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Arab World

Israeli Occupation Army Hints at Re-occupying Palestinian Towns

Israeli machineries, guarded by Israeli forces, bulldoze lands near the Palestinian village of Qusra, in the Israeli occupied West Bank (File photo: Reuters)
Israeli machineries, guarded by Israeli forces, bulldoze lands near the Palestinian village of Qusra, in the Israeli occupied West Bank (File photo: Reuters)
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Israeli Occupation Army Hints at Re-occupying Palestinian Towns

Israeli machineries, guarded by Israeli forces, bulldoze lands near the Palestinian village of Qusra, in the Israeli occupied West Bank (File photo: Reuters)
Israeli machineries, guarded by Israeli forces, bulldoze lands near the Palestinian village of Qusra, in the Israeli occupied West Bank (File photo: Reuters)

Israeli occupation army might re-occupy a number of Palestinian cities in the occupied West Bank if it felt that the decision to end coordination might negatively affect the security situation, according to military sources.

On Wednesday, the Palestinian Authority (PA) suspended security coordination with Tel Aviv, in protest of the Israeli decision to annex the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea lands, in addition to imposing Israeli law on them.

Initially, Israeli officials did not take the Palestinian decision seriously and expected coordination to remain effective. However, the security services informed their leaders in Tel Aviv that coordination had been halted.

The sources said that the Authority has informed Israel that halting security coordination does not mean its forces will allow chaos in the West Bank.

Israeli army leadership in the West Bank is preparing for a situation of “organized chaos”, saying that in all cases it should be ready for a new situation that requires a new policy, which might include the deployment of occupation forces in the Palestinian cities and resumption of field intelligence activities.

The sources confirmed that since assuming his position as an Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Benny Gantz has been initiating contacts with the Palestinian officials for several objectives.

Gantz wants to ensure the new situation will not lead to escalation and clashes. He also wants to pave the way for the resumption of peaceful negotiations through understandings between two sides.

Earlier, he announced that his support to the annexation plan, given that it is coordinated with Arab neighbors, including the Palestinians.

However, the far-right parties of the Israeli government rejected Gantz’s position saying ending the security coordination is a malicious scheme by the PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who wants to draw Hamas into a confrontation with Israel in the event that the Gaza crossings were closed.

They said there are several indications of an atmosphere of hostility towards Israel among the Palestinian police and security services.

Last Wednesday, a Palestinian policeman pulled his gun at an Israeli vehicle near Nablus and a Palestinian crossing prevented an Israeli patrol from entering Hebron.

Meanwhile, a number of Palestinian gunmen of various cities of the occupied West Bank shot several celebratory gunfire in support of Abbas’s recent decisions.

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Arab World

EU Warns Israel Suspending Gaza NGOs Would Block 'Life-Saving Aid'

Palestinians walk along streets past tent camps for displaced people in Gaza City, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk along streets past tent camps for displaced people in Gaza City, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP)
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EU Warns Israel Suspending Gaza NGOs Would Block 'Life-Saving Aid'

Palestinians walk along streets past tent camps for displaced people in Gaza City, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk along streets past tent camps for displaced people in Gaza City, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP)

The EU warned Wednesday that Israel's threat to suspend several aid groups in Gaza under new registration rules would block "life-saving" assistance from reaching the population.

"The EU has been clear: the NGO registration law can not be implemented in its current form," EU humanitarian chief Hadja Lahbib posted on X, after Israel said several groups would be barred from January 1 for failing to comply with rules concerning the listing of their Palestinian employees.

"IHL (international humanitarian law) leaves no room for doubt: aid must reach those in need," Lahbib wrote.

Arab World

Hadhramaut Governor to Asharq Al-Awsat: UAE Has Started Withdrawing its Forces, Door Still Open to STC

Hadhramaut Governor Salem Ahmed al-Khanbashi. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Hadhramaut Governor Salem Ahmed al-Khanbashi. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Hadhramaut Governor to Asharq Al-Awsat: UAE Has Started Withdrawing its Forces, Door Still Open to STC

Hadhramaut Governor Salem Ahmed al-Khanbashi. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Hadhramaut Governor Salem Ahmed al-Khanbashi. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Hadhramaut Governor Salem Ahmed al-Khanbashi called on Wednesday inhabitants of the governorate who are involved with the Southern Transitional Council to "return home" and join their "brothers in the National Shield Forces".

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he pledged that they will be welcomed in the ranks and that their "affairs will be arranged."

He also confirmed that the United Arab Emirates has started withdrawing its forces from all positions they were stationed at, including Hadhramaut and al-Shabwah.

He said they pulled out from the al-Rayan airport and Balhaf in Shabwah.

The forces had a limited presence in the al-Rabwa and al-Dabba areas in Hadhramaut . Their role was limited to supervising the STC's security support forces, he explained.

Sources confirmed that the UAE started pulling out its forces from Shabwah on Tuesday at the request of Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Chairman Dr. Rashad al-Alimi.

Al-Khanbashi stressed that the only way to resolve the current crisis lies in the withdrawal of the STC from Hadhramaut and Mahra.

"The door is still open and we hope our brothers in the STC will seize the opportunity to avert the eruption of any fighting in Hadhramaut and the rest of the country," he added.

"They should return to where they came from and then we can kick of political dialogue about any future formations without resorting to imposing a status quo by force," he stressed.

Moreover, he underlined the readiness of the National Shield Forces, which are overseen by al-Alimi, to deploy in Hadhramaut and Mahra, in line with the state of emergency that he declared on Tuesday.

An additional 3,000 Hadhramaut residents, who have military experience, are also prepared to support their brothers in the National Shield Forces, al-Khanbashi revealed.

He said that coordination with Saudi Arabia was at its highest levels.

The Kingdom views Hadhramaut and Mahra as part of its "strategic security depth," he went on to say. "Our shared borders stretch over 700 kms, so the security and stability of the two provinces are part of the Kingdom's strategic security."

Saudi Arabia does not want Hadhramaut and Mahra to turn into dangerous hubs that can threaten it, he continued.

Al-Khanbashi added that al-Alimi's orders on Tuesday came at the right time to prevent saboteurs from trying to undermine the situation.

Arab World

Nearly 25 ISIS Fighters Killed or Captured in Syria, US Military Says

A US military patrol is seen in northeastern Syria. (Reuters file)
A US military patrol is seen in northeastern Syria. (Reuters file)
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Nearly 25 ISIS Fighters Killed or Captured in Syria, US Military Says

A US military patrol is seen in northeastern Syria. (Reuters file)
A US military patrol is seen in northeastern Syria. (Reuters file)

The US military said Tuesday that nearly 25 operatives of the ISIS group were killed or captured in Syria this month following an ambush that killed two US troops and an American civilian interpreter.

The US Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said in a statement on X that 11 missions were carried out over the past 10 days and followed initial strikes against ISIS weapons sites and infrastructure on Dec. 19, which hit 70 targets across central Syria.

In the operations since, the US military and other forces from the region, including Syria, killed at least seven ISIS members, captured others and eliminated four weapons caches, US Central Command said.

“We will not relent,” Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads the command, said in the statement. “We are steadfast in commitment to working with regional partners to root out the ISIS threat posed to US and regional security.”

Targets ranged from senior ISIS members who were being closely monitored by military officials to lower-level foot soldiers, according to a US official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.

The official said a growing collaboration between the United States and Syria's relatively new government meant that US forces were able to attack ISIS in areas of the country where they previously did not operate. Syrian forces were the driving force behind some of the missions against the militant group this year, the official added.

The official compared the growing cooperation to that between the US and Iraq in fighting ISIS a decade ago and said the goal, like in Iraq, is to ultimately hand over the effort fully to the Syrians.

The latest operations followed a Dec. 13 ambush that occurred near the ancient city of Palmyra while American and Syrian security officials had gathered for a meeting over lunch. Two members of the Iowa National Guard and a civilian interpreter from Michigan were killed, while three other US troops and members of Syria’s security forces were wounded.

The gunman, who was killed, had joined Syria’s internal security forces as a base security guard and recently had been reassigned because of suspicions he might be affiliated with ISIS, Syrian officials said.

The initial retaliatory strike on ISIS targets in Syria, which included fighter jets from Jordan, was a major test for the warming ties between the US and Syria since last year's ouster of autocratic leader Bashar al-Assad.

President Donald Trump said Syria's new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was “extremely angry and disturbed by this attack."