Rebel forces in Syria are building a transitional government after toppling the regime of President Bashar Assad in a lightning-quick advance across the country.
Meanwhile, the ceasefire in Lebanon is holding despite ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, which Israeli officials say are responses to ceasefire violations by the Iranian-backed militant group. The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza.
Tensions remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides. The IDF and the Yemeni Houthis also continue to exchange attacks.
Israeli forces kill Hamas operative in Gaza City, IDF says
Israeli forces killed the head of the national security directorate of Hamas' security mechanism during an attack on Sunday in Gaza City, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The Hamas operative, Tharwat Muhammad Ahmed Albec, was "operating in a command and control center" that was embedded in a "compound that previously served as the 'Musa bin Nusayr' school" in a neighborhood in Gaza City, the IDF said in a statement on Monday.
Hamas has yet to comment on the IDF's statement.
-ABC News' Dana Savir
Dec 23, 2024, 12:38 PM EST
'Certain progress' made in hostage negotiations: Netanyahu
"Certain progress" has been made in ongoing hostage and ceasefire negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a speech at the Israeli parliament on Monday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the fifth day of testimony in his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Dec. 23, 2024.
Debbie Hill/AP
"I can carefully say there has been a certain progress" made in the ongoing negotiations, Netanyahu said, adding that he "doesn't know how long it's going to take."
"We will continue to operate in any way and without a pause until we bring them all back home from the enemy's land," he said.
-ABC News' Dana Savir
Dec 23, 2024, 7:32 AM EST
Hamas reports Israeli attack on Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp
Hamas on Monday said the Israel Defense Forces killed or wounded at least 50 people in an air and ground assault on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
Bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat camp arrive at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Dec. 21, 2024.
Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
An IDF airstrike was followed by an incursion into the camp supported by 17 heavy vehicles, among them tanks and bulldozers, Hamas said.
Israeli forces also attacked Nuseirat camp two weeks ago, killing at least 33 people according to the Gaza Government Media Office.
The IDF is yet to comment on Monday's operation.
-ABC News' Diaa Ostaz and Tomek Rolski
Dec 23, 2024, 3:13 AM EST
Netanyahu says Israel will act against Houthis after missile strike
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that his nation would "act forcefully" against the Houthis in Yemen after a weekend missile attack on Tel Aviv injured 16 people, according to Israeli emergency authorities.
"Just as we acted forcefully against the terrorist arms of Iran's evil axis, so we will act against the Houthis -- the result will be the same," Netanyahu said in a statement posted to X.
Israeli emergency services work at the scene of a missile strike that Israel's military said was launched from Yemen, south of Tel Aviv, Israel, on Dec. 21, 2024.
Stringer/Reuters
Since October 2023, the Houthis have been launching attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea, as well as long-range drone and missile attacks towards Israel.
On Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces said it intercepted a Houthi missile but that debris destroyed a school building in Tel Aviv.
The Houthis -- which have close ties with Iran and are part of the Tehran-led "Axis of Resistance" -- are demanding an end to Israel's war in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, infiltration attack into southern Israel.
The U.S. and U.K. -- supported by other allies -- have launched a series of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen since January. Israel has also launched significant strikes in Yemen in recent months, most recently on Thursday.
