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Israel to OK New Homes for West Bank Settlers, Palestinians

A Jewish settler walks past Israeli settlement construction sites around Givat Zeev and Ramat Givat Zeev in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, near Jerusalem June 30, 2020. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
A Jewish settler walks past Israeli settlement construction sites around Givat Zeev and Ramat Givat Zeev in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, near Jerusalem June 30, 2020. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
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Israel to OK New Homes for West Bank Settlers, Palestinians

A Jewish settler walks past Israeli settlement construction sites around Givat Zeev and Ramat Givat Zeev in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, near Jerusalem June 30, 2020. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
A Jewish settler walks past Israeli settlement construction sites around Givat Zeev and Ramat Givat Zeev in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, near Jerusalem June 30, 2020. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Israel is set to approve construction of new homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank but in a rare step will also grant permits for Palestinian housing construction, Reuters reported an Israeli security official as saying on Wednesday.

The planned permits for Palestinian housing in West Bank territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war appeared aimed at blunting US and international criticism of Israeli settlement construction, assailed by Palestinians and viewed by most countries as illegal.

The settlement approvals, expected next week, would be the first by new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's government since he and his cross-partisan coalition replaced longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu in June.

Some 2,000 settler units are expected to be approved next week, the Israeli security official said. Around 1,000 Palestinian homes will be approved for construction in areas under complete Israeli military control, the official said.

Around 650 of the Palestinian homes will be near the northern West Bank city of Jenin, with approximately 150 in the central city of Bethlehem and another 150 further south.

There was no immediate comment from the Palestinians, who seek the West Bank, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, for a future state. Bennett's office did not provide comment on the settlement and Palestinian housing plans. The story was widely reported in the Israeli media.

The administration of US President Joe Biden, which took office in January, has warned against actions by Israel or the Palestinians that could undermine the viability of the two-state solution, including settlement construction.

Biden has sought to repair relations with the Palestinians which plummeted under former President Donald Trump, who embraced Israel's settlements.

CIA director William Burns was due to meet with Palestinian officials in Ramallah on Thursday, following earlier talks with Bennett, who is expected to meet Biden in Washington later this month.

The Palestinians and many countries regard Israel's settlements as illegal under the Geneva Conventions that bar settling on land captured in war.

Israel disputes this, citing security needs and biblical, historical and political connections to the land.

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Arab World

Diplomats Sought Guarantees from Hezbollah That It Will Hold Fire if Iran Is Attacked, Source Says

Mourners hold anti-US and anti-Israeli placards during a funeral ceremony for security personnel killed during anti-government protests, in Tehran, Iran, 14 January 2026. (EPA)
Mourners hold anti-US and anti-Israeli placards during a funeral ceremony for security personnel killed during anti-government protests, in Tehran, Iran, 14 January 2026. (EPA)
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Diplomats Sought Guarantees from Hezbollah That It Will Hold Fire if Iran Is Attacked, Source Says

Mourners hold anti-US and anti-Israeli placards during a funeral ceremony for security personnel killed during anti-government protests, in Tehran, Iran, 14 January 2026. (EPA)
Mourners hold anti-US and anti-Israeli placards during a funeral ceremony for security personnel killed during anti-government protests, in Tehran, Iran, 14 January 2026. (EPA)

Diplomats have sought guarantees from Lebanese armed group Hezbollah that it would not take military action if the United ‌States ‌or ‌Israel ⁠carried out on ‌an attack on Iran, a Lebanese source familiar with the group's thinking told ⁠Reuters on Wednesday.

The ‌source said ‍the ‍Iran-backed group was ‍approached through diplomatic channels last week.

Hezbollah did not offer explicit guarantees but has no ⁠plans to act if the strike on Iran is not "existential" for Iran's leadership, the source added.

Arab World

Palestinian Factions Offer Support for Gaza Technocratic Committee

A handout photo made available by Egyptian State Press Office shows Egyptian authorities holding talks with a Hamas delegation and representatives of various Palestinian factions, in Cairo, Egypt, 14 January 2026, to select a technical committee for Gaza. (EPA/Egyptian State Press Office)
A handout photo made available by Egyptian State Press Office shows Egyptian authorities holding talks with a Hamas delegation and representatives of various Palestinian factions, in Cairo, Egypt, 14 January 2026, to select a technical committee for Gaza. (EPA/Egyptian State Press Office)
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Palestinian Factions Offer Support for Gaza Technocratic Committee

A handout photo made available by Egyptian State Press Office shows Egyptian authorities holding talks with a Hamas delegation and representatives of various Palestinian factions, in Cairo, Egypt, 14 January 2026, to select a technical committee for Gaza. (EPA/Egyptian State Press Office)
A handout photo made available by Egyptian State Press Office shows Egyptian authorities holding talks with a Hamas delegation and representatives of various Palestinian factions, in Cairo, Egypt, 14 January 2026, to select a technical committee for Gaza. (EPA/Egyptian State Press Office)

The majority of Palestinian factions and the presidency offered their support for the Palestinian technocratic committee meant to govern Gaza, after mediator Egypt announced on Wednesday that all parties had agreed on its members.

In a statement, Palestinian factions including Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they had agreed "to support the mediators' efforts in forming the Palestinian National Transitional Committee to administer the Gaza Strip, while providing the appropriate environment" for it to begin its work.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian presidency also announced its support in official media, with a source from the office telling AFP the statement "reflects the position of the Fatah movement because President (Mahmoud) Abbas is also the head of Fatah".

Arab World

Syria Moves Military Reinforcements East of Aleppo After Telling Kurds to Withdraw

Military vehicles drive along a road as the last Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters left the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, state-run Ekhbariya TV said, following a ceasefire deal that allowed evacuations after days of deadly clashes, in Latakia, Syria, January 14, 2026. (Reuters)
Military vehicles drive along a road as the last Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters left the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, state-run Ekhbariya TV said, following a ceasefire deal that allowed evacuations after days of deadly clashes, in Latakia, Syria, January 14, 2026. (Reuters)
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Syria Moves Military Reinforcements East of Aleppo After Telling Kurds to Withdraw

Military vehicles drive along a road as the last Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters left the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, state-run Ekhbariya TV said, following a ceasefire deal that allowed evacuations after days of deadly clashes, in Latakia, Syria, January 14, 2026. (Reuters)
Military vehicles drive along a road as the last Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters left the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, state-run Ekhbariya TV said, following a ceasefire deal that allowed evacuations after days of deadly clashes, in Latakia, Syria, January 14, 2026. (Reuters)

Syria's army was moving reinforcements east of Aleppo city on Wednesday, a day after it told Kurdish forces to withdraw from the area following deadly clashes last week.

The deployment comes as Syria's government seeks to extend its authority across the country, but progress has stalled on integrating the Kurds' de facto autonomous administration and forces into the central government under a deal reached in March.

The United States, which for years has supported Kurdish fighters but also backs Syria's new authorities, urged all parties to "avoid actions that could further escalate tensions" in a statement by the US military's Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper.

On Tuesday, Syrian state television published an army statement with a map declaring a large area east of Aleppo city a "closed military zone" and said "all armed groups in this area must withdraw to east of the Euphrates" River.

The area, controlled by Kurdish forces, extends from near Deir Hafer, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Aleppo, to the Euphrates about 30 kilometers further east, as well as towards the south.

State news agency SANA published images on Wednesday showing military reinforcements en route from the coastal province of Latakia, while a military source on the ground, requesting anonymity, said reinforcements were arriving from both Latakia and the Damascus region.

Both sides reported limited skirmishes overnight.

An AFP correspondent on the outskirts of Deir Hafer reported hearing intermittent artillery shelling on Wednesday, which the military source said was due to government targeting of positions belonging to the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

- 'Declaration of war' -

The SDF controls swathes of the country's oil-rich north and northeast, much of which it captured during Syria's civil war and the fight against the ISIS group.

On Monday, Syria accused the SDF of sending reinforcements to Deir Hafer and said it would send its own personnel there in response.

Kurdish forces on Tuesday denied any build-up of their personnel and accused the government of attacking the town, while state television said SDF sniper fire there killed one person.

Cooper urged "a durable diplomatic resolution through dialogue".

Elham Ahmad, a senior official in the Kurdish administration, said that government forces were "preparing themselves for another attack".

"The real intention is a full-scale attack" against Kurdish-held areas, she told an online press conference, accusing the government of having made a "declaration of war" and breaking the March agreement on integrating Kurdish forces.

Syria's government took full control of Aleppo city over the weekend after capturing its Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsud and Achrafieh neighborhoods and evacuating fighters there to Kurdish-controlled areas in the northeast.

Both sides traded blame over who started the violence last week that killed dozens of people and displaced tens of thousands.

- PKK, Türkiye -

On Tuesday in Qamishli, the main Kurdish city in the country's northeast, thousands of people demonstrated against the Aleppo violence, while shops were shut in a general strike.

Some protesters carried Kurdish flags and banners in support of the SDF.

"This government has not honored its commitments towards any Syrians," said cafe owner Joudi Ali.

Other protesters burned portraits of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, whose country has lauded the Syrian government's Aleppo operation "against terrorist organizations".

Türkiye has long been hostile to the SDF, seeing it as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and a major threat along its southern border.

Last year, the PKK announced an end to its long-running armed struggle against the Turkish state and began destroying its weapons, but Ankara has insisted that the move include armed Kurdish groups in Syria.

On Tuesday, the PKK called the "attack on the Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo" an attempt to sabotage peace efforts between it and Ankara.

A day earlier, Ankara's ruling party levelled the same accusation against Kurdish fighters.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 45 civilians and 60 soldiers and fighters from both sides killed in the Aleppo violence.