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Algerian Army Chief of Staff Visits China to Diversify Military Partnerships

Algerian Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Said Chengriha meets with the Deputy Chief of the International Cooperation Office at the Chinese Ministry of Defense. (Algerian Ministry of Defense)
Algerian Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Said Chengriha meets with the Deputy Chief of the International Cooperation Office at the Chinese Ministry of Defense. (Algerian Ministry of Defense)
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Algerian Army Chief of Staff Visits China to Diversify Military Partnerships

Algerian Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Said Chengriha meets with the Deputy Chief of the International Cooperation Office at the Chinese Ministry of Defense. (Algerian Ministry of Defense)
Algerian Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Said Chengriha meets with the Deputy Chief of the International Cooperation Office at the Chinese Ministry of Defense. (Algerian Ministry of Defense)

Algerian Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Said Chengriha arrived in China on Sunday on a visit aimed at strengthening ties of friendship and military cooperation between the two countries’ militaries, according to the Algerian Ministry of Defense.

Chengriha was welcomed at Beijing International Airport by Brigadier-General Jan Bao Chin, Deputy Chief of the International Cooperation Office (OIMC).

In a statement, the Ministry of Defense added that this visit will allow the two sides to discuss issues of mutual interest and means to boost military cooperation.

Observers view the visit as part of the Algerian army’s efforts to diversify partnerships in weapons and military equipment purchases.

In July, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune visited China and met with his counterpart Xi Jinping.

Tebboune said his country is taking serious strides to move to a new phase as a military, economic, and diplomatic power in Africa.

He described Algerian-Chinese ties as “very good” and considered China a “friendly country” that has become one of the world’s strongest in economy, military, and diplomacy.

Algiers and Beijing signed 19 cooperation agreements in various sectors during his visit.

In August, Chengriha visited Moscow and discussed with Director of the Military Cooperation Service of the Russian Federation Dmitry Shugayev a deal to sell military aircraft.

Chengriha was briefed on the latest equipment and technologies used in military aviation.

He visited the headquarters of the Aeronautical Technology Dynamics Company, where he examined the various latest equipment and technologies, including basic training for pilots and programs for simulation in the field of aviation.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Algeria ordered military equipment, including tanks, aircraft, and anti-aircraft defense systems.

A recent study published by the Stockholm Peace Research Institute in March 2023 revealed that Algeria is the third biggest importer of Russian weapons in the world after India and China. Russian weapons and military systems make up than 50% of Algeria’s arsenal.

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Arab World

Germany Deports Man to Syria for First Time Since 2011

People attend a protest against reelection of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, near Syria's embassy, Berlin, Germany May 26, 2021. (Reuters)
People attend a protest against reelection of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, near Syria's embassy, Berlin, Germany May 26, 2021. (Reuters)
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Germany Deports Man to Syria for First Time Since 2011

People attend a protest against reelection of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, near Syria's embassy, Berlin, Germany May 26, 2021. (Reuters)
People attend a protest against reelection of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, near Syria's embassy, Berlin, Germany May 26, 2021. (Reuters)

Germany deported a man to Syria for the first time since the civil war began in that country in 2011, the interior ministry in Berlin announced on Tuesday.

A Syrian immigrant previously convicted of criminal offences in Germany was flown to Damascus and handed over to Syrian authorities on Tuesday morning, the ministry said.

Arab World

Army: Lebanese Soldier among Those Killed in Monday Israeli Strike

Lebanese soldiers secure the site of an Israeli drone strike that targeted a truck in the village of Sibline, south of Beirut, on December 16, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
Lebanese soldiers secure the site of an Israeli drone strike that targeted a truck in the village of Sibline, south of Beirut, on December 16, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
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Army: Lebanese Soldier among Those Killed in Monday Israeli Strike

Lebanese soldiers secure the site of an Israeli drone strike that targeted a truck in the village of Sibline, south of Beirut, on December 16, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
Lebanese soldiers secure the site of an Israeli drone strike that targeted a truck in the village of Sibline, south of Beirut, on December 16, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)

A Lebanese soldier was among three people killed in an Israeli air strike on a car in the country's south, the army said Tuesday, denying Israeli claims that he was also a Hezbollah operative.

Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah, despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with the Iran-backed militant group, which it accuses of rearming.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said Monday's strike on a vehicle was carried out by an Israeli drone around 10 kilometers (six miles) from the southern coastal city of Sidon and "killed three people who were inside".

The Lebanese army said on Tuesday that Sergeant Major Ali Abdullah had been killed the previous day "in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a car he was in" near the city of Sidon.

The Israeli army said it had killed three Hezbollah operatives in the strike, adding in a statement on Tuesday that "one of the terrorists eliminated during the strike simultaneously served in the Lebanese intelligence unit".

A Lebanese army official told AFP it was "not true" that the soldier was a Hezbollah member, calling Israel's claim "a pretext" to justify the attack.

Under heavy US pressure and amid fears of expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon has committed to disarming Hezbollah, starting with the south.

The Lebanese army plans to complete the group's disarmament south of the Litani River -- about 30 kilometers from the border with Israel -- by year's end.

The latest strike came after Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives on Friday took part in a meeting of the ceasefire monitoring committee for a second time, after holding their first direct talks in decades earlier this month.

The committee comprises representatives from Lebanon, Israel, the United States, France and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

More than 340 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon since the ceasefire, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry reports.

Arab World

Israeli Defense Minister Says No Plan to Resettle Gaza After Hinting at One

Palestinians amid rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip (AFP)
Palestinians amid rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip (AFP)
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Israeli Defense Minister Says No Plan to Resettle Gaza After Hinting at One

Palestinians amid rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip (AFP)
Palestinians amid rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip (AFP)

Israel's defense minister denied any intention to resettle the Gaza Strip on Tuesday after earlier remarks that suggested Israel would one day want to do so, comments at odds with US President Donald Trump's plan for the Palestinian enclave. 

Defense Minister Israel Katz, speaking at a settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said the military would never leave all of Gaza and planned to station a type of unit - Nahal - that has historically played a role in establishing Israeli communities, including settlements. 

After some Israeli media reported the comment as a plan to resettle Gaza, where Israel dismantled settlements in 2005, Katz issued a statement saying "the government has no intention of establishing settlements in the Gaza Strip". 

According to the US-backed peace plan signed by both Israel and Hamas in October, the ‌Israeli military will ‌gradually withdraw completely from the coastal enclave and Israel will not re-establish ‌civilian ⁠settlements there. 

The plan ‌nevertheless provides for an Israeli "security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat." 

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said that Katz's announcement was "a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement" and "completely goes against" Trump's peace plan. 

WEST BANK SETTLEMENTS 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of re-establishing settlements in Gaza throughout the two-year Gaza war, although some ultra-nationalist members of his coalition seek to reoccupy Gaza. 

Katz made his initial comments in the West Bank settlement of Beit El - near the Palestinian Authority's administrative headquarters of Ramallah - where he announced 1,200 housing units would be ⁠built. 

"When the time comes, in northern Gaza ... we will establish Nahal (military) units instead of the (Israeli) communities that were displaced. We will do so in ‌the right way at the right time," he said. 

In his statement ‍clarifying the remark, Katz said "the reference to the integration ‍of Nahal ... in the northern Gaza Strip was made in a security context only." 

NETANYAHU, TRUMP PLAN TO ‍MEET NEXT WEEK 

The comments point to complications facing Trump's Gaza plan, ahead of his meeting next week with Netanyahu at the White House. 

Trump's plan secured a ceasefire in October and the release of the remaining living hostages seized in the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led raids into southern Israel. 

But there has been little sign of progress towards the other goals. Hamas has so far refused to disarm, as required by the plan, which also foresees the establishment of a transitional authority and the deployment of a multinational force. 

Katz, in his comments at ⁠Beit El, said: "We are located deep inside Gaza and we will never leave all of Gaza. There will never be such a thing. We are there to protect, to prevent what happened." 

"We don't trust anybody else to protect our citizens," he said, pointing to what he said was also a need to be also in Lebanon and Syria. 

Israeli settlement building in the West Bank - part of the territory where Palestinians aim to establish a state - has accelerated under Netanyahu. 

Palestinians and the international community for the most part consider the settlements to be illegal. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the land. 

Speaking about the West Bank, Katz said: "Netanyahu's government is a settlements government... it strives for action. If we can get sovereignty, we will bring about sovereignty... We are in the practical sovereignty era," Katz said. "There are opportunities here that haven't been here for a long time." 

Israel is heading into an election ‌year in 2026 and settlers make up part of Katz and Netanyahu's Likud party voter base. 

A Palestinian official condemned Katz's initial comments, calling them a dangerous escalation.