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US Officials Tour the Middle East after Israel-UAE Agreement

Israeli and United Arab Emirates flags line a road in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya. AFP file photo
Israeli and United Arab Emirates flags line a road in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya. AFP file photo
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US Officials Tour the Middle East after Israel-UAE Agreement

Israeli and United Arab Emirates flags line a road in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya. AFP file photo
Israeli and United Arab Emirates flags line a road in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya. AFP file photo

Top US officials are preparing to tour the Middle East in order to consolidate the agreement between Israel and the UAE and lobby other Arab countries to sign a similar deal, according to diplomatic sources in Tel Aviv.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently denied agreeing to stopping the annexation of parts of the West Bank and Jordan Vally and accepting the sale of F-35 aircraft to the UAE.

The sources pointed out that the US wants to ensure the success of the Emirati-Israeli agreement by setting a timetable for its progress and removing any obstacle in its way.

Washington is interested in encouraging other Arab countries to strike a similar deal with Israel, according to the sources. They added that progress has been achieved with other Arab states, hinting that Sudan could be the next state to sign a normalization agreement with Israel.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Israel on Monday. He will then head to the UAE.

Pompeo will "discuss regional security issues related to Iran's malicious influence (and) establishing and deepening Israel's relationships in the region," the State Department said in a statement.

The Secretary is also scheduled to visit Sudan “to discuss continued US support for the civilian-led transitional government and express support for deepening the Sudan-Israel relationship.”

During his visit to Khartoum, Pompeo is expected to announce that US sanctions will be lifted, according to the sources.

A week after his visit, a large US delegation headed by US President Donald Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will tour several Gulf countries.

An Israeli official confirmed that US officials will address other issues, namely the Iranian threat and China's economic and security expansion in the region.

In Israel, US officials will meet Netanyahu, alternate Prime Minister and Security Minister Benny Gantz, and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi.

In Abu Dhabi, the delegation will meet Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and other top officials.

Political circles in Tel Aviv believe Trump wants to hold a ceremony to celebrate the signing of the Israeli-Emirati agreement next month in the Rose Garden at the White House, at the presence of high-level representatives from Arab countries to show their support for the agreement.

The Israeli PM appointed National Security Council Head Meir Ben-Shabbat to coordinate the preparation for Israel's talks with the UAE. The two sides discussed major issues such as opening direct flights between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi.

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Arab World

US Army Names 2 Iowa Guard Members Killed in Attack in Syria

This undated combo photo created with images released by the Iowa National Guard shows Sgts. William Nathaniel Howard, left, and Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar. (Iowa National Guard via AP)
This undated combo photo created with images released by the Iowa National Guard shows Sgts. William Nathaniel Howard, left, and Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar. (Iowa National Guard via AP)
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US Army Names 2 Iowa Guard Members Killed in Attack in Syria

This undated combo photo created with images released by the Iowa National Guard shows Sgts. William Nathaniel Howard, left, and Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar. (Iowa National Guard via AP)
This undated combo photo created with images released by the Iowa National Guard shows Sgts. William Nathaniel Howard, left, and Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar. (Iowa National Guard via AP)

The two Iowa National Guard members killed in a weekend attack that the US military blamed on the ISIS group in Syria were identified Monday.

The US Army named them as Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds ordered all flags in Iowa to fly at half-staff in their honor, saying that, “We are grateful for their service and deeply mourn their loss.”

The Pentagon’s chief spokesman, Sean Parnell, has said a civilian working as a US interpreter also was killed. Three other Guard members were wounded in the attack, the Iowa National Guard said Monday, with two of them in stable condition and the other in good condition.

The attack was a major test for the rapprochement between the United States and Syria since the ouster of autocratic leader Bashar al-Assad a year ago, coming as the US military is expanding its cooperation with Syrian security forces. Hundreds of American troops are deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting ISIS.

The shooting Saturday in the Syrian desert near the historic city of Palmyra also wounded members of the country's security forces and killed the gunman. The assailant had joined Syria’s internal security forces as a base security guard two months ago and recently was reassigned amid suspicions that he might be affiliated with ISIS, a Syrian official said.

The man stormed a meeting between US and Syrian security officials who were having lunch together and opened fire after clashing with Syrian guards, Interior Ministry spokesperson Noureddine al-Baba said Sunday.

Al-Baba acknowledged that the incident was “a major security breach” but said that in the year since Assad’s fall, “there have been many more successes than failures” by security forces.

The Army said Monday that the incident is under investigation, but military officials have blamed the attack on an ISIS member.

President Donald Trump said over the weekend that “there will be very serious retaliation” for the attack and that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa was “devastated by what happened,” stressing that Syria was fighting alongside US troops.

Trump welcomed Sharaa, who led the lightning opposition offensive that toppled Assad's rule, to the White House for a historic meeting last month.

Arab World

Western and Arab Diplomats Tour Lebanon-Israel Border to Observe Hezbollah Disarmament Efforts

UN vehicles drive past buildings destroyed by Israel's air and ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, as seen from Israel's northernmost town of Metula, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP)
UN vehicles drive past buildings destroyed by Israel's air and ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, as seen from Israel's northernmost town of Metula, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP)
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Western and Arab Diplomats Tour Lebanon-Israel Border to Observe Hezbollah Disarmament Efforts

UN vehicles drive past buildings destroyed by Israel's air and ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, as seen from Israel's northernmost town of Metula, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP)
UN vehicles drive past buildings destroyed by Israel's air and ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, as seen from Israel's northernmost town of Metula, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP)

Western and Arab diplomats toured an area along Lebanon’s border with Israel Monday where Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers have been working for months to end the armed presence of the militant Hezbollah group.

The delegation that included the ambassadors of the United States and Saudi Arabia was accompanied by Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, as well as top officers in the border region.

The Lebanese government has said that by the end of the year, the army should have cleared all the border area south of the Litani river from Hezbollah’s armed presence.

Hezbollah’s leader Sheik Naim Qassem had said that the group will end its military presence south of the Litani River but vowed again over the weekend that they will keep their weapons in other parts of Lebanon.

Parts of the zone south of the Litani River and north of the border with Israel were formerly a Hezbollah stronghold, off limits to the Lebanese national army and UN peacekeepers deployed in the area.

During the tour, the diplomats and military attaches were taken to an army post that overlooks one of five hills inside Lebanon that were captured by Israeli troops last year.

“The main goal of the military is to guarantee stability,” an army statement quoted Haikal as telling the diplomats. Haykal added that the tour aims to show that the Lebanese army is committed to the ceasefire agreement that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war last year.

There were no comments from the diplomats.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel, after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Israel launched a widespread bombardment of Lebanon in September last year that severely weakened Hezbollah, followed by a ground invasion.

The war ended in November 2024 with a ceasefire brokered by the US.

Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes since then, mainly targeting Hezbollah members but also killing 127 civilians, according to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

On Sunday, the Israeli military said it killed three Hezbollah members in strikes on southern Lebanon.

Over the past weeks, the US has increased pressure on Lebanon to work harder on disarming Hezbollah and canceled a planned trip to Washington last month by Haykal.

US officials were angered in November by a Lebanese army statement that blamed Israel for destabilizing Lebanon and blocking the Lebanese military deployment in south Lebanon.

A senior Lebanese army official told The Associated Press Monday that Haykal will fly to France this week where he will attend a meeting with US, French and Saudi officials to discuss ways of assisting the army in its mission. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.

The Lebanese army has been severely affected by the economic meltdown that broke out in Lebanon in October 2019.

Arab World

ICC Rejects Israeli Bid to Halt Gaza War Investigation

Tents of internally displaced Palestinian families seen among the ruins of destroyed buildings in Al-Zaitun neighborhood during a rainy day in the east of Gaza City on, 12 December 2025, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. (EPA)
Tents of internally displaced Palestinian families seen among the ruins of destroyed buildings in Al-Zaitun neighborhood during a rainy day in the east of Gaza City on, 12 December 2025, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. (EPA)
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ICC Rejects Israeli Bid to Halt Gaza War Investigation

Tents of internally displaced Palestinian families seen among the ruins of destroyed buildings in Al-Zaitun neighborhood during a rainy day in the east of Gaza City on, 12 December 2025, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. (EPA)
Tents of internally displaced Palestinian families seen among the ruins of destroyed buildings in Al-Zaitun neighborhood during a rainy day in the east of Gaza City on, 12 December 2025, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. (EPA)

Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday rejected one in a series of legal challenges brought by Israel against the court's probe into its conduct of the Gaza war.

On appeal, judges refused to overturn a lower court decision that the prosecution's investigation into alleged crimes under its jurisdiction could include events following the deadly attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, 2023.

The ruling means the investigation continues and the arrest warrants issued last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant remain in place.

Israel rejects the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza, where it has waged a military campaign it says is aimed at eliminating Hamas following the October 7 attacks.

The ICC initially also issued a warrant for Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, but withdrew that later following credible reports of his death.

A ceasefire agreement in the conflict took effect on October 10, but the war destroyed much of Gaza’s infrastructure, and living conditions are dire.

According to Gaza health officials, whose data is frequently cited with confidence by the United Nations, some 67,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in Gaza.

This ruling focuses on only one of several Israeli legal challenges against the ICC investigations and the arrest warrants for its officials. There is no timeline for the court to rule on the various other challenges to its jurisdiction in this case.