MEDI1TV Afrique : LE GRAND JOURNAL MIDI - 10/12/2024
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00:00Welcome, it's time for the big news of the afternoon, we start right away with the headlines.
00:19Massive attack of Israel against military installations in Syria.
00:24The Israeli army carried out about 200 to 50 strikes against the country since the takeover of Damascus by the rebels and the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.
00:37104 journalists were killed in the world in 2024, more than half in Gaza, according to an account published this Tuesday by the International Federation of Journalists.
00:55Finally, in Morocco, the level of the reserves of the dams, as well as the famous chambers, is about 4.9 billion cubic meters,
01:03a filling rate of 29% against 23% recorded during the same period of the year.
01:10The figures are linked by the Moroccan Minister of Equipment, Edoloni Zaparaga.
01:14Morocco supports any political solution in line with the aspirations of the Syrian people, which guarantees its right and preserves the sovereignty of Syria.
01:30In all of its territory, these are the words of the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, the head of diplomacy,
01:38who spoke yesterday during his interview with Rayla Amolo-Odinga, candidate for the presidency of the Commission of the African Union.
01:47The head of Moroccan diplomacy also stated that the kingdom was closely following the recent developments in Syria.
01:56Syria, with Mohamed El-Bashir, Prime Minister at the head of the government of Salih, the rebel bastion in the northwest of the country, is now in charge of leading the transition government.
02:12Yesterday, Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohamed El-Jolani met with former Prime Minister Mohamed El-Jalali to coordinate this transition of power.
02:23This is what the rebels announced the day after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
02:32Syria, still with this nomination of Mohamed El-Bashir to form a new government and which intervenes in a context of major upheaval following the fall of the Assad regime.
02:44This political transition is marked in particular by various reactions, both in the Arab countries and internationally.
02:53The new Syrian administration should appoint Mohamed El-Bashir as Prime Minister of the transition government.
03:00He will have the mission to form a new government in order to manage the transition phase, which will last 18 months.
03:07According to the new forces of the country, the constitution will determine whether Syria will have a parliamentary, presidential or mixed system.
03:16On this basis, the country will organize free elections and the people will choose its leader.
03:21Tahrir al-Sham, led by Ahmad al-Shar'a, also known as Abu Mohamed El-Jolani, was at the heart of the offensive that led to the fall of Al-Assad.
03:31This group, which has reinvented itself to distance itself from its past very close to Al-Qaeda, seeks to establish political legitimacy in the new Syrian landscape.
03:41The leader of the rebels, Mohamed El-Jolani, called on his fighters to avoid public institutions until the transfer of power is complete,
03:50insisting that the institutions will remain under the control of the interim government until a new order.
03:57In terms of reactions around Tahrir al-Sham, the main support indirectly comes from Turkey, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates,
04:06as well as several rebel groups, while the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the UN consider the HTS group as a terrorist organization.
04:17We invite all the rebel factions seeking to integrate the future Syrian government to prove their commitment in favor of human rights,
04:26respect for the rule of law and the protection of religious and ethnic minorities.
04:31The days to come will be decisive and will determine the future of the country.
04:37The fall of Bashar al-Assad is good news for the Syrian people, which must now take control of its destiny.
04:45France's support for the political transition in Syria will depend on the respect for our demands, namely the respect for women's rights, minorities and international law.
04:56The United Kingdom will make a quick decision on the withdrawal or not of the HTS group, led by the rebel coalition that caused the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from his list of terrorist organizations.
05:12Some statements in the Wait and See.
05:15For good reason, the new strong armed group in Syria quickly set up a local administration in Idlib, promoting a certain religious freedom and trying to gain the support of minorities.
05:27In Aleppo, he reassured Christians and Kurds, ensuring their right to live in complete security.
05:33Concrete actions by the HTS group to try to smooth his image in order to multiply the support and in the hope of being stripped of the list of terrorist organizations.
05:45And on the opposite border of Masnaw, Lebanon, more than 1,500 Syrian refugees have already joined their country of origin following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime.
05:54Several Syrian refugees from other countries are also trying to do the same thing.
05:59More details in this story of Halab Nani.
06:04Since the beginning of the civil war in 2011, more than 14 million Syrians have been forced to flee their homes.
06:10About 5 million have taken refuge abroad, mainly in Turkey, Germany, Lebanon and Jordan.
06:17After the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, several refugees are happy to return home.
06:24Our joy is unimaginable, it has no price, because what is happening in Levant is a good omen for all Arab peoples.
06:39Syria is everything to me, it is my paradise. After 13 years away from my homeland, I come back to see my motherland and settle there.
06:48I grew up in Syria and I lived in Syria, but I haven't been able to set foot here for 15 years.
06:58And today I look forward to crossing the border to see my family, my sisters, my grandfather and all my relatives.
07:10About 487,000 displaced people have already crossed the border from Lebanon to Syria.
07:15In Turkey, the issue of refugees has become a sensitive subject on a political level, exacerbated by an economic crisis that fueled resentment against the Syrians.
07:25Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Monday the reopening of a border post closed since 2013 for the return of the 3.3 million Syrian refugees to their country.
07:36That said, a large part of them intend to stay in the country that welcomed them in 2011.
07:42In Germany, which houses nearly a million Syrian refugees, the country has suspended asylum applications.
07:48This decision affects about 47,270 applications in progress.
07:53Likewise in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Belgium or France, the latter had registered more than 4,000 applications in 2023.
08:03Finally, Austria has gone further by announcing the expulsion of Syrian refugees who reside in its territory.
08:12And in this context, the UN special envoy for Syria asked to stop Israeli strikes in Syria.
08:18It is very worrisome to see Israeli strikes and movements on Syrian territory, said Geir Pedersen.
08:26This must stop, it is extremely important, he said at a press conference in Geneva.
08:33Israel has confirmed that it has destroyed military depots in recent days.
08:38According to the Syrian Observatory, 250 human rights strikes have been carried out against the country since the takeover of Damascus and the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.
08:48Israel has, among other things, bombed airports, radars and military research centers in several Syrian regions.
08:55Syrian naval ships have also been damaged as an air defense unit near the main port of Latakia, which has also been attacked.
09:05The Israeli army, which has also been carrying out an incursion in the Golan area for several days.
09:14Tempons, the Golan Plateau, is occupied and annexed.
09:24At the same time, Benyamin Netanyahu told him that he was not going to stop the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip now,
09:30in order to prevent the Palestinian movement from rebuilding.
09:34If we stop the war now, Hamas will rise up, rebuild and attack us again.
09:39And this is what we do not want to come back to, said the Israeli Prime Minister.
09:47Meanwhile, the civilian defense of Gaza claims that Israeli strikes have killed 25 people.
09:52Yesterday, in the north of the Gaza Strip, five women and five children were among the victims.
09:57The Israeli army has made no comment.
10:00The inhabitants are trying to save those who are still buried under the rubble.
10:04For more than two months, the north of the Gaza Strip has been the subject of an intense Israeli military operation
10:10intended, according to the army, to prevent Hamas fighters from retreating.
10:172024, a particularly murderous year for journalists.
10:21104 journalists have been killed in the world, more than half of them in Gaza,
10:25according to an account published by the International Federation of Journalists.
10:29Journalists after the 129 deaths recorded in 2023-2024.
10:34And so, for the moment, one of the worst years.
10:37This is what Antony Balanger, Secretary General of the FIJ, says.
10:41He denounces the massacre that is taking place under the eyes of the whole world in Palestine,
10:46according to the International Federation of Journalists.
10:49Since the beginning of the war, the number of Palestinian journalists killed has risen to at least 138,
10:55making this territory one of the most dangerous in the history of modern journalism,
11:00behind Iraq, the Philippines and Mexico.
11:03The FIJ also records 520 journalists in prison worldwide,
11:07in strong increase compared to 2023.
11:11I told you about the level of dams and reservoirs in Morocco.
11:19Until December 6, it rose to about 4.90 billion cubic meters,
11:24i.e. a filling rate of 29% against 23%,
11:30recorded during the same period of the year.
11:32Numbers flowed, relayed by the Moroccan Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka,
11:38who responded to an oral question on the management and durability of resources in the kingdom.
11:43The minister made it known that the average rainfall at the national level from September 1 to December 6
11:50is therefore estimated at 50 mm against 27 mm during the same period of last year,
11:59an excess of 83%.
12:02The minister also stressed that in addition to the securitization of drinking water supply in the city centers,
12:09water quotas have been awarded for irrigation in coordination with the services of the Ministry of Agriculture.
12:161,066 million cubic meters were thus awarded for irrigation in 2024,
12:21which represents 60% of the total annual supplies from dams
12:28against 40% devoted to water supply.
12:39It's time for the guest of the big news,
12:43and today I propose to talk again about the situation in Syria,
12:47a situation that is evolving rapidly, but relatively calmly for the moment.
12:54In Syria, Mohammed al-Bashir was appointed Prime Minister yesterday to lead the new government.
13:00The country, on the other hand, is the target of intense air strikes from Israel.
13:06So to talk about the latest developments, I propose to meet our guest live from Paris,
13:12Mr. Mahmoud Hassan, who is a political analyst and professor of private law.
13:17Hello and welcome.
13:20Hello Madam, thank you for your kind invitation.
13:25To begin with, a comment on the appointment of this Prime Minister
13:30so quickly after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
13:34What do we know about Mohammed al-Bashir?
13:36Who is this man who is called to lead the Syrian government in this fragile period of transition?
13:46Mohammed al-Bashir has been known since January 2024
13:56as the head of the Syrian Government of Salute,
14:03and has been operating in Idlib.
14:06He was known for this activity and is therefore part of a paramilitary faction
14:14that participated in the collapse of the old regime in Syria.
14:23It is in this context, according to the information circulating,
14:30that he was charged yesterday to form a transition government
14:38and that he will be called to manage this transitional stage.
14:44His appointment was decided following a tripartite consultation
14:52between the current Syrian provisional president, Ahmad al-Sharaq al-Jawlani,
15:04who entered Damascus, and the former Prime Minister of Syria, and himself.
15:13This allows us to believe that this is a consultation
15:21between paramilitary factions that led to the appointment of Mohammed al-Bashir
15:33to form this transitional government.
15:38The consultations continue with the other factions,
15:45namely the transition stages, who will participate in this government,
15:52and also a roadmap that could always lead, according to the information,
16:00to the dissolution of military factions,
16:07the dissolution of associations,
16:12and the formation of a government that would be supported by a single military force
16:24or unified after these consultations.
16:28That's why…
16:29All right.
16:31Yes, please, Madam.
16:33So, in this transition that begins for Syria,
16:39Hayat Tahrir al-Sham was the spearhead of this offensive.
16:45What should we expect, according to you, Professor Mahmoud Hassan,
16:52with these rebels of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham?
16:57Can we go back to their history, to the portrait of their main members?
17:05What should we expect in this transition?
17:09They will be a major actor in this Syrian political transition that is underway.
17:15Yes, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, as you said,
17:23which is presided over by Ahmed Shara'a,
17:28was already a faction that operated within ISIS
17:38and was later formed after a session with al-Qaeda.
17:46Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, with all the treaties it has undergone,
17:51is the result of an armed jihadist movement.
17:58This is what really poses a problem and arouses concern.
18:03It is the major component of these paramilitary forces
18:08that have taken power in Syria,
18:13supported by other paramilitary factions as well.
18:19What is also worrying is the coordination of activities
18:30between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other paramilitary factions.
18:37This is what is really worrying.
18:39We are now asking ourselves,
18:41with the appointment of Mohamed El-Bashir as Prime Minister,
18:47and the roadmap that will be in the course of negotiations
18:54between these dominant factions,
19:02it could be assumed that civil society will be pushed aside.
19:09Until now, we have not had any evidence
19:12that the negotiations on the planned transition stage
19:19would be representative.
19:21That there would be a consensus to involve all the civil society structures in Syria.
19:37This remains to be seen, but with a certain concern.
19:44Okay, to be seen with a certain concern.
19:48There is an indication that has just appeared in the news.
19:56It is the UN Embassy for Syria,
19:59which considers that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham,
20:03at the beginning of this offensive,
20:05which led to the fall of Bashar al-Assad,
20:08has so far sent, according to him,
20:12a positive message to the Syrian population.
20:16What do you think?
20:21The message has been spread,
20:23but we know very well that messages are not enough.
20:30What matters are the actions.
20:32The Syrians and all those involved in this situation,
20:45because Syria is a brotherly country,
20:47an Arab country,
20:49and we are all concerned by what is happening in Syria.
20:56So, normally, we need to verify the actions,
21:03the origins of these paramilitary factions
21:10and their ideological affiliation.
21:18I think it also reminds us of other similar factions
21:24that had sent messages at the beginning,
21:30but were subsequently totally contradicted by their actions.
21:37We think, for example, of the Taliban.
21:41They also sent a message at the beginning
21:49when they took over Kabul.
21:52There were many promises,
21:54but we saw afterwards that the actions were completely contrary
21:57to what they had declared before.
21:59Unfulfilled promises.
22:01You mentioned actions earlier, Professor Hassan.
22:08There have been strong explosions in recent days.
22:13And today, again in Damascus,
22:15the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
22:17has even registered 250 Israeli raids on Syria.
22:23How do you explain this incursion by Israel
22:26into the Golan Heights and the hundreds of air strikes
22:31that also targeted Syrian military sites?
22:38Yes, these very disturbing strikes were unpredictable, unfortunately,
22:44because with the fall of the old regime in Syria,
22:49there was a void in the country.
22:57And Israel did everything to seize this opportunity
23:03to put the country in chaos.
23:06It had already begun to recover a demilitarized area
23:10on the side of the Golan.
23:12And there, in violation of a resolution in this sense,
23:19it is clear that it did this to play the role of accomplice.
23:26On the one hand, and on the other hand,
23:28it has committed itself to a very large number of strikes
23:35on strategic sites, not just military sites.
23:40There are other strategic sites as well.
23:44So, it is clear that Israel will seize this opportunity
23:50to put the whole country, Syria, in chaos.
23:57And that, in fact, it was not only targeting Bashar al-Assad's regime.
24:03But in fact, it was always targeting the country, its weight,
24:11its economic and strategic forces,
24:15and it is trying to do what it has already done in Iraq.
24:19And these infrastructures also, Professor?
24:24These infrastructures also, Professor?
24:26Sorry, excuse me.
24:27Israel is also striking radars, airports,
24:31not just military sites.
24:33Indeed, you are right.
24:34The objective of Israel in this political and historical transition of Syria,
24:41a fragile transition, is to weaken the country now.
24:49That's right, that's right.
24:51Israel, which really aims to weaken a country like Syria,
24:59will seize this opportunity because there is emptiness,
25:05there is also chaos, and there is no reorganisation yet.
25:11So, it is doing everything to weaken the country
25:18and, from there, to use this situation to realise the Israeli dream.
25:27So, from Greater Israel, from the Euphrates to the Nile.
25:33So, it is in this direction, I believe, that Israel is struggling in an atrocious way
25:41against Syria and its strategic potential.
25:51So, one last question, Professor Mahmoud Hassan,
25:55which this time concerns a strategic aspect, I also believe, in this transition,
26:01are the refugees.
26:03Syrian refugees who have already begun to join their country of origin,
26:08first from Lebanon, but there are also Syrian refugees from Turkey.
26:14Turkey welcomes more than 3 million Syrian refugees.
26:19Some, not all, have decided to join their country of origin.
26:25How will this return of Syrian refugees impact the political and historical transition in Syria, in your opinion?
26:36I believe that the problem of refugees also arises from several approaches.
26:45Of course, there are already Syrian refugees who are abroad.
26:50On the one hand, it is their right to return, to regain their country,
26:57but the question is whether they can also have guarantees
27:04that their return can be protected in accordance with the law.
27:15Because these refugees also have different affiliations,
27:22ideologically and politically.
27:25So, their affiliations should normally be respected.
27:33Because, of course, it is part of their fundamental rights.
27:40That is why we will have to see how the transitory situation will be organized with this government.
27:51Logically, a transitory government that wants to be representative and democratic,
27:58as it was according to the first announcements,
28:03should take into account and respect the individual rights and public liberties of the refugees
28:12who were forced to leave the country and now it is their right to return home.
28:21On the one hand, there are other categories of refugees.
28:25Yes, we will talk about it. It is a subject that deserves development.
28:28Thank you very much, Professor Mahmoud Hassan.
28:31This is the end of this edition. Thank you for answering our questions.
28:34I remind you that you are a political analyst and a professor of private law.
28:41Thank you, Madam. Thank you.
28:45And thank you. This is the end of this newscast.
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