Yasmeen Altaji gives a round-up of today's trends
Trending Middle East
Al Shara in Saudi Arabia and Netanyahu in the US
(upbeat music) From the National, this is Trending Middle East. I'm Yasmin Altaji. It's Monday, February 3rd. Here are today's headlines. Syria's leader, Ahmad Al-Shaba, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. He met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in his first trip overseas since he was declared interim president last week. Al-Shaba, formerly known as Abu Mohammed Al-Jolani, is the head of the rebel group He'a Tahrir Al-Shaba, or HTS. The group, which was formerly linked to Al-Qaeda and Al-Nosra Front, played a leading role in the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in December. The national's correspondent, Khaled Yahub always reports. Saudi Arabia is a key regional player and an important U.S. ally. Its support for Mr. Shahra is important and could prove crucial, first in restoring Syria's position as a significant Arab country and two in bringing financial flows and also curbing, or at least freezing, Western and European and American sanctions on the country, which could then be reconstruction from about 14 years of civil war. It's a move thought to signal a shift away from reliance on Iran at a meeting in Riyadh of Western and Arab powers last month, Saudi Arabia called for sanctions on Syria to be lifted, a major boost for the HTS government. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet U.S. President Donald Trump this week. He departed for the U.S. from Israel on Sunday. Mr. Netanyahu is the first foreign leader to meet the American president in his second term, following an invitation from Mr. Trump last week. The fact that this would be President Trump's first meeting with the foreign leader since his inauguration is telling, I think it's a testimony to the strength of the Israeli-American alliance. It's also a testimony to the strength of our personal friendship. Mr. Netanyahu's office said negotiations will begin today for the second phase of the ceasefire in Gaza, which took effect last month. In this meeting, we'll deal with the important issues, critical issues facing Israel and our region, victory over Hamas, achieving the release of all our hostages, and dealing with the Iranian terror axis and all its components. Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Tani called on Israel and Hamas to begin negotiating that second phase of the Gaza ceasefire. On Sunday, he said that Qatar was engaging with Israel and Hamas to prepare for the talks, which should start on Monday. He said his country was hoping to see some movement in the next few days. Meanwhile, Israeli forces launched raids on Farah refugee camp and the town of Tamun in the Tuba's governorate in the occupied West Bank. That's according to the Palestinian Wefa News Agency. It's the latest escalation of violence in the West Bank after a ceasefire was reached in Gaza. The military reportedly entered the camp at dawn and raided home. Israeli bulldozers also closed the road between the town and the village of Atuf with debris. The mayor of Tamun told Wefa that Israeli forces ordered families to leave their homes and seized their keys. That's all for this morning's headlines. You can get these stories and follow live updates at thenationalludes.com. Yasmin Altaji, the national. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)