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US is 'Cautiously Optimistic' about Gaza Ceasefire Talks

More than eight months of war, sparked by Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, have led to dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza -AFP
More than eight months of war, sparked by Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, have led to dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza -AFP
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US is 'Cautiously Optimistic' about Gaza Ceasefire Talks

More than eight months of war, sparked by Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, have led to dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza -AFP
More than eight months of war, sparked by Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, have led to dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza -AFP

The United States was "cautiously optimistic" about Gaza ceasefire talks, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told CNN on Wednesday, adding that gaps between the two sides could be narrowed.

"We are cautiously optimistic that things are moving in a good direction," Kirby said when asked if a ceasefire deal was close.

"There are still gaps remaining between the two sides. We believe those gaps can be narrowed, and that's what Brett McGurk and CIA Director Bill Burns are trying to do right now," Reuters quoted Kirby saying.

- WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

President Joe Biden in late May detailed a proposal of three phases aimed at achieving a ceasefire, the release of hostages in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and the rebuilding of the coastal enclave.

Burns and US Middle East envoy McGurk are in the Middle East meeting with regional counterparts to discuss a ceasefire deal.

-CONTEXT

Hamas has accepted a key part of a US plan, dropping a demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the agreement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted the deal must not prevent Israel from resuming fighting until its war objectives are met. At the outset of the war, he pledged to annihilate Hamas.

Netanyahu told McGurk on Wednesday he was committed to securing a Gaza ceasefire deal provided Israel's red lines were respected, his office said.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7 when fighters led by Hamas, which controlled Gaza, attacked southern Israel. They killed 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.

The Gaza health ministry says that since then over 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's assault on the coastal enclave, which has displaced nearly all its 2.3 million population, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations that Israel denies.

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Arab World

Kurdish-led SDF Says Armed Group Attacks Shaddadi Prison as Syrian Forces Tighten Grip

A member of Syrian military police stands guard near Raqqa prison, after the army took control of the city of Raqqa, Syria January 19, 2026. (Reuters)
A member of Syrian military police stands guard near Raqqa prison, after the army took control of the city of Raqqa, Syria January 19, 2026. (Reuters)
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Kurdish-led SDF Says Armed Group Attacks Shaddadi Prison as Syrian Forces Tighten Grip

A member of Syrian military police stands guard near Raqqa prison, after the army took control of the city of Raqqa, Syria January 19, 2026. (Reuters)
A member of Syrian military police stands guard near Raqqa prison, after the army took control of the city of Raqqa, Syria January 19, 2026. (Reuters)

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Monday that forces affiliated with the Syrian government attacked Shaddadi prison in Hasaka in Syria's northeast, where it said thousands of ISIS militants were being held.

The SDF said it confronted the attackers at Shaddadi and repelled them several times, but that dozens of its fighters had been killed. US-led coalition forces did not intervene despite repeated calls for help, the Kurdish group said.

Earlier, the SDF said it had also clashed with Syrian government forces near the Al-Aqtan ‌prison on the ‌outskirts of Raqqa, another facility holding ‌ISIS ⁠detainees. Raqqa was ‌once the center of the group's short-lived "caliphate".

The SDF described the clashes as a "highly dangerous development", warning that any seizure of the prison by government forces "could have serious security repercussions that threaten stability and pave the way for a return to chaos and terrorism".

Syria's ministry of defense denied that government forces attacked the prisons. It said its forces had ⁠arrived at Al-Aqtan and had begun "securing" the facility and its surroundings. The army did ‌not enter Shaddadi prison, the ministry said ‍in a statement.

The Syrian army also ‍accused the SDF of being responsible for the release of ‍ISIS detainees from Shaddadi prison. It said the prison would be handed over to the ministry of interior after a security process.

The SDF said nine of its fighters were killed and 20 wounded in clashes around Al-Aqtan.

Under a sweeping integration deal agreed with Damascus on Sunday, responsibility for prisons housing ISIS detainees was ⁠meant to be transferred to the Syrian government.

After days of fighting with government forces, the SDF - once the main US ally in Syria - agreed on Sunday to withdraw from two Arab-majority provinces it had controlled for years, including oil fields.

Syrian government troops tightened their grip on Monday across swathes of northern and eastern territory abruptly abandoned by the SDF, in a dramatic shift that strengthened President Ahmed al-Sharaa's rule.

In Raqqa, government internal security forces and military police set up checkpoints and checked IDs. Security sources said the city had been cleared ‌of SDF fighters overnight.

Arab World

Syria Deal Could Remove Main Obstacle to Türkiye -PKK Peace, Turkish Officials Say

A crossing at the Syrian-Turkish borders. (AFP)
A crossing at the Syrian-Turkish borders. (AFP)
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Syria Deal Could Remove Main Obstacle to Türkiye -PKK Peace, Turkish Officials Say

A crossing at the Syrian-Turkish borders. (AFP)
A crossing at the Syrian-Turkish borders. (AFP)

A deal under which Kurdish forces abandoned long-held ​territory in Syria to the Syrian government could pave the way for Türkiye to advance its stalled effort to end its decades-long conflict with the PKK, Turkish politicians and officials said on Monday.

After days of fighting, the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed on Sunday to bring Kurdish authorities under the control of Damascus. By Monday, SDF fighters had pulled out of swathes of territory which were now under control of the Syrian military.

Neighbour Türkiye has long considered the SDF ‌in Syria ‌to be an offshoot of the banned PKK, or ‌Kurdistan ⁠Workers ​Party, which decided ‌in May last year to disarm, disband and end its decades-long war against the Turkish state.

Turkish officials have long said that as long as the SDF controlled a swathe of territory across the border, it was difficult to end the war with the PKK. But now, with the SDF pulling out of two Syrian provinces, Turkish leaders see progress resuming.

 

EFFORTS TO DERAIL PEACE THWARTED, ERDOGAN'S PARTY SAYS

 

Omer Celik, spokesman for President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling ⁠AK Party, said Syrian government forces' recent advances had "thwarted" efforts by Kurdish groups to derail Türkiye's peace process.

Feti ‌Yildiz, a deputy leader of the government-allied Turkish nationalist MHP ‍party, said Sunday's agreement in Syria would ‍have "a favorable impact".

"Things will become easier," Yildiz told reporters in the Turkish parliament ‍when asked how the Syrian deal affects the PKK process. "It had been standing like an obstacle, and for now it looks as though that obstacle has been removed."

The PKK itself had yet to comment on the SDF's withdrawal as of Monday afternoon. Türkiye 's pro-Kurdish DEM ​Party, which has previously criticized the Syrian offensive against Kurdish forces, has also not yet reacted.

Turkish security sources, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, ⁠called the deal a historic turning point and said stability in Syria was vital to Ankara's goal of eradicating terrorism in Türkiye, where the PKK has fought an insurgency since 1984 in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.

Though the PKK symbolically burned weapons in July, the peace process has since shown little sign of progress: a months-long parliamentary commission has so far revealed no details on legal or reform measures.

Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, said the deal ended the Kurdish hope of retaining a large measure of autonomy and would benefit Turkey.

"Erdogan is undoubtedly rejoicing at the news, which will greatly weaken the PKK and ‌any lingering Kurdish aspiration for an independent Kurdistan. Syria will become stronger economically and militarily, and Türkiye will profit from this," Landis said on X.

 

 

 

 

 

Arab World

Yemen Humanitarian Crisis to Worsen in 2026 amid Funding Cuts, Says UN

Children wait for lunch at their hut in Sanaa, Yemen August 29, 2022 (Reuters)
Children wait for lunch at their hut in Sanaa, Yemen August 29, 2022 (Reuters)
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Yemen Humanitarian Crisis to Worsen in 2026 amid Funding Cuts, Says UN

Children wait for lunch at their hut in Sanaa, Yemen August 29, 2022 (Reuters)
Children wait for lunch at their hut in Sanaa, Yemen August 29, 2022 (Reuters)

The UN warned on Monday that the humanitarian situation in Yemen is worsening and that gains made to tackle malnutrition ​and health would go into reverse due to funding cuts.

"The context is very concerning... We are expecting things to be much worse in 2026," Julien Harneis, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, told reporters in Geneva.

Some 21 million people will need humanitarian assistance this year, an increase from ‌19.5 million the ‌previous year, according to the ‌UN. ⁠The ​situation ‌has been aggravated by economic collapse and disruption of essential services including health and education, and political uncertainty, Harneis said.

The US slashed its ⁠aid spending this year, and leading Western donors also pared back help ‌as they pivoted to raise defense ‍spending, triggering a funding ‍crunch for the UN.

Yemen has been the ‍focus of one of the world's largest humanitarian operations in a decade of civil war that disrupted food supplies.

"Children are dying and it's ⁠going to get worse," Harneis said. Food insecurity is projected to worsen across the country, with higher rates of malnutrition anticipated, he stated.

"For 10 years, the UN and humanitarian organizations were able to improve mortality and improve morbidity...this year, that's not going to be the case."

He said Yemen’s humanitarian crisis threatened the region with diseases like measles and polio that could cross borders.

In 2025 680 million dollars was afforded to ‌the UN in Yemen, about 28% of the intended target, Harneis said.