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Israel Launches Security Campaign in Nablus After the Killing of Settler

Israeli Army soldiers in the West Bank (Reuters)
Israeli Army soldiers in the West Bank (Reuters)
    Tel Aviv, Ramallah- Nazir Majli and Asharq Al-Awsat
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Israel Launches Security Campaign in Nablus After the Killing of Settler

Israeli Army soldiers in the West Bank (Reuters)
Israeli Army soldiers in the West Bank (Reuters)

Hundreds of Jewish settlers attacked a number of Palestinian villages in the vicinity of the West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday, in retaliation for the killing of a settler.

Dozens of settlers streamed into the alleys of villages in the area, attacking Palestinian vehicles with stones, assaulting people and firing stun grenades and smoke bombs.

The Israeli army announced that its forces were carrying out a large search operation in the vicinity of Nablus to determine the location of the attackers, who shot at the settler, 35-year-old Raziel Shevach, as he was driving along Route 60 near the “illegal” settlement of Havat Gilad, where he resides.

Palestinian citizens reported that Israeli soldiers stormed several villages and southern areas such as Nablus and Al-Mahfida. They confiscated surveillance cameras and arrested Palestinian TV crews who broadcast live reports on their practices.

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman issued instructions to examine the possibility of legitimizing Havat Gilad as a “legal” settlement.

The Israeli army has summoned about 2,000 soldiers to carry out unusual operations in the area.

The occupation army imposed a complete closure on the towns and villages of Nablus governorate, which resulted in the siege of hundreds of cars for the Arab citizens of Israel, who stayed in Nablus overnight.

Hebrew media reported that the Israeli army has ordered an extensive and unusual security operation in the villages of Nablus following the killing of the settler.

In the first direct US reaction to the operation, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman attacked the Palestinian Authority and appeared to be holding it responsible for the killing of the settler, by accusing it of encouraging such operations by “paying salaries to Palestinian prisoners and their families.”

“An Israeli father of six was killed last night in cold blood... Hamas praises the killers and PA (Palestinian Authority) laws will provide them financial rewards. Look no further (as) to why there is no peace…” Friedman said on his Twitter account.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry responded by accusing Friedman of supporting the extreme right in Israel and being totally biased towards the occupation and the illegal settlement.

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Arab World

Italian Authorities Arrest 9 for Allegedly Funding Hamas Through Charities

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Italian Authorities Arrest 9 for Allegedly Funding Hamas Through Charities

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Italian authorities arrested nine people linked to three charitable organizations on suspicion of raising millions of euros in funds for the Palestinian group Hamas, anti-terrorism prosecutors said in a statement Saturday. 

The suspects are accused of sending about 7 million euros ($8.2 million) to “associations based in Gaza, the Palestinian territories, or Israel, owned, controlled, or linked to Hamas,” the statement said. 

Among those arrested was Mohammad Hannoun, president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, prosecutors said, describing him as the “head of the Italian cell of the Hamas organization.” 

The European Union has Hamas listed on its terror list. 

According to Italian prosecutors, who collaborated with other EU countries in the probe, the illegal funds were delivered through “triangulation operations” via bank transfers or through organizations based abroad to associations based in Gaza, which have been declared illegal by Israel for their ties to Hamas. 

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi wrote on X that the operation “lifted the veil on behavior and activities which, pretending to be initiatives in favor of the Palestinian population, concealed support for and participation in terrorist organizations.” 

There was no immediate comment from the suspects or the associations. 

In January 202, the European Council decided to extend existing restrictive measures against 12 individuals and three entities that support the financing of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 

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.