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Palestine Lays to Rest Protest Victims, Fatah Calls for Anger-Displaying Rallies

Relatives of Mohammed Amin, who was killed during clashes on Sunday, Attend funeral ceremony, Asharq Al-Awsat
Relatives of Mohammed Amin, who was killed during clashes on Sunday, Attend funeral ceremony, Asharq Al-Awsat
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Palestine Lays to Rest Protest Victims, Fatah Calls for Anger-Displaying Rallies

Relatives of Mohammed Amin, who was killed during clashes on Sunday, Attend funeral ceremony, Asharq Al-Awsat
Relatives of Mohammed Amin, who was killed during clashes on Sunday, Attend funeral ceremony, Asharq Al-Awsat

Dozens of Palestinians were injured on Saturday as angry confrontations continue across protests objecting to United States President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the US embassy to it.

Most Palestinian cities witnessed confrontations less severe than the violent clashes that took place on Friday, which resulted in the death of four martyrs, including two in the Gaza Strip and two in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

But the intensity of clashes spiked during the funeral service for the four killed --thousands of Palestinians attended the ceremony which saw popular demonstrations demanding further escalation.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said that eight minors were injured by Israeli occupation forces on Salah Al-Din Street and Bab al-'Amud area in Jerusalem.

Najib al-Razzim was also wounded during his coverage of protests in the area. Israeli occupation forces arrested activist Awad al-Salaymeh, confiscated flags from demonstrators and assaulted a female Palestinian.

A spokesman for the Israeli police said that his forces have arrested 14 Palestinians since Friday dawn in east of Jerusalem, claiming that they participated in throwing stones and fireworks on police forces.

More so, 30 Palestinians were injured while being gassed by Israeli occupation forces near Nablus, Hebron and Ramallah. In addition, five demonstrators were wounded by live bullets in the Gaza Strip.

The Fatah movement issued a statement calling to amp up popular activities and demonstrations against Washington’s decision, stressing that it will go forth with blocking roads on Monday and Thursday, and continue massive demonstrations, especially next Wednesday in Jerusalem and its surroundings.

US Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to visit the Middle East next Wednesday.

Pence will spend three days in the region with stops in Israel and Egypt, the first high-level official to visit after the president reversed decades of US policy and announced the United States would start the process of moving its embassy from Tel Aviv.

Fatah said that it “stresses the need to carry out demonstrations and protest rallies showing anger at the gates of Jerusalem coinciding with Pence’s arrival to the occupying state next Wednesday”.

More so, the statement urged full coordination with Christians on Sunday evening to participate intensively in lighting candles in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Jericho, Birzeit and Nablus.

In its statement, Fatah said that next Friday should be considered a day of united display of anger in all governorates nationwide, rejecting and denouncing the American decision.

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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.