We are now closing our LIVE coverage of the region for tonight. We will be back tomorrow morning with more news updates.
Israeli army kills Palestinian teenager in occupied West Bank
The Israeli army shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy during a raid on Monday in the town of Tuqu, south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced.
The boy was identified as Ammar Yaser Sabbah, killed after being shot in the chest.
According to the latest report from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Israeli forces killed five Palestinians, including a child, between Dec. 2 and 8, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers in 2025 in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to 232, including 52 children.
In total, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied territory since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023.
Israeli fire from occupied positions in southern Lebanon
The Israeli army conducted a sweep operation using machine guns from one of its newly occupied positions on Lebanese territory, on the road between Markaba and Houla (Marjayoun district), firing towards these two border villages, reports our correspondent.
A similar operation was carried out from another occupied position at Jabal al-Bat-Jal al-Deir, near the town of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil district).
A third salvo was also fired from another position towards the village of Blida (Marjayoun district).
The Israeli army still occupies at least seven positions in southern Lebanon, in violation of the Nov. 27, 2024, cease-fire agreement, which stipulates its complete withdrawal from Lebanese territory.
Paris working on 'second monitoring mechanism' in Lebanon dedicated to Hezbollah disarmament 'to prevent escalation'
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot stated in Brussels on Monday that a “second monitoring mechanism” in Lebanon concerning Hezbollah’s disarmament is being developed “to prevent escalation.”
“We are working on establishing a second mechanism that will be responsible for monitoring Hezbollah’s disarmament, an essential element for preventing escalation and ensuring a credible path to a full and complete guarantee for Lebanon,” he declared, following a conference in Brussels of the Partnership Council between Lebanon and the European Union, which was attended by Lebanese Foreign Minister Joe Rajji.
Barrot also welcomed the recent talks held in Naqoura, in southern Lebanon, between a Lebanese civilian negotiator, Simon Karam, and Israeli civilians during the last meeting in early December of the cease-fire monitoring committee between Israel and Hezbollah.
“Our joint efforts with the United States and Saudi Arabia are continuing and led a few days ago to the first dialogue in 40 years between Lebanese and Israeli civilians within the framework of this cease-fire monitoring mechanism that we designed last year,” he added.
Syria: Islamic State claims responsibility for attack near Palmyra that killed 3 Americans
The Islamic State (IS) group has claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack that killed three Americans in central Syria, according to SITE, an NGO specializing in collecting and analyzing open-source jihadist content.
Two U.S. Army soldiers and an American civilian interpreter were killed Saturday afternoon, Dec. 13, during a joint U.S.-Syrian patrol while participating in counterterrorism operations against ISIS near Palmyra.
The assailant has been identified as a member of the Syrian General Security Forces, "without holding a leadership position," said the Syrian Interior Minister, who has arrested five people suspected of being linked to the attack.
Israeli army uproots 400 olive trees in occupied West Bank
After launching earthmoving operations on farmland around the village of Budros, in the Ramallah area of the occupied West Bank, the Israeli army uprooted approximately 400 olive trees, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
The Israeli army prevented landowners from accessing their property and halted the operations, which affected some 3.5 hectares.
These trees, some several decades old, were a vital source of income for the residents, Wafa stated.
Abdel Nasser Marar, head of the Budros municipality, said that such actions are part of a “systematic policy of expanding buffer zones” along the Israeli separation barrier surrounding the occupied West Bank.
Washington sent 'firm message' to Netanyahu about 'violation of cease-fire' that killed Hamas official last weekend
Washington sent a "firm message" to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the assassination of a Hamas military official last weekend, emphasizing that it constituted a "violation of the cease-fire," the American media outlet Axios reported.
"The White House's message to Netanyahu was clear: 'If you want to ruin your reputation and show that you don't respect the agreements, that's your prerogative, but we will not allow you to ruin President Trump's reputation after he brokered the Gaza agreement,'" a senior U.S. official stated.
On Sunday, Hamas confirmed the death of one of its top commanders, Raed Saad, and three of his associates, who were killed alongside him on Saturday in an airstrike near Gaza City that also wounded more than 20 people.
This message sent by the Trump administration to Israel comes as uncertainty persists around the transition to the second phase of the cease-fire agreement, which went into effect on Oct. 10, during which the Israeli army is supposed to begin its withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave.
Barrack says meeting with Netanyahu was 'constructive toward regional peace'
U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, in charge of the Syrian dossier for the U.S. administration, stated that his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday in Jerusalem was a "constructive dialogue working toward regional peace and stability," in a message on X.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also participated in the meeting.
Israeli army plans to demolish 25 residential buildings in Nour Shams refugee camp
The Israeli army announced plans to demolish 25 residential buildings in the Nour Shams refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank this week, local officials told AFP this morning.
Abdallah Kamil, governor of the Tulkarm governorate, near Nour Shams, told AFP he was informed of the demolition plan by COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body responsible for coordinating civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Around 100 families will see their homes destroyed if the Israeli army carries out its plan, according to Faisal Salama, head of the Tulkarm camp's popular committee.
"We were informed by the military-civilian coordination that the occupation will proceed with the demolition of 25 buildings on Thursday, Dec. 18," he told AFP.
When contacted by AFP, the Israeli army stated that it was "looking into the matter."
Israeli drone launches grenade at road workers in Odaisseh
An Israeli drone dropped a grenade on a team of municipal workers in the town of Odaisseh, in Marjayoun district, as they were clearing debris from houses bombed by Israel, which had spilled out onto the roads.
According to our correspondent in the South, the team had been working in the presence of peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The attack forced them to stop their work.
Israeli army to demolish 25 residential buildings in occupied West Bank refugee camp
Palestinian women react as a man collapses as they gathered at the entrance of the Nur Shams Palestinian refugee camp, in the Israeli-occupied northern West Bank on Dec. 15, 2025, demanding to be allowed back to their homes after the Israeli army exp
The Israeli army is planning to demolish 25 residential buildings in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank later this week, local authorities told AFP earlier today.
Abdallah Kamil, governor of the Tulkarem governorate where Nur Shams is located, told AFP he was informed of the planned demolition by the Israeli defence ministry body COGAT, which is in charge of coordinating "civilian affairs" in the Palestinian territories Israeli occupies.
Around 100 families will see their homes destroyed should the Israeli army follow through, according to Faisal Salama, head of the popular committee for Tulkarem camp, which is near Nur Shams.
"We were informed by the military and civil coordination that the occupation will carry out the demolition of 25 buildings on Dec. 18, Thursday," he told AFP.
Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was "looking into it."
Netanyahu-Barrack meeting wraps up in Jerusalem
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, who arrived in Israel today, at his office in Jerusalem, Haaretz reports. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar also participated in the meeting.
Australian PM pushes back at Netanyahu claim that recognition of Palestine caused the Sydney shooting
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rejected Netanyahu's accusation following the deadly Sydney shooting that the country's recognition of Palestinians' right to statehood fuelled antisemitism in the country, Middle East Eye reports.
In an interview with ABC News, Albanese said he doesn't accept Netnayhu's attempt to link recognition of Palestine with the shooting attack at the Hanukkah celebration in Bondi Beach, in which 15 people were killed.
"Overwhelmingly, most of the world recognises a two-state solution as being the way forward in the Middle East," he said.
"This has been an extraordinarily traumatic 24 hours," he said. "My job is to provide support for the Jewish community, is to make it clear that Australians overwhelmingly stand with the Jewish community at this difficult time."
Attacks against Australia's Jewish community have more than tripled since Israel launched its devastating war against Gaza in October 2023.
Israeli government to establish new 'defense headquarters' in Jerusalem
The Israeli Defense Ministry announced it will be establishing a new defense headquarters in Jerusalem following an agreement signed with the West Bank city, which is partially under Israeli occupation, Times of Israel reports.
The move comes amid intensifying Israeli army raids across the West Bank and increasingly hardline rhetoric from the Israeli government about a possible complete annexation of the Palestinian territory.
The agreement establishing the Jerusalem move was signed today by Defense Minister Israel Katz, Defense Ministry Director-General Amir Baram, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion, and Jerusalem Municipality Director General Ariela Rejwan.
A branch of the defense establishment will be built at Jerusalem’s city entrance complex and will include Defense Ministry and Israeli army offices, as well as a research and development site, and several army colleges.
Lebanese Army organizes tour of south Lebanon for diplomats
The Lebanese Army organized a tour of southern Lebanon this morning for ambassadors and military attachés stationed in Lebanon, with the aim of demonstrating the progress made in implementing the plan to disarm Hezbollah in the region
The army's commander-in-chief, General Rodolph Haykal, arrived in the morning at the Benoît Barakat barracks in Sour, southern Lebanon, accompanied by Arab and foreign diplomats.
The delegation was welcomed there by the commander of the army's southern sector, General Nicolas Tabet, who briefed them on the army's operations in the area. According to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, 90 percent of Hezbollah's military infrastructure in the South has been dismantled.
In its last progress report, the army said it is being prevented from accessing the remaining weapon stashes because they are within the realm of Israeli fire — Israeli soldiers are occupying six outposts on Lebanese soil along the border and fire at border villages regularly from these sites.
Witkoff and Kushner discuss Trump's Gaza plan with EU officials
According to an EU official quoted by Reuters, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner presented EU foreign ministers with a progress report on the implementation of Trump's peace plan for Gaza via video conference on Monday.
Earlier in the day, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that he had suggested to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas that Kushner and Witkoff brief foreign ministers on the implementation of the plan at their meeting in Brussels.
The 20-point plan, presented in September, served as the basis for the precarious truce that came into effect on Oct. 10 in Gaza between Hamas and Israel.
While the scale of the violence has decreased, the cease-fire has not prevented Israel from killing nearly 400 hundred Palestinians in the enclave, where the majority of the population, rendered homeless from Israel's two-year war, continues to live in inhumane conditions.
At least 16 people have died in the Gaza Strip following torrential rains last week, including three children who died of hypothermia.
Israeli drones launch grenades on south Lebanon farmers
An Israeli drone launched a grenade at farmers working in their fields on the outskirts of the village of Alma al-Shaab, in Sour district, according to our correspondent in the South. No injuries have been reported.
Another drone dropped a stun grenade on the village of Kfar Kila, in Marjayoun district.
Farmers and shepherds have been the targets of Israeli aggression for years in the South, with the violence against them unabated despite the cease-fire agreement in place since November of last year.
9 million British Muslims at risk of losing citizenship, report warns
The U.K.'s "extreme and secretive" citizenship-stripping powers are putting millions of British Muslims at risk of being deprived of their nationality, Middle East Eye reports, citing a new report published jointly by the Runnymede Trust and Reprieve last week.
The two organizations' research found that nine million people in the U.K. — approximately 13 per cent of the population — could be legally stripped of their citizenship at the home secretary’s discretion.
The powers, campaigners warn, disproportionately impact and endanger citizens with heritage linked to South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The report warns that the "deprivation regime" now represents a systematic threat to Muslim communities.
Sydney police find Islamic State group flags in Bondi Beach shooter's vehicle
Two Islamic State group (IS) flags were reportedly found in the vehicle of one of the attackers near the scene of the mass shooting on a Sydney beach yesterday, Haaretz reports.
A senior security source told ABC Australia that the son in the father-son pair that allegedly carried out the shooting had close ties to the man who headed the ISIS cell in Sydney.
Australian security services said they had monitored one of the attackers for his links to ISIS in 2019, but concluded that he was not a danger to the public, the channel reported.
Australia, among other countries, has seen a sharp rise in antisemitic attacks since Israel's war on Gaza began in October, 2023. Jewish activists around the world have warned, throughout the last two years, that the devastating violence enacted on Palestinians in Gaza would put Jewish communities outside of Israel at risk.
Israeli drone crashes in Khiam as Israeli aggression continues against southern Lebanon
An Israeli drone crashed this morning in the western part of the town of Khiam, in Marjayoun district. Another drone is attempting to retrieve it using a rope, our correspondent reports.
Earlier, around 1 a.m. this morning, an Israeli drone dropped grenades on a house south of Aitaroun. This is the fourth time this house has been targeted, after being hit three times yesterday.
Overnight, two Israeli drones dropped grenades on the Labbouneh area, east of the town of Naqoura, as well as on the village of Dhaira, also in Sour district.
An Israeli ship also fired in the direction of the buoys demarcating the maritime border between Israel and Lebanon off Ras al-Naqoura, in Sour district.
Jwayya announces third death from last night's Israeli strikes
Sour district's Jwayya village announced and condemned the killing of Zakaria al-Hajj, a member of the village's municipal council, by Israel, whose drones have been hunting down and carrying out such attacks on a regular basis in southern Lebanon.
"This attack is part of a series of strikes against civilians and institutions," the municipality wrote in a statement reported by our correspondent in the South, Muntasser Abdallah. "These crimes will not weaken our resolve."
Hezbollah announced Hajj's death in a statement showing him dressed in military fatigues. The date and location of the funeral would be announced later, the party indicated.
In a message posted on X last night, the Israeli army presented Hajj as "an important element of Hezbollah," accusing him, without presenting any concrete evidence in its post, of having "activated agents within the Lebanese security services" and of having also "worked to repress criticism made by opponents of Hezbollah in Lebanon."
Netanyahu and Tom Barrack set to meet today
The U.S. envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, who is also ambassador to Turkey and was envoy to Lebanon until recently, is expected in Israel today, Israeli media reports, where he will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
For the bulk of this last year, Barrack was the U.S. envoy to Lebanon, where he pushed for Hezbollah's disarmament according to a U.S.-drawn plan, which Cabinet accepted in August and forms the basis of the Lebanese Army's current mission in the South.
However, Hezbollah maintains its refusal to completely disarm so long as Israel continues to violate the cease-fire with its near-daily, deadly attacks and ongoing occupation of Lebanese territory.
In addition to this, southern Syria is increasingly resembling a powder keg. Israeli aggression against the region has intensified: every day, violations are recorded, and the fear that Israel will resort to expanding its military operations and incursions as part of its expansionist goals.
Good morning and welcome to today's live coverage of events in the region — notably Israel's ongoing violations of cease-fire agreements in Gaza and in Lebanon — as well as the unfolding aftermath from the mass shooting in Sydney, Australia, in which 15 people attending a Hanukkah event were killed by two gunmen, the latest in a string of antisemitic attacks that have been on the rise since Israel's devastating war on Gaza began.
🗞️ ☕ You can read our Morning Brief here, in order to catch up on everything you need to know going into today. 👈
We are now closing our LIVE coverage of the region for tonight. We will be back tomorrow morning with more news updates.
Israeli army kills Palestinian teenager in occupied West Bank
The Israeli army shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy during a raid on Monday in the town of Tuqu, south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced.
The boy was identified as Ammar Yaser Sabbah, killed after being shot in the chest.
According to the latest report from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Israeli forces killed five Palestinians, including a child, between Dec. 2 and 8, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers in 2025 in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to 232, including 52 children.
In total, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied territory since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023.
Israeli fire from occupied positions in southern Lebanon
The Israeli army conducted a sweep operation using machine guns from one of its newly occupied positions on Lebanese territory, on the road between Markaba and Houla (Marjayoun district), firing towards these two border villages, reports our correspondent.
A similar operation was carried out from another occupied position at Jabal al-Bat-Jal al-Deir, near the town of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil district).
A third salvo was also fired from another position towards the village of Blida (Marjayoun district).
The Israeli army still occupies at least seven positions in southern Lebanon, in violation of the Nov. 27, 2024, cease-fire agreement, which stipulates its complete withdrawal from Lebanese territory.
Paris working on 'second monitoring mechanism' in Lebanon dedicated to Hezbollah disarmament 'to prevent escalation'
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot stated in Brussels on Monday that a “second monitoring mechanism” in Lebanon concerning Hezbollah’s disarmament is being developed “to prevent escalation.”
“We are working on establishing a second mechanism that will be responsible for monitoring Hezbollah’s disarmament, an essential element for preventing escalation and ensuring a credible path to a full and complete guarantee for Lebanon,” he declared, following a conference in Brussels of the Partnership Council between Lebanon and the European Union, which was attended by Lebanese Foreign Minister Joe Rajji.
Barrot also welcomed the recent talks held in Naqoura, in southern Lebanon, between a Lebanese civilian negotiator, Simon Karam, and Israeli civilians during the last meeting in early December of the cease-fire monitoring committee between Israel and Hezbollah.
“Our joint efforts with the United States and Saudi Arabia are continuing and led a few days ago to the first dialogue in 40 years between Lebanese and Israeli civilians within the framework of this cease-fire monitoring mechanism that we designed last year,” he added.
Syria: Islamic State claims responsibility for attack near Palmyra that killed 3 Americans
The Islamic State (IS) group has claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack that killed three Americans in central Syria, according to SITE, an NGO specializing in collecting and analyzing open-source jihadist content.
Two U.S. Army soldiers and an American civilian interpreter were killed Saturday afternoon, Dec. 13, during a joint U.S.-Syrian patrol while participating in counterterrorism operations against ISIS near Palmyra.
The assailant has been identified as a member of the Syrian General Security Forces, "without holding a leadership position," said the Syrian Interior Minister, who has arrested five people suspected of being linked to the attack.
Israeli army uproots 400 olive trees in occupied West Bank
After launching earthmoving operations on farmland around the village of Budros, in the Ramallah area of the occupied West Bank, the Israeli army uprooted approximately 400 olive trees, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
The Israeli army prevented landowners from accessing their property and halted the operations, which affected some 3.5 hectares.
These trees, some several decades old, were a vital source of income for the residents, Wafa stated.
Abdel Nasser Marar, head of the Budros municipality, said that such actions are part of a “systematic policy of expanding buffer zones” along the Israeli separation barrier surrounding the occupied West Bank.
Washington sent 'firm message' to Netanyahu about 'violation of cease-fire' that killed Hamas official last weekend
Washington sent a "firm message" to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the assassination of a Hamas military official last weekend, emphasizing that it constituted a "violation of the cease-fire," the American media outlet Axios reported.
"The White House's message to Netanyahu was clear: 'If you want to ruin your reputation and show that you don't respect the agreements, that's your prerogative, but we will not allow you to ruin President Trump's reputation after he brokered the Gaza agreement,'" a senior U.S. official stated.
On Sunday, Hamas confirmed the death of one of its top commanders, Raed Saad, and three of his associates, who were killed alongside him on Saturday in an airstrike near Gaza City that also wounded more than 20 people.
This message sent by the Trump administration to Israel comes as uncertainty persists around the transition to the second phase of the cease-fire agreement, which went into effect on Oct. 10, during which the Israeli army is supposed to begin its withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave.
Barrack says meeting with Netanyahu was 'constructive toward regional peace'
U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, in charge of the Syrian dossier for the U.S. administration, stated that his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday in Jerusalem was a "constructive dialogue working toward regional peace and stability," in a message on X.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also participated in the meeting.
Israeli army plans to demolish 25 residential buildings in Nour Shams refugee camp
The Israeli army announced plans to demolish 25 residential buildings in the Nour Shams refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank this week, local officials told AFP this morning.
Abdallah Kamil, governor of the Tulkarm governorate, near Nour Shams, told AFP he was informed of the demolition plan by COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body responsible for coordinating civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Around 100 families will see their homes destroyed if the Israeli army carries out its plan, according to Faisal Salama, head of the Tulkarm camp's popular committee.
"We were informed by the military-civilian coordination that the occupation will proceed with the demolition of 25 buildings on Thursday, Dec. 18," he told AFP.
When contacted by AFP, the Israeli army stated that it was "looking into the matter."
Israeli drone launches grenade at road workers in Odaisseh
An Israeli drone dropped a grenade on a team of municipal workers in the town of Odaisseh, in Marjayoun district, as they were clearing debris from houses bombed by Israel, which had spilled out onto the roads.
According to our correspondent in the South, the team had been working in the presence of peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The attack forced them to stop their work.
Israeli army to demolish 25 residential buildings in occupied West Bank refugee camp
Palestinian women react as a man collapses as they gathered at the entrance of the Nur Shams Palestinian refugee camp, in the Israeli-occupied northern West Bank on Dec. 15, 2025, demanding to be allowed back to their homes after the Israeli army exp
The Israeli army is planning to demolish 25 residential buildings in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank later this week, local authorities told AFP earlier today.
Abdallah Kamil, governor of the Tulkarem governorate where Nur Shams is located, told AFP he was informed of the planned demolition by the Israeli defence ministry body COGAT, which is in charge of coordinating "civilian affairs" in the Palestinian territories Israeli occupies.
Around 100 families will see their homes destroyed should the Israeli army follow through, according to Faisal Salama, head of the popular committee for Tulkarem camp, which is near Nur Shams.
"We were informed by the military and civil coordination that the occupation will carry out the demolition of 25 buildings on Dec. 18, Thursday," he told AFP.
Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was "looking into it."
Netanyahu-Barrack meeting wraps up in Jerusalem
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, who arrived in Israel today, at his office in Jerusalem, Haaretz reports. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar also participated in the meeting.
Australian PM pushes back at Netanyahu claim that recognition of Palestine caused the Sydney shooting
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rejected Netanyahu's accusation following the deadly Sydney shooting that the country's recognition of Palestinians' right to statehood fuelled antisemitism in the country, Middle East Eye reports.
In an interview with ABC News, Albanese said he doesn't accept Netnayhu's attempt to link recognition of Palestine with the shooting attack at the Hanukkah celebration in Bondi Beach, in which 15 people were killed.
"Overwhelmingly, most of the world recognises a two-state solution as being the way forward in the Middle East," he said.
"This has been an extraordinarily traumatic 24 hours," he said. "My job is to provide support for the Jewish community, is to make it clear that Australians overwhelmingly stand with the Jewish community at this difficult time."
Attacks against Australia's Jewish community have more than tripled since Israel launched its devastating war against Gaza in October 2023.
Israeli government to establish new 'defense headquarters' in Jerusalem
The Israeli Defense Ministry announced it will be establishing a new defense headquarters in Jerusalem following an agreement signed with the West Bank city, which is partially under Israeli occupation, Times of Israel reports.
The move comes amid intensifying Israeli army raids across the West Bank and increasingly hardline rhetoric from the Israeli government about a possible complete annexation of the Palestinian territory.
The agreement establishing the Jerusalem move was signed today by Defense Minister Israel Katz, Defense Ministry Director-General Amir Baram, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion, and Jerusalem Municipality Director General Ariela Rejwan.
A branch of the defense establishment will be built at Jerusalem’s city entrance complex and will include Defense Ministry and Israeli army offices, as well as a research and development site, and several army colleges.
Lebanese Army organizes tour of south Lebanon for diplomats
The Lebanese Army organized a tour of southern Lebanon this morning for ambassadors and military attachés stationed in Lebanon, with the aim of demonstrating the progress made in implementing the plan to disarm Hezbollah in the region
The army's commander-in-chief, General Rodolph Haykal, arrived in the morning at the Benoît Barakat barracks in Sour, southern Lebanon, accompanied by Arab and foreign diplomats.
The delegation was welcomed there by the commander of the army's southern sector, General Nicolas Tabet, who briefed them on the army's operations in the area. According to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, 90 percent of Hezbollah's military infrastructure in the South has been dismantled.
In its last progress report, the army said it is being prevented from accessing the remaining weapon stashes because they are within the realm of Israeli fire — Israeli soldiers are occupying six outposts on Lebanese soil along the border and fire at border villages regularly from these sites.
Witkoff and Kushner discuss Trump's Gaza plan with EU officials
According to an EU official quoted by Reuters, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner presented EU foreign ministers with a progress report on the implementation of Trump's peace plan for Gaza via video conference on Monday.
Earlier in the day, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that he had suggested to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas that Kushner and Witkoff brief foreign ministers on the implementation of the plan at their meeting in Brussels.
The 20-point plan, presented in September, served as the basis for the precarious truce that came into effect on Oct. 10 in Gaza between Hamas and Israel.
While the scale of the violence has decreased, the cease-fire has not prevented Israel from killing nearly 400 hundred Palestinians in the enclave, where the majority of the population, rendered homeless from Israel's two-year war, continues to live in inhumane conditions.
At least 16 people have died in the Gaza Strip following torrential rains last week, including three children who died of hypothermia.
Israeli drones launch grenades on south Lebanon farmers
An Israeli drone launched a grenade at farmers working in their fields on the outskirts of the village of Alma al-Shaab, in Sour district, according to our correspondent in the South. No injuries have been reported.
Another drone dropped a stun grenade on the village of Kfar Kila, in Marjayoun district.
Farmers and shepherds have been the targets of Israeli aggression for years in the South, with the violence against them unabated despite the cease-fire agreement in place since November of last year.
9 million British Muslims at risk of losing citizenship, report warns
The U.K.'s "extreme and secretive" citizenship-stripping powers are putting millions of British Muslims at risk of being deprived of their nationality, Middle East Eye reports, citing a new report published jointly by the Runnymede Trust and Reprieve last week.
The two organizations' research found that nine million people in the U.K. — approximately 13 per cent of the population — could be legally stripped of their citizenship at the home secretary’s discretion.
The powers, campaigners warn, disproportionately impact and endanger citizens with heritage linked to South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The report warns that the "deprivation regime" now represents a systematic threat to Muslim communities.
Sydney police find Islamic State group flags in Bondi Beach shooter's vehicle
Two Islamic State group (IS) flags were reportedly found in the vehicle of one of the attackers near the scene of the mass shooting on a Sydney beach yesterday, Haaretz reports.
A senior security source told ABC Australia that the son in the father-son pair that allegedly carried out the shooting had close ties to the man who headed the ISIS cell in Sydney.
Australian security services said they had monitored one of the attackers for his links to ISIS in 2019, but concluded that he was not a danger to the public, the channel reported.
Australia, among other countries, has seen a sharp rise in antisemitic attacks since Israel's war on Gaza began in October, 2023. Jewish activists around the world have warned, throughout the last two years, that the devastating violence enacted on Palestinians in Gaza would put Jewish communities outside of Israel at risk.
Israeli drone crashes in Khiam as Israeli aggression continues against southern Lebanon
An Israeli drone crashed this morning in the western part of the town of Khiam, in Marjayoun district. Another drone is attempting to retrieve it using a rope, our correspondent reports.
Earlier, around 1 a.m. this morning, an Israeli drone dropped grenades on a house south of Aitaroun. This is the fourth time this house has been targeted, after being hit three times yesterday.
Overnight, two Israeli drones dropped grenades on the Labbouneh area, east of the town of Naqoura, as well as on the village of Dhaira, also in Sour district.
An Israeli ship also fired in the direction of the buoys demarcating the maritime border between Israel and Lebanon off Ras al-Naqoura, in Sour district.
Jwayya announces third death from last night's Israeli strikes
Sour district's Jwayya village announced and condemned the killing of Zakaria al-Hajj, a member of the village's municipal council, by Israel, whose drones have been hunting down and carrying out such attacks on a regular basis in southern Lebanon.
"This attack is part of a series of strikes against civilians and institutions," the municipality wrote in a statement reported by our correspondent in the South, Muntasser Abdallah. "These crimes will not weaken our resolve."
Hezbollah announced Hajj's death in a statement showing him dressed in military fatigues. The date and location of the funeral would be announced later, the party indicated.
In a message posted on X last night, the Israeli army presented Hajj as "an important element of Hezbollah," accusing him, without presenting any concrete evidence in its post, of having "activated agents within the Lebanese security services" and of having also "worked to repress criticism made by opponents of Hezbollah in Lebanon."
Netanyahu and Tom Barrack set to meet today
The U.S. envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, who is also ambassador to Turkey and was envoy to Lebanon until recently, is expected in Israel today, Israeli media reports, where he will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
For the bulk of this last year, Barrack was the U.S. envoy to Lebanon, where he pushed for Hezbollah's disarmament according to a U.S.-drawn plan, which Cabinet accepted in August and forms the basis of the Lebanese Army's current mission in the South.
However, Hezbollah maintains its refusal to completely disarm so long as Israel continues to violate the cease-fire with its near-daily, deadly attacks and ongoing occupation of Lebanese territory.
In addition to this, southern Syria is increasingly resembling a powder keg. Israeli aggression against the region has intensified: every day, violations are recorded, and the fear that Israel will resort to expanding its military operations and incursions as part of its expansionist goals.
Good morning and welcome to today's live coverage of events in the region — notably Israel's ongoing violations of cease-fire agreements in Gaza and in Lebanon — as well as the unfolding aftermath from the mass shooting in Sydney, Australia, in which 15 people attending a Hanukkah event were killed by two gunmen, the latest in a string of antisemitic attacks that have been on the rise since Israel's devastating war on Gaza began.
🗞️ ☕ You can read our Morning Brief here, in order to catch up on everything you need to know going into today. 👈
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Israel-Iran-Lebanon: The cease-fire hangs in the balance. Follow every development.
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