US Says it Struck ISIS Group in Syria

File photo: US airmen are shown at the Kobani Landing Zone in northern Syria, October 25, 2019. Staff Sgt. Joshua Hammock, AP
File photo: US airmen are shown at the Kobani Landing Zone in northern Syria, October 25, 2019. Staff Sgt. Joshua Hammock, AP
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US Says it Struck ISIS Group in Syria

File photo: US airmen are shown at the Kobani Landing Zone in northern Syria, October 25, 2019. Staff Sgt. Joshua Hammock, AP
File photo: US airmen are shown at the Kobani Landing Zone in northern Syria, October 25, 2019. Staff Sgt. Joshua Hammock, AP

The Pentagon says US Central Command forces have killed two operatives for the ISIS militant group in an airstrike in Syria.
The US military said the airstrike Monday in Deir Ezzour Province was aimed at ISIS militants who were moving a truckload of weapons, which was destroyed. Another ISIS operative was wounded, The Associated Press said.
Central Command said the area was formerly controlled by former President Bashar Assad’s regime and its Russian supporters. Assad fled to Moscow after opposition forces seized control of Damascus earlier this month and ended his family’s 50 years of iron rule.



White House Urges Hamas to Sign on to New Deal to Ensure Hostage Release

Palestinian boys examine a car targeted in an Israeli army strike that killed several of its occupants in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinian boys examine a car targeted in an Israeli army strike that killed several of its occupants in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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White House Urges Hamas to Sign on to New Deal to Ensure Hostage Release

Palestinian boys examine a car targeted in an Israeli army strike that killed several of its occupants in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinian boys examine a car targeted in an Israeli army strike that killed several of its occupants in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The Biden administration is urging Hamas to sign on to a new ceasefire deal that would ensure the release of hostages, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Friday.

Kirby said the White House welcomed Israel's decision to send another team to Doha to continue negotiations.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have been trying to mediate a deal for a ceasefire and hostage release for a year with no success and are making another push this month before Donald Trump's inauguration.
Ceasefire efforts have continually stumbled on a fundamental disagreement over how to end the conflict. Hamas says it will accept an agreement and release the hostages only if Israel commits to ending the war. Israel says it will agree to stop fighting only once Hamas is destroyed.

On Friday, Hamas said it wanted "a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of occupation forces from the Gaza Strip" and the return of displaced people to their homes in all areas of the enclave.

US President Joe Biden has repeatedly called for a ceasefire agreement. Trump has said that if there is not a deal to release the hostages before his inauguration, "all hell is going to break out.”