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Turkey Prepares Drones for Sirte Battle

A warplane belonging to eastern Libyan forces, July 22, 2019 (File photo: Reuters)
A warplane belonging to eastern Libyan forces, July 22, 2019 (File photo: Reuters)
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Turkey Prepares Drones for Sirte Battle

A warplane belonging to eastern Libyan forces, July 22, 2019 (File photo: Reuters)
A warplane belonging to eastern Libyan forces, July 22, 2019 (File photo: Reuters)

Turkey said it has deployed ‘Bayraktar’ drones in Misrata and said the airbase will be used in a possible military operation in the Libyan eastern city of Sirte.

Media reports claimed that satellite images revealed the locations of drones around the Misrata base and that elements of the Turkish forces and militias loyal to the GNA had established shelters during the past few weeks south of the airbase to be used in the expected military operation and the attack on Jufra base.

Turkey has successfully used ‘Bayraktar’ drones in military operations in northern Syria and in the vicinity of the capital, Tripoli, to support the Government of National Accord (GNA) headed by Fayez al-Sarraj.

Last Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said there are military preparation taking place in Sirte, noting that withdrawal of Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, from Sirte and Jufra has been discussed with Russia, which is a condition for a ceasefire in Libya.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi warned Turkey and GNA that any assault on the coastal city of Sirte is a “red line” for Egypt.

Also, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry responded to the Turkish minister's statement saying it was “a clear violation of international law and UN resolutions on Libya.”

Meanwhile, Turkey and the GNA are discussing possible Turkish use of the Misrata naval base and al-Watiya airbase.

“Turkey using al-Watiya ... is on the agenda,” Reuters quoted a Turkish source as saying, adding that “it could also be possible for the Misrata naval base to be used by Turkey.”

The Turkish presidency announced that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his US counterpart Donald Trump agreed in a phone call on Tuesday to work more closely in Libya to ensure lasting stability in the country.

Erdogan and Trump also discussed bilateral ties and a trade target of $100 billion.

The White House confirmed the phone call and said that both leaders discussed positive trade issues between the US and Turkey and underscored the need for a negotiated settlement of regional issues.

Earlier, Cavusglo said that the US needs to play a more active role in Libya, both in achieving a ceasefire and in political talks

“For some reason, the US has not been that active in Libya, perhaps because of past traumas,” Cavusoglu said in an interview with broadcaster NTV.

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Arab World

In a First, Armed Gang in Gaza Forces Displacement of Residents

A Palestinian woman receives donated food at a community kitchen in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025. (AP)
A Palestinian woman receives donated food at a community kitchen in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025. (AP)
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In a First, Armed Gang in Gaza Forces Displacement of Residents

A Palestinian woman receives donated food at a community kitchen in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025. (AP)
A Palestinian woman receives donated food at a community kitchen in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025. (AP)

In an unprecedented development, an armed gang active in Gaza City forced inhabitants of residential bloc to evacuate their homes under threat of arms.

Field sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that identified the gang as the “Rami Halas Group”. At dawn on Thursday, its members opened fire in the air in the Hayy al-Tuffah neighborhood in eastern Gaza City. The area is located near Israel’s so-called yellow line that separates Hamas- and Israel-held parts of Gaza.

The gang members came back hours later at noon and demanded that the residents evacuate, giving them until sunset to comply and threatening to shoot anyone who doesn’t.

The sources said the gunmen did not directly approach any of the residents for fear of being attacked. They used loudspeakers to demand that they evacuate to areas a few hundred meters away, claiming these were Israeli orders.

Israeli forces are deployed some 150 meters from the area where the residents were located.

The residents, who had only just returned to their homes after the ceasefire, indeed started to evacuate towards western parts of Gaza City.

The sources said over 240 residents were forced to quit what remains of their damaged homes.

They revealed that Israeli forces had on Tuesday and Wednesday night dropped yellow barrels, devoid of explosives, in those regions. They did not ask residents to evacuate.

The sources said the gang made the evacuation order ahead of Israel’s plan to occupy the area, which had been previously declared as safe.

They accused Israeli forces of resorting to such tactics in recent weeks to further expand the yellow line border and occupy more areas in Gaza.

Arab World

Syria Says Kills Senior ISIS Leader, Arrests Operative Near Damascus

A photo of a Public Security operation in Aleppo against an ISIS cell (File – Facebook)
A photo of a Public Security operation in Aleppo against an ISIS cell (File – Facebook)
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Syria Says Kills Senior ISIS Leader, Arrests Operative Near Damascus

A photo of a Public Security operation in Aleppo against an ISIS cell (File – Facebook)
A photo of a Public Security operation in Aleppo against an ISIS cell (File – Facebook)

Syrian authorities on Thursday said forces killed a senior leader in the ISIS group and arrested another operative in fresh operations near capital Damascus in coordination with the US-led coalition.

Syrian security and intelligence forces, working in coordination with the international coalition, conducted what the interior ministry described as a "precise security operation" in the Damascus countryside, AFP reported.

"The operation resulted in neutralising the terrorist Mohammad Shahada, known as 'Abu Omar Shaddad', who is considered one of the prominent ISIS leaders in Syria," it added.

"This operation comes as confirmation of the effectiveness of joint coordination between the national security agencies and international partners."

Later Thursday, the interior ministry said security forces "in joint coordination with international coalition forces" arrested "the leader of a terrorist cell affiliated with the ISIS organization" elsewhere near Damascus, seizing weapons and ammunition.

Late Wednesday, authorities said they captured Taha al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tabiya, an ISIS leader in the Damascus region, along with several of his men, also in a joint operation with the US-led coalition.

The interior ministry also said on Thursday that security forces had arrested three members of an ISIS-affiliated cell in Aleppo province.

A December 13 attack killed two US soldiers and an American civilian. Washington blamed the attack on a lone ISIS gunman in Syria's Palmyra.

In retaliation, US forces conducted strikes targeting scores of ISIS targets in Syria.

The strikes killed five members of the militant group, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

In November, during a visit by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa to Washington, Syria officially joined the US-led coalition against ISIS.

Arab World

Israeli Settler Attack Injures Palestinian Baby, Five Arrested

Israeli settlers attacked farmers and volunteers harvesting olives on a Palestinian farm in Burin, near Nablus, on November 8, 2025. © Observers
Israeli settlers attacked farmers and volunteers harvesting olives on a Palestinian farm in Burin, near Nablus, on November 8, 2025. © Observers
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Israeli Settler Attack Injures Palestinian Baby, Five Arrested

Israeli settlers attacked farmers and volunteers harvesting olives on a Palestinian farm in Burin, near Nablus, on November 8, 2025. © Observers
Israeli settlers attacked farmers and volunteers harvesting olives on a Palestinian farm in Burin, near Nablus, on November 8, 2025. © Observers

Israeli security forces announced on Thursday the arrest of five Israeli settlers over their alleged involvement in an attack on a Palestinian home that injured a baby girl in the occupied West Bank.

The eight-month-old infant suffered "moderate injuries to the face and head" in the late Wednesday attack, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

It blamed the attack on "a group of armed settlers", accusing them of "throwing stones at homes and property" in the town of Sair, north of Hebron, AFP reported.

A statement from the Israeli police said that five suspects had been arrested for their "alleged involvement in serious, violent incidents in the village of Sair".

Israeli security forces had received reports of "stones being thrown by Israeli civilians toward a Palestinian home", adding a Palestinian girl was injured.

"The preliminary investigation determined the involvement of several suspects who came from a nearby outpost," the statement said, referring to Israeli settlements not officially recognized by Israeli authorities.

All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal by the international community.

Some are also illegal under Israeli law, though many of those are later given official recognition.

Almost none of the perpetrators of previous attacks by settlers have been held to account by the Israeli authorities.

A Telegram group linked to the "Hilltop Youth", a movement of hardline settlers who advocate direct action against Palestinians, posted a video showing property damage in Sair.

More than 500,000 Israelis currently live in settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, as do around three million Palestinians.

Violence involving settlers has risen in recent years, according to the United Nations, and October was the worst month since it began recording such incidents in 2006, with 264 attacks that caused casualties or property damage.

The violence in the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967, has surged since Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack, which triggered the Gaza war.

Since the start of the war, Israeli troops and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, including many militants as well as dozens of civilians, according to an AFP tally based on figures from the Palestinian health ministry.

According to official Israeli figures, at least 44 Israelis, both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations in the same period.