Friends,
It has been weeks since my last newsletter. At times, even for us journalists tied to the daily news cycle, life can catch up, surprise and interrupt.
A lot has happened since my last newsletter and a lot is churning across the Middle East.
The region is in a violent flux. The Israeli government seems bent on launching an offensive this week aimed at levelling Gaza City, ignoring Hamas’ agreement to a ceasefire deal and pleas from Israeli hostage families.
Talks between Israel and Syria are intensifying over a security agreement, as Israeli Druze clamor for intervention in Syria’s Suwayda province. Syria has struggled to restore calm and protect minorities in Suwayda, where violence between Druze and Bedouin militias and government forces in July killed more than 1,000 people.
The Lebanese government is vowing to disarm militias, starting in Palestinian refugee camps and then on to Hezbollah, which has vowed to fight disarming attempts.
The famine in Gaza is setting in, claiming lives daily, while Jordan and Egypt struggle to get humanitarian assistance in through Israel.
One can’t help but feel the past couple of weeks were but a breather, a lull in proxy fights, geopolitical jockeying and deadly wars that threaten to reignite in full.
Until that happens, all we can do is watch and bear witness.
Meanwhile, some personal news: I have been named one of two finalists for the 2025 Waterston Desert Writing Prize.
My piece, an excerpt for an upcoming book-in-progress on modern Jordan, delves into the lives and livelihoods of Bedouins and the ancient tradition of falcon hunting—still going strong in southeast Jordan.
I will share the award-nominated excerpt with subscribers in next week’s edition.
-Taylor
What I'm Hearing
There is one word I am hearing from Arab diplomats about Palestinian leaders: frustration. Arab states, particularly Jordan, Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, are growing increasingly fed up over the Palestinian Authority’s failure to capitalize on several Western states’ recognition of a Palestinian state in September.
They believe now is the time to highlight moderate, transparent, and inclusive Palestinian government by the Palestinian Authority. Good governance, they say, is the only lifeline for statehood at a time the Israeli government and its extremist backers move to bury a Palestinian state for good.
Instead, these diplomats say they are getting more of the same from the octogenarian technocrat-autocrat Mahmoud Abbas.
One Arab diplomat described it as “a historic opportunity slipping through the fingers of a historically deaf leader.”
With no other governing alternative in the West Bank or Gaza, Arab states are begrudgingly pushing the Palestinian Authority as the only actor they will accept governing a post-Hamas Gaza. In one such move, Egypt brought the Ramallah-based PA prime minister to the Rafah crossing for the Authority to symbolically plant its flag at the entrance to Gaza—and lay its claim to governing the Strip.
Under pressure, on Sunday Abbas issued a presidential decree forming a committee to draft an interim constitution transforming the Palestinian Authority into a fully-functioning state. The decree calls for general elections in the occupied territories. But with an Authority that has a long history of decrees and committees that never moved from the page to the ground, the proof will be in the actions.
What I’m Watching
Syrian government-Kurdish ties. The Syrian Democratic Forces have been in on-again, off-again talks with Damascus of integration and an understanding over devolved local authority.
Tensions reached a peak earlier this month when Kurdish authorities held a conference on minority rights and local self-rule, which angered Damascus and nearly foiled a Damascus-Kurdish conference in Paris designed to implement already signed agreements.
Talks between Damascus and Rojava over implementing March agreements are ongoing.
This week the Syrian government and state news agency SANA introduced a Kurdish language service this week, a nod to Kurdish demands and a step towards inclusion.
Yet talks have snagged over the over integration of the SDF into the Syrian defence ministry, and enshrining minority rights and democracy into Syria’s constitution. These key issues remain unresolved.
This leaves the Damascus-Kurdish issue a tinderbox that an outside power—be it Turkey, Israel, or other—can ignite.
What I’m Writing
For a break from geopolitics, here is a fun little story in The Christian Science Monitor on how previously-banned books are flying off the shelves in post-revolution Syria.
Visit thetaylorluck.com for my latest stories and reports.
The contents of this newsletter do not reflect the views of Taylor Luck's employers or affiliated organizations.
