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MSF Says May Have to Halt Gaza Operations in March

Palestinians walk past destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians walk past destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
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MSF Says May Have to Halt Gaza Operations in March

Palestinians walk past destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians walk past destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Banned from the Gaza Strip with 36 aid bodies, medical charity Doctors Without Borders said Saturday it will have to end its operations there in March if Israel does not reverse its decision.

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres called on Friday for Israel to end a ban on humanitarian agencies that provided aid in Gaza, saying he was "deeply concerned" at the development.

Israel confirmed on Thursday it is barring 37 major international humanitarian organizations from entering the Gaza Strip, accusing them of failing to provide the list of their employees' names, which is now officially required for "security" reasons.

MSF called this demand a "scandalous intrusion" but Israel says is needed to stop jihadists from infiltrating into humanitarian structures, AFP reported.

"To work in Palestine, in the occupied Palestinian territories, we have to be registered ... That registration expired on December 31, 2025," said Isabelle Defourny, a physician and president of MSF France, on France Inter.

"Since July 2025, we have been involved in a re-registration process and to date, we have not received a response. We still have 60 days during which we could work without being re-registered, and so we would have to end our activities in March" if Israel maintains its decision, she said.

MSF has around 40 international staff in the Gaza Strip and works with 800 Palestinian staff across eight hospitals.

"We are the second-largest distributor of water (in the Gaza Strip). Last year, in 2025, we treated just over 100,000 people who were wounded, burned, or victims of various traumas. We are second in terms of the number of deliveries performed," the president of MSF France said.

According to her, the Israeli decision is explained by the fact that NGOs "bear witness to the violence committed by the Israeli army" in Gaza.

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Arab World

Southern Yemen United in Welcoming Riyadh Conference

National Shield forces in Hadhramaut. (Reuters)
National Shield forces in Hadhramaut. (Reuters)
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Southern Yemen United in Welcoming Riyadh Conference

National Shield forces in Hadhramaut. (Reuters)
National Shield forces in Hadhramaut. (Reuters)

Parties in southern Yemen welcomed on Sunday Saudi Arabia’s call to hold a comprehensive conference on the issue of the South.

The conference will be held in Riyadh at an official request by Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Chairman Dr. Rashad al-Alimi. The meeting will help shape the path of the southern issue, meeting the ambitions of southern and eastern Yemen governorates.

Local authorities in Hadhramaut, al-Mahra, Lahj, Shabwah and Socotra welcomed the conference, as did prominent political leaderships in the south. The Southern Transitional Council (STC) also notably welcomed the conference.

Saudi Arabia’s move to host the meeting was welcomed by Gulf and Arab countries and the international community over the weekend. It was viewed as a necessary step towards restoring dialogue in the South, overcoming efforts to eliminate the other and viewing the southern issue within a national and regional framework that would lead to a fair and sustainable solution.

Member of the PLC Dr. Abdullah al-Alimi expressed his deep appreciation for Saudi Arabia’s stance, calling all southern components, starting with the STC, to positively approach the conference and comprehensive dialogue that prioritizes the interests of the South above all else.

Serious dialogue is the only way to bridge divides, achieve rapprochement and unify southern ranks to serve security and stability, he stressed.

Shura Council Speaker Ahmed bin Dagher underlined the importance of the Riyadh conference, saying dialogue will help defuse strife.

The meeting will present realistic solutions to pending issues in the South, he added.

The STC welcomed Saudi Arabia’s call to hold the conference, saying it is in line with its policies that are based on dialogue.

It did place conditions, however, underscoring the “will of the people of the south” and demanding international guarantees, a clear timeframe, and popular referendum.

Observers said the conditions are an attempt by the STC to preserve its political position.

They noted that the very fact that it agreed to join the conference is an acknowledgment that the southern issue is greater than one party that is taking unilateral decisions.

The regional and international climate do not allow unilateral actions, they added.

Arab World

Two Dead in Israeli Strike on South Lebanon

The wreckage of a car at the site after an Israeli strike on Al-Khiyam, in the Nabatieh governorate, southern Lebanon, 03 January 2026. (EPA)
The wreckage of a car at the site after an Israeli strike on Al-Khiyam, in the Nabatieh governorate, southern Lebanon, 03 January 2026. (EPA)
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Two Dead in Israeli Strike on South Lebanon

The wreckage of a car at the site after an Israeli strike on Al-Khiyam, in the Nabatieh governorate, southern Lebanon, 03 January 2026. (EPA)
The wreckage of a car at the site after an Israeli strike on Al-Khiyam, in the Nabatieh governorate, southern Lebanon, 03 January 2026. (EPA)

Lebanon said a strike in the south killed two Sunday while Israel said it had struck a Hezbollah operative, the latest raids as Beirut seeks to disarm the Iran-backed group.

Despite a year-old ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel carries out regular strikes on Lebanon, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah sites and operatives, and has maintained troops in five areas it deems strategic.

Lebanon's health ministry said two people were killed in an "Israeli enemy strike that targeted a vehicle" near the town of Jmaijmeh, around 10 kilometers (six miles) from the border.

An Israeli military statement said that "in response to Hezbollah's continued violations of the ceasefire understandings", it had struck an operative from the group in the area.

Under heavy US pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, Beirut has committed to disarming Hezbollah, which was badly weakened after more than a year of hostilities with Israel including two months of open war that ended with the November 2024 ceasefire.

Lebanon's army was expected to complete the disarmament south of the Litani River -- about 30 kilometers from the border with Israel -- by the end of 2025, before tackling the rest of the country.

Lebanon's cabinet is to meet on Thursday to discuss the army's progress, while the ceasefire monitoring committee -- comprising Lebanon, Israel, the United States, France and UN peacekeepers -- is also set to meet this week.

On Sunday, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar acknowledged on X that the Lebanese government and army had made efforts to disarm Hezbollah but said "they are far from sufficient", citing "Hezbollah's efforts to rearm and rebuild, with Iranian support".

Israel has previously questioned the Lebanese military's effectiveness and has accused Hezbollah of rearming, while the group itself has rejected calls to surrender its weapons.

At least 350 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon since the ceasefire, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry reports.

Arab World

Syrian Media Say Govt and Kurdish-Led SDF Meet on Military Merger without Progress

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed a deal in Damascus last March with SDF commander Mazloum Abdi on integrating the force into state institutions (AP)
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed a deal in Damascus last March with SDF commander Mazloum Abdi on integrating the force into state institutions (AP)
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Syrian Media Say Govt and Kurdish-Led SDF Meet on Military Merger without Progress

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed a deal in Damascus last March with SDF commander Mazloum Abdi on integrating the force into state institutions (AP)
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed a deal in Damascus last March with SDF commander Mazloum Abdi on integrating the force into state institutions (AP)

Syrian government officials held talks Sunday with the commander of the main Kurdish-led force in the country over plans to merge it with the national army, state media reported, adding that no “tangible results” had been achieved. 

The leadership in Damascus under interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa inked a deal in March with the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which control much of the northeast. The SDF was to merge with the Syrian army by the end of 2025, but there have been disagreements on how it would happen. 

A major sticking point has been whether the SDF would remain a cohesive unit in the new army or whether it would be dissolved and its members individually absorbed. 

The SDF said in a statement Sunday that a delegation led by top commander Mazloum Abdi held talks with government officials in Damascus related to the military integration process. 

The SDF later said talks had ended, with details to be released later. The SDF has tens of thousands of fighters and is the main force to be absorbed into Syria's military. 

State TV said the meeting did not produce "tangible results” that would accelerate implementation of the agreement. It said the sides agreed to hold further meetings at a later date. 

The deal signed in March also would bring all border crossings with Iraq and Türkiye and airports and oil fields in the northeast under the central government’s control. Prisons holding about 9,000 suspected members of the ISIS group also are expected to come under government control. 

Türkiye has been opposed to the SDF joining the army as a single unit. Ankara considers the SDF a terrorist organization because of its association with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a long-running insurgency in Türkiye, although a peace process is now underway. 

In late December, clashes broke out between security forces and SDF fighters in the northern city of Aleppo during a visit to Syria by Türkiye’s foreign minister. 

Sunday's meetings in Damascus came hours after three rockets struck a western neighborhood of the capital, causing some damage to a mosque and a telecommunications center without inflicting casualties, state media said. 

The state news agency called the rockets “random” without giving details on where they were fired from or who was behind it.