Orientul Mijlociu

Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli military will never withdraw from the war-torn Gaza Strip, confirming earlier comments about settlement construction despite Trump’s ceasefire agreement signed in October.

“In Gaza, Israel will never fully withdraw – there will be a significant security area inside the Strip, even after we move to stage two [of Trump’s 20-point peace plan] if Hamas disarms,” Katz said during a conference hosted by the Makor Rishon newspaper, the Times of Israel reported.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) carried out raid and arrest campaigns in the eastern Aleppo countryside today, Wednesday, 24 December, amid accusations that Syrian government forces violated the truce around the al-Ashrafiya and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods in Aleppo city (northern Syria).

Syrian state run al-Ikhbariya reported that the campaign targeted the villages of Wadihah and al-Hayit in the eastern Maskanah countryside (eastern Aleppo Governorate, northern Syria), without providing further details on the reasons for the operation or the number of detainees.

Recent developments in Iraq show that the country is on the cusp of a deep geopolitical and economic transformation, as the recent elections are a focal point for reshaping the balance of regional power. Iraq, with its oil and gas wealth and strategic location linking the Gulf to Turkey and Europe, is gradually becoming a geo-economic competition between Iran and Turkey, the Gulf-American axis and the West. As world powers race to invest in ports, corridors and energy, Iraq’s future remains dependent on its ability to employ this competition in building stability and development.

Israel on Wednesday accused Hamas of breaching the US-backed ceasefire, after an explosive device blew up in southern Gaza, injuring an Israeli soldier.

It was the latest incident to threaten the tenuous truce that has held since October 10, as each side accuses the other of breaches.

Afghanistan’s opposition movements and political figures have condemned the killing of former police chief Gen. Ikramuddin Saree in Tehran, describing it as an act of terror and warning that it has heightened fears among former security officials living abroad.

Plusieurs factions irakiennes ont affirmé leur rejet de toute discussion concernant le monopole des armes avant l’obtention de la pleine souveraineté et le retrait de toutes les forces étrangères d’Irak. Elles ont souligné que la position de la Résistance islamique en Irak demeure ferme quant à son refus de rendre les armes et sa détermination à ne pas y renoncer.

Vitaly Zvyagnitsev, a 30-year-old Russian citizen who arrived in Israel with a foreign worker permit, was arrested in early December 2025 on suspicion of maintaining contact with Iranian operatives.

A Russian citizen was arrested for sending pictures of ports, ships, and infrastructure in Israel to Iranian intelligence elements, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and MALMAB (Director of Security of the Defense Establishment) announced on Friday.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says move aimed at ‘burying’ idea of Palestinian state

Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has advanced plans to build a settlement in the E1 area surrounding East Jerusalem and derail the creation of a Palestinian state.

The minister said on Thursday he would approve tenders for more than 3,000 housing units, effectively splitting the occupied West Bank in two.

The expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is at its highest level since at least 2017, when the UN began tracking the data.

In 2025, “plans for nearly 47,390 housing units were advanced, approved, or tendered, compared with some 26,170 in 2024″, said the report, according to a report by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, seen by AFP.