At least two people have been killed in clashes in Aleppo between Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that control the country’s northeast. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed a deal in March with the SDF to integrate the group into the country’s state institutions by the end of this year.
Published On 22 Dec 202522 Dec 2025
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MSF official tells Al Jazeera South Darfur hospital ‘overwhelmed’ by rapid increase in measles cases.
Displaced Sudanese families in the war-torn Darfur region are grappling with a dangerous measles outbreak that is spreading rapidly, a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) official warns.
Dr Ali Almohammed, an MSF emergency health manager, told Al Jazeera on Monday that the group has been “overwhelmed” by measles cases arriving each day at the Nyala Teaching Hospital in South Darfur, where MSF provides paediatric and maternal healthcare.
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“We have 25 beds [in] isolation for measles, but every day the number of cases is increasing,” Almohammed said in an interview from Amsterdam.
“The capacity of MSF to respond to all the needs of the people in Darfur is really limited. We cannot cover everything. Yes, we are trying to focus on the most lifesaving medical care, but still, our capacity is also limited,” he said.
The outbreak of measles, a vaccine-preventable virus, comes as violence between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the western region of Darfur and neighbouring areas has surged in recent weeks.
More than 100,000 people have fled their homes in el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, after the RSF seized control of the city in late October after an 18-month siege.
The United Nations recently warned that Darfur has become “the epicentre of human suffering in the world” and UN and other humanitarian agencies have stressed that trapped civilians lack medicines, food and other critical supplies.
According to MSF, more than 1,300 new measles cases have been reported in Darfur since September.
An extremely contagious virus, measles causes high fevers, coughing and rashes.
It is particularly dangerous for children under age five because it can cause serious health complications, according to a fact sheet from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This week, MSF said that while nearly 179,000 Sudanese children had been vaccinated against the disease over six months last year, they are only a fraction of the 5 million who are at risk.
The organisation said it is not able to operate in most of North Darfur, including el-Fasher, or in East Darfur as a result of the ongoing conflict.
Almohammed also warned that other preventable diseases, such as diphtheria and whooping cough, are now appearing in Darfur with the number of vaccines arriving just a “drop in the ocean” of what’s needed.
According to MSF, shipping vaccines has been difficult due to ongoing violence as well as “significant administrative and bureaucratic hurdles”.
“We urge authorities to immediately eliminate all bureaucratic and administrative barriers to transporting vaccines throughout Darfur,” the organisation said in a statement.
“At the same time, there must be greater urgency from UNICEF to coordinate efforts to increase the transport and delivery of vaccines, syringes and the necessary supplies.”
Meanwhile, attacks on healthcare facilities in Sudan have worsened the situation for civilians and medical personnel.
On Saturday, the Sudan Doctors Network said the RSF released nine medical workers from detention in Nyala in South Darfur out of a total of 73 health workers who had been detained by the paramilitary group.
The network welcomed the move as a “positive” step but called for the release of all detained medical workers and civilians without exception.
On Friday, the World Health Organization said attacks on healthcare facilities in Sudan have killed 1,858 people and wounded 490 since the conflict began in mid-April 2023.
At least 70 health workers and about 5,000 civilians have been detained in Nyala in recent months, it added.
A day earlier, the Sudan Doctors Network said 234 medical workers have been killed, 507 injured and 59 reported missing since the war began.
The Israeli security cabinet has approved 19 new settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank as the right-wing government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moves to prevent the formation of a viable Palestinian state.
As Netanyahu’s government has made the annexation of occupied Palestinian territory a priority, the United Nations has said Israeli settlement expansions in 2025 have reached their highest level since 2017.
“These figures represent a sharp increase compared to previous years,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, noting an average of 12,815 housing units were added annually from 2017 to 2022.
Under the current far-right government, the number of settlement and outposts in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem has risen by nearly 50 percent – from 141 in 2022 to 210 now. An outpost is built without government authorisation while a settlement is authorised by the Israeli government.
Nearly 10 percent of Israel’s Jewish population of 7.7 million people lives in these settlements, which are considered illegal under international law.
Here’s everything you need to know about the newly approved settlements and what they mean for the future of Palestinian statehood.
The new settlements are spread across the West Bank – home to more than three million Palestinians – from Jenin in the north to Hebron in the south.
Most of them are close to the densely populated Palestinian villages of Duma, Jalud, Qusra and al-Lubban Asharqiya in the Nablus governorate and Sinjil in the Ramallah and el-Bireh governorate, according to Peace Now, an antisettlement watchdog group based in Israel. Other locations identified by the watchdog for the new settlement areas are in the northwestern West Bank, in the Salfit governorate, near the Palestinian towns of Sa’ir and Beit Sahour, and other areas near Bethlehem and in the Jericho governorate.
Israel’s construction spree is entrenching the occupation and squeezing Palestinians out of their homeland. Settlements dot the West Bank and are often connected by Israeli-only highways while Palestinians face roadblocks and security checks, making their daily commutes harrowing experiences.
Israel has also built Separation Barrier that stretches for more than 700km (435 miles) through the West Bank restricting movement of Palestinians. Israel says the wall is for security purposes.
Under a dual legal system, Palestinians are tried in Israel’s military courts while crimes committed by settlers are referred to a civilian court.
Israel’s latest approval also includes settlements in Ganim and Kadim, two of the four West Bank settlements east of Jenin that were dismantled as part of Israel’s 2005 disengagement plan, a unilateral withdrawal ordered by then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Five of the 19 settlements already existed but had not previously been granted legal status under Israeli law, according to a statement from the office of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Israel controls most of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territory Palestinians want to be part of a future state along with Gaza. Israel captured East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in a 1967 war. It later annexed East Jerusalem, which Palestinians see as their future capital.
Israeli settlements and outposts are Jewish-only communities built on Palestinian land and they can range in size from a single dwelling to a collection of high-rises. About 700,000 settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to Peace Now.
The latest approval comes at a time when the United States has been working with Israel and Arab allies to move the Gaza ceasefire into a second phase. After a meeting on Friday of top officials from the US, Egypt, Turkiye and Qatar in the US city of Miami, Florida, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan accused Israel of committing repeated violations of the ceasefire that began in October.
Israel still controls nearly half of Gaza’s territory since a ceasefire was announced on October 10 after more than two years of a genocidal war killed more than 70,000 Palestinians.
The new settlements bring the total number approved over the past three years to 69, according to a statement from the office of Smotrich, who is a vocal proponent of settlement expansion and a settler himself.
In May, Israel approved 22 new settlements in the West Bank, the biggest expansion in decades.
The UN chief has condemned what he described as Israel’s “relentless” expansion of settlements in occupied Palestinian territory. It “continues to fuel tensions, impede access by Palestinians to their land and threaten the viability of a fully independent, democratic, contiguous and sovereign Palestinian state”, Guterres said this month.
Palestinians have also been facing increasing settler violence since Israel’s war on Gaza began.
According to data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), settlers have attacked Palestinians nearly 3,000 times over the past two years.
Settler attacks often escalate during the olive harvest from September to November, a vital time of year that provides a key source of income for many Palestinian families.
Settlers are often armed and frequently accompanied or protected by Israeli soldiers. In addition to destroying Palestinian property, they have carried out arson attacks and killed Palestinian residents.
Every West Bank governorate has faced settler attacks over the past two years, data from OCHA shows.
No. The UN, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Committee of the Red Cross all consider Israeli settlements as a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which outlaws settler activity.
In a landmark judgement in July 2024, the ICJ, the UN’s top court, found that Israel’s occupation, settlement activity and annexation measures are illegal. In its nonbinding advisory opinion, the ICJ ruled that Israel’s continued presence in occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful and should come to an end “as rapidly as possible”.
The judges pointed to a wide list of policies – including the building and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, use of the area’s natural resources, the annexation and imposition of permanent control over lands and discriminatory policies against Palestinians – all of which it said violated international law.
Two months later, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution demanding that Israel end its occupation of Palestinian territory within a year.
But Israel has defied the resolution by the global body backed by its ally – the United States. Washington has extended diplomatic cover to Israel against numerous UN resolutions.
Since returning to power in January, US President Donald Trump has adopted a permissive stance towards Israeli settlement activity, breaking with longstanding US policy.
In 2019, he said Israeli settlements in the West Bank were not inherently illegal under international law. Trump also revoked his predecessor President Joe Biden’s sanctions on several settlers and groups accused of perpetrating violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
US sanctions on settlers under Biden came under Washington’s long-held policy that settlements are the biggest impediments to the two-state solution to the conflict.
However, Trump and his officials have repeatedly said Israel cannot annex the West Bank. “It won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries,” Trump told Time magazine in October. “Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened.”
The growing settlements – together with other projects undertaken by Netanyahu’s government like the E1 settlement plan that will split the West Bank – are further squeezing Palestinians in occupied territory.
Settlement expansions have drawn criticism from the international community, including Israel’s European allies, who said the steps undermine prospects for a two-state solution.
But Netanyahu and his far-right cabinet, including Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have doubled down on their rhetoric against a Palestinian state.
“On the ground, we are blocking the establishment of a Palestinian terror state,” Smotrich said in his statement on Sunday.
In June, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway slapped sanctions on Smotrich and Ben-Gvir for inciting violence.
Several European nations, including the UK and France, as well as Australia recognised Palestinian statehood in September in a push for the two-state solution.
Israel condemned the move, and Netanyahu said he won’t allow a Palestinian state. He has previously boasted how he scuttled the 1993 and 1995 Oslo peace accords by boosting settlement expansion in occupied territory.
“It’s not going to happen. There will be no Palestinian state to the west of the Jordan River,” Netanyahu said in an address in September. “For years, I have prevented the creation of that terror state against tremendous pressure, both domestic and from abroad.”
Deadly Israeli air strike is latest in Israel’s near-daily violations of 2024 ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah.
At least three people have been killed in an Israeli attack near the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, the country’s National News Agency (NNA) is reporting, in the latest Israeli breach of a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Health said on Monday that the three people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a vehicle on Quneitra Road in the southern Sidon district, according to NNA.
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The Israeli military said in a statement that it had targeted Hezbollah members in the Sidon area, without providing further details.
The deadly strikes come a day after another Israeli attack on southern Lebanon on Sunday killed one person and wounded two others. The Israeli army said it killed a Hezbollah member in that attack.
Israel has repeatedly violated the November 2024 ceasefire agreement with the Lebanese group, carrying out near-daily attacks across Lebanon, particularly in the south, that have drawn widespread condemnation.
Between January and late November, Israeli forces carried out nearly 1,600 strikes across Lebanon, according to data compiled by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).
Late last month, the United Nations said at least 127 civilians had been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the ceasefire took effect, prompting a call from the United Nations human rights office for a “prompt and impartial” investigation.
Israel’s attacks have continued despite the November 2024 ceasefire agreement, which includes provisions for Hezbollah’s disarmament in parts of southern Lebanon and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Lebanon was close to completing the disarmament of Hezbollah in the area south of the Litani River.
That is a key provision of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which designates the zone between the Litani River and the Israeli border as an area where only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers are permitted to operate.
Hezbollah has long rejected calls for full disarmament, saying its weapons are necessary to defend Lebanon against Israeli attacks and occupation.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has consistently said the group will end its military presence south of the Litani River in line with the ceasefire, but insists it will retain its weapons elsewhere in Lebanon.
Under the 2024 ceasefire agreement, Israeli forces were also required to withdraw fully from southern Lebanon, south of the Litani River, by January. But Israeli troops have only partially pulled back and continue to maintain a military presence at five border outposts inside Lebanese territory.
Hezbollah officials have previously said the group would not fully implement its commitments under the ceasefire while Israeli forces remain deployed in southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, a committee overseeing the ceasefire agreement continues to hold talks in southern Lebanon as Israel and the United States increase pressure on Hezbollah to disarm.
Civilian and military delegations from Israel and Lebanon met in the southern town of Naqoura on Friday in closed-door discussions.
Following the talks, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with diplomat Simon Karam, who has been appointed as Lebanon’s chief civilian negotiator.
Hezbollah has been critical of the appointment of Karam, who has previously served as the ambassador of Lebanon to the US.
In a statement, the Lebanese presidency said Aoun stressed that enabling tens of thousands of displaced Lebanese civilians to return to their villages and homes was “an entry point for addressing all other details” of the agreement.
Aoun said the committee’s next meeting is scheduled for January 7.
He also welcomed a separate diplomatic agreement reached in Paris between the US, France and Saudi Arabia to organise an international conference in early 2026 to support the Lebanese army and internal security forces.
Prosecutors accuse the official, named as Fahad A, of torturing dozens of prisoners in jail run by Syrian intelligence.
Published On 22 Dec 202522 Dec 2025
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German prosecutors have charged a former Syrian security official with crimes against humanity, accusing him of torturing dozens of prisoners at a Damascus jail while ex-President Bashar al-Assad was in power.
Germany’s Federal Public Prosecutor General’s office announced the indictment on Monday, alleging the ex-prison guard, named only as Fahad A, took part in more than 100 interrogations between 2011 and 2012 in which prisoners were “subjected to severe physical abuse”.
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The abuse included electric shocks, cable beatings, forced stress positions and suspensions from the ceiling, according to a statement by the prosecutor’s office.
“As a result of such mistreatment and the catastrophic prison conditions, at least 70 prisoners died,” said the statement, noting the former guard is also charged with murder.
The official was arrested on May 27 and formally indicted on December 10.
He is being held in pre-trial detention, the German prosecutor’s office added.
Syrians have demanded justice for crimes committed under the decades-long rule of al-Assad, who was removed from power in December 2024 after a rapid rebel offensive.
The Assad regime, which was accused of mass human rights abuses, including the torture of detainees and enforced disappearances, fell after nearly 14 years of civil war.
In Germany, prosecutors have used universal jurisdiction laws to seek trials for suspects in crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.
Based on these laws, several people suspected of war crimes during the Syrian conflict have been arrested in the last few years in Germany, which is home to about one million Syrians.
In June, a court in Frankfurt handed a life sentence to a Syrian doctor convicted of carrying out acts of torture as part of al-Assad’s crackdown on dissent.
The doctor, Alaa Mousa, was accused of torturing patients at military hospitals in Damascus and Homs, where political prisoners were regularly brought for supposed treatment.
Witnesses described Mousa pouring flammable liquid on a prisoner’s wounds before setting them alight and kicking the man in the face, shattering his teeth. In another incident, the doctor was accused of injecting a detainee with a fatal substance for refusing to be beaten.
One former prisoner described the Damascus hospital where he was held as a “slaughterhouse”.
Presiding judge, Christoph Koller, said the verdict underscored the “brutality of Assad’s dictatorial, unjust regime”.
The Great Omari Mosque is one of Gaza City’s most significant landmarks, with origins dating back more than 2,000 years. It was destroyed in an Israeli strike in December 2023. Hatem Haniya, the mosque’s administrator, reflects on its history and its deep significance to the people of Gaza.
Published On 22 Dec 202522 Dec 2025
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Authorities have shuttered drug factories that were cash pipeline for former ruler Bashar al-Assad, UN report.
Published On 22 Dec 202522 Dec 2025
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Syria’s government has cracked down on the Captagon industry, which boomed under former longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, according to a United Nations report.
Since al-Assad’s ouster a year ago, Syria’s new authorities have dismantled a network of factories and storage sites, a research brief published on Monday by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said.
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For more than a decade, Syria produced most of the world’s Captagon, a highly addictive, amphetamine-like pill, bringing in billions of dollars for al-Assad’s government.
However, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has carried out a clampdown as he tries to legitimise his government and strengthen diplomatic ties globally.
Overall, 15 industrial-level laboratories and 13 storage sites have been shuttered, according to the UNODC report. The agency said the action has “drastically changed” the Captagon market across the region.
Syria’s role in the drug trade had previously drawn scrutiny from numerous Gulf states, where the pill is popular, including Saudi Arabia. It also helped to prompt Western sanctions.
For years, the Captagon trade provided billions of dollars in profit for networks and individuals aligned with the former government “either within the leadership of the regime’s security apparatus, Syria’s commercial sector and business elite, and/or family members of Bashar al-Assad”, according to Caroline Rose, an expert on Syrian drug trafficking at the New Lines Institute think tank.
Maher al-Assad, Bashar’s brother and former commander of the army’s elite Fourth Division, was identified as a key player, profiting from protecting shipments through Latakia, a former al-Assad stronghold.
Despite the current Syrian government’s targeting of the industry, large seizures of the drug across the region suggest that significant stockpiles of the pills originating from Syria remain in circulation, the report noted.
Smaller-scale production is also likely continuing inside Syria and in neighbouring countries, the UNODC added, with Gulf countries still the top buyers of the drug.
The UN agency said the disruption of the Middle East’s Captagon industry shows that with “political will and international cooperation … even highly complex drug markets can be destabilised within a relatively short period of time”.
However, it warned that the shift risks pushing regional consumers towards new synthetic substances, like methamphetamine, which has recently grown in popularity.
“Without addressing the underlying demand for ‘Captagon,’ trafficking and use are likely to shift toward other substances, such as methamphetamine, with new routes and actors emerging to fill the gap,” it said.
Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians who were forced out of their homes in occupied East Jerusalem, as Israeli forces demolished a four-storey residential building displacing around 100 people on Monday. It was the latest in a series of demolitions targeting Palestinian homes in the area.
Published On 22 Dec 202522 Dec 2025
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Palestinian officials condemn the actions as part of a ‘systematic policy of displacement’ in the occupied territory.
Israeli forces have stormed towns in the occupied West Bank and demolished a residential building.
Soldiers fired stun grenades and tear gas on Monday as they carried out the demolition in East Jerusalem. Palestinian officials accused Israel of a campaign of displacement in the city, saying the operation was part of a systematic attempt to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their land.
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Scores of Palestinians were displaced as Israeli bulldozers tore through a four-storey residential building. Activists called it the largest such demolition in the area this year.
Three bulldozers destroyed the building with 13 apartments in the Wadi Qaddum neighbourhood of the Silwan district, south of Jerusalem’s Old City, Al Jazeera Arabic correspondents reported.
Israeli forces cordoned off surrounding roads, deployed heavily across the area and positioned security personnel on the rooftops of neighbouring houses. During the operation, a young man and a teenage boy were arrested.
Residents were told the demolition order was issued because the building had been constructed without a permit.
Palestinians face severe obstacles in obtaining building permits due to Israel’s restrictive planning policies, activists say, a policy that they assert is part of a systematic attempt to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their land.
Israel’s security cabinet has recently approved the recognition of 19 new settlements in the West Bank, expanding the total number approved this year to 69 as the government continues its settlement push.
The Jerusalem governorate, affiliated with the Palestinian Authority, condemned the demolition.
“The building’s destruction is part of a systematic policy aimed at forcibly displacing Palestinian residents and emptying the city of its original inhabitants,” the governorate said in a statement.
“Any demolition that expels residents from their homes constitutes a clear occupation plan to replace the land’s owners with settlers.”
The Jerusalem municipality, an Israeli authority whose jurisdiction over East Jerusalem is not recognised under international law, said the demolition was based on a 2014 court order.
Israeli human rights groups Ir Amim and Bimkom said the demolition was carried out without warning despite a scheduled meeting on Monday to discuss steps to legalise the building.
“This is part of an ongoing policy. This year alone, around 100 East Jerusalem families have lost their homes,” the groups said, calling Monday’s demolition the largest of 2025.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, Israeli forces damaged agricultural land and uprooted trees in the northern town of Silat al-Harithiya.
In the city of Halhul, north of Hebron, Israeli forces stormed several neighbourhoods with large numbers of military vehicles, deployed sniper teams and took up positions across the city.
Al Jazeera Arabic journalists reported that Israeli vehicles entered Halhul through multiple checkpoints, including Nabi Yunis, while closing the Halhul Bridge checkpoint linking the city to Hebron.
Since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, Israeli forces and settlers have also sharply escalated attacks across the West Bank.
More than 1,102 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, about 11,000 wounded and more than 21,000 arrested, according to Palestinian figures.
United States President Donald Trump’s second administration has introduced a bold and unconventional strategy for the Middle East. The administration intends to recalibrate US influence in a region historically scarred by conflict, prioritising regional stability through economic strength and military consolidation by asserting a stronger, business-minded US presence.
At the centre of Trump’s ambitious goal is what the new US envoy to Iraq, Mark Savaya, described as his goal to “make Iraq great again”. This approach moves away from traditional endless war tactics towards a transactional, results-oriented diplomacy that aims to restore Iraqi sovereignty and economic vitality. It could be the “great gamble” for Trump, who seeks an Iraq that serves as a stable, sovereign regional hub rather than a battleground for foreign interests.
Trump’s primary plans and wishes for Iraq involve a twofold mission: consolidating all armed forces under the command of the legitimate state and drastically reducing the influence of malign foreign players, most notably Iran. The administration seeks to open Iraqi markets to international investment, upgrade the country’s infrastructure, and secure the independence of its energy sector. Hence, the plan is to ground a genuine partnership that respects Iraq’s unity while ensuring that it is no longer a central node for militia activity or external interference.
This assertive US strategy lands directly in a highly contested and fractured political environment in Iraq, which is less a single state than a patchwork of competing powers. The heart of the problem lies not just in parliament, but also in the persistent shadow influence of armed factions and militias that often operate outside the formal chain of state command. Those groups were among the biggest winners in the November 2025 elections.
Now the ongoing government negotiations have thrown a stark light on these non-state actors.
Their power raises crucial concerns for the future: How can Iraq enforce the law and, crucially, attract the foreign investment needed for revival if armed groups challenge state authority? The consolidation of the country’s armed forces under complete state control is an urgent necessity, underscored by rising regional tensions and security threats.
Moreover, the path to achieving genuine stability is severely obstructed by entrenched political interests.
For Iraq to achieve stability, it must urgently strengthen its institutional frameworks and clearly establish a separation of powers. Yet, many political parties seem more focused on maintaining control over lucrative state resources than on implementing the meaningful reforms the country desperately needs. The result is a governance model struggling to stand firm amid the crosscurrents of competing loyalties and power grabs.
To achieve these high-stakes goals, Trump has bypassed traditional diplomatic channels by appointing Mark Savaya as the US special envoy to Iraq on October 19. Such an appointment signals a shift towards “deal-making” diplomacy. Savaya’s mission is to navigate the complex political turmoil following Iraq’s parliamentary elections to steer the country towards a stable transition. His job is to bridge the gap between institutional support and massive financial investment, acting as a direct representative of Trump’s business-centric foreign policy.
Savaya is an Iraqi-born, Detroit-based businessman lacking the traditional diplomatic background; his experience is rooted in the private sector in the cannabis industry, but he gained political prominence as an active supporter of Trump’s campaign in Michigan.
He played a key role in the delicate negotiations that secured the release of Elizabeth Tsurkov, the Israeli-Russian academic and Princeton University student who had been kidnapped by an Iraqi militia for more than two years.
Savaya’s communal and ethnic ties have given him significant access to Iraqi power centres that traditional diplomats often lack.
Iraq’s position in a geopolitical tug-of-war is compounding the internal struggles, forced to balance its critical relationships with two giants: the US and Iran. On the one hand, Washington’s objective is clear: it wants to bolster Iraq’s sovereignty while simultaneously pushing back against the dominance of powerful, often Iran-backed, militias. The US believes that allowing these armed groups too much sway could leave the nation isolated and wreck its fragile economic stability.
But Iranian influence remains a formidable and enduring force. Tehran views Iraq not just as a neighbour but also as a crucial strategic ally for projecting its power across the entire region. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been actively working to maintain unity among key Shia factions in Baghdad. This move clearly signals Iran’s deep and enduring interest in shaping Iraq’s political alignment and its future path. Iraq must therefore navigate this high-stakes balancing act to survive.
Savaya’s mission unfolds at a time when Iran’s regional “axis of resistance” is under unprecedented pressure. Having already lost their primary foothold in Syria after the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024, and seeing Hezbollah’s political and military standing in Lebanon severely decimated by the 2025 conflict with Israel, Iranian proxies now face the very real prospect of losing their grip on Iraq too.
In Lebanon, a new government is committed to regaining the state’s monopoly on the use of force, leaving Hezbollah increasingly isolated. This regional retreat means that for Tehran, maintaining influence in Baghdad is a final, desperate stand to remain a relevant regional power.
The success of Trump’s gamble also depends on the roles of other regional players. Turkiye has recently recalibrated its strategy to integrate Iraq into ad hoc regional trade and security frameworks, effectively diluting Iran’s centrality. Simultaneously, Gulf monarchies such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are emerging as key economic and security partners for Baghdad, offering an alternative to reliance on Iran.
However, these regional actors also bring their own agendas — such as Turkiye’s focus on containing Kurdish movements — which may conflict with US objectives. If Savaya can successfully align these diverse regional interests with Trump’s plan, he may fundamentally rewrite Iraq’s turbulent future.
The “Make Iraq Great Again” strategy reflects a pragmatic reassertion of US interests within the anarchic international system, prioritising Washington’s security and economic power over idealistic goals.
By appointing Savaya — an unconventional, business-oriented envoy — the Trump administration is employing “transactional realism”, utilising economic diplomacy and personal ties as strategic tools to pull Iraq away from Iran’s orbit. This approach views the US-Iran rivalry as a zero-sum game of power politics, where integrating Iraq’s armed forces under centralised state control is fundamental to restoring a state-centric order and sidelining non-state militias that currently feed Tehran’s regional influence.
The new US envoy to Iraq has made clear that “there is no place for armed groups in a fully sovereign Iraq”. His calls resonated with Iraqi officials and militia leaders alike – now at least three militias close to Iran have publicly agreed to disarm. However, other groups have yet to do the same, while rejecting the call from the outset.
However, this high-stakes attempt to shift the regional balance of power faces a significant “security dilemma”, as aggressive moves to diminish Iranian influence may trigger a violent defensive response from Tehran to protect its remaining strategic assets. While the strategy seeks to exploit a regional shift – leveraging the weakened state of Iranian proxies in Syria and Lebanon – it must contend with the “hybrid” power of Iraqi militias and the narrow self-interests of neighbouring players like Turkiye and the Gulf states.
The success of this gamble depends on whether the US can dismantle the shadow economies that facilitate foreign interference and establish a stable, autonomous Iraqi state capable of navigating the intense geopolitical tug-of-war between Washington and Tehran.
Ultimately, the appointment of Savaya serves as the definitive stress test for Iraqi sovereignty, marking a high-stakes transition towards a transactional “America First” strategy aimed at “Making Iraq Great Again”. By attempting to consolidate military command under the state and dismantle the shadow economies fuelling Iranian influence, Savaya’s mission seeks to exploit the current regional weakening of Tehran’s proxies to transform Iraq into a stable, autonomous hub.
However, the success of this “Great Gamble” hinges on Savaya’s ability to overcome entrenched political opposition and reconcile the presence of US forces with the demand for national unity. If this unconventional diplomatic push can bridge internal divides — particularly between Baghdad and the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in the north — Iraq may finally secure a path towards economic independence; otherwise, the nation risks remaining a perpetual battleground caught in the geopolitical crossfire between Washington and Tehran.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
On December 16, Sudanese political parties, armed movements, civil society organisations, and prominent political figures signed a nine-point political roadmap in Nairobi, presenting it as a civilian-led initiative aimed at ending Sudan’s war and restoring a democratic transition.
Framed as an antiwar, pro-peace platform, it seeks to position civilians as a “third pole” against the two military actors in Sudan’s conflict: the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Its authors say it represents an attempt to reclaim political agency for civilians after months of marginalisation by armed actors and foreign mediators, even though the declaration does not outline any concrete steps towards military reform.
The roadmap reignited longstanding debates within Sudanese political and civic circles about representation, legitimacy, and the persistent dominance of elite-driven civilian politics.
The Nairobi declaration emerged after a statement released by the Quad – Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the United States – in September.
The Quad statement called for an immediate three-month truce to lead to a permanent ceasefire, humanitarian access to help civilians, and the creation of a political process for a civilian transition.
It also emphasised excluding remnants of former President Omar al-Bashir’s regime and reforming Sudan’s security forces under civilian oversight, all points that the Nairobi declaration echoed.
The Nairobi signatories included the National Umma Party, the Sudanese Congress Party, civil society organisations – including the Darfur Lawyers Association and the Coordination of Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees – and the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-AW) led by Abdelwahid al-Nur.
Former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who led Sudan’s transitional civilian government from al-Bashir’s overthrow in 2019 until the October 2021 military coup by the SAF and the RSF working in concert, also signed the declaration.
It was likewise endorsed by al-Nur, longtime leader of the SLM-AW armed group that controls Jebel Marra in Darfur and has historically rejected what he describes as “elite-driven” political settlements.
Sudanese researcher Hamid Khalafallah told Al Jazeera that despite the intent to present a civilian leadership, the declaration falls short of reflecting Sudan’s broader civic movement.
The Nairobi coalition, he argued, mirrors earlier civilian formations that failed to connect with Sudanese citizens, particularly those most affected by the war.
“It’s in many ways a reproduction of former groups that have … struggled to represent the Sudanese people,” he said. “It’s still very much an elite group that does politics in the same way they always have.”
Although resistance committees – neighbourhood groups that emerged from Sudan’s protest movement and helped topple al-Bashir in 2019 – were referenced in the declaration, no committees formally endorsed or signed it.
Drafts were reportedly shared with some grassroots groups, but the process advanced without waiting for collective deliberation – reinforcing concerns that civilians on the ground remain politically instrumentalised rather than empowered.
While al-Nur’s participation was hailed by some as a breakthrough, Khalafallah questioned the underlying motivation, arguing that his inclusion was intended to counterbalance rival military-aligned forces rather than transform civilian politics.
Before the Nairobi declaration, there were three main civilian coalitions in Sudan, each aligned with a warring party or accused of such an alliance.
Tasis is the coalition of political parties and armed movements that was founded in February 2025, before forming the RSF’s parallel government in July 2025, while the Democratic Bloc is a grouping of parties and armed groups aligned with the SAF.
Finally comes Hamdok’s Sumoud, comprising political parties and civil society organisations and accused by SAF of supporting the RSF.
European officials have distanced themselves from the Nairobi initiative.
A senior European Union diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Al Jazeera that Brussels does not see the Nairobi roadmap as the foundation for a unified civilian process.
“We would like to see only one civilian process, that’s why we are helping the African Union [AU],” the source said. “Everything else is a distraction, like this Nairobi one.”
According to the EU official, the priority is not multiplying civilian platforms but consolidating them under a single credible framework, led by the AU and broadly accepted by Sudanese society.
“Our aim is to create a credible third pole – versus RSF and SAF,” the source said. “An inclusive one, supported by most Sudanese citizens.”
The EU plans to build a broad coalition that can take the lead after the Quad’s humanitarian truce and ceasefire proposals are accepted by the SAF and the RSF, including reforms placing security forces under civilian-led oversight.
The EU’s language reflects growing frustration among international actors with Sudan’s fragmented civilian landscape, while insisting that abandoning it would legitimise military rule by default.
“Of course, we are not naive that civilians will take over tomorrow,” the source said. “But we have to stand for our values.”
The EU official was blunt in assessing the conduct of Sudan’s warring parties, rejecting narratives that frame either side as a governing authority.
“I would not call what RSF does in Darfur ‘governing’, SAF is a bit better – but not much,” the source said.
“Look at the oil deal they did,” the official added. “Money is important; people are not.”
They referred to the latest agreement between the SAF and the RSF – under South Sudanese mediation – that both would withdraw from the Heglig oil facility, with South Sudanese troops deployed to secure the refinery following SAF’s pullout and the RSF’s capture of the site.
US-Africa policy expert Cameron Hudson told Al Jazeera that the Nairobi declaration appears to mimic the Quad’s recent statement, effectively presenting to the international community a roadmap that aligns with pre-existing objectives to gain Quad support.
“My sense is that the Nairobi declaration reverse engineers what the Quad has said,” Hudson said, suggesting that the initiative is designed more to attract international endorsement than to build genuine domestic consensus.
Hudson warned that this approach mishandles the sequencing of Sudan’s political transition, “prematurely” linking ceasefire efforts with reforms of the army or other political changes, arguing that these should remain on separate tracks until violence subsides.
“If what the Quad wants is an unconditional ceasefire, then it needs to pursue that, not create opportunities to trade a ceasefire for political assurances during a transition,” he said.
“For that reason, it is premature to be talking about reforming the army or other political reforms. These should remain in separate tracks for now.”
The tension is stark. The Quad and the European Union increasingly state that neither the SAF nor the RSF should have a political future and that remnants of the Bashir regime must be excluded entirely.
Yet both armed forces remain indispensable to any cessation of hostilities, creating an unresolved contradiction at the heart of international strategy.
Host nation Morocco overcome a spirited challenge by Africa Cup of Nations minnows Comoros to kick off the tournament.
Published On 22 Dec 202522 Dec 2025
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Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) hosts Morocco overcame a nervy start to beat the Comoros 2-0 in the tournament’s opening game on Sunday, after Brahim Diaz and substitute Ayoub El Kaabi scored second-half goals.
It was a far-from-convincing showing from the highly fancied Morocco, who are 97 places above the small Indian Ocean island nation in the world rankings and had to toil hard for the points in the rain at Rabat’s Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.
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Morocco squandered an early penalty and were goalless at halftime, despite dominating possession, eventually breaking the deadlock in the 55th minute, when Noussair Mazraoui did well to keep the ball from going out of play before passing it square for Diaz to side-foot home.
El Kaabi scored a trademark bicycle kick goal in the 74th minute, 10 minutes after coming on as a substitute, to ease the tension.
Morocco looked initially to be labouring under a heavy burden of expectation, and tiny Comoros comfortably held them at bay before the superior firepower of the hosts ensured victory.
The hosts could have been ahead as early as the 11th minute after a soft penalty was awarded for a challenge by Iyad Mohamed on Diaz. But Soufiane Rahimi hit the spot kick straight down the middle, striking the knee of goalkeeper Yannick Pandor and watching the ball loop away to safety.
But they eventually broke down the resistance, as Diaz got deserved rewards for his continual probing and El Kaabi’s goal ensured a respectable scoreline.
Pandor made several other good stops to keep down the score in the closing stages as his teammates began to tire, although Comoros had a chance for an equaliser four minutes after Diaz’s goal, but Rafiki Said shot straight at Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou in their first chance of the match.
“The opening game is always difficult, but we came good in the second half,” said Morocco coach Walid Regragui.
Morocco extended their record-breaking run of successive victories by a national team to 19. In October, they went past the previous best of 15, set by Spain from 2008-09.
There will be concern in the home camp, however, after captain Romain Saiss limped off after 18 minutes, with the centre back leaving the field in tears. He spent the first half of the year sidelined by ankle surgery and only last month returned to the national side after a year’s absence.
Mali and Zambia meet on Monday in the next Group A clash in Casablanca on the second day of the monthlong tournament. There are also two Group B matches as Angola meet South Africa in Marrakesh, and Mohamed Salah leads Egypt against Zimbabwe in Agadir.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health has appealed for increased drug, medical consumables and laboratory supplies, warning of severe shortages after more than two years of Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza and a crippling blockade.
The ministry said on Sunday that the shortages were making it difficult to provide diagnostic and treatment services.
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Doctors in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory have long warned that they are struggling to save lives because Israel is not allowing the most essential medical supplies in. During Israel’s genocidal war, which has spanned more than two years, nearly all of Gaza’s hospitals and healthcare facilities were attacked, with at least 125 health facilities damaged, including 34 hospitals.
“The number of items completely out of stock on the essential medicines list has reached 321, representing a 52 percent shortage,” the Health Ministry said in a statement.
“The number of items completely out of stock on the medical consumables list has reached 710, representing a 71 percent shortage. The shortage rate for laboratory tests and blood bank supplies has reached 59 percent,” it added.
The most critical drug shortages are in emergency services, particularly life-saving intravenous solutions, intravenous antibiotics, and pain killers, the ministry said.
The shortage in emergency and intensive care services is potentially depriving 200,000 patients of emergency care, 100,000 patients of surgical services, and 700 patients of intensive care, it added.
The ministry cited additional shortages in kidney, oncology, open-heart surgery, and orthopedic supplies, among others.
“Given these alarming figures, and with the continued reduction by the occupation of the number of medical trucks entering Gaza to less than 30 percent of the monthly need, and with the insufficient quantity of supplies available, the Ministry of Health urgently appeals to all relevant parties to fully assume their responsibilities in implementing emergency interventions,” it said.
Despite a United States-backed ceasefire that took effect on October 10, Israel continues to violate its agreement with Hamas by failing to allow in the agreed quantities of medical aid trucks, deepening what the Gaza Health Ministry has described as a critical and ongoing health emergency.
Amid the shortages of medical supplies, 1,500 children are awaiting the opening of border crossings to travel and receive treatment outside Gaza.
Zaher Al Waheidi, the head of the Information Unit at Gaza’s Health Ministry, said on Sunday that 1,200 patients, including 155 children, have died after being unable to be evacuated from Gaza for medical treatment.
Meanwhile, six Palestinian detainees released from Israeli detention arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah on Sunday for medical treatment, according to medical sources. A correspondent for the Anadolu news agency said the men were transferred via the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Rights groups say Israel had detained the men without clear legal procedures. The ICRC says it has not been granted access to Palestinians held in Israeli detention since October 2023, warning that international humanitarian law requires humane treatment and family contact.
The releases are part of sporadic Israeli actions involving Gaza detainees held for months. Many former prisoners report malnutrition and injuries from abuse.
About 1,700 detainees were released in October under the ceasefire deal, but more than 10,000 Palestinians – including women and children – remain in Israeli prisons, where rights groups report widespread abuse, starvation and medical neglect.
Elsewhere in the enclave, Gaza’s Civil Defence said it rescued five people, including a child and two women, who were trapped under the collapsed roof of their house in Sheikh Radwan, northwest of Gaza City.
The roof collapse killed four people, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Interior and National Security.
At least 18 people have been killed due to the collapse of 46 buildings in Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect, according to the ministry.
More than 70,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed, and more than 171,000 others have been wounded in attacks in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 2023.
Published On 21 Dec 202521 Dec 2025
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From a Russian air strike in Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine to demonstrations calling for the removal of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement from Minnesota, here is a look at the week in photos.
‘The scale of needs is so huge.’ As Gaza’s displaced Palestinians suffer from winter storms after surviving two years of genocidal war, UNICEF’s Jonathan Crickx explains how many clothes, blankets and tents are needed to save children from dying.
Published On 21 Dec 202521 Dec 2025
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Liverpool and Egypt star forward Mohamed Salah is centred on winning his first Africa Cup of Nations title.
Published On 21 Dec 202521 Dec 2025
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Egypt captain Mohamed Salah has put aside his travails at Liverpool and is focused on Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) success with his national team, coach Hossam Hassan said on Sunday.
Egypt’s talisman is at the tournament in Morocco on the back of a fiery outburst after being dropped by the Premier League champions, but his comments and subsequent apology to teammates have had no impact on his form, Hassan said ahead of Egypt’s opening Group B match against Zimbabwe in Agadir on Monday.
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“Salah’s morale in training is very high, as if he were just starting out with the national team, and I believe he will have a great tournament with his country,” said the coach.
At 33, it is arguably Salah’s last chance to win an elusive trophy with Egypt and add international honours to an impressive collection of medals at club level.
“I believe Salah will be among the best players at the tournament, and he will remain an icon and one of the best players in the world.
“I support him technically and morally, because we cannot forget that Salah needs to win the Africa Cup of Nations,” Hassan added.
Salah goes into Monday’s match having last started for Liverpool in their 4-1 home loss to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League at the end of November.
He was dropped for the next game against West Ham United, and after a draw with Leeds United on December 6, lashed out at the club and Liverpool coach Arne Slot, telling journalists he felt he had been made a scapegoat for their poor start to the season and suggested that he may not have long left at Anfield.
Hassan said he had kept in touch with his captain throughout the controversy.
“There was constant communication with Mohamed Salah during what I don’t want to call a crisis because any player can have a difference of opinion with his coach at his club.”
Salah has not scored since Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa at the start of November, including an outing with Egypt in a friendly against Uzbekistan last month.
“The same situation happened with Salah when he went through a period of not scoring goals with Liverpool,” Hassan told reporters.
“Then he returned to the right path through the national team, and as a result, he came back at a level even better than before. I believe he will deliver a strong tournament alongside his teammates.”
Salah has twice been a Cup of Nations runner-up, in 2017 and 2021. Egypt have won a record seven AFCON titles, but their last success was in 2010.
One more Palestinian killed by Israeli army in Gaza while two Palestinians, including a child, are shot dead in occupied West Bank.
Published On 21 Dec 202521 Dec 2025
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The way the story is often told is that Western countries gifted human rights to the world and are the sole guardians of it. It may come as a surprise for some, then, that the international legal framework for prohibiting racial discrimination largely owes its existence to the efforts of states from the Global South.
In 1963, in the midst of the decolonisation wave, a group of nine newly independent African states presented a resolution to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) calling for the drafting of an international treaty on the elimination of racial discrimination. As the representative from Senegal observed: “Racial discrimination was still the rule in African colonial territories and in South Africa, and was not unknown in other parts of the world … The time had come to bring all States into that struggle.”
The groundbreaking International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) was unanimously adopted by the UNGA two years later. The convention rejected any doctrine of superiority based on racial differentiation as “scientifically false, morally condemnable and socially unjust”.
Today, as we mark 60 years since its adoption, millions of people around the world continue to face racial discrimination – whether in policing, migration policies or exploitative labour conditions.
In Brazil, Amnesty International documented how a deadly police operation in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas this October resulted in the massacre by security forces of more than 100 people, most of them Afro-Brazilians and living in poverty.
In Tunisia, we have seen how authorities have for the past three years used migration policies to carry out racially targeted arrests and detentions and mass expulsions of Black refugees and asylum seekers.
Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, Kenyan female domestic workers face racism and exploitation from their employers, enduring gruelling and abusive working conditions.
In the United States, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives aimed at tackling systemic racism have been eliminated across federal agencies. Raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targeting migrants and refugees are a horrifying feature of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation and detention agenda, rooted in white supremacist narratives.
Migrants held in detention centres have been subjected to torture and a pattern of deliberate neglect designed to dehumanise and punish.
Elsewhere, Amnesty International has documented how new digital technologies are automating and entrenching racism, while social media offers inadequately moderated forums for racist and xenophobic content. For example, our investigation into the United Kingdom’s Southport racist riots found that X’s design and policy choices created fertile ground for the inflammatory, racist narratives that resulted in the violent targeting of Muslims and migrants.
Even human rights defenders from the Global South face racial discrimination when they have to apply for visas to Global North countries in order to attend meetings where key decisions are made on human rights.
All these instances of systemic racism have their roots in the legacies of European colonial domination and the racist ideologies on which they were built. This era, which spanned nearly four centuries and extended across six continents, saw atrocities that had historical consequences – from the erasure of Indigenous populations to the transatlantic slave trade.
The revival of anti-right movements globally has led to a resurgence of racist and xenophobic rhetoric, a scapegoating of migrants and refugees, and a retrenchment in anti-discrimination measures and protections.
At the same time, Western states have been all too willing to dismantle international law and institutions to legitimise Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and shield Israeli authorities from justice and accountability.
Just as the creation of the ICERD was driven by African states 60 years ago, Global South countries continue to be at the forefront of the fight against racial oppression, injustice and inequality. South Africa notably brought the case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and cofounded The Hague Group – a coalition of eight Global South states organising to hold Israel accountable for genocide.
On the reparations front, it is Caribbean and African states, alongside Indigenous peoples, Africans and people of African descent, that are leading the pursuit of justice. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has been intensifying pressure on European governments to reckon with their colonial past, including during a recent visit to the United Kingdom by the CARICOM Reparations Commission.
As the African Union announced 2026-36 the Decade of Reparations last month, African leaders gathered in Algiers for the International Conference on the Crimes of Colonialism, at which they consolidated demands for the codification of colonialism as a crime under international law.
But this is not enough. States still need to confront racism as a structural and systemic issue, and stop pretending slavery and colonialism are a thing of the past with no impact on our present.
Across the world, people are resisting. In Brazil, last month, hundreds of thousands of Afro-Brazilian women led the March of Black Women for Reparations and Wellbeing against racist and gendered historic violence. In the US, people fought back against the wave of federal immigration raids this year, with thousands taking to the streets in Los Angeles to protest and residents of Chicago mobilising to protect migrant communities and businesses against ICE raids.
Governments need to listen to their people and fulfil their obligations under ICERD and national law to protect the marginalised and oppressed against discrimination.
The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
In a ‘declaration of vengeance’ for a deadly attack on US soldiers last week, the US military launched more than 70 strikes on alleged ISIL targets in Syria.
Published On 20 Dec 202520 Dec 2025
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The talks between the four countries lauded the first stage of the truce, including expanded humanitarian assistance, return of captives, force withdrawals and reduction in hostilities.
The United States, Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye have urged the parties to the Gaza ceasefire to honour their commitments and show restraint, the chief US envoy says after talks in the US city of Miami.
Senior officials from the four mediator countries met Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, on Friday to review the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which took effect on October 10, according to a joint statement released on Saturday.
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The meeting was held against the backdrop of ongoing Israeli attacks on the enclave. The Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza said that six people were killed on Friday when an Israeli strike hit a school housing displaced people, raising the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the deal took effect to about 400.
“We reaffirm our full commitment to the entirety of the President’s [Trump’s] 20-point peace plan and call on all parties to uphold their obligations, exercise restraint, and cooperate with monitoring arrangements,” Witkoff said in a statement posted on X.
Saturday’s statement cited progress yielded in the first stage of the peace agreement, including expanded humanitarian assistance, the return of captives’ bodies, partial force withdrawals and a reduction in hostilities.
It called for “the near-term establishment and operationalisation” of a transitional administration, which is due to happen in the second phase of the agreement, and said that consultations would continue in the coming weeks over its implementation.
Under the truce deal’s terms, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas, and an international stabilisation force is to be deployed.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed hope that countries would contribute troops for the stabilisation force, but also urged the disarmament of Hamas, warning the process would unravel unless that happened.
A meeting was also held between Hamas’s chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin in Istanbul on Saturday.
In a statement from Hamas after the meeting, the group said it was committed to abiding by the ceasefire agreement, despite Israeli violations.
“The delegation stressed the urgent need to halt these continuous violations,” the statement added.
“The delegation also reviewed the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip with the onset of winter, emphasising the critical priority of urgently bringing in tents, caravans, and heavy equipment to save our people from death by cold and drowning, given the destruction of infrastructure and homes.”
Winter storms have been worsening the conditions for hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in Gaza, as aid agencies warn that Israeli restrictions are preventing lifesaving assistance from reaching people across the besieged enclave.
On Saturday, an Israeli air strike targeted two people in northern Gaza, according to a statement from the military, which alleged that they “posed an immediate threat” to Israeli troops after crossing the so-called yellow line, which separates areas under Israeli army control from those where Palestinians are permitted to move.
No details were yet available on whether the two people were killed or injured.
Gaza’s Civil Defence on Saturday also said it recovered the bodies of 94 Palestinians from the rubble in the enclave.
The bodies were retrieved in central Gaza City and transferred to the forensic department at Al-Shifa Medical Complex to arrange their burial in the Martyrs’ Cemetery in the central city of Deir el-Balah, according to a statement from the Civil Defence.
Thousands of Palestinians are believed to still be buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza.
The Israeli army has killed more than 70,700 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, and injured more than 171,000 others since it began its genocidal war on the enclave in October 2023.
The PM says the part of the plan on south of the Litani River is ‘only days away from completion’.
Published On 20 Dec 202520 Dec 2025
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Lebanon is close to completing the disarmament of Hezbollah in the south of the Litani River before a year-end deadline as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel, according to Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
Saturday’s statement comes as the country races to fulfil the key demand in the US-backed deal agreed in November last year and ended more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
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The agreement requires the disarmament of the Iran-aligned Lebanese armed group, starting in areas south of the river adjacent to Israel.
Lebanese authorities, led by President Joseph Aoun and Salam, tasked the US-backed Lebanese army on August 5 with devising a plan to establish a state monopoly on arms by the end of the year.
“Prime Minister Salam affirmed that the first phase of the weapons consolidation plan related to the area south of the Litani River is only days away from completion,” a statement from his office said.
“The state is ready to move on to the second phase – namely [confiscating weapons] north of the Litani River – based on the plan prepared by the Lebanese army pursuant to a mandate from the government,” Salam added.
The statement came after Salam held talks with Simon Karam, Lebanon’s top civilian negotiator on a committee overseeing the Hezbollah-Israel truce.
In a meeting on Friday, the committee focused on how to return displaced people to their homes, addressing civilian issues to help prevent renewed war if the year-end deadline to disarm Hezbollah is not met.
The 15th meeting of the committee reflected a longstanding US push to broaden talks between the sides beyond monitoring the 2024 ceasefire.
At Friday’s meeting in the southern Lebanese coastal town of Naqoura, civilian participants discussed steps to support safe returns of residents uprooted by the 2023-24 war and advance economic reconstruction, the US Embassy in Beirut said.
Since the ceasefire, Israeli warplanes have repeatedly targeted parts of Lebanon, mostly southern Lebanon, but sometimes even the capital.
Israel says it is questioning the Lebanese army’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim armed group, has tried to resist the pressure – from its mainly Christian and Sunni Muslim opponents in Lebanon as well as from the US and Saudi Arabia – to disarm, saying it would be a mistake while Israel continues its air strikes on the country.
Israel has publicly urged Lebanese authorities to fulfil the conditions of the truce, saying it will act “as necessary” if Lebanon fails to take steps against Hezbollah.
On the eve of the 2025 AFCON, football’s governing body in Africa create new four-year cycle and form a Nations League.
Published On 20 Dec 202520 Dec 2025
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African football is getting a major shake-up with the creation of the African Nations League and conversion of the biennial Africa Cup of Nations to a four-year cycle.
Patrice Motsepe, the president of the Confederation of African Football, announced the changes Saturday during his news conference before the 2025 Africa Cup hosted by Morocco.
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Motsepe said that the 2027 Africa Cup, to be hosted by Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, will go ahead as planned and that the following edition – originally scheduled for 2029 – will be moved forward to take place in 2028. The next Africa Cup after that will be in 2032.
This would allow the first African Nations League to take place in 2029. Motsepe said it would involve each of the continent’s 54 members, divided into four geographical zones, with games in September and October before the finals are held in November.
“What is new is that … in Africa there’s going to be a competition every year where the best African players who play in Europe and worldwide will be with us on the continent,” Motsepe said.
CAF officials did not immediately specify if the African Nations League will be held on a biennial or annual basis.