MILITARY CONFLICTS

Israeli security official says military readying to withdraw from Lebanon

Israeli security official says military readying to withdraw from Lebanon

Jerusalem: The Israeli military is prepared to withdraw from Lebanese territory and hand over areas to the Lebanese army “within the timeline” set by a US-French-mediated ceasefire agreement, a senior Israeli security official said. Under the ceasefire that took effect November 27, Lebanon’s military was to deploy in the south alongside United Nations peacekeepers as […]

Syria Kurds say aim to empty northeast camps of Syrians, Iraqis this year

Syria Kurds say aim to empty northeast camps of Syrians, Iraqis this year

QAMISHLI, Syria: Syria’s semi-autonomous Kurdish administration aims to empty camps in the country’s northeast of thousands of displaced Syrians and Iraqis, including suspected relatives of Daesh group fighters, by the end of the year, an official said. “The autonomous administration is working to empty the camps” of Syrians and Iraqis “in 2025… in coordination with […]

Rubio to visit Middle East after Trump proposal for US to take over Gaza

Rubio to visit Middle East after Trump proposal for US to take over Gaza

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Israel and Arab states in mid-February, a State Department official said, making his first to the Middle East after a widely condemned proposal by President Donald Trump to displace Palestinians in Gaza. Rubio will travel to the Munich Security Conference and to Israel, the United Arab […]

Trump says ‘no guarantees’ Gaza truce will hold ahead of Netanyahu visit

Trump says ‘no guarantees’ Gaza truce will hold ahead of Netanyahu visit

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Monday there were “no guarantees” that a fragile ceasefire in Gaza will hold, as he prepares to discuss its future with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu was in Washington for talks with the new Trump administration on a second phase of the truce with Hamas, which has […]

Saudi aid provides relief to thousands in Syria, Gaza

Saudi aid provides relief to thousands in Syria, Gaza

RIYADH: Saudi aid agency KSrelief has continued to provide aid to the people of Syria as part of various humanitarian missions. On Monday, a relief plane — the 14th so far — arrived in Damascus from Riyadh, carrying food, shelter and medical supplies for those facing challenging conditions, reported the Saudi Press Agency. In Harasta town, […]

Iraq ministry says two border guards killed by PKK fire

Iraq ministry says two border guards killed by PKK fire

IRBIL, Iraq: A shooting which officials blamed on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) killed two Iraqi border guards on Friday near the Turkish boundary in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, Iraq’s interior ministry said. The PKK, which has fought a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, has several positions in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region, which also […]

Yemen’s Houthis say to limit attacks in the Red Sea corridor

Yemen’s Houthis say to limit attacks in the Red Sea corridor

DUBAI: Yemen’s Houthi militia have signaled they will limit their attacks in the Red Sea corridor to only Israeli-affiliated ships as a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took hold. The Houthis made the announcement in an email sent to shippers and others on Sunday. The Houthis separately planned a military statement on Monday, likely about […]

North Gaza hospital director says Israeli strikes hit facility

North Gaza hospital director says Israeli strikes hit facility

BEIT LAHIA, Palestinian Territories: The director of north Gaza’s Kamal Adwan hospital and the territory’s civil defense agency said Israel conducted several strikes on Friday that hit the facility, one of the last functioning health centers in the area. “There was a series of air strikes on the northern and western sides of the hospital, […]

UN says Syria fighting has displaced 280,000 so far

UN says Syria fighting has displaced 280,000 so far

GENEVA: The escalation in fighting in Syria has displaced around 280,000 people in just over a week, the United Nations said on Friday, warning that numbers could swell to 1.5 million. “The figure we have in front of us is 280,000 people since November 27,” Samer AbdelJaber, head of emergency coordination at the UN’s World […]