Arab World News

Islamic Jihad Denies Withholding Body of Last Israeli Hostage

Arab World An Islamic Jihad member looks on as workers dig in search of the corpses of hostages in northern Gaza. (AP file)

Islamic Jihad Denies Withholding Body of Last Israeli Hostage

Palestinian sources dismissed Israeli claims circulating over the past two days that the Islamic Jihad movement is refusing to cooperate with Hamas by handing…

Arab World Heavy machinery operates as Palestinians gather amid a search for victims in a destroyed house that collapsed due to heavy rains, in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, December 12, 2025. (Reuters)

Gaza Civil Defense Says 13 Dead as Heavy Rains Batter Territory

Gaza's civil defense agency on Friday said at least 13 people had died in the last 24 hours, including three children who died from exposure to the cold, as a…

Arab World Israeli settlements seen from Bethlehem in the West Bank. (AFP file)

Israel Gives Legal Status to 19 West Bank Settlements, Media Reports

Israel's cabinet has decided to give legal status to 19 settlements in the occupied West Bank, including two that were vacated 20 years ago under a pullout…

Arab World Former Iraqi President Barham Salih. (Reuters)

Former Iraq President Named UN Refugee Chief, Document Shows

Iraq's former president Barham Salih has been chosen as the next High Commissioner for Refugees for the United Nations, a letter showed on Friday, breaking…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World US President Donald Trump delivers remarks during the Congressional Ball in the Grand Foyer of the White House in Washington, DC, on December 11, 2025. (Photo by Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP)

Trump: ‘We Actually Do Have a Real Peace in the Middle East’

US President Donald Trump has said that there are prospects for “a real peace in the Middle East.” When asked by a reporter at the White House about…

Asharq Al Awsat (Washington)

Arab World Lebanon's Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji. (NNA)

Lebanon Foreign Minister Declines Tehran Visit, Proposes Talks in Neutral Country 

Lebanon's Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji said on Wednesday he had declined an invitation to visit Tehran for now, proposing instead talks with Iran in a…

Arab World Emergency personnel search for victims in the rubble of two collapsed buildings in Fez late on December 9, 2025. (AFP)

At Least 22 Killed in Collapse of Two Buildings in Morocco’s Old City of Fez 

At least 22 people were killed late on Tuesday after two buildings collapsed in Fez, one of Morocco's oldest cities and a key tourist destination, with the…

Arab World Israeli tanks deployed near the buffer zone on the Syrian Golan, Dec. 8, 2024. (AFP)

Netanyahu Denies Contacts with Syria Have Led to Final Agreement

Contacts and meetings held between Israel and Syria have not reached any final understanding or agreement between both sides, the office of Israeli Prime…

Kifah Zboun (Ramallah)
Arab World A photograph released by the Lebanese Presidency Press Office on December 8, 2025, shows Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (R) meeting with French Envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian (L) at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut. (Lebanese Presidency)

Le Drian Holds Talks in Lebanon to Consolidate Ceasefire with Israel

French presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian continued his meetings with Lebanese officials on Tuesday over consolidating the ceasefire between Israel and…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)
Arab World Smoke billows following an Israeli strike on Damascus over the summer. (Reuters file)

Shells of Unknown Origin Land Near Military Airport in Damascus, Syrian State TV Says

Shells of unknown origin fell in the vicinity of Syria's Mazzeh military airport in the capital Damascus on Tuesday, the state-run Al Ekhbariya TV reported. …

Arab World Mattresses and a plastic chair lie on the floor inside a tunnel in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP)

Israeli Army Takes Journalists into a Tunnel in a Gaza City It Seized and Largely Flattened

One by one, the soldiers squeezed through a narrow entrance to a tunnel in southern Gaza. Inside a dark hallway, some bowed their heads to avoid hitting the…

Arab World Allenby Bridge Crossing between West Bank and Jordan is closed, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, September 24, 2025. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo

Israel to Reopen Jordan Border Crossing for Passage of Aid and Goods

Israel is set to reopen the Allenby Crossing with Jordan to the passage of goods and aid on Wednesday, an Israeli security official said on Tuesday. The…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

Arab League Condemns Israeli Forces' Raid on UNRWA Headquarters

Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the Israeli forces' raid on the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Displaced Palestinian students attend class at a tent school in the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 09 December 2025. (EPA)

‘Shockingly High’ Number of Gaza Children Still Acutely Malnourished After Truce, UN Says 

Thousands of children have been admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition in Gaza since an October ceasefire that was supposed to enable a major increase…

Arab World Women displaced from el-Fasher stand in line to receive food aid at the newly established El-Afadh camp in al-Dabba, in Sudan's Northern State, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP)

Sudan’s RSF Advances Could Trigger New Refugee Exodus, UNHCR Chief Warns 

Advances by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan could trigger another exodus across the country's borders, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo…

Arab World Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman, a leader of the Sudanese Janjaweed militia, at the International Criminal Court, ICC, in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, Pool)

International Court Sentences Sudanese Militia Leader to 20 Years in Prison for Darfur Atrocities

Judges at the International Criminal Court sentenced a leader of the feared Sudanese Janjaweed militia to 20 years imprisonment Tuesday for war crimes and…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World A young girl walks through the site of an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah on December 9, 2025, which resulted in a Palestinian man being killed. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)

Hamas Reports ‘More Serious’ Talks on Phase Two of Gaza Deal

Hamas sources say negotiations over the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement have entered a “more serious” stage, amid intensified efforts by mediators…

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Arab World Lebanese army members stand on a military vehicle during a Lebanese army media tour, to review the army's operations in the southern Litani sector, in Alma Al-Shaab, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, November 28, 2025. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo 

EU Looking at Options for Boosting Lebanon's Internal Security Forces

The European Union is studying options for strengthening Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces (ISF) to help free up the Lebanese army to focus on disarming the…

Asharq Al Awsat (Brussels)
Arab World Chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi. (Saba news agency)

Alimi to Ambassadors: STC’s Unilateral Actions Threaten Stability in Yemen

Chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi said on Monday the Southern Transitional Council’s (STC) actions in eastern provinces…

Asharq Al Awsat (London)
Arab World Smoke billows over the village of Aaichiyeh after Israeli strikes, as seen from Marjayoun in southern Lebanon, October 20, 2025. REUTERS/Karamallah Daher

Israeli Military Says It Struck Hezbollah Sites in Southern Lebanon

The Israeli military said on Tuesday that it struck infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah in several areas in southern Lebanon, including what it described as…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, greets people as he attends celebrations marking the first anniversary of the ousting of former President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, Syria, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP)

Sharaa Vows Transitional Justice in Syria, Will Work to Prevent Repeat of Violations

Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa vowed on Monday that his country will work on ensuring no repeat of violations against the Syrian people. In a…

Arab World People fill Clock Square to mark the first anniversary of the ousting of the Bashar al-Assad regime. in Homs, western Syria, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025.(AP)

US Congress Moves Toward Repeal of Tough ‘Caesar’ Sanctions on Syria 

A set of tough US sanctions imposed on Syria under its former leader Bashar al-Assad could be lifted within weeks, after their repeal was included in a…

Arab World US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach to shake hands at a joint press conference in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, DC, US, September 29, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/ File Photo

Netanyahu will Meet Trump on Gaza on December 29, Spokesperson Says

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet US President Donald Trump on December 29 to discuss the next steps of the Gaza ceasefire, an Israeli…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World FILE PHOTO: A general view shows the West Qurna-2 oilfield in southern Basra, Iraq, April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani/File Photo/File Photo

Iraq Shuts Down Lukoil West Qurna 2 Field Due to Leak

Iraq has shut down the entire oil production at Lukoil's West Qurna 2 oilfield, one of the world's largest, due to a leak on an export pipeline, twoIraqi…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Offices of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, are seen in the Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP)

UN Palestinian Aid Agency Says Israeli Police ‘Forcibly Entered’ Compound in Jerusalem 

Israeli police forcibly entered the compound of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem early Monday, escalating a campaign…

Arab World Sudanese people who fled El-Fasher rest upon their arrival at the Al-Afad camp for displaced people in the town of Al-Dabba, northern Sudan, on November 19, 2025. (Photo by Ebrahim Hamid / AFP)

WHO Says over 100 Killed in Attacks on Sudan Kindergarten and Hospital

More than 100 people, including dozens of children, were killed in attacks on a kindergarten in Sudan that continued even as parents and caretakers rushed the…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World People celebrate and wave Syrian flags as they wait for a parade by the new Syrian army marking the first anniversary of the ousting of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Damascus, Syria, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP)

Syria’s Sharaa Calls for United Efforts to Rebuild a Year After Assad’s Ouster 

Syrians marked the first anniversary of the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad and his iron-fisted rule on Monday with jubilant celebrations in major cities, as the…

Arab World People sit after receiving bread from Ecir Kapici, Turkish humanitarian NGO at Al-Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, after Syria's Bashar Al-Assad was ousted, in Damascus, Syria, December 20 , 2024. (Reuters)

Syrian Refugee Returns Set to Slow as Donor Support Fades

More than 3 million Syrians have returned home since the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's rule a year ago but a decline in global funding could deter others, the…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Syrians shout slogans and wave flags outside the Umayyad Mosque before a prayer held ahead of celebrations marking the first anniversary of the ousting of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Damascus, Syria, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP)

On Anniversary of the Fall of Bashar Assad, Syrians and Their Country Struggle to Heal 

A year ago, Mohammad Marwan found himself stumbling, barefoot and dazed, out of Syria’s notorious Saydnaya prison on the outskirts of Damascus as opposition…