Two reports: European calls for action against settlement and security tension in Hama, Syria

About 500 diplomats, ministers and former European officials, in an opinion article on Monday, called on the European Union and its member states to “take action” on a large-scale Israeli settlement project that is raising criticism in the occupied West Bank.

Among these are former French Prime Ministers Dominique de Villepin and Alain Juppe, who also held the position of Foreign Minister, and former Prime Ministers of Italy Massimo D'Alema, Belgian Yves Leterme, and Swedish Stefan Löfven, in addition to former Presidents of the European Parliament Josep Borrell and Enrique Baron Crespo, according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.

The diplomats mentioned in the article published in the French newspaper “Liberation” that the Israeli government will soon award “contracts for the first phase of the illegal E1 settlement project.” The project provides for the construction of more than 1,200 housing units near Jerusalem.

This plan, which Israel approved last year after freezing it for decades, especially under pressure from successive American administrations, would increase the isolation of East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied and then annexed, from the rest of the West Bank, thus exposing the chances of establishing a Palestinian state in the future to greater danger.

On September 27, the Israeli judiciary ordered the postponement of the tender for the project for a month, so that the file would not affect the legislative elections scheduled for late October.

The signatories denounced the European Union’s position, saying: “Despite the significant repercussions of this new territorial annexation, the European Union has not taken any action to prevent the implementation of the E1 project, and has not, more generally, fulfilled its obligations emanating from the European treaties to act on violations of international law.”

They praised “the adoption of national measures against illegal settlements by some European Union member states,” but they denounced the positions of other countries - particularly Germany and Italy - which “continue to systematically obstruct the adoption of measures at the European level, thus becoming effectively complicit in weakening the values ​​of the European Union and the two-state solution.”

They called on the European Commission to submit “legislative proposals immediately” to “impose sanctions on all financial institutions and other service providers involved in the implementation of the E1 project and the establishment of other illegal settlements,” and “to prevent any European Union trade with illegal settlements.”

They also called on the European Union to “implement the proposals” aimed at “suspension of the trade provisions of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Israel.” The diplomats urged these measures to be taken “during the next meeting of EU foreign ministers on October 12.”

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. Settlement there has continued since then, but has expanded significantly in recent years. More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the occupied West Bank, among about three million Palestinians.

On the other hand, the Internal Security Forces in the Hama Governorate in central Syria were able to contain the security tension that the city of Suqaylabiyah witnessed on the night of Saturday-Sunday, due to a quarrel that broke out between young men from the city and others from the neighboring city of Qalat al-Madiq, both in the Al-Ghab Plain. The Hama Media Directorate said that “all those involved in the quarrel were arrested, in preparation for their referral to the competent judicial authorities.”

On Saturday evening, Suqaylabiya witnessed a quarrel between young men from Qalaat al-Madiq and a shop owner following a verbal altercation, after which young men from Suqaylabiya intervened to support the store owner and attacked a café in the city owned by a resident of Qalaat al-Madiq.

In a corresponding reaction, a “frightened” group of young men riding motorcycles and equipped with individual weapons headed to the Suqaylabiyah market, smashing up shops and opening fire to intimidate, leading to a woman being superficially injured. The Internal Security Forces then intervened to stop the tension and impose calm, according to local sources to Asharq Al-Awsat.

On Sunday morning, security forces were deployed in the city of Suqaylabiya, which has a Christian majority, with security reinforcements being sent to the nearby Qalaat al-Madiq and carrying out a security operation to arrest those suspected of participating in the attack.

Sources in Qalaat al-Madiq told Asharq Al-Awsat that civil efforts are being made in cooperation with the security authorities to contain the tension and search for solutions to put an end to the recurrence of these incidents, noting that the security forces have summoned a number of suspects for investigation. The sources, who declined to mention their names, said that the relationship between the people of the two cities has historically been “very excellent,” but that the friction is caused by young men who are ignorant of the customs and traditions of the people of Suqaylabiya.

The sources called for a solution to be found for “Al-Mishwar Street,” a main street in Al-Suqaylabiyah that attracts young people from both sides, pointing out that “in the Syrian situation, it is easy for any ordinary quarrel to turn into a security event,” because continuous incitement campaigns always make the conditions ripe for the eruption of major tension left by the policies of the previous regime during the years of the popular revolution.

Al-Mishwar Street in Al-Suqaylabiyah is a gathering place for cafes and entertainment venues that families go to in the evening. During the past periods, it has witnessed cases of harassment of young women by expatriates from other areas, which led to igniting tensions, most notably on March 28, 2026.

The Hama Media Directorate reported the deployment of internal security forces in the two cities to control the situation and prevent any violations, calling on the people to rely on information issued by official sources, and not to “be drawn into rumors or malicious publications aimed at destabilizing civil peace.”

A number of Suqaylabiya residents met on Sunday with the director of the Al-Ghab region in the Hama countryside, Muhammad al-Attal, to discuss measures to calm the situation and find solutions. Munther Hanna Khalouf told Asharq Al-Awsat that they asked the district director to strictly enforce the law to prevent the reoccurrence of incidents, while acknowledging that the young men from “the sons of Suqaylabiya” exaggerated their reaction and resorted to violence after the altercation that occurred on Saturday night, and they had to resort to the security forces before using violence.

He continued that this does not justify the attack by militants from Qalaat al-Madiq and the terrorization of civilians, in his opinion, adding that they received a promise from the director of the region to put an end to the violations and hold the guilty parties accountable, whoever they may be, pointing out that 3 young men from al-Suqaylabiyah and two young men from Qalaat al-Madiq were immediately arrested, with the pursuit of all suspects continuing.

Khalouf attributed the repeated incidents of security chaos to several reasons, including the chaos of the spread of weapons and the widespread incitement within closed WhatsApp groups, including groups run from abroad, in addition to the spread of ignorance and unemployment among “rebellious” youth, whose enthusiasm quickly turns into time bombs that threaten societal stability, stressing that the solution is to impose the law without laxity.

For his part, Father Fadi Sankari, in a post on Facebook, condemned what his parishioners were exposed to in Suqaylabiyah, and said that Christians in Syria “do not want chaos or revenge, but we do not accept that our children live under fear or that the tragedy of devastation that we knew before be repeated.” The Christian cleric stressed that “uncontrolled weapons cannot be a substitute for the state of law,” stressing that the demands are security and justice, not revenge. He also called on parishioners “not to be drawn into violence, to prevent bloodshed that does not restore a home or protect a future.”