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UN Security Council due to Vote on Delayed Gaza Resolution 

A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing following Israeli bombardment in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 20, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (AFP)
A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing following Israeli bombardment in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 20, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (AFP)
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UN Security Council due to Vote on Delayed Gaza Resolution 

A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing following Israeli bombardment in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 20, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (AFP)
A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing following Israeli bombardment in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 20, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (AFP)

The United Nations Security Council was due to vote Wednesday on a much-delayed resolution calling for a pause to the Israel-Hamas war after members wrangled over wording while aid efforts in the Gaza Strip neared collapse.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza was rapidly deteriorating, with a senior UN official saying Israel's steps to allow in aid were "far short" of mounting need.

Members of the council had grappled for days to find common ground on the resolution, a vote on which was pushed back several times throughout Tuesday, after being postponed Monday.

An official scheduling document said the 15-member body would finally vote on Wednesday.

Israel, backed by its ally Washington, a veto-wielding permanent Security Council member, has opposed the use of the term "ceasefire."

Richard Gowan, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, said that "everyone is basically stuck waiting to see what the US will decide to do."

"It looks like even US diplomats do not know how this saga will end," he added, after several United States diplomats gave non-committal answers when asked what would happen and why the vote had been delayed through Tuesday.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he did not want to "get ahead of a resolution that hasn't been voted on yet."

This week's back and forth comes after an impasse earlier this month, when the United States, despite unprecedented pressure from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, blocked the adoption of a Security Council resolution on the war.

It had called for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip, where Israel continues its deadly strikes in retaliation for Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack.

'Human catastrophe'

Last week, the General Assembly adopted the same nonbinding resolution by 153 votes to 10, with 23 abstentions, out of 193 member states.

Bolstered by that overwhelming support, Arab countries announced the new attempt at the Security Council.

A draft text prepared by the UAE, obtained by AFP on Sunday, called for "an urgent and lasting cessation of hostilities to allow unimpeded access of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip."

The last version seen by AFP was, however, a modified text that seemingly sought to salvage a compromise.

It was less direct, calling for "the urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and for urgent steps towards a sustainable cessation of hostilities."

United Nations official Tor Wennesland said Tuesday that Israel's "limited" steps to allow aid into Gaza "are positive, but fall far short of what is needed to address the human catastrophe on the ground."

After the attack on October 7, which Israeli authorities say left around 1,140 people dead, most of them civilians, Israel vowed to "annihilate" Hamas.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says Israel's military response has killed 19,667 people, mostly women and children.

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Arab World

Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
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Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)

Türkiye held a military funeral ceremony Saturday morning for five Libyan officers, including western Libya’s military chief, who died in a plane crash earlier this week.

The private jet with Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, four other military officers and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Ankara, Türkiye’s capital, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.

Al-Hadad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing, UN-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military.

The high-level Libyan delegation was on its way back to Tripoli, Libya’s capital, after holding defense talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.

Saturday's ceremony was held at 8:00 a.m. local time at the Murted Airfield base, near Ankara, and attended by the Turkish military chief and the defense minister. The five caskets, each wrapped in a Libyan national flag, were then loaded onto a plane to be returned to their home country.

Türkiye’s military chief, Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, was also on the plane headed to Libya, state-run news agency TRT reported.

The bodies recovered from the crash site were kept at the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institute for identification. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told reporters their DNA was compared to family members who joined a 22-person delegation that arrived from Libya after the crash.

Tunc also said Germany was asked to help examine the jet's black boxes as an impartial third party.

Arab World

Syrian Foreign Ministry: Talks with SDF Have Not Yielded Tangible Results

SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
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Syrian Foreign Ministry: Talks with SDF Have Not Yielded Tangible Results

SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)

A source from the Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the talks with the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) over their integration into state institutions “have not yielded tangible results.”

Discussions about merging the northeastern institutions into the state remain “hypothetical statements without execution,” it told Syria’s state news agency SANA.

Repeated assertions over Syria’s unity are being contradicted by the reality on the ground in the northeast, where the Kurds hold sway and where administrative, security and military institutions continue to be run separately from the state, it added.

The situation “consolidates the division” instead of addressing it, it warned.

It noted that despite the SDF’s continued highlighting of its dialogue with the Syrian state, these discussions have not led to tangible results.

It seems that the SDF is using this approach to absorb the political pressure on it, said the source. The truth is that there is little actual will to move from discussion to application of the March 10 agreement.

This raises doubts over the SDF’s commitment to the deal, it stressed.

Talk about rapprochement between the state and SDF remains meaningless if the agreement is not implemented on the ground within a specific timeframe, the source remarked.

Furthermore, the continued deployment of armed formations on the ground that are not affiliated with the Syrian army are evidence that progress is not being made.

The persistence of the situation undermines Syria’s sovereignty and hampers efforts to restore stability, it warned.

Arab World

Terrorist Attack on Mosque in Syria’s Homs Draws Wide Condemnation

A view shows an interior of a damaged mosque after several people were killed in an explosion in Homs, Syria December 26, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows an interior of a damaged mosque after several people were killed in an explosion in Homs, Syria December 26, 2025. (Reuters)
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Terrorist Attack on Mosque in Syria’s Homs Draws Wide Condemnation

A view shows an interior of a damaged mosque after several people were killed in an explosion in Homs, Syria December 26, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows an interior of a damaged mosque after several people were killed in an explosion in Homs, Syria December 26, 2025. (Reuters)

Condemnations poured in across the Arab world and international community of the terrorist attack that targeted a mosque in Syria’s Homs city on Friday.

An explosion killed at least eight worshippers with the extremist group Saraya Ansar al-Sunna claiming responsibility.

In a statement on Telegram, the group said its fighters “detonated a number of explosive devices” in the Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib Mosque in the central Syrian city.

Syria's interior ministry said in a statement that “a terrorist explosion” targeted the mosque and that authorities had “begun investigating and collecting evidence to pursue the perpetrators of this criminal act.”

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack, stressing the Kingdom’s “categorical rejection of terrorism and extremism in all their forms, including attacks on mosques and places of worship and the targeting of innocent civilians.”

It expressed the Kingdom’s “solidarity with Syria in this tragic incident and its support for the Syrian government’s efforts to uphold security and stability.”

Türkiye slammed the attack, saying it stands by Syria and its efforts to support stability, security and unity “despite all the provocations.”

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the “heinous terrorist attack,” saying Baghdad rejects all forms of terrorism, violence and extremism regardless of their motives.

It slammed the attack against civilians and places of worship, saying they aim to create instability and sow strife in society.

The ministry underlined Iraq’s support for regional and international efforts aimed at eliminating terrorism and drying up its sources of funding.

The United Arab Emirates condemned the attack, saying it rejects all forms of violence and terrorism that aim to undermine security and stability.

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry slammed the attack, voicing its full support to Syria in its reconstruction process “based on principles that ensure its territorial unity, sovereignty, security and stability.”

In Beirut, President Joseph Aoun slammed the Homs attack, saying Lebanon stands by Syria in its war on terrorism. He offered his condolences to the Syrian people.

Qatar slammed the attack, saying it fully stands by the Syrian government and all the measures it takes to preserve security.

France said the blast was an “act of terrorism” designed to destabilize the country, while United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the “unacceptable” attack and said the perpetrators should be brought to justice.