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Morocco to Chair African Union’s Peace, Security Council

Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Morocco to Chair African Union’s Peace, Security Council

Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Morocco will take over the presidency of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council decision-making body during October.

The kingdom was elected at the AU’s 35th Summit in February as a member of the AU Peace and Security Council for the period between 2022 and 2025.

Morocco’s presidency is part of its ongoing commitments to a peaceful, stable and prosperous Africa and constitutes an enshrining of its diplomacy at the level of the African continent, under the leadership of King Mohammed VI.

It aspires to generate collective responses to several global and regional issues as part of an innovative approach to outline a new strategy of the Pan-African Organization to meet the challenges of peace and security.

Terrorism, children recruitment, climate change, food security, the situation in the Sahel and the Central African Republic are of the main topics on the agenda of several meetings that will take place at the level of ministers, ambassadors and experts.

Several important meetings, including those involving the UN Security Council, will be held under Morocco’s presidency.

The body will also review reports, including those on the peace situation in Africa and the implementation of the AU's main roadmap for silencing arms in Africa.

Based on its commitment and determination to serve the continental peace and security agenda, Morocco will host a political conference in Tangier from October 25 to 27 on “Promoting the Nexus of Peace, Security and Development, a Perspective of Regional Integration.” The event will be held in partnership with the AU’s Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security.

The kingdom’s presidency will also be marked by the organization of two ministerial meetings to discuss “Development and De-radicalization as Levers to Combat Terrorism and Violent Extremism” and “Climate Change, Peace and Security: Building Resilience and Adaptation for Food Security in African Island States.

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Arab World

Israel Clears Final Hurdle to Start Settlement Construction That Would Cut West Bank in Two

Construction cranes tower above a construction site in Givat HaMatos, an Israeli settlement suburb of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on January 2, 2026. (AFP)
Construction cranes tower above a construction site in Givat HaMatos, an Israeli settlement suburb of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on January 2, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Clears Final Hurdle to Start Settlement Construction That Would Cut West Bank in Two

Construction cranes tower above a construction site in Givat HaMatos, an Israeli settlement suburb of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on January 2, 2026. (AFP)
Construction cranes tower above a construction site in Givat HaMatos, an Israeli settlement suburb of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on January 2, 2026. (AFP)

Israel has cleared the final hurdle before starting construction on a controversial settlement project near Jerusalem that would effectively cut the West Bank into two, according to a government tender. 

The tender, seeking bids from developers, would clear the way to begin construction of the E1 project. 

The anti-settlement monitoring group Peace Now first reported the tender. Yoni Mizrahi, who runs the group’s settlement watch division, said initial work could begin within the month. 

Settlement development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades, but was frozen due to US pressure during previous administrations. 

The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank to be illegal and an obstacle to peace. 

The E1 project is especially contentious because it runs from the outskirts of Jerusalem deep into the occupied West Bank. Critics say it would prevent the establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state in the territory. 

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right politician who oversees settlement policy, has long pushed for the plan to become a reality. 

“The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not with slogans but with actions,” he said in August, when Israel gave final approval to the plan. “Every settlement, every neighborhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea.” 

The tender, publicly accessible on the website for Israel’s Land Authority, calls for proposals to develop 3,401 housing units. Peace Now says the publication of the tender “reflects an accelerated effort to advance construction in E1.” 

Arab World

Three Killed in Aleppo Attacks, Syrian Government, SDF Trade Blame

Syrian forces are seen during a military parade in Aleppo marking a year since the ouster of the Assad regime in December 2025. (Syrian Defense Ministry)
Syrian forces are seen during a military parade in Aleppo marking a year since the ouster of the Assad regime in December 2025. (Syrian Defense Ministry)
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Three Killed in Aleppo Attacks, Syrian Government, SDF Trade Blame

Syrian forces are seen during a military parade in Aleppo marking a year since the ouster of the Assad regime in December 2025. (Syrian Defense Ministry)
Syrian forces are seen during a military parade in Aleppo marking a year since the ouster of the Assad regime in December 2025. (Syrian Defense Ministry)

At least three people were killed and several others wounded in Syria's northern city of Aleppo, state news agency SANA said on Tuesday, citing Aleppo's health director, after deadly attacks for which Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces traded blame.

Syria's defense ministry said in a statement that the SDF had continued its "escalation" by targeting army positions and residential areas in Aleppo. The SDF denied its responsibility, saying that the ‌casualties were caused by "indiscriminate" ‌artillery and missile shelling by ‌factions ⁠aligned with ‌the Damascus government.

The violence came days after a meeting between senior officials from the SDF and the Damascus government on implementing a deal agreed nearly 10 months ago that aimed to fully integrate the semi-autonomous Kurdish region into the central Syrian government.

The agreement was ⁠meant to be implemented by the end of 2025, but ‌the two sides have made ‍little progress, each accusing ‍the other of stalling or acting in bad ‍faith.

The SDF is reluctant to give up autonomy it won as the main US ally during the war, which left it with control of ISIS prisons and rich oil resources.

Integrating the SDF into Syria's army would mend Syria's deepest remaining fracture, ⁠but failing to do so risks an armed clash that could derail the country's emergence from 14 years of war and potentially draw in Türkiye, which has threatened an incursion against Kurdish fighters it views as terrorists.

As progress falters, several rounds of fighting have broken out. On December 22, Syrian government forces and SDF agreed to de-escalate in the northern city of Aleppo, after a wave ‌of attacks that left at least two civilians dead and several wounded.

Arab World

African Union Calls for Immediate Revocation of Somaliland’s Recognition by Israel

Somalis burn the Israel flag and an image depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a demonstration, after Israel became the first country to formally recognize the self-declared Republic of Somaliland, at the Mogadishu Stadium in Warta Nabada district of Mogadishu, Somalia December 30, 2025. (Reuters)
Somalis burn the Israel flag and an image depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a demonstration, after Israel became the first country to formally recognize the self-declared Republic of Somaliland, at the Mogadishu Stadium in Warta Nabada district of Mogadishu, Somalia December 30, 2025. (Reuters)
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African Union Calls for Immediate Revocation of Somaliland’s Recognition by Israel

Somalis burn the Israel flag and an image depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a demonstration, after Israel became the first country to formally recognize the self-declared Republic of Somaliland, at the Mogadishu Stadium in Warta Nabada district of Mogadishu, Somalia December 30, 2025. (Reuters)
Somalis burn the Israel flag and an image depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a demonstration, after Israel became the first country to formally recognize the self-declared Republic of Somaliland, at the Mogadishu Stadium in Warta Nabada district of Mogadishu, Somalia December 30, 2025. (Reuters)

The African Union's Political Affairs Peace and Security council called on Tuesday for the "immediate revocation" of Israel's recognition ‌of Somaliland.

Israeli ‌Foreign ‌Minister ⁠Gideon Sara ‌visited Somaliland on Tuesday on a trip that was denounced by Somalia, 10 ⁠days after Israel ‌formally recognized the ‍self-declared ‍republic as ‍an independent and sovereign state.

"The (AU) Council strongly condemns, in the strongest terms, the unilateral recognition of ⁠the so-called 'Republic of Somaliland' by Israel," it said in a post on X after a ministerial meeting.