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Arab World

Biden Calls on Netanyahu to Calm Situation in West Bank

A protest in the city of Nablus in the West Bank on Thursday to show solidarity with Gazans. (AFP)
A protest in the city of Nablus in the West Bank on Thursday to show solidarity with Gazans. (AFP)
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Biden Calls on Netanyahu to Calm Situation in West Bank

A protest in the city of Nablus in the West Bank on Thursday to show solidarity with Gazans. (AFP)
A protest in the city of Nablus in the West Bank on Thursday to show solidarity with Gazans. (AFP)

Israel has continued the arrests campaign in the West Bank, at a time when US President Joe Biden called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to calm the situation there and avoid “pouring gasoline on fire”.

The US officials said that in phone calls with Netanyahu, Biden has expressed concern about settler violence and the growing number of Palestinians who have been killed in the West Bank since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.

Biden told Netanyahu that Israel needs to calm the situation in the West Bank and prevent settler violence against Palestinians — or else risk an explosion of violence there that would make the current crisis even worse, the officials said.

He added that the settlers are “pouring gasoline on fire”.

Meanwhile, the US Department of State sent US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf to the region to push forward efforts to prevent the spillover of the conflict.

“I continue to be alarmed about extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank... The deal was made, and they’re attacking Palestinians in places that they’re entitled to be, and it has to stop,” Biden said during a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Since Oct. 7, the settlers have killed five Palestinians in the West Bank while the army killed 100 and arrested 1,500.

Israel fears increasing tension in the West Bank as the war in Gaza continues. In addition to the killing, Israel is also arming the settlers in an unprecedented manner.

The West Bank was fully closed and strict measures were applied to the military checkpoints that have become humiliating passages for Palestinians who have to move between cities.

On Wednesday, the army killed six Palestinians. Four of them were targeted by a drone in Jenin.

A 17-year-old boy, Asid Hamdi Hamidat, was killed on Thursday by Israeli gunfire in the Jalazone camp north of Ramallah, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. His death raises the total number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since the beginning of this year to 313, including 105 since 7 October.

Israel arrested on Thursday over 100 more Palestinians in the West Bank, including seven women at least.

The arrests were mainly in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Salfit, Nablus, and Tubas. Activists from “Hamas”, cadres from “Fatah” and women including Suhair Barghouthi from the village of Kaubar and journalist Lama Khater were arrested.

In a statement, Hamas said that the arrests in the West Bank were part of the aggression against the Palestinian people in a desperate attempt to repress the people’s movement against the fascist occupation.

Hamas stressed that the Palestinians wouldn’t be weakened by the Zionist encroachment on the people’s blood. They wouldn’t be weakened by the arrests or systematic terrorism policy, added the statement.

The Israel army revealed that a total of 1,450 Palestinians, including 700 from “Hamas” have been arrested since Oct. 7.

The total number of prisoners in Israeli custody has now reached approximately 6,700, including 50 females, and more than 1,600 administrative detainees.

These figures don’t include around 4,000 workers from the Gaza Strip who were in Israel when “Hamas” launched its deadly attack on Oct. 7.

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Arab World

Syria Gives Kurds Four Days to Accept Integration as US Signals End of Support

A member of the Syrian army stands guard on the road towards Al-Hasakah, following the withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Syria, January 20, 2026. (Reuters)
A member of the Syrian army stands guard on the road towards Al-Hasakah, following the withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Syria, January 20, 2026. (Reuters)
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Syria Gives Kurds Four Days to Accept Integration as US Signals End of Support

A member of the Syrian army stands guard on the road towards Al-Hasakah, following the withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Syria, January 20, 2026. (Reuters)
A member of the Syrian army stands guard on the road towards Al-Hasakah, following the withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Syria, January 20, 2026. (Reuters)

Syria's government set a four-day deadline on Tuesday for Kurdish-led forces to agree on integrating their last enclave into the central state as their former main ally, the United States, urged them to do so.

US envoy Tom Barrack in a social media post described integration as the "greatest opportunity" ‌the Kurds ‌now have in Syria.

He added that ‌the ⁠original purpose ‌of the Syrian Democratic Forces as a counterweight to ISIS militants had largely expired, and that the US had no long-term interest in retaining its presence in Syria, signaling the apparent end of Washington's backing.

The SDF, which has lost swathes of territory during government advances in ⁠recent days, said it accepted a ceasefire agreement with the Damascus government ‌and that it would not engage ‍in any military action ‍unless attacked.

A Syrian government statement said it had ‍reached an understanding with the SDF, long backed by the United States in the battle against ISIS, for it to devise an integration plan for Hasakah province or risk state forces entering two SDF-controlled cities.

The government announced a four-day ceasefire and said it had asked ⁠the SDF to submit the name of a candidate to take the role of assistant to the defense minister in Damascus as part of the integration.

The swift reversal for the SDF along one of Syria's main faultlines marks the biggest shift in territorial control in Syria since Sharaa toppled President Bashar al-Assad in 2024 and raises questions over the security of facilities holding ISIS detainees.

Arab World

Israel Orders Gaza Families to Move in First Forced Evacuation Since Ceasefire

A Palestinian girl walks past the rubble of houses destroyed in Israeli strikes during the war, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, January 17, 2026. (Reuters)
A Palestinian girl walks past the rubble of houses destroyed in Israeli strikes during the war, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, January 17, 2026. (Reuters)
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Israel Orders Gaza Families to Move in First Forced Evacuation Since Ceasefire

A Palestinian girl walks past the rubble of houses destroyed in Israeli strikes during the war, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, January 17, 2026. (Reuters)
A Palestinian girl walks past the rubble of houses destroyed in Israeli strikes during the war, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, January 17, 2026. (Reuters)

Israeli forces have ordered dozens of Palestinian families in the southern Gaza Strip to leave their homes in the first forced evacuation since October's ceasefire, as residents and Hamas said on Tuesday the military was ​expanding the area under its control.

Residents of Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Younis, said the leaflets were dropped on Monday on families living in tent encampments in the Al-Reqeb neighborhood.

“Urgent message. The area is under Israeli army control. You must evacuate immediately,” said the leaflets, written in Arabic, Hebrew, and English, which the army dropped over the Al-Reqeb neighborhood in the town of Bani Suhaila.

In the two-year war before the US brokered ceasefire was signed in October, Israel dropped leaflets over areas that were subsequently raided or bombarded, forcing some families to move several times.

Residents and a source from the Hamas group said this was the first time they had been ‌dropped since then. ‌The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

SIDES FAR ‌APART ⁠ON ​NEXT PHASES

The ‌ceasefire has not progressed beyond its first phase, under which major fighting has stopped, Israel withdrew from less than half of Gaza, and Hamas released hostages in return for Palestinian detainees and prisoners.

Virtually the entire population of more than 2 million people are confined to around a third of Gaza's territory, mostly in makeshift tents and damaged buildings, where life has resumed under control of an administration led by Hamas.

Israel and Hamas have accused each other of major breaches of the ceasefire and remain far apart on the more difficult steps planned for the next phase.

Mahmoud, a resident from the ⁠Bani Suhaila area, who asked not to give his family name, said the evacuation orders impacted at least 70 families, living in tents and homes, ‌some of which were partially damaged, in the area.

"We have fled ‍the area and relocated westward. It is maybe the ‍fourth or fifth time the occupation expanded the yellow line since last month," he told Reuters by phone ‍from Khan Younis, referring to the line behind which Israel has withdrawn.

"Each time they move it around 120 to 150 meters (yards) inside the Palestinian-controlled territory, swallowing more land," the father-of-three said.

HAMAS CITES STATE OF HUMANITARIAN DISRUPTION

Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, said the Israeli military had expanded the area under its control in eastern Khan Younis five times since ​the ceasefire, forcing the displacement of at least 9,000 people.

“On Monday, 19 January 2026, the Israeli occupation forces dropped warning leaflets demanding the forced evacuation of the Bani Suhaila area in eastern ⁠Khan Younis Governorate, in a measure that falls within a policy of intimidation and pressure on civilians,” Thawabta told Reuters.

He said the new evacuation orders affected approximately 3,000 people.

“The move created a state of humanitarian disruption, increased pressure on the already limited shelter areas, and further deepened the internal displacement crisis in the governorate,” Thawabta added.

Israel's military has previously said it has opened fire after identifying what it called "terrorists" crossing the yellow line and approaching its troops, posing an immediate threat to them.

It has continued to conduct air strikes and targeted operations across Gaza. The Israeli military has said it views "with utmost severity" any attempts by militant groups in Gaza to attack Israel.

Under future phases of the ceasefire that have yet to be hammered out, US President Donald Trump's plan envisages Hamas disarming, Israel pulling out further, and an internationally backed administration rebuilding Gaza.

More than 460 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have been reported killed since the ceasefire took ‌effect.

Israel launched its operations in Gaza in the wake of an attack by Hamas-led fighters in October 2023 which killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's assault has killed 71,000 people, according to health authorities in the enclave.

Arab World

Syrian Interior Ministry: 120 ISIS Members Escape from Prison amid Clashes

Civilians cross a collapsed bridge linking Raqqa with its western countryside of Tabqa, northern Syria, 19 January 2026. EPA/AHMAD FALLAHA
Civilians cross a collapsed bridge linking Raqqa with its western countryside of Tabqa, northern Syria, 19 January 2026. EPA/AHMAD FALLAHA
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Syrian Interior Ministry: 120 ISIS Members Escape from Prison amid Clashes

Civilians cross a collapsed bridge linking Raqqa with its western countryside of Tabqa, northern Syria, 19 January 2026. EPA/AHMAD FALLAHA
Civilians cross a collapsed bridge linking Raqqa with its western countryside of Tabqa, northern Syria, 19 January 2026. EPA/AHMAD FALLAHA

Syria's ministry of interior said Tuesday that 120 ISIS members escaped from a prison in northeast Syria a day earlier, amid clashes between government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which guards the prison.

Security forces recaptured 81 of the escapees, “while intensive security efforts continue to pursue the remaining fugitives and take the necessary legal measures against them,” The Associated Press quoted the statement as saying.

The SDF and the government have traded blame over the escape at a prison in the town of Shaddadeh, amid the breakdown of a ceasefire deal between the two sides.

Also Tuesday, the SDF accused “Damascus-affiliated factions” of cutting off water supplies to the al-Aqtan prison near the city of Raqqa, which it called a “blatant violation of humanitarian standards.”

The SDF, the main US-backed force that fought ISIS in Syria, controls more than a dozen prisons in the northeast where some 9,000 ISIS members have been held for years without trial.

Under a deal announced Sunday, government forces were to take over control of the prisons from the SDF, but the transfer did not go smoothly.

On Monday, Syrian government forces and SDF fighters clashed around two prisons housing members of ISIS in Syria’s northeast.

The clashes came as SDF chief commander Mazloum Abdi was said to be in Damascus to attempt to solidify a ceasefire deal reached Sunday that ended days of deadly fighting during which government forces captured wide areas of northeast Syria from the SDF.

Abdi issued no statement after the meeting and the SDF later issued a statement calling for “all of our youth” to “join the ranks of the resistance," appearing to signal that the deal had fallen apart.

Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa postponed a planned trip to Germany Tuesday amid the ongoing tensions in northeast Syria.