Tag: jordan

Could Red Sea attacks push up prices and fuel inflation? | Business and Economy

Houthi rebels have attacked vessels transporting goods through Bab al-Mandeb strait that they say are linked to Israel.

Inflation was expected to ease in 2024 after more than 18 months of interest rate hikes by central banks. The most aggressive monetary tightening in decades.

But attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea are threatening to push up the cost of living again.

Geopolitical tensions have disrupted global trade, sending shipping and insurance costs soaring.

A widening war in the oil-producing Middle East region could further worsen people’s finances.

Africa’s mounting debt is crippling the continent’s development.

Plus, we look at how sleep has turned into a multibillion-dollar business.

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At least 10 civilians dead in suspected Jordanian air raids in Syria | Syria’s War News

An estimated 10 civilians have been killed in air strikes targeting the neighbouring towns of Arman and Malh in the southeast Syrian province of Sweida, according to local media.

Jordanian forces are believed to be behind Thursday’s attacks, though its government has yet to confirm any involvement.

Sweida 24, a news platform based in its namesake city, said warplanes carried out simultaneous strikes on residential neighbourhoods after midnight local time (21:00 GMT).

The attack in Malh caused material damage to some houses. The second strike in Arman, however, collapsed two houses and killed at least 10 civilians, including four women and two girls, both under the age of five.

Jordan is thought to have carried out previous raids in Syria, mostly near the countries’ shared border, in an effort to disrupt weapons smuggling and drug-trafficking operations.

The news outlet Suwayda shared this image on social media of the wreckage following a suspected Jordanian air raid on January 18 [Suwayda 24 via Reuters]

But inhabitants of the towns struck on Thursday questioned the choice of targets.

“What happened was a massacre against children and women,” Murad al-Abdullah, a resident of Arman, told Al Jazeera. “The air strikes that targeted the villages are far from being identified as fighting drug traffickers.”

Al-Abdullah said the bombing was not limited to houses of people suspected to be involved in drug trafficking. He noted other homes were damaged as well, terrorising villagers while they were asleep and causing needless civilian deaths.

“It is unreasonable for two girls who are no more than five years old to be involved in drug trafficking,” al-Abdullah said.

Tribes and residents of the villages near the Jordanian border issued separate statements this week disavowing any involvement in drug smuggling.

The statements also pledged to lend a hand to Jordan to eliminate criminal networks trafficking narcotics and other drugs across the border. In turn, they asked Jordan to suspend its bombings of civilian sites.

The spiritual leader of the Druze religious group in Syria, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri, appealed to Jordan to prevent further civilian bloodshed.

“The attacks should be heavily focused towards the smugglers and their supporters exclusively,” al-Hajri said in a public statement.

Al-Abdullah, the Arman resident, also called on Jordan to collaborate with Syrian locals to stop the trafficking operations.

“We are a society that does not accept the manufacture or trade of drugs, and the Jordanian government should have communicated with our elders to cooperate in combating drug traffickers, instead of bombing residential neighbourhoods,” al-Abdullah said.

Suspected attacks aimed at drug-trafficking operations

Thursday’s attack is believed to be the third time this year that Jordanian planes have carried out air raids on Syrian territory.

A previous attack occurred on January 9, resulting in the deaths of three people in the countryside of Sweida, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based rights monitor.

The Observatory said that five smugglers were also killed in a border attack on January 7. Fighting that day took place sporadically over 10 hours.

By the end of the raid, Jordanian forces had arrested 15 suspects. They also claimed to have recovered 627,000 pills of Captagon, an illicitly manufactured amphetamine, and 3.4kg of cannabis.

“What Jordan is doing can certainly delay drug-smuggling operations but unfortunately, cannot stop them completely. The border with Syria is 375km (233 miles) long, and smuggling operations are carried out by professional groups, not some random individuals carrying out bags of drugs to cross the border,” said Essam al-Zoubi, a lawyer and human rights activist.

Drug enforcement officials in the United States and other Western countries have said that war-torn Syria has become a major hub in the Middle East for the drug trade.

The country, for instance, has become the primary manufacturer for Captagon, a multibillion-dollar business. Experts have said smugglers are using Jordan as a route through which Syrian drugs can reach the oil-rich Gulf states.

A Syrian soldier arranges packets of Captagon pills in Damascus, Syria, on November 30, 2021 [File: SANA via AP Photo]

Al-Zoubi and other human rights advocates have warned the Syrian government itself is involved in the drug trade, in an effort to shore up its war-drained finances.

Reports indicated that the Fourth Armoured Division of the Syrian Army has played a role in overseeing the country’s drug operations, alongside the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, an ally of the Syrian government.

“The officials responsible for drug smuggling in Syria are Hezbollah of Lebanon, the Fourth Division, and the security apparatuses of the Syrian regime that control southern Syria,” al-Zoubi said.

Jordan and its allies have also taken other approaches to stopping the drug trade.

In March last year, for instance, the US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on six people, including two relatives of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, for their role in producing and trafficking Captagon. Some of those sanctioned had ties to Hezbollah as well.

But al-Zoubi warns that even targeted attacks on Syrian drug dealers will not be enough to stop the trade.

“It does not matter to the drug officials from Hezbollah or the Fourth Division if traders are killed, as the trades themselves will continue regardless of the people,” al-Zoubi said, pointing to an example in May 2023.

Jordanian soldiers patrol the Jordan-Syria border in 2022, as the country seeks to crack down on drug smuggling [File: Raad Adayleh/AP Photo]

Jordanian planes, at the time, had carried out air raids in the Sweida countryside, targeting the house of one of the most famous drug traffickers in Syria, Marai al-Ramthan. He was ultimately killed in the attack.

But, al-Zoubi said, his death “did not limit drug trafficking but, in fact, increased it”. Other smugglers used his demise as an opportunity to expand their trade in his absence.

Omar Idlibi, director of the Doha office at the Harmoon Center for Contemporary Studies, said that geopolitical turmoil in the region has also allowed trafficking to flourish.

“Drug-smuggling operations to Jordan did not exist before 2018, that is, before the Syrian regime and its Iranian allies regained control of southern Syria from the opposition factions,” he told Al Jazeera.

Idlibi explained that the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has had a direct effect on the expanding drug operations.

As it focused on Ukraine, Russia withdrew some of its troops in Syria, allowing Iranian militias and Hezbollah forces to spread. Those groups then turned some of the Syrian army’s headquarters into logistical centres for the manufacture, transport and smuggling of drugs to Jordan.

Russia’s need for military equipment from Iran also prompted it to turn a blind eye to the drug-smuggling activity in Syria, Idlibi explained.

“Everyone knows that the Syrian regime and Iran are behind the terrorist activity on the Syrian-Jordanian border, and unless it is terminated from the source, it will continue at different rates,” Idlibi said.

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Jordan’s King Abdullah II presses Blinken to push for a ceasefire in Gaza | Israel War on Gaza News

Jordan’s King Abdullah II has urged US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to push for a ceasefire in Gaza and bring an end to the humanitarian crisis in the besieged Palestinian territory, as the months-long war continues to rage.

The king met Blinken in the Jordanian capital Amman on Sunday and warned him of the “catastrophic repercussions” of the continuation of the war which began three months ago, the royal palace said.

At least 22,835 people have been killed – including 9,600 children – in Israel’s assault on Gaza since October 7, according to Palestinian officials. At least 1,139 people were killed in Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, according to Israeli authorities.

The king reiterated “the important role of the United States in bringing pressure for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, protection of civilians, and guaranteeing delivery” of medical and humanitarian aid, the royal palace said.

Blinken, who kicked off a weeklong trip across the Middle East on Friday, aimed at calming tensions in the region and ensuring the war does not spread, arrived in Jordan from Turkey and Greece, where he noted that there was “real concern” over the Israel-Lebanon border.

“We want to do everything possible to make sure that we don’t see escalation there” and to avoid an “endless cycle of violence”, he said.

After visiting Jordan, Blinken will travel to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and the occupied West Bank, where he will deliver a message that Washington does not want a regional escalation of the Gaza conflict.

The top US diplomat also hopes to make progress in talks about how Gaza could be governed after the war.

Future of Gaza

Earlier on Sunday Blinken met Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, who discussed a future scenario that would bring the West Bank and Gaza together as the basis of a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, according to a statement from Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates.

Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994 and King Abdullah reaffirmed the need for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian question and underlined Jordan’s “total rejection” of any forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Washington also insists on a two-state solution, something rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, some of whose cabinet members have also called for Palestinian inhabitants of Gaza to leave.

A senior US State Department official travelling with the top diplomat told Reuters that Blinken will continue pressing hesitant Muslim nations to prepare to play a role in the reconstruction, governance and security of Gaza.

The US delegation aims to gather Arab states’ views on the future of Gaza before taking those positions to Israel, the official said, acknowledging there would be a significant gap between the different parties’ positions.

Humanitarian crisis

After his meeting with Jordanian officials, Blinken visited the World Food Programme’s regional coordination warehouse near the Jordanian capital and highlighted that “it is imperative” to “maximise assistance to people in need”, by getting the aid in and distributing it effectively.

Inside the warehouse, stocked with pallets of canned food aid, the senior UN official in Jordan, Sheri Ritsema-Anderson, described the situation in Gaza as unlike anything she had seen during 15 years in the Middle East.

It is “catastrophic”, she told reporters.

Blinken said the US was working to keep aid routes into the strip open and multiply them.

“We are intensely focused on the very difficult and indeed deteriorating food situation for men, women and children in Gaza, and it’s something we’re working on 24/7.”



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Israel’s ‘Plan B’ for the Gaza Strip | Opinions

It has been more than two months now since the Israeli authorities launched a war on Gaza in response to Hamas’s attack on its southern territories, which resulted in the killing of about 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians. Relentless Israeli bombardment and ground attacks have flattened entire neighbourhoods and killed close to 20,000 Palestinians, more than a third of them children.

The declared goal of the Israeli onslaught has been the “eradication” of Hamas from the enclave, but the viability of that being achieved has been increasingly questioned by foreign officials and analysts. Instead, the large-scale destruction wrought on Gaza as well as internal communications point to another aim the Israeli authorities may be pursuing.

A document produced by Israel’s Ministry of Intelligence leaked to the Israeli press in late October outlined the forcible and permanent transfer of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinian residents to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

The document was reportedly created for an organisation called The Unit for Settlement – Gaza Strip, which seeks to recolonise the Gaza Strip 18 years after Israeli troops and settlers withdrew from it.

Yet, we are not living in 1948. Today, it is much more difficult to wipe out cities and villages as was done 75 years ago during the expulsion of a large percentage of the Palestinian population from its homeland by Israeli militias, when, among other things, the reach of the media was far less extensive than it is now. The Israeli authorities have therefore turned to what we might term “the plan B”: that is, to make the Gaza Strip unliveable, by dropping tens of thousands of tonnes of bombs.

The new strategy is implemented by targeting civilian infrastructure that supports life in the strip, including schools, universities, hospitals, bakeries, shops, farmland and greenhouses, water stations, sewage systems, power stations, solar panels, and generators.

This is carried out in parallel with a full siege on Gaza, whereby food, water, electricity and medicine have been cut off. The Israeli army lets in a few trucks a day, if at all, which humanitarian organisations have said does not meet at all the needs of the Palestinian population, 1.8 million of whom have been internally displaced.

This has resulted in what has interchangeably been called humanitarian “disaster”, “catastrophe”, “graveyard” and “hell”. The Palestinians of Gaza have been pushed to the brink of survival, while widespread epidemics are perceived by some as a desired goal. As former head of the Israeli National Security Council Giora Eiland has claimed: “Severe epidemics in the south of the Gaza Strip will bring victory closer.”

Once the Gaza Strip is rendered unliveable and the population has no choice but to leave voluntarily, the next step is to ensure that neighbouring countries, Egypt first and foremost, are ready to “absorb them”. This has been made clear by several prominent figures in Israel, including former deputy director of its national intelligence agency Mossad, Ram Ben Barak.

In a tweet in Hebrew, Ben Barak expressed the need “to build a coalition of countries and international funding that will allow Gazans who want to leave to be absorbed [in those countries] through the acquisition of a citizenship”.

Back on November 12, 1914, US President Woodrow Wilson wrote to racial equality advocate William Monroe Trotter that “Segregation is not humiliating but a benefit, and ought to be so regarded by you gentleman”. More than 100 years later, Israel’s plan – which has less to do with segregation and more with ethnic cleansing – is presented in similar terms. The expulsion, in Ben Barak’s words, is an “opportunity [for Gaza residents] to escape the reign of fear of Hamas, which uses them as human shields”.

The irony, of course, is that Palestinian civilians are often used as “human shields” by the Israeli army itself. But beyond that, along with the emphasis on “voluntary” departure in this “benevolent approach”, the forced resettlement is also made more palatable for the international community with claims that the Palestinians are really just Arabs, and therefore can easily relocate to other Arab countries.

Israel has long called the 156,000 Palestinians (and their descendants) who managed to remain within its borders after 1948 “Arabs”, denying them their Palestinian identity. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once claimed, “The Arab citizens [of Israel] have 22 nation states. They don’t need another one.”

It is important here to stress that referring to the local populations, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Strait of Hormuz, as “the Arabs” would be like calling people from South Africa, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Britain, regardless of their origin, “the English”. They share the language but show very clear peculiar histories, traditions and identities.

More than 1,000 years ago, Jerusalemite geographer al-Muqaddasi (946–1000) explained in clear terms that he perceived himself as a Palestinian: “I mentioned to them [workers in Shiraz] about the construction in Palestine and I discussed with them these matters. The master stonecutter asked me: Are you Egyptian? I replied: No, I am Palestinian.”

Centuries later, on September 3, 1921, an editorial published in the Arabic-language newspaper Falastin pointed out: “We are Palestinians first, and Arabs second.”

These are just two examples, among many others, of written sources where “Palestinian” is clearly used as an identity marker.

That Palestinians are not simply “Arabs” appears further evident if we look at the years in which the West Bank was occupied (1948-1967) by Jordan: an occupation which was opposed by the local population at the time, most of all by Fatah fighters, to the point that King Hussein felt obliged to impose martial law.

In Gaza, which was under Egyptian control during the same period, Palestinians faced harsh repression, were denied citizenship, and had very little control over local administration. Most of them lived in very poor conditions, largely in refugee camps, having been expelled by Israeli militias from villages around the Gaza Strip, including Huj, Najd, Abu Sitta, Majdal, al-Jura, Yibna, and Bayt Daras. These last three villages, in particular, are the ones from where the three founders of Hamas – Ahmed Yassin, Abd al-Aziz al-Rantisi and Ibrahim al-Yazuri – were expelled with their families when they were children.

Today, not only the Palestinians are struggling against their mass expulsion from Gaza and possibly the West Bank, but the neighbouring countries which Israel is pressuring to host them are also viciously resisting.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has repeatedly and clearly rejected the “displacement of Palestinians from their land”. He, like his predecessors, sees the Palestinians as a security risk. If they were to be expelled to the Sinai, he fears the peninsula would become a base of operations for Palestinian fighters, which could drag Egypt into another war.

Jordan is also worried about the expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank to its territory and King Abdullah and his government have made their opposition clear. As Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has argued: “Do whatever you [Israeli authorities] want. Go, destroy Gaza. No one is stopping you and once you are done, we [will not] clean up your mess.”

Israel’s ability to carry out its “Plan B” is indeed in question. Back in 1950, the United Nations suggested resettling thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the Sinai Peninsula. The proposal encountered harsh resistance from the refugees themselves and was eventually abandoned. Today, the resistance is fiercer than ever. Palestinians know what “temporary” means – that there is no “right of return” for them – and are keen to remain on their land.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

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How Arab eco-normalisation of Israel covers up its crimes | Opinions

As world leaders gathered in Dubai for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28), Israeli President Isaac Herzog and a delegation of two dozen Israeli officials were allowed to join them. That is despite the fact that Israel is not only committing genocide in Gaza, but also ecocide of devastating proportions.

COP28 is yet another venue Israel has used to greenwash its image and solidify its normalisation with Arab states. Indeed, Herzog met with a number of Arab leaders who have chosen to normalise relations with Israel and have pursued joint “green initiatives” with Israeli companies.

So-called environmentally friendly collaborative projects between Israel and Arab states constitute a form of eco-normalisation – the use of “environmentalism” to greenwash and normalise Israeli oppression and environmental injustice.

This effectively extends Israeli green colonialism – which has been devastating Palestine for decades – into the rest of the Arab world. Resisting it must be part of Arab solidarity and struggle in support of the Palestinian cause.

Water apartheid

One prominent example of eco-normalisation is a United Arab Emirates-backed Israeli-Jordanian deal to exchange desalinated water for energy.

In November 2021, Jordan, Israel and the UAE signed a declaration of intent for Project Green and Project Blue, jointly known as Project Prosperity. It envisioned the construction of a 600MW solar power plant by Masdar, a UAE state-owned renewable energy company, on Jordanian territory to sell electricity to Israel and the expansion of an Israeli water desalination programme to export 200 million cubic metres of water to Jordan.

The three countries intended to announce a concrete agreement on the implementation of the projects at the COP28 in the UAE, but ahead of the start of the conference, Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi said that his country would not sign anything due to the war in Gaza. However, there has been no official announcement about the full termination of the deal.

While the future of the project is uncertain at this time, it still has contributed to Israel’s eco-normalisation. It has helped support an image of the country as a green technology pioneer “assisting” its “underdeveloped” neighbours suffering from the consequences of climate change.

The project effectively covers up Israel’s responsibility for water scarcity in Jordan. Israel has been depleting its neighbour’s water resources by usurping control over the Jordan River and restricting access to the resources of the Yarmouk River. It controls double the water share it should be entitled to under the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention and refuses to abide by previous sharing arrangements.

Mekorot, the Israeli national water company, has played a leading role in depriving Jordan of its fair share of water. It has been diverting water from the Jordan River to Israeli communities, including ones in the Naqab desert, which is directly affecting water availability for Jordan.

It also has created a water supply network for the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, depriving the native Palestinian population of adequate access to water resources and effectively imposing water apartheid on them. It has been enabled to do so by the Israeli military occupation and its Military Order 158 of 1967, which declares that Israel has full control over all water resources in the occupied territories and none can be developed without its permission – which, of course, Palestinians almost never receive.

Despite the leading role it is playing in pushing Jordan and the occupied West Bank towards water scarcity, Mekorot has been touted internationally as a “pioneer” in water desalination technology. Its participation in water projects, especially in the Global South, has contributed to Israel’s greenwashing efforts.

Those would undoubtedly continue even as Israel triggers what is already shaping to be a water catastrophe in Gaza.

Even before the ongoing brutal war, the Gaza Strip was struggling with a major water crisis. It was estimated that 96 percent of the water in its aquifer was contaminated and unfit for human use. This was very much due to the fact that the siege Israel imposed on the Strip in 2007 had prevented proper water and wastewater management and treatment.

Since mid-October, even the few existing wastewater and desalination facilities have become inoperable as Israel has cut off electricity and fuel supplies. In addition, the Israeli bombardment has targeted water pipes and sewers throughout Gaza.

Experts in public health have raised concerns about the looming outbreak of infectious diseases, including waterborne diseases like cholera and typhoid. Israel’s plan to flood tunnels under Gaza with seawater may lead to the further contamination of underground water and soil, resulting in a water-related environmental and human disaster.

Green energy colonialism

The eco-normalisation of Israel has also extended into the energy sector.

A few months ahead of COP27, in August 2022, two Israeli companies, Enlight Renewable Energy (ENLT) and NewMed Energy, signed a memorandum of understanding to develop renewable energy projects in Jordan, Morocco, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain, as well as Saudi Arabia and Oman, which have not officially normalised relations with Israel.

Their plans include the development, construction and operation of wind and solar power plants and energy storage. These projects, of course, bolster the image of Israel as a hub for creative renewable energy technologies and help greenwash its image.

Both Enlight and NewMed have been involved in projects that reinforce the Israeli occupation and apartheid. Enlight has two wind farm projects in the occupied and annexed Golan Heights and is developing another wind energy project in the northern part of the Naqab desert and the southern part of the occupied West Bank, in partnership with several illegal Israeli settlements.

NewMed is a subsidiary of the Delek Group, which has been involved in gas exploration projects in disputed maritime areas, near Palestinian and Lebanese waters. It also owns a chain of petrol stations across illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights and supplies fuel to the Israeli occupation forces.

Of course, the native Palestinian and Syrian populations of these occupied territories do not benefit from Israeli energy projects and they are effectively denied sovereignty over their energy resources.

Palestinians inhabiting Area C have no access to the electricity grid in the area, which has been developed by Israel to serve Israeli illegal settlements. The Israeli authorities also refuse to issue them permits to set up solar panels, which could provide an alternative source of energy.

In Gaza, before the war, Palestinians lived with just a few hours of electricity per day due to the Israeli siege. As part of the complete blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip since October 7, Israel has totally cut off electricity from reaching Gaza and targeted alternative sources of energy like solar panels. Even the solar panel systems operating in hospitals such as al-Shifa have been bombed.

Israel’s exploitation of Palestinian resources to the detriment of the Palestinian people masked in the form of “green projects” is a perfect illustration of green energy colonialism.

Energy colonialism refers to companies and states plundering and exploiting the resources and land of impoverished countries and communities to generate energy for their own use and benefit.

As we have argued in our book Dismantling Green Colonialism: Energy and Climate Justice in the Arab Region, renewable energy colonialism is an extension of the colonial relations of plunder and dispossession.

It effectively maintains the same political, economic and social structures that have generated inequality, impoverishment and dispossession in formerly and still colonised places and shifts the negative effects of energy production – including pollution – to these already marginalised communities.

Resisting eco-normalisation and colonialism

Eco-normalisation allows Israel to position itself in the energy and water sectors regionally and globally as a leader in innovation and green technologies, thereby reinforcing its political and diplomatic power.

With the exacerbating climate and energy crises, it will likely use the increasing reliance of other countries on its technology and energy and water resources as yet another tool to marginalise and sideline the Palestinian struggle.

Thus, there is an abiding connection between Israeli greenwashing, which is reinforced through eco-normalisation, and the consolidation of apartheid and settler colonialism in Palestine and the Golan Heights.

The dark tunnel that is Palestinians’ life under Israeli oppression is getting darker. Yet a glimpse of light can be seen that illuminates the Palestinians’ long path to liberation: that light is the increasing resistance of the Palestinian people, who refuse to be isolated, dehumanised and obliterated.

The struggle to topple Israel’s oppressive occupation and apartheid regime is also part of the wider struggle for self-determination and emancipation of dispossessed and marginalised peoples across the world. Colonial attempts to further isolate Palestine from the rest of the Arab world through eco-normalisation can be thwarted by the collectively enacted power of Arabs and other peoples.

To this end, social movements, environmental groups, trade unions, student associations and civil society organisations in the Arab region and beyond must intensify their protests against their governments until they end their normalisation ties with Israel. International grassroots movements should increase their support for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel and shine more light on the role Israeli “green technology” companies play in the colonisation of Palestine.

The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

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With Europe’s help, a Libyan brigade accused of killings returns refugees | Refugees

Names marked with an asterisk have been changed to protect identities.

A shadowy Libyan armed group accused of unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary detention and enslavement, with alleged links to Russia’s Wagner Group, has been forcibly returning refugees with the help of European authorities, a new investigation has found.

On several occasions this year, GPS coordinates released by Europe’s border agency Frontex have ended up in the hands of the Tareq Bin Zayed (TBZ), allowing militiamen to haul back hundreds of people at a time from European waters to eastern Libya.

The pullbacks described by witnesses, which often involve violence, are illegal. Under international law, refugees cannot be returned to unsafe countries such as Libya, where they are at risk of serious ill-treatment.

The joint investigation by Al Jazeera, Lighthouse Reports, the Syrian Investigative Reporting for Accountability Journalism (SIRAJ), Malta Today, Le Monde, and Der Spiegel, involved months of researching the latest pullbacks, including extensive interviews with witnesses, experts and officials.

The TBZ pullbacks from European waters began in May. Al Jazeera and its partners investigated five that took place this year, which overall saw hundreds being returned and many abused. The TBZ is also known to drag people back from Libyan waters.

The pattern that emerged suggests that European powers are working directly and indirectly with the TBZ, amid their efforts to curb refugee arrivals.

These institutions are well aware of the TBZ’s alleged human rights abuses but do nothing to stop the brigade acting as a coastguard partner, even though it is closely tied to Khalifa Haftar, the renegade general at the helm of the eastern Libyan administration which is not recognised by the international community, including the European Union.

The bloc also understands the TBZ’s connections to Wagner, the Russian mercenary force accused of atrocities from Africa to Ukraine.

The investigation found that Malta appears to be playing a direct role. During one incident in August, an audio recording strongly suggests that a Maltese air force pilot relayed the coordinates of a boat in distress to the TBZ.

Several refugees who have been intercepted by the group told Al Jazeera and its partners that TBZ militiamen have tortured, beat, and shot at them. One said they witnessed a killing. Others, having paid vast sums to smugglers, said TBZ forced them to pay ransom or made them work for their freedom.

“Frontex and national rescue coordination centres should never provide information to any Libyan actors,” said Nora Markard, an expert on international law at Germany’s University of  Munster. “Frontex knows who TBZ is and what this militia does.

“What the militia is doing is more of a kidnapping than a rescue. You only have to imagine pirates announcing that they will deal with a distress case.”

Several hundred refugees have been pulled back to eastern Libya in the TBZ’s boat, pictured here, which is named after the brigade [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]

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Which country is set to see two big royal weddings next year

Love is in the air for the royal family of Jordan.

The Middle Eastern kingdom, wedged between Israel and Iraq, is celebrating a trio of weddings and engagements as several senior family members are saying“I do.”

While the first of the three weddings took place in early September in Amman — between Jordan’s Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammad, the first cousin of King Abdullah, and Princess Miriam of Turnovo — the bigger scoop surrounds upcoming nuptials for both Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Iman, his sister.

They are the children of Jordan’s King Abdullah II and his glamorous wife, Rania.

The Crown Prince, 28, is set to marry Rajwa Khaled Bin Musaed Bin Saif Bin Abdulaziz Al Saif, 28, next summer. The Saudi stunner is the daughter of Khalid bin Musaed bin Saif bin Abdulaziz Al Saif—  CEO of the privately owned Al Saif Group — and his wife, Azza bint Nayef Abdulaziz Ahmed Al Sudairi.

Princess Iman in an official portrait honoring her engagement to Jameel Thermiotis, a businessman who was born in Venezuela but is now based in New York.
Jordanian Royal Palace/AFP via G
Queen Rania (left), here with Princess Iman, is considered one of the world’s most stylish monarchs.
Shutterstock

While the couple clearly appear besotted, Middle East observers suggest that regional diplomacy is as much behind the royal match as old-fashioned romance.

“Rajwa is Saudi has a good impact on Jordanians who see it as an opening for better relations with Saudi Arabia,” said Randa Habib, Jordanian journalist and author of the book “Hussein and Abdullah: inside the Jordanian Royal Family.”

She also presents a more contemporary, forward-thinking image of Saudi Arabia, which remains deeply conservative, especially when it comes to women’s rights. “The family of Rawja are … more modern than expected and modest in their behaviors,” Habib said.

After attending high school in Saudi Arabia, Al Saif moved to New York and studied architecture at Syracuse University. The soon-to-be princess — and future queen – also attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles and worked at an architecture firm there before moving back home to Riyadh, where she is employed at the Designlab Experience design studio.

King Abdullah (center) attends the August wedding of his cousin, Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammad to Princess Miriam of Turnovo, a Spanish jewelry designer and socialite.
Crown Prince Hussein with his new fiancée, Rajwa Al Saif. The couple will one day become King and Queen of Jordan.
Balkis Press/Abaca/Sipa USA

Prince Hussein, who was named heir to the throne in 2009, also traveled abroad for his education. He graduated from both Georgetown University in 2016 and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom in 2017. He is now a Captain in the Jordanian Armed Forces.

For the Aug. 17 engagement, Queen Rania loaned her future daughter-in-law custom white-and-yellow diamond plumage earrings from coveted jewelry designer Stephen Webster. 

The Crown Prince and his fiancée are already being compared to Prince William and Kate Middleton for their proximity to the throne, as well as their poise and glamorous vibes. Fashionistas have pointed out that Rajwa’s official engagement portrait features a deep blue dress from Costarellos that is similar to the one Kate wore to announce her own betrothal in 2010.

King Abdullah, Queen Rania and Crown Prince Hussein during a White House visit with Joe and Jill Biden in July 2021. Jordan has long been one of the US’ strongest Middle Eastern allies.
Best Image/BACKGRID

However, a source close to the Jordanian royal family said that the comparison is only accurate in fashion, not substance.

“While it’s a new age and a new generation, the Crown Prince is highly influenced by his father and late grandfather,” the source said. In Jordan, unlike in England, the royal directly runs and rules the nation.

The Jordanian royal family, minus Princess Iman, in 2018: (l-r) Prince Hashem, Queen Rania, Princess Salma, King Abdullah and Crown Prince Hussein.
Royal Hashemite Court via Getty Images
King Abdullah and Queen Rania drive through the streets of Amman on their wedding day in June 1993 — mere months after meeting at a dinner party.
AFP via Getty Images

Queen Rania will be knee-deep in wedding planning for a while, since her eldest daughter is also tying the knot. Earlier this summer, the palace announced that Princess Iman, 25, the second child of the king and queen, will wed New York-based financier Jameel Alexander Thermiotis, 28. 

Although born in Caracas, Venezuela, Thermiotis hails from a Greek family and his real first name is Dimitrios; he goes by Jimmy, which the palace “Arabicized” to Jameel (translating to “beautiful” in Arabic).

The Thermiotis family secured the Dior franchise Venezuela, and eventually moved to Miami, where Jameel studied business administration at Florida International University.

Princess Iman is relatively low key, known for her equestrian prowess and fashion style. She attended Georgetown University, but then switched to New York’s Parsons School of Design to finish her bachelor’s degree. She met Thermiotis in New York, where he worked in private equity and venture capital. Their engagement was a surprise as the relationship had been kept extremely private.

King Abdullah and Queen Rania dazzle at the wedding of Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria to Daniel Westling in Stockholm in 2010.
WireImage
The King and Queen with Crown Prince Hussein in Washington, DC celebrating the Prince’s graduation from Georgetown University in 2016. Hussein, like his father, is directly descended from the Prophet Muhammed.
Balkis Press/Sipa USA

Unlike her brother, Princess Iman has chosen to spend her life with someone who is not Arab and not Muslim, which has raised some eyebrows in her home country.

“There have been mixed feelings regarding Princess Iman’s choice,” the close source acknowledged.

Still, the royal family clearly approves of the union, with the Crown Prince writing on his Instagram page: “Warmest congratulations to my dear sister Iman and her fiancé Jameel on their engagement. I wish you a lifetime of happiness together.”

“The wedding of Princess Iman is expected to happen in Jordan,” Habib noted. “As for their activities later, they could live abroad and travel to Jordan occasionally.” 

Crown Prince Hussein along with his parents, Queen Rania and King Abdullah, visit with Queen Elizabeth II and her daughter, Princess Anne, at Buckingham Palace in 2019. The Crown Prince completed much of his early education at England’s Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
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The biggest wildcard has been the unexpected royal wedding that just took place between Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammad, 56, and Princess Miriam of Turnovo, 59. The private ceremony at Amman’s Raghadan Palace on September 3 was attended by King Abdullah, Prince Hussein and Prince Talal Bin Muhammad — but Jordanians found out about the nuptials through the Spanish media, not via the kingdom. 

It was the second marriage for both the bride and groom: In 1997, Prince Ghazi married Areej Zawawi, mother of their four children: Princess Tasneem, Prince Abdullah, Princess Jennah and Princess Salsabeel. They divorced in 2021. Prince Ghazi is 18th in line for the crown, and serves as the personal adviser to the King on religious and cultural affairs

Born to a Spanish noble family, Miriam became Princess Miriam of Turnovo when she married Bulgaria’s Prince Kardam in 1996. After having two sons, Prince Boris and Prince Beltrá, things took a tragic turn: In 2008, the couple survived a serious car accident in Madrid, but Kardam remained in a coma before passing away seven years later in 2015. 

Happily, the royal gemologist and jewelry designer found love again with Prince Ghazi and turned heads in an elegant champagne-colored satin wedding gown.



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