Arab World News

Türkiye, Hamas Discuss Gaza Ceasefire Deal’s Second Phase, Turkish Source Says

Arab World Palestinian children play next to tents in a makeshift camp for displaced people set up on the beach in Gaza City, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP)

Türkiye, Hamas Discuss Gaza Ceasefire Deal’s Second Phase, Turkish Source Says

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Wednesday ​met with Hamas political bureau officials in Ankara to discuss the ceasefire in Gaza and advancing the &zwnj…

Arab World Buildings destroyed during Israeli ground and air operations stand in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP)

Israel Says It Killed Hamas Financial Officer in Gaza

The Israeli army said Wednesday that it had identified a Hamas financial official it killed two weeks ago in a strike in the Gaza Strip. Abdel Hay Zaqut, a…

Arab World  Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam heads a cabinet meeting in Beirut, Lebanon December 23, 2025. (Reuters)

Lebanon Central Bank Governor Expresses Reservations Over Draft Law on Deposit Recovery

Lebanon’s Central Bank governor has expressed some reservations over a draft law allowing depositors to gradually recover funds ​frozen in the banking system…

Arab World Search and rescue team members and emergency services try to reach the wreckage after a plane crash as five people including Libyan Chief of General Staff Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad were killed at Haymana District in Ankara, Türkiye, early 24 December 2025. (EPA)

Libya Army Chief of Staff Killed in Jet Crash Near Ankara After Fault Reported, Turkish Official Says

A private jet that crashed overnight, killing Libya's army chief of staff and seven others on board, had reported an electrical fault and requested an…

Arab World An Israeli settler strikes an olive tree near the Palestinian village of Beita, following a rise in violent settler attacks in the Israeli-occupied West Bank November 12, 2025. (Reuters)

How Israel’s Hilltop Settlers Coordinate Attacks to Expel Palestinians

The Jewish settler outpost of Or Meir is small. A handful of prefabricated white shelters, it sits at the end of a short dirt track on a hill leading up from…


Arab World A woman arriving from Syria walks with her luggage into Lebanon through the northern crossing of Al-Arida on December 10, 2024. (AFP)

Former Syrian Officer Killed in Mysterious Circumstances in Lebanon

Lebanese security agencies discovered the body of former Syrian officer Ghassan Naasan al-Sakhni in the Keserwan region. Authorities are investigating whether…

Youssef Diab (Beirut)
Arab World Israeli pilot Ron Arad, who went missing in southern Lebanon in 1986. (Israeli Air Force)

Lebanon Probe Points to Israel's Abduction of Officer Tied to Arad Case

A senior Lebanese judicial source told Asharq Al-Awsat that investigations into the disappearance of a retired General Security officer a week ago are…

Youssef Diab (Beirut)
Arab World  This picture shows sheep grazing on a field in Kafr al-Labad with the Israeli settlement of Avnei Hefetz seen in the background, near the city of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank on December 18, 2025. (AFP)

Israeli Settlers Forcibly Enter Palestinian Home and Kill Sheep in Latest West Bank Attack

Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian home in the south of the Israeli-occupied West Bank overnight, breaking in and killing sheep, a Palestinian official…

Arab World Israeli bulldozers level land at the evacuated Israeli settlement of Sanur, near the West Bank city of Jenin, 23 December 2025. (EPA)

Palestinian Authority Says Israel Tightening Control Over West Bank with New Settlements

The Palestinian Authority condemned on Tuesday Israel's recent approval of 19 settlements in the occupied West Bank, accusing it of tightening its control over…

Arab World People attend a protest against reelection of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, near Syria's embassy, Berlin, Germany May 26, 2021. (Reuters)

Germany Deports Man to Syria for First Time Since 2011

Germany deported a man to Syria for the first time since the civil war began in that country in 2011, the interior ministry in Berlin announced on Tuesday. A…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Lebanese soldiers secure the site of an Israeli drone strike that targeted a truck in the village of Sibline, south of Beirut, on December 16, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)

Lebanese Soldier Among Those Killed in Monday Israeli Strike

Lebanon's army said Tuesday a soldier was among those killed in an Israeli strike a day earlier and flatly denied the Israeli military's accusation that he was…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Palestinians amid rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip (AFP)

Israeli Defense Minister Says No Plan to Resettle Gaza After Hinting at One

Israel's defense minister denied any intention to resettle the Gaza Strip on Tuesday after earlier remarks that suggested Israel would one day want to do so,…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Depositors hold protest banners against the draft deposit recovery law during popular demonstrations on the road to the Presidential Palace (Asharq Al-Awsat). 

A Shaky Start for Lebanon’s Financial Gap Bill

A widening wave of objections in Lebanon to the draft “financial gap” bill has exposed the hurdles facing its passage in parliament. Prepared by a…

Ali Zeineddine (Beirut)
Arab World This overview shows a destroyed mosque and other buildings in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 7, 2024 on the first anniversary of the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Gazans Fear Renewed Displacement after Israeli Strikes

When her children, trembling with fear, ask where the family can go to escape Israel's continued bombardment in southern Gaza's Khan Yunis area, Umm Ahmed has…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World In this image grab taken from handout video footage released by the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on April 23, 2023, fighters wave assault rifles as they cross a street in the East Nile district of greater Khartoum.  (Photo by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) / AFP)

Sudan's Prime Minister Takes His Peace Plan to the UN, but US Urges Humanitarian Truce Now

Sudan’s prime minister on Monday proposed a wide-ranging peace initiative to end a nearly 1,000-day war with a rival paramilitary force, but the United States…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C), Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides (L) and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (R) hold a joint press conference after a trilateral meeting at the Citadel of David Hotel in Jerusalem, 22 December 2025. EPA/ABIR SULTAN / POOL

Netanyahu to Discuss Iran, Next Phase of Gaza Plan with Trump

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he will discuss Iran's nuclear activities during his visit next week with US President Donald Trump. …

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. (Reuters)

Lebanon: Salam Urges Swift Approval of Law Aimed at Paying Back Depositors amid Objections

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam urged cabinet to swiftly approve a draft law allowing depositors to gradually recover funds frozen in the banking system…

Asharq Al Awsat

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Arab World A view of Aleppo, Syria in February 2018. (AFP)

Syria State Media Says Kurdish Force Shelling Kills One Person in Aleppo City

Syrian state media said Kurdish force shelling in Aleppo killed one person on Monday, after clashes with government forces erupted in Kurdish-majority…

Arab World This handout photograph released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry press service shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (2nd-L) and Turkish Minister of National Defense Yasar Guler (L) meeting with Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (2nd-R) and Syria's Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra (R) in Damascus on December 22, 2025. (Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Service / AFP)

Turkish Foreign Minister Urges Kurds Not to Be Obstacle to Syria’s Stability

Visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday urged Kurdish-led forces to integrate into Syria's army and not obstruct the country's stability, as…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on the Haret Saida neighborhood, Sidon, Lebanon, 27 October 2024. (EPA)

Lebanon Says 3 Killed in Israeli Strike on Vehicle Near Sidon

Lebanon said three people were killed Monday in a strike near Sidon that Israel said targeted Hezbollah operatives, days ahead of a deadline for Lebanon's army…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World A Lebanese army officer and an Italian officer from the UNIFIL force during a joint mission in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL)

Italy Says Wants Military to Stay in Lebanon after UN Peacekeepers Leave

Italy said Monday it intends to keep a military presence in Lebanon even after the UN peacekeeping force it belongs to leaves as planned from December 31, 2026…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World This overview shows a destroyed mosque and other buildings in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 7, 2024 on the first anniversary of the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Türkiye Expects Second Phase of Gaza Ceasefire Deal to Start in Early 2026

Türkiye expects the second phase ​of a Gaza ceasefire deal to begin early in 2026, ‌Foreign Minister Hakan ‌Fidan ‌said ⁠on ​Monday, &zwnj…

Asharq Al Awsat
Arab World Israeli soldiers carrying weapons walk during a weekly settlers' tour in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, December 20, 2025. (Reuters)

Israeli Military Says It Is Examining Killing of Palestinian Teen in West Bank 

The Israeli military said it was reviewing an incident in the occupied West Bank in which soldiers shot dead a 16-year-old Palestinian who they said had thrown…

Arab World Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends a press conference, with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto (not pictured), in Caracas, Venezuela February 24, 2024. (Reuters)

High-Level Turkish Team to Visit Damascus on Monday for Talks on SDF Integration 

A high-level Turkish delegation will visit Damascus on Monday to discuss bilateral ties and the implementation of a deal for integrating the Kurdish-led Syrian…

Arab World Israeli forces gather as an excavator demolishes a building built without a permit in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi Qaddum on December 22, 2025. (AFP)

Israel Demolishes Residential Building in East Jerusalem 

Israeli bulldozers tore through a four-storey residential building in east Jerusalem on Monday, displacing scores of Palestinians in what activists said was…

Arab World People walk along a street in Damascus, Syria, December 18, 2025. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi


UNHCR Official Expects One Million Syrian Refugees to Return in 2026

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has projected that around one million Syrian refugees are expected to return to their country during…

Asharq Al Awsat (Damascus)
Arab World The sun sets over a residential neighborhood of Sanaa, Yemen, 20 December 2025. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB

32% of Yemenis in Houthi-controlled Areas Live in Moderate to Severe Hunger

Recent UN data has revealed a rising hunger crisis in areas under the control of the Houthi militias, who have increased their repressive measures in targeting…

Mohammed Nasser (Taiz)
Arab World Palestinians walk along a street surrounded by buildings destroyed during Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza City, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP)

Building Collapses Pose Another Threat to People in Gaza

Residents of Gaza are taking the risk of living in damaged buildings despite their possibility of collapse, opting to live with a roof over their heads than…

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Arab World Sudanese refugee girls carry water supplies near a polling station in the refugee camp of Zamzam, on the outskirts of el-Fasher, Darfur, Sudan, on April 13, 2010. (AP)

Sudan Drone Attack on Darfur Market Kills 10

A drone attack on a busy market in Sudan's North Darfur state killed 10 people over the weekend, first responders said on Sunday, without saying who was…