Mikati says Israel has withdrawn from a third of the land it occupied in southern Lebanon | LIVE

That concludes our live coverage of events in the region for today. Thank you for joining us and goodnight!

Syria

Germany is leading efforts for the European Union to ease sanctions imposed on Syria during the rule of President Bashar al-Assad who was ousted last month, the Financial Times reports, citing two people familiar with the matter.

U.S. and Gaza

President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said he hopes to have good things to report about Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza by the time Trump is sworn in as president on Jan. 20, Reuters reports.

Witkoff, at a press conference held by Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, said: "I'm really hopeful that by the inaugural we'll have some good things to announce on behalf of the President."

Republican Trump said of the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the Oct. 7 2024 attack on Israel: "If the hostages are not back by the time I'm in office, all hell will break out in the Middle East, and it will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone."

Gaza

The foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, has held talks with his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar in the Gulf nation, the UAE state news agency (WAM) reported on Tuesday. The two men discussed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and regional and international efforts to reach a lasting cease-fire in Gaza, the statement said.

Lebanon

With 20 days to go in the allotted time outlined during the cease-fire agreement during which the Israeli army is meant to completely withdraw from southern Lebanon, outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati says that yesterday, U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein assured him that "within the next three weeks, Israel would completely withdraw from all the areas it had taken over.”

Hochstein chaired the meeting of the committee responsible for monitoring compliance with the truce yesterday. Mikati acknowledged that the Israeli withdrawal “took time” but said it had “accelerated” last week. “Israel withdrew from a third of the land where it had infiltrated, the entire western sector” of southern Lebanon, he said.

The outgoing prime minister insisted on the full implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, and on “forcing the Israeli enemy to apply it immediately ... without maneuvering or inventing excuses to evade it.” Since the implementation of the "cease-fire," the Israeli army has continued to destroy southern Lebanese villages, bomb, shell, and fire at various towns across the border area, and has killed more than three dozen people.

Syria

Syria will receive two electricity-generating ships from Turkey and Qatar to boost energy supplies hit by damage to infrastructure during President Bashar al-Assad's rule, state news agency SANA quoted an official as saying.

Khaled Abu Dai, director general of the General Establishment for Electricity Transmission and Distribution, told SANA the ships would provide a total of 800 megawatts of electricity, "which is equivalent to half of what is being produced at the moment," he said, but did not say over what period.

"Work is ongoing to secure power lines to transport the electricity from the docking location of the two ships," AFP cited Abu Dai as saying, thought he also did not say where the lines would be set up, nor where the two ships would be received.

Read the full report here.  👈

Syria

The Syrian transitional government's foreign minister has announced that the landmark national dialogue conference will be delayed, in order to make sure preparations for the event include all segments of society, Syrian state media reports, cited by Reuters. The conference was announced shortly after the fall of Assad as an occasion to discuss the future of the country and is meant to also mark the dissolution of the leading group in Syria, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham.

On a visit to Jordan, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said that the interim authorities had initially intended to hold the conference in early January, but instead, "we chose to form an expanded preparation committee" that would meet at an unspecified date, according to a report from The New Arab.

Syria and Lebanon

🔴 Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati will soon visit Syria, according to Information Minister Ziad Makari, who spoke to the press following a Cabinet meeting. “There will be a visit to Syria presided over by Mr. Mikati, but its date has not yet been set,” he is cited by local media as saying.

Israel

A group of 112 family members of hostages held in Gaza has filed a petition with Israel's High Court, accusing the government of violating two Basic Laws by abandoning the hostages, Haaretz reports.

Submitted by Prof. Barak Medina and Dr Moran Savoray on behalf of the families, the petition claims that "the government has unlawfully abandoned the hostages for 459 days, violating their constitutional rights to life, bodily integrity, and human dignity."

The petitioners are seeking an interim and conditional order requiring the state to justify "why its refusal to agree to a deal for the release of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas violates their constitutional rights, and why the government should not be compelled to secure their release, including by agreeing to halt the war and withdraw from Gaza in exchange for their freedom."

Syria

The foreign ministers of Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States will meet Thursday in Rome to discuss the situation in Syria.  

South Lebanon

The Lebanese Civil Defense has recovered the bodies of three killed in Khiam (Marjayoun), according to our correspondent in the South. More than 30 bodies have already been found, with up to 100 more stuck under the rubble.

Syria

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi affirmed Amman's willingness to cooperate with Syria to combat cross-border drug and arms trafficking after meeting with his new Syrian counterpart.

"We discussed issues related to borders, the dangers of drug and arms trafficking, as well as terrorism, particularly attempts by the Islamic State group to reestablish its presence," Safadi said following the talks.

He was speaking during a joint press conference with his counterpart from the new Syrian government, Assaad al-Shaibani, who visited Amman accompanied by Syrian Defense Minister Mourhaf Abou Qasra and intelligence chief Anas Khattab.  

South Lebanon

The mukhtar of the village of Tayr Harfa, in the Sour district, told our correspondent that a patrol from the Lebanese Army is stationed at the entrance of the village but has not yet entered.

According to our correspondent, a contingent of the Lebanese Army is expected to head toward the village of Alma al-Shaab and take up positions in the surrounding area.

Gaza War

Talks about a cease-fire in Gaza are continuing at a "technical" level, according to Qatar, which is mediating between Israel and Hamas.

"Technical meetings are ongoing between the two parties," said Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar's Foreign Ministry, referring to discussions between representatives of the main negotiators on the details of an agreement.

“In five hours, I’m going back to prison, and that’s okay, I’m doing what I have to do.”

In Israel, young adults are refusing to contribute to “a system that breaks lives.” But as military service is mandatory, these conscientious objectors — known as refuseniks — are increasingly marginalized within society. Read more here.

Occupied West Bank

The Israeli military claimed killing three Palestinian "militants" in “counter-terrorism” operations in the northern occupied West Bank, while the Palestinian Authority stated that an adolescent was among those killed.

West Bank

Israeli authorities have extended the closure order of Al-Jazeera's office in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, just days after the Palestinian Authority suspended the Qatari channel's broadcast for four months.

According to an AFP journalist, Israeli soldiers posted the extension order this morning at the entrance of the building housing Al-Jazeera's offices in central Ramallah, a city under the full security control of the Palestinian Authority.

The extension applies for 45 days, starting Dec. 22.

South Lebanon

The Israeli army blew up houses on the outskirts of the border villages of Aita al-Shaab and Qouzah (Bint Jbeil district), according to information from our correspondent in the South. Echoes of the explosions were heard in neighboring villages. Machine-gun fire was also heard from the western quarters of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun district).

The first international commercial flight landed at Damascus Airport from Qatar.

Washington announced on Monday a temporary easing of sanctions on Syria to “not hinder” the provision of essential services to the population, one month after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

➡️ Read more.

🔴 Syria

International flights have resumed at Damascus International Airport for the first time since the fall of Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8, according to AFP correspondents on the ground.

A Syrian Airlines plane departed for Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates around 11:45 a.m. (8:45 a.m. GMT). This marks the first international commercial flight in nearly a month to take off from the airport, which had previously been receiving planes carrying aid.  

The Israeli army has prohibited access to an entire strip of Lebanese territory in the South, along the border, citing ongoing operations in the area. Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee reiterated this restriction in a statement issued this morning.

Four Lebanese individuals who were detained by the Israeli army near a field close to Mjeidieh-Wadi Khansa, in the Hasbaya district in the eastern border sector, have been released, according to our correspondent in the South. The Israeli army reportedly instructed them not to return to the fields in this area.

Syrian state media announced the conclusion of a five-day security operation in the city of Homs, primarily targeting neighborhoods inhabited by the Alawite Muslim minority. An NGO reported hundreds of arrests during the operation. According to the official SANA news agency, "several suspects" were apprehended, with some referred to the judiciary while others remain in detention for further investigation.

During a visit to Beirut, U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein stated yesterday that he expects all parties to uphold the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, which has been in effect since late November. Hochstein was in Lebanon to chair a meeting of the monitoring committee overseeing the cease-fire’s terms.

"I have no reason to believe that all parties, all parties, will not remain committed to implementing the agreement they have accepted," he said following his meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Beirut. This comes as both Israel and Hezbollah have accused each other of violating the cease-fire.

The two main Druze factions in Syria, based in the southern province of Sweida, announced yesterday their readiness to join a new national army following the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad last month by a coalition of rebels.

"We, the Men of Dignity Movement and the Mountain Brigade, the two largest military factions in Sweida, declare our full willingness to integrate into a military structure (...) under the banner of a new national army aimed at protecting Syria," the groups said in a joint statement. However, they emphasized their categorical rejection of "any factional or sectarian army used as a tool by authorities to oppress the people, as was the case with Bashar al-Assad's army."

Good morning. Thank you for joining us for today's live coverage of the events in the region. Make sure to read your Morning Brief to get caught up.