������

TNA’s live coverage of the latest from the war on Gaza and Syria events concludes for today.

Join us again tomorrow at 0800 GMT for updates from the region.

The U.S. Department of Education said Friday it has reached an agreement with the University of California system resolving complaints from Jewish and Muslim students of discrimination and harassment during protests last spring over the war in Gaza.

The department’s Office for Civil Rights said it investigated nine complaints against University of California schools in Los Angeles (UCLA), Santa Barbara, San Diego, Davis and Santa Cruz. The complaints alleged the schools failed to respond effectively to antisemitic and anti-Arab harassment.

Under the agreement, the schools must step up reporting of complaints to the OCR office and review all complaints and reports of harassment from the past two academic years to determine if further action is needed.

The investigation into UCLA stemmed from concerns of compliance related to about 150 reports the school received about rallies in October and November 2023 and related to a pro-Palestinian encampment in spring 2024, the Department said.

At rallies, protesters chanted “death to Israel” and “no peace until they’re dead,” the department said. Muslim and Palestinian students experienced “unwanted filming, doxing, and being followed” on or near the UCLA campus, it said.

Israeli settlers broke into the Bar-al-Walidain Mosque in the village of Marda, in the occupied West Bank, vandalasing it with hateful anti-Arab slogans before settling it on fire. 

The attack, which occurred amidst rising settler violence, has sparked outrage among Palestinian authorities. 

They have condemned the assaults and called for urgent international intervention to address the escalating violence.  

Israeli jewish settlers burn mosque in the occupied city of Salfit!

— Motasem A Dalloul (@AbujomaaGaza)

At least 10 people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Khala family home in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza. 

Gaza's Civil Defence agency has confirmed that seven children, the oldest just six years old, are among the victims. Several other people have been injured in the attack. 

Israeli air strikes have killed at least 25 Palestinians, including at least eight in a building in the Nuseirat refugee camp and at least 10 in Jabalia.

The United Nation's special rapporteur Francesca Albanese has condemned Sweden's 'shameful' move to terminate funding to the United Nations refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA). 

Posting on X, she urged the Nordic nation to 'act swiftly to reverse and remedy' the decision. 

Shameful decision, which I did not expect Sweden would take, given its tradition of principled foreign policy in the Levant. May the Swedish people act swiftly to reverse and remedy it.

Necessary reminder: UNRWA is a subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly and cannot be…

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs)

The first Palestinian children from Gaza to be medically evacuated to Ireland for healthcare treatment have arrived to Dublin, according to Irish media.

Eight children, accompanied by eight carers and 11 siblings, travelled from Egypt on Thursday on a plane provided by the Slovakian government.

The evacuations are part of a World Health Organization (WHO) program with EU member states to evacuate and provide medical treatment to Palestinian patients in Europe.

My colleagues and I express our heartfelt thanks to Ireland 🇮🇪, the latest Member State to receive children from in critical need of lifesaving health services.

Our gratitude to all who have responded so far to our plea for these urgent…

— Hans Kluge (@hans_kluge)

Human rights group Amnesty International on Friday accused Lebanese militant group Hezbollah of firing salvos of unguided rockets at civilian areas of Israel.

"Hezbollah's reckless use of unguided rocket salvos has killed and wounded civilians, and destroyed and damaged civilian homes in Israel," said Amnesty's Secretary General Agnes Callamard.

"The use of these inherently inaccurate weapons in or near populated civilian areas amounts to prima facie violations of international humanitarian law," she said.

"Direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects and indiscriminate attacks that kill and injure civilians must be investigated as war crimes."

Amnesty said it had documented three Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israeli towns and cities that killed eight civilians and wounded at least 16 others following the escalation of the conflict in late September.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,800 people and wounded more than 15,800 in Lebanon. Hezbollah has killed at least 76 Israeli soldiers and 45 civilians in the same period.

Amnesty has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Dozens of protestors gathered in front of the Town Hall in Paris carrying torches, Palestinian flags and banners demanding to stop the genocide in Gaza and a ceasefire.

They also urged France's Emmanuel Macron to enforce arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence chief, Yoav Gallant, who are facing accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and put in place economic and diplomatic sanctions against Israel.

Salim, a member of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement in France, told the Anadolu news agency: 'We must boycott Israel.'

Gaza's civil defence rescue agency reported that an Israeli air strike killed 10 members of a family in the northern part of the territory, including seven children.

"There are 10 martyrs ... all targeted by an air strike on their home in Jabalia al-Nazla, southwest of Jabalia. All of the martyrs are from the same family, including seven children, the oldest aged six," civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

Bassal said the strike injured 15 other people.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Friday said her country would judge Syria's new Islamist-led HTS rulers 'by their actions' amid concerns over the group's links to Al-Qaeda.

'It is clear that a radical Islamist order will only lead to new fragmentation, new oppression and therefore new violence,' Baerbock told journalists in Ankara. 'We will judge the new rulers by their actions.'

Israeli forces have blown up several houses in the town of Yaroun in the district of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, according to The Lebanese National News Agency (NNA). 

Local correspondents reported that explosions were also heard in nearby villages.

Palestinians have clashed with Palestinian Authority forces in Jenin. 

Locals told Al Jazeera that fighting is taking place in several areas around the Jenin refugee camp. 

Israeli occupation forces detonated residential buildings in the southern Zeitoun neighborhood, in the east of Gaza.

Sweden announced plans Friday to stop funding to the UN's Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) in response to an Israeli ban, but pledged to increase its aid to Gaza via other groups.

Funding earmarked for Gaza will total 800 million kronor ($72 million) in 2025, but aid to UNRWA, which totalled 451 million kronor in 2024, will be stopped, said the government.

It came after Israel passed legislation to bar the agency from operating in Israel and east Jerusalem, and threatened to bring measures against other aid agencies.

In response, UNRWA accused Israel of running ‘a global disinformation campaign’ and an attempt to 'to label a UN agency as a terror organisation' that 'may amount to hate speech'. 

At least 10 Palestinians were killed on Friday after an Israeli airstrike targeted a residential building in Jabalia town, north of the Gaza Strip.

The casualties were taken to the hospital following the strike.

Breaking | A massacre against civilians committed by the Israeli occupation was reported when an Israeli airstrike targeted a residential building in Jabalia town, northern Gaza Strip, resulting in the slaughter of at least 8 Palestinians, including children.

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen)

Lebanese rescuers recovered three bodies from the rubble of a building struck by Israel in a September air raid that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, state media reported on Friday.

The health ministry has not released a death toll for the strike, which flattened several buildings in Haret Hreik, a southern Beirut stronghold of the Iran-backed group.

Rescuers arrived at the site on Friday morning to search for seven missing people, the National News Agency said, adding they "retrieved the bodies of three martyrs".

The remains were taken to Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut for DNA tests to confirm their identities, NNA reported.

Search efforts were ongoing for others it said were still missing.

Pro-Palestine protesters in Oslo, Norway, rallied for Gaza on Friday at the Norges Bank, demanding it withdraw investments financing Israel's ongoing war on the Strip.

Videos show protesters sitting in the bank, holding Palestine flags and banners while chanting.

🇳🇴�ʰ���- activists staged a protest at Norges Bank in Oslo, Norway, demanding the bank withdraw investments financing Israel's ongoing genocide in .

— Chronicles of Shame (@ShameChronicles)

At least 644 Palestinian athletes have been killed in Gaza since 7 October, including at least 91 children.

The figure includes 359 football players, according to the Palestinian Football Association.

An Israeli airstrike killed at least eight Palestinians in an apartment in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza strip on Friday, medics said.

The leaders of Turkey and Iran met in Cairo at a summit of eight Muslim-majority countries, in their first sit-down since the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

During their meeting, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country "wants to see a Syria where stability and security prevail" and "terrorism is eradicated", according to a statement by the Turkish presidency issued Thursday night. He also stressed the importance of protecting "Syria's territorial integrity and unity".

A statement from the office of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also said that the "slightest damage to the territorial integrity of Syria is in no way acceptable". It added that Muslim countries "must act responsibly" against Israel's "crimes" in the region.

First contact between Iran’s Pezeshkian and Turkish President Erdogan in Cairo after Assad regime’s collapse.

— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu)

An Israeli airstrike killed seven Palestinians on Friday in an apartment in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza strip, medics told Reuters.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudan said on Thursday that his country’s diplomatic mission to Syria has resumed operations.

He added that Iraq was ready to support the political process in Syria but expressed "concern" with "the presence of armed groups" in the country and their effect on Iraq.

Speaking to the state-owned Al-Ikhbariya Al-Iraqiya TV channel, Sudani said, "We want the decision to be left to the Syrian people about their choices for the coming period. Iraq has taken a clear position regarding non-interference in Syrian affairs."

However, the Iraqi premier added that the Islamic State militant group’s presence in Syria was still a threat.

American forces killed an Islamic State (IS) group leader and another of the group's members in a strike in Syria, the US military said on Friday.

The strike took place Thursday in Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria, killing IS leader "Abu Yusif" and another operative, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on social media, without providing further details on the two militants.

"This airstrike is part of CENTCOM's ongoing commitment, along with partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organise, and conduct attacks," CENTCOM said.

The strike "was conducted in an area formerly controlled by the Syrian regime and Russians," it added.

A delegation of US diplomats visiting Syria had a "positive" meeting on Friday with the country's new ruler, Ahmed al-Sharaa, a Syrian official told AFP.

"The meeting took place, and it was positive. And the results will be positive, God willing," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), has condemned Sweden's 'disappointing' decision to stop funding the agency as Israel's war rages on.

"The decision by the Government of to stop funding  in 2025 is disappointing and comes at the worst time for Palestine Refugees," Lazzarini wrote on X.

"Defunding UNRWA now will undermine decades of Sweden’s investment in human development including by denying access to education for hundreds of thousands of girls and boys across the region."

"This is a sad day for Palestine Refugees and the multilateral system which Sweden has spearheaded."

The decision by the Government of to stop funding in 2025 is disappointing and comes at the worst time for Palestine Refugees.

The decision is one day after the members of the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution in support of UNRWA.
���ɱ����…

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini)

Sweden announced plans Friday to stop funding to the UN's Palestinian refugee agency in response to an Israeli ban, but pledged to increase its aid to Gaza via other groups.

The government said funding earmarked for Gaza would total 800 million kronor ($72 million) in 2025, but aid to UNRWA, which totalled 451 million kronor in 2024, would be stopped.

"Israel's two decisions in the Knesset, which Sweden has criticised, will make many of UNRWA's activities more difficult and impossible," Benjamin Dousa, Minister for International Development Cooperation, said in a post to X.

"Swedish aid must reach its destination, not get stuck in a bank account along the way. Due to Israel's decision in the Knesset, we are therefore forced to pass on the aid to other organisations," Dousa said, giving the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) and UN children's charity UNICEF as examples.

Dousa added that UNRWA was "also going through a crisis of confidence."

Regeringen dubblerar nu stödet till Gaza som fattades för ett år sedan. Samtidigt behöver mat, skydd, läkemedel och annat nå hela vägen fram. Israels två beslut i Knesset, som Sverige kritiserat, kommer att försvåra och omöjliggöra mycket av Unrwas verksamhet.

— Benjamin Dousa (@BenjaminDousa)

An infant Palestinian girl died in Gaza due to cold weather - the Palestinian Information Center revealed.

Aisha Adnan Sufyan Al-Qassas lived inside a tent in the al-Mawasi area near the city of ​​Khan Younis after the Israeli army destroyed their home.

Gaza's displaced civilians have been forced to live in makeshift tents due to Israel's relentless bombings, with no resources to keep themselves warm as Winter approaches and temperatures drop.

Israeli settlers set fire to a mosque in the occupied West Bank and video showed "Revenge", "Death to Arabs", and other slogans had been spray-painted in Hebrew on the building's facade.

Black burn marks were visible at the entrance to the Muslim holy site in the northern West Bank village of Marda. The fire was put out before it could spread much further.

Israeli police said they were collecting testimonies and evidence at the scene.

Nasfat al-Khufash, head of the Marda village council, said: "On Friday, Marda awoke to a systematic terror attack by a group of settlers who set fire to Bir al-Walideen mosque."

"These attacks by settler groups are continuous and systematic," he said.

(Reuters)

In pictures: Early this morning, Israeli settler militias set fire to a mosque in the village of Marda near Salfit, the occupied West Bank, leaving behind hateful graffiti targeting Palestinians and Arabs.

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen)

At least 45,206 Palestinians have been killed and 107,512 wounded in Israel's military offensive since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry revealed on Friday.

Turkey will help Syria's new government form its state structure and draft a new constitution, President Tayyip Erdogan told reporters, adding that Ankara was in touch with Damascus on this.

Speaking to reporters on a return flight from a D-8 meeting in Egypt, Erdogan said his foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, would visit Damascus soon to discuss the "new structure" but did not elaborate.

He said he hoped the formation of the new Syrian government, led by Ahmad al-Sharaa - better known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani - would herald a new level in bilateral ties, and added it was important for sanctions imposed on Syria under ousted President Bashar al-Assad to be lifted for the country to rebuild.

Erdogan added that he was pleased to see Western and Muslim countries developing contact with Golani and that the talks he would have with US President-elect Donald Trump when he takes office would be important in that regard.

(Reuters)

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that Islamic State and Kurdish PKK militants, designated as a terorist organisation by the US, UK and EU and related groups need to be eliminated for a safe and stable new Syria to be established.

Speaking to reporters on a return flight from a D-8 meeting in Egypt, Erdogan also told reporters that Turkey would support the new Syrian leadership in the fight against terrorist organisations.

He said he does not believe any power will continue to work with such groups in Syria anymore, in an apparent reference to the cooperation between the Kurdish YPG militia and the United States in northeastern Syria.

"Islamic State, the PKK and its versions which threaten the survival of Syria need to be eradicated," he said.

(Reuters) 

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned against the threat of "new violence" in Kurdish-held northern areas of Syria as she left for a visit to neighbouring Turkey on Friday.

Her trip to Ankara comes almost two weeks after Syrian rebels overthrew Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, sparking popular jubilation but also concern about new turmoil.

"Those who want peace in the region must not undermine the territorial integrity of Syria," she said in a statement.

Syria's future is "hanging by a thread", said Baerbock, who was set to meet her Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan as well as members of the large Syrian refugee community on her one-day visit.

Women must be empowered to play a full role in building a new society in Syria and to bring stability to the shattered nation, the UN said Friday.

"We... are strongly urging the caretaker government to continue to empower and enable women, because they are going to be absolutely critical to the rebuilding of the country," said Amy Pope, the head of the United Nations' migration agency, following a visit to Syria.

International sanctions imposed on Syria must be reassessed to help the country rebuild following the ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, the head of the UN's migration agency said Friday.

"So to rebuild the situation, there will be a need to re-evaluate those sanctions," International Organization for Migration head Amy Pope told a Geneva press conference, referring to "UN sanctions, US sanctions, other sanctions".

The UN human rights office will send a small team of human rights officers to Syria next week following the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, UN spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told a press briefing on Friday.

He said that the team would support human rights issues and help ensure that any power transition is "inclusive and within the framework of international law". 

(Reuters) 

Large-scale returns of refugees to Syria could overwhelm the country and even stoke conflict at a fragile moment following the toppling of President Bashar al-Assad earlier this month, the head of the UN migration agency told reporters on Friday.

"We believe that millions of people returning would create conflict within an already fragile society," said Amy Pope, director-general of the International Organization for Migration, told a Geneva press briefing after a trip to the country. "We are not promoting large scale returns. The communities, frankly, are just not ready to absorb the people who are displaced."

(Reuters)

The Israeli military pushed back on Friday against an investigation by the newspaper Haaretz that quoted mostly unnamed soldiers serving in Gaza describing indiscriminate killings of civilians in the territory's Netzarim Corridor.

"All activities and operations conducted by (Israeli army) forces in the Gaza Strip, including in the Netzarim Corridor, are carried out in accordance with structured combat procedures, plans and operational orders approved by the highest ranks in the (army)," the military told AFP in a statement.

On Thursday, Haaretz, a left-leaning Israeli daily that has faced severe criticism from the country's right-wing government, quoted soldiers, career officers and reservists who said commanders were given unprecedented authority to operate in the Palestinian territory.

The military said that "all strikes in the area (of Netzarim) are conducted in accordance with the mandatory procedures and protocols, including targets that are struck in an urgent time frame due to essential operational circumstances where ground forces face immediate threats".

"Incidents that give rise to concerns of deviations from IDF's orders or ethical standards are thoroughly examined and addressed."

Two journalists from Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast have been killed reportedly by a Turkish drone while covering the fighting between Ankara-backed militia and US-backed Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, journalists' groups said Friday.

Nazim Dastan and Cihan Bilgin were killed on Thursday near the Tishrin dam east of Aleppo when their car was hit, the Dicle Firat Journalists' Association said.

"We condemn this attack on our colleagues and demand accountability," the group said, describing the pair as "two valuable journalists" reporting on the violence in northern Syria.

The Turkish Journalists Union also condemned the attack, saying they were "allegedly targeted by a Turkish UAV", commonly known as a drone.

"We condemn the attack. Journalists cannot be subjected to attack while performing a sacred duty. Those responsible must be found and tried," the union's branch in the southeastern Kurdish-majority city of Diyabakir said.

According to the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency, the explosion was caused by a Turkish drone.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported two journalists being killed in Aleppo province, saying it was by a "Turkish drone strike".

The Turkish army insists it never targets civilians but only terror groups.

An Israeli government minister criticised Pope Francis on Friday for suggesting the international community should study whether Israel's military offensive in Gaza constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.

In an open letter published by Italian newspaper Il Foglio, Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli said the pope's remarks amounted to a "trivialisation" of the term genocide

"As a people who lost six million of its sons and daughters in the Holocaust, we are particularly sensitive to the trivialisation of the term 'genocide' - a trivialisation that comes dangerously close to Holocaust denial," Chikli wrote.

Chikli, who ended the letter by calling Francis "a dear friend of the Jewish people," asked the pope "to clarify your position regarding the new accusation of genocide against the Jewish state".

(Reuters)

Nine Palestinian Americans sued the US government on Thursday, alleging that it had failed to rescue them or members of their families who were trapped in Gaza, where Israel's war has killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis.

The lawsuit accuses the State Department of discriminating against Americans of Palestinian origin by abandoning them in a war zone and not making the same effort that it would to promptly evacuate and protect Americans of different origins in similar situations.

It was the second case against the US government this week after Palestinian families sued the US State Department on Tuesday over Washington's support for Israel's military.

(Reuters)

The first US diplomats to visit Syria since the fall of the Assad regime earlier this month are now in Damascus to hold talks with the country’s new leaders and seek information on the whereabouts of missing American journalist Austin Tice.

Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, former special envoy for Syria Daniel Rubinstein and the Biden administration’s chief envoy for hostage negotiations, Roger Carstens, made the trip for talks with Syria’s interim leaders, the State Department said early Friday.

The team is also the first group of American diplomats to formally visit Syria in more than a decade since the US shuttered its embassy in Damascus in 2012.

“They will be engaging directly with the Syrian people, including members of civil society, activists, members of different communities, and other Syrian voices about their vision for the future of their country and how the United States can help support them,” the State Department said.