, to discuss the teachers' strike crisis in the West Bank.

He said, "We are closely following the consequences of the teachers' strike and the catastrophic effects on the educational process, stressing the need to find an immediate solution and overcome the current crisis."

He continued, "The European Union is the largest donor to the Palestinian people, and an essential part of the support for the salary bill is allocated to teachers' salaries."

On Friday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that the Russian fleet in the Pacific Ocean would be on alert and start maneuvers that had not been previously announced, in an atmosphere of rapprochement with Beijing and tension with the West.

Under orders from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Shoigu said Russia's Pacific Fleet, stationed in Vladivostok in the Far East, would "in a short time" conduct combat exercises in "near and distant" sea areas.

During the exercises, the Pacific Fleet will train to "repel massive air attacks", "searching and destroying submarines" as well as firing torpedoes, artillery and missiles, Shoigu said during a meeting with senior officers.

The Minister of Defense stated that these maneuvers aim to "strengthen the capabilities of the armed forces to repel an attack."

Shoigu said that Admiral Nikolai Evminov, commander of the entire Russian fleet, will supervise these exercises.

For his part, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that these maneuvers are "not linked" to the presence of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the Asia-Pacific region, where attention is focused on China and its American rival.

"It is a normal and routine military training and development of our armed forces and check their combat readiness," he said, noting that it is "not scheduled" for Putin to attend.

He added, "The practice of sudden checks continues and is usual, and in recent years it has been steadily."
This comes while Beijing, which is constantly conducting joint military exercises with the Russian army, announced on Friday that the Chinese Defense Minister will visit Russia from April 16 to 19.

The airports of Sana'a and Aden were crowded Friday with relatives of prisoners who were released by the two parties to the conflict in Yemen as part of a major exchange, on a day they were eagerly awaiting and considered that it would make Eid al-Fitr, which falls next week, "two holidays."

On Friday, the process of exchanging hundreds of prisoners between the Saudi-backed government forces and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels began, including Saudi prisoners, to last for three days, in a step that gives impetus to diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the conflict that has been going on since 2014.

On the runway of the airport in the capital, Sana'a, which has been under the control of the rebels since 2014, hundreds of people gathered, approaching the Yemenia Airlines plane operated by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Yahya Abu Al-Kari said that his son Abdel-Fattah has been imprisoned for five years. He said, "My feeling is the same as the feeling of the masses who came to this place. We have two feasts, the next feast at the end of Ramadan, and today is the great feast, the day our children are released."

One by one, the passengers descended, raising their fists in the air in a clear defiance, and walked among their greeters, among whom were Houthi fighters in military fatigues and children, who threw flowers and rice at them.

Many of the released detainees were seen rushing when they saw their relatives to hug and kiss them.

At the entrance to the airport, hundreds of people, most of them sat on the sidewalks and in the shade of trees, waiting for their relatives to leave.

"We are here to receive our captives. My son has been imprisoned since 2018. For five years, I have been missing him, and my heart is thirsty to see him," Abdullah al-Hajouri told AFP.

The Houthis and the Yemeni government agreed during negotiations held in Berne last month to exchange more than 880 prisoners. Under the agreement, the Houthis will release 181 prisoners, including Saudis and Sudanese, in exchange for 706 detainees held by government forces.

Saudi Arabia intervened at the head of a military coalition in the Yemeni war to support the government, exacerbating the conflict that left hundreds of thousands dead and caused one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

The same atmosphere of joy dominated Aden Airport, the temporary seat of the government, to which it moved after the Houthis arrived in Sana'a. Large white buses stopped at the airport, and Houthi prisoners dressed in traditional Yemeni dress, carrying a few items in sacks or small backpacks, disembarked and queued to board a plane to Sana'a.

One of the people who came to witness the transfer of prisoners chanted that this year's Eid al-Fitr will be "sticks," waving his hand to one of the released prisoners, who smiled and responded by saying, "God willing."

Elements of the government forces were deployed to organize the operation. A number of them, wearing turbans on their heads, stood at the door of each bus while the passengers disembarked from it, and helped elderly prisoners get off, one of whom was in a wheelchair.

Males dominated the scene, and all the released men were wearing traditional Yemeni clothes, while some of them had long hair and beards.

Nasser Al-Dhalea, a relative of one of the released detainees, said, "Our feeling at these moments is indescribable, and the overwhelming joy spread throughout Yemeni society."

The released Salim Saleh Al-Jamzi, who was detained for about four years by the Houthis, said, "God willing, the families of those of our friends who are still in detention will be released, and the families of all detainees will be released."

Many, including hundreds of military personnel and the Minister of Defense in the Yemeni government, Muhsin al-Daari, came to receive the prisoners, including the former Minister of Defense, Major General Mahmoud al-Subaihi, and Major General Nasser Mansour Hadi, brother of former President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Al-Subaihi and Hadi got off the plane of the International Committee of the Red Cross, amid heavy security deployment and warm applause from those present, many of whom carried their photos.

In Sana'a, a number of those released knelt on the runway and performed prayers, while others did not hesitate to express their continued support for the rebels.

"We came out of the darkness into the light," said Mohamed Ahmed, who spent five and a half years in captivity.

Today, Friday, the Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said that the member of the central committee of the Fatah movement , the captive Marwan Al-Barghouti , today completes his 21st year in the Israeli occupation prisons, and begins his 22nd year in a row tomorrow.

The commission said that despite these long years that the prisoner, the leader Marwan Barghouti, spent behind bars, he is still and will remain steadfast, steadfast, defying the jailer, believing that freedom will inevitably come, and that the occupation will end and will not last long, and that the Palestinian people will fulfill their aspirations for freedom and independence. In the coming days.

The Commission added that the prisoner leader, Marwan Al-Barghouti, continues his struggle from within his family, despite the restrictions, repression, and strict prison procedures. He turned prisons into real universities and institutes that graduate regiments of heroic prisoners united against forced and deprivation, and supervises the educational and academic process and follows up his students, the struggling prisoners, with all his possessions. Strength, determination and persistence, recording many successes that all Palestinians are proud of.

In its narration of some of the stations of his career, the Commission indicated that “Marwan” and his nickname “Aba Al-Qassam” was born in 1959, in the town of Kober in the northwest of the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate, and he was arrested for the first time in 1976, then the occupation re-arrested him for the second time in 1978, and for the first time. The third in 1983.

After his release in 1983, he joined Birzeit University, was elected president of the Student Council for three consecutive years, and worked to establish the Fatah Youth Movement, until the occupation re-arrested him again in 1984 for a short period, followed by his arrest in 1985, which lasted for 50 days, during which he was subjected to harsh interrogation. He was placed under house arrest and administratively detained in the same year.

In 1986, the occupation began chasing him, he was arrested and deported, and at this stage he worked with the martyr leader Khalil Al-Wazir Abu Jihad, he was elected a member of the Revolutionary Council of the "Fatah" movement in the Fifth General Conference 1989, then he returned to the homeland in April 1994, and was elected Deputy to the martyr leader Faisal Al-Husseini, and Secretary of the Fatah movement in the West Bank. He was also elected in 1996 as a member of the Legislative Council for the Fatah movement, and he was the youngest of them. He won membership in the Central Committee in the last two conferences of the Fatah movement (the sixth and seventh). He also renewed his election; He is in prison, a member of the Legislative Council in 2006, and he is considered the first and oldest member of parliament to be detained in the occupation prisons. He is now in the new section, under difficult conditions, in Nafha Prison, which was opened recently after the extremist “Ben Ghafir” took over the Ministry of National Security.

Concerning the circumstances of his arrest, the Commission stated that on April 15, 2002, after a long and arduous pursuit, the occupation forces arrested him from the Al-Irsal neighborhood in Ramallah, and he was sentenced in 2004 to five life imprisonment for forty years, accompanied by his companion of his path and struggle, his pursuit companion, and his black box. The prisoner commander, Ahmed Al-Barghouti, nicknamed “The Frenchman”, who is sentenced to (13) life imprisonment in addition to 50 years.

The second attempt to launch the "Ariane 5" rocket carrying the European space probe "JOS" on a mission to Jupiter and its frozen moons, in search of environments suitable for living outside Earth, succeeded.

The missile was launched from Kourou Air Base in French Guiana at 12:14 GMT, 24 hours after the mission was postponed due to bad weather.

The six-ton "Joss" probe separated from the rocket, according to the plan, about half an hour after take-off, at an altitude of approximately 1,500 km.

The teams at the launch site reported that the missile's trajectory after take-off was identical to what was expected.

The launch marks the beginning of an eight-year mission within the Jupiter Icy Moons explorer program, a major mission of the European Space Agency.

The mission explores Jupiter and its icy moons for habitable environments beyond Earth. But it will not reach its destination before 2031, at a distance of more than 620 million km from Earth.

Tunisian footballer Nizar Issawi died after setting himself on fire four days ago in protest against the " police state " and the police's treatment of him, according to what his family announced Friday.

Nizar Issawi, 35, set himself on fire after a dispute with the police in the Hafouz area of Kairouan Governorate (center). He intended to file a complaint against the background of a dispute between him and a banana seller who sells his goods at a price higher than the officially set price.

After that, he was transferred to the hospital to receive first aid, and he died as a result of severe burns, "yesterday evening in the Burns Hospital in the capital, and he will be buried today," according to what his brother, Riyad Al-Issawi, told Agence France-Presse.

And a video clip spread on social media showed Issawi filming himself with a phone and shouting, "A dispute with a person who sells bananas for ten dinars. I go to the station (the police). They accuse me of terrorism. Terrorism, people, terrorism for the sake of bananas."

In the video clip, he points his hand towards a police station and repeats, "They wronged me."

Before the incident, Al-Issawi posted a post on his Facebook page, in which he wrote, "I, Judge Nizar Al-Issawi, sentence the accused Nizar Al-Issawi to death by burning, because he is a man... The session has been adjourned... I no longer have the energy (tolerance). Today it will be done." Implementation, police state.

And the Tunisian authorities issued a decision before the month of Ramadan that the selling price of bananas should not exceed five dinars in an attempt to reduce the phenomenon of monopoly in the markets, and the demand for this fruit witnessed a great rush.

The incident brings to mind the 2011 revolution that overthrew the Zine El Abidine Ben Ali regime, and erupted after the young man, Mohamed Bouazizi, committed suicide by burning himself after the police confiscated his goods. On that day, the protests expanded to include all regions of the country and led to the escape of the president.

France Press was unable to obtain a comment from the Interior Ministry on the incident.

Following the announcement of Issawi's death, dozens of young men demonstrated in the Hafuz area on Thursday night and entered into a clash with the security forces, who used tear gas to disperse them, according to local media.

The demonstrators chanted, "We will execute you, Nizar, with our soul and blood," and threw stones at the security forces, according to video clips that circulated on social media.
Issawi played in football clubs that are active in the professional league in the Tunisian league, but he does not belong to a club in the current period.

On Friday, the trial of five senior Austrian officials began in Vienna , accused of abuse of power, as they are suspected of providing protection to a Syrian officer accused of crimes against humanity.

The indictment, seen by AFP, states that "the defendants willfully abused their positions" by helping a former Syrian general obtain asylum in Austria.

Prosecutors said four intelligence agents and an official from the Office for Refugee Protection "illegally" facilitated asylum for Khaled al-Halabi , the most senior Syrian official in Europe, according to NGOs.

The results of the investigation indicated that they had acted under an agreement reached in May 2015 with a "foreign partner", which the Austrian press said was the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service.

The Public Prosecution confirmed that the "foreign partner agency" "illegally" smuggled this Syrian officer out of France, where he was forbidden to leave, to transfer him to Austria "in a car with diplomatic plates," without further details.

Then the Austrian services transported him “by a service car” to a place of residence and arranged for him to obtain asylum in December 2015, without respecting their duty to inform the Public Prosecution Office.

Defendants who reject the charges face up to five years in prison. In 2016, the International Commission for Justice and Accountability, a non-governmental organization fighting impunity for war criminals in Syria, informed the Austrian authorities of suspected involvement in war crimes by Khaled al-Halabi, after they identified him in Vienna while he was carrying a false identity.

Khaled al-Halabi served as the head of State Security Intelligence in Raqqa from 2009 to 2013, and in this context he is accused of supervising acts of torture and other crimes against civilians.

With the advent of the Islamic State in 2013, he fled to France, where he faced difficulties in obtaining asylum.
The prosecution said that the investigation is still ongoing.

Several officials of the Syrian regime are subject to judicial prosecutions in Europe.

And in Austria, a former Free Syrian Army fighter was sentenced to life in prison in May 2017 for executing 20 wounded government soldiers and after disarming them. The ruling was upheld on appeal two years later.

Russian oil exports in March reached their highest level since April 2020 despite the sanctions imposed on Moscow, but their revenues declined from what they were a year ago, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Friday.

In its monthly oil market report, the IEA said that despite harsh sanctions imposed by the European Union and the Group of Seven, total oil shipments from Russia rose in March by 600,000 barrels per day and reached 8.1 million barrels per day, the highest level since April. 2020.

The agency said that the bulk of the increase was attributed to refined petroleum products, which rose by 450,000 barrels per day to reach 3.1 million barrels.

In its latest monthly report, the agency said, "In March, Russian oil exports reached their highest level since April 2020, thanks to an increase in the flow of products, which returned to levels last seen before the Russian invasion of Ukraine."

She explained that Russia's revenues rose last month by $1 billion to $12.7 billion, but it remained 43 percent lower than last year.

The International Energy Agency said shipments of oil products destined for the European Union almost doubled between February and March to 300,000 barrels per day, but are down about 1.5 million compared to pre-war levels.

Diesel shipments to Turkey, which has refused to take part in imposing Western sanctions on Moscow, are at their highest levels since 2018.

Despite international sanctions targeting its oil, Russia has redirected its hydrocarbon exports to other countries, such as India.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said Thursday, quoting data from the analysis company specialized in raw materials, "Kpler", that "Russia was the largest supplier of crude oil to India in February for the eighth month in a row, with a share of about 38 percent."

The European Union imposed an embargo on seaborne shipments of Russian oil in December, along with a $60 a barrel price cap for worldwide exports agreed between the G7 and Australia.

The European Union also imposed an embargo on Russian oil products in February and agreed with the Group of Seven on a price cap of $100 a barrel for more expensive fuels such as diesel and $45 for lower-quality products such as fuel oil.

The measures aim to strip Russia, one of the world's largest energy producers, of a major source of revenue for its war effort.

Russia responded to Western sanctions by reducing its production by 500 thousand barrels per day. Its partners in "OPEC Plus" shocked the markets by announcing production cuts earlier this month.

But Russia missed its target in March as production fell by 290,000 barrels per day, according to the International Energy Agency.

The agency said that the cuts made by several members of OPEC Plus, led by Saudi Arabia, threaten to raise the prices of crude and oil products.

"Consumers who are currently besieged by inflation will suffer more from higher prices, especially in emerging and developing economies," said the agency, which advises developed countries.

The total cuts amounted to 1.7 million barrels per day, in addition to a reduction of two million barrels per day agreed by OPEC+ in November.

The International Energy Agency said the move threatened to "exacerbate an expected oil supply deficit" in the second half of the year.
After the announcement, oil prices rose. This is while crude oil prices have fallen in recent months after rising following the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year.

Dozens of citizens were injured today, Friday, during clashes with the occupation forces in several separate areas of the West Bank.

The occupation forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas canisters at the citizens participating in the demonstrations condemning the settlement and the continuous Judaization of their land.

Clashes erupted in the town of Beita, south of Nablus, Beit Dajan in the east, the Zawiya area in Hebron, and the town of Kafr Qaddum in Qalqilya.

In Qalqilya, three civilians, including a child, were wounded by rubber-coated metal bullets, and dozens suffocated, during the suppression of the Kafr Qaddum march east of Qalqilya by the Israeli occupation forces.

Local sources said that the occupation forces suppressed the participants in the weekly march denouncing settlements and demanding the opening of the main village street, which has been closed for 20 years, and fired rubber-coated metal bullets and toxic gas at them, which led to the injury of three citizens, including a child, with metal bullets, and dozens suffocated.

Prominent Shiite religious leader Muqtada al-Sadr announced Friday that most of the activities of the Sadrist movement , one of the most prominent political movements in Iraq, would be frozen for a period of "no less than" a year.

Al-Sadr, who constantly calls for the fight against political corruption, used to surprise his supporters and opponents with decisions on social media. During the past year, he announced his withdrawal from political life.

Al-Sadr has a wide fan base thanks to the heritage of his family that belongs to the lineage of the Prophet, and he has hundreds of thousands of supporters who obey his orders, in support of his father who was assassinated by Saddam Hussein's regime in 1999 and his memory is still widely respected by the majority of Shiites.

Al-Sadr said in a tweet on Twitter, "Being a reformer for Iraq and not being able to reform (the Sadrist movement) is a sin. And if I continue to lead the (Sadr movement) and it includes (the people of the cause) and some corrupt and some reprehensible people, this is a serious matter."

Al-Sadr’s announcement comes after Iraqis and media platforms circulated on social media a video clip attributed to a supporter of a mysterious group calling itself “Ansar al-Qa’ida,” during which he called for a “campaign to declare allegiance to the promised imam, Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr,” in reference to the hidden imam, the Mahdi, who hopes Shiites back.

Therefore, Al-Sadr decided in the tweet that "it is in the interest to freeze the movement as a whole, except for Friday prayers, the Heritage Committee, and (Barani Al-Sayyid Al-Shahid), for a period of no less than a year."

The Heritage Authority carries out cultural and religious activities, and the Shiites call it "Barani" on a wide hall near the building of the shrine of prominent imams and clerics.

Likewise, “the shrine of the father is closed until after Eid al-Fitr,” which begins after the twentieth of this month and lasts for three days.

For its part, the Karkh Investigation Court in Baghdad decided to "arrest 65 accused members of the so-called (case owners) gang that promote ideas that cause strife and disturb social security," according to the Supreme Judicial Media.

The court made its decision in coordination with the National Security Agency, as it is the competent authority for the investigation.

In 2022, during a political crisis related to naming a prime minister, al-Sadr announced his "final withdrawal" from political action, which led to bloody armed clashes in Baghdad between his supporters on the one hand and Shiite factions on the other.
He had previously announced the resignation of the Sadrist movement's deputies (73 deputies), who represented the largest political bloc in the House of Representatives.

Today, Friday, 10 citizens were injured as a result of the stampede as worshipers exited the Lions Gate in Al-Aqsa Mosque .

According to the Red Crescent in Jerusalem, 3 of the injured were taken to hospitals, while the others were treated in the field.

US President Joe Biden is facing pressure from members of his party to change US policy towards Israel, and to open an investigation into the policies of its new far-right government, according to Haaretz newspaper.

The newspaper said that fourteen members of the Democratic Party sent a letter to the administration of US President Joe Biden urging him to make a foundational shift in the administration's approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, "in the most progressive message so far against the Israeli government since Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right coalition took power." According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The letter, which was initiated by Representative Jamal Bowman (D-New York) and Senator Bernie Sanders (Independent from Vermont), urges US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to "make a shift in US policy in recognition of the exacerbation of violence, the annexation of more lands, And denying Palestinians rights. Only by protecting democracy, human rights, and self-determination for all Palestinians and Israelis can we achieve lasting peace.”

The letter, which was originally launched on March 28, was signed by Representative Cory Bush (Democrat from Missouri), Andre Carson (from Indiana), Representative Summer Lee (Democrat from Pennsylvania), Representative Betty McCollum (from Minnesota), and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rep. Ilhan Omar (R-Minnesota), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (R-Massachusetts), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (R-Michigan), Raul Gregalfam (R-Arizona), Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D- New Jersey), Rep. Jesús "Choy" Garcia (Illinois) and Rep. Delia Ramirez (R-Illinois).

In their letter, the progressive lawmakers urged the Biden administration to ensure that US taxpayer money does not support Israeli settlement projects, and to determine whether US military assistance violates the Arms Export Control Act or the so-called "Leahy Act" relative to former Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont. which requires the export and monitoring of US weapons to ensure they are sold only for legitimate self-defense, and prohibits the use of US funding to equip or train foreign military forces suspected of human rights abuses or war crimes.

"We call on your administration to ensure that future foreign assistance to Israel, including weapons and equipment, is not used to support gross violations of human rights, including by strengthening end-use monitoring and financial tracking," the letter to the administration says. "We ask that you respond with a detailed plan of how the administration plans to achieve this goal," the letter says.

The lawmakers affirmed that they are “deeply concerned by the Israeli government’s moves that show that the illegal de facto and de jure annexation of the occupied West Bank is well under way,” stressing that “the Israeli government’s anti-democratic mission to dismantle the rule of law is a threatening mission to Israelis and Palestinians alike.” .

And the newspaper states: “We know that your administration has met repeatedly with Israeli officials to confirm US support for “equal measures of freedom, dignity, security, and prosperity for both Israelis and Palestinians” without a mechanism to implement this.

They add that Israel's postponement of planned judicial reform will fail to "reduce systemic violence against Palestinians, including the annexation of Palestinian land." The Israeli government's actions are a clear violation of international law and commitments made to the United States; its agenda will destroy Palestinian communities and escalate tensions with Dire consequences for both Palestinians and Israelis. Only clear steps to change the political situation will pave the way for peace."

According to Haaretz, more than 70 progressive American Jewish leaders lent their support to the aforementioned letter, emphasizing that "As Jews living in the United States, we come from a range of histories, backgrounds, and relations with Israel/Palestine. We all value justice and human rights. State violence is clear." Israel, as well as settler violence, is getting worse under Israel's current far-right government and effectively diminishes the possibility of justice and liberation in the future."

It is noteworthy that the official spokesperson on behalf of the US State Department said, in response to a question from the Jerusalem correspondent when announcing the aforementioned letter on March 28, that the ministry does not comment on private correspondence between it and members of Congress.

On Friday, cyber hackers were able to penetrate the websites of Israeli banks, as well as the website of the post office.

According to the Hebrew website Ynet, some banks' websites were down for a limited time before they were restored.

Hackers groups "Anonymous Sudan" announced that they had hacked those sites, days after they hacked educational sites.

Large crowds performed the fourth Friday prayer of the month of Ramadan, at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque .

The Islamic Endowments Department reported that 250,000 worshipers performed the fourth Friday prayer of the month of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa Mosque, despite the Israeli occupation's restrictions on worshipers and its attempt to impede their access to Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed into law a law banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, after the White House called the procedure "dangerous and extreme."

"We are proud to support Life and Family in Florida," DeSantis said in a statement.

By law, women are prohibited from having an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, except if the pregnancy poses a threat to the mother's health, or is the result of rape or incest and does not exceed 15 weeks, or if the fetus is not viable.

The White House criticized the move, saying it "contradicts basic freedoms and contradicts the views of the vast majority" of Americans.

"This ban will prevent four million Florida women of childbearing age from obtaining abortion care after six weeks -- before many more women know they are pregnant," said White House spokeswoman Karen Jean-Pierre.

And the Republican-controlled Florida House of Representatives passed the resolution hours ago, with the approval of 70 deputies and forty opposition.

Florida reduced a year ago from 24 to 15 weeks, the period during which abortions are allowed. The new law will not go into effect until the Supreme Court decides on an appeal filed by the associations against the 15-week limit, on the grounds that the law violates the privacy clause.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who intends to run for the US presidential elections in 2024, reinforces his conservative right-wing orientation.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani considered, in a television interview broadcast on Thursday evening, that talk of Syria's return to the Arab League is "speculation," stressing that the reasons for suspending Damascus' membership still exist for Doha.

"Qatar's decision is not to take any step if there is no political solution to the Syrian crisis," the official told state television.

He added that with regard to other countries, "every country has its own assessment and this is a sovereign decision pertaining to it, but the State of Qatar adheres to this position to this day. Until now, there is nothing but speculation, and nothing clear is on the table."

The prime minister was speaking on the eve of a meeting between the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt in Jeddah to discuss the issue of Syria's isolation.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman, whose country supported the Syrian opposition during the years of the conflict, said, "There were reasons to suspend Syria's membership in the Arab League and to boycott the Syrian regime at that time, and these reasons still exist for us, at least in the State of Qatar."

He added, "The war has stopped, but the Syrian people are still displaced and innocent people are in prisons. We do not want to impose solutions on the Syrian people, who must reach a solution and there must be a political solution to the Syrian crisis."

On Friday, Saudi Arabia will host the meeting in Jeddah to exchange views on the return of Syria to the Arab incubator, in the midst of major regional diplomatic moves with which the political landscape in the region has changed since Riyadh and Tehran agreed to resume relations last month.

An Arab diplomat in Riyadh told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that "the purpose of the meeting is to overcome the Gulf differences over Syria as much as possible."

For its part, the Syrian National Coalition, an opposition group that operates the Syrian embassy in Doha, praised the Qatari position on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

"We appreciate the firm Qatari position refusing normalization with the Syrian regime," the coalition said in a statement. He stressed that the Syrian people are still "suffering the bitterness of displacement, bombing and arrest to this day."