Middle East updates: Israel unclear on 'status of hostages'

The US Treasury has issued what it called a Syria General License with the aim of "expand[ing] authorizations for activities and transactions" in sanctioned Syria.

In a statement on its website on Monday, the Treasury said the move, which follows Bashar Assad's December 8 ouster "underscores the United States’ commitment to ensuring that US sanctions do not impede activities to meet basic human needs, including the provision of public services or humanitarian assistance."

The authorization is valid for six months, as Washington "continues to monitor the evolving situation on the ground."

The US has imposed many sanctions on Syria, most of which since Assad's brutal clampdown on the 2011 protests which prompted the civil war.

Since his ouster last month, Syria's new Islamist authorities have made several calls on the US to lift those sanctions.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Monday for a final push for a Gaza ceasefire before President Joe Biden leaves office after a Hamasofficial told Reuters that the group had cleared a list of 34 hostages as first to go free under a truce. 

"We very much want to bring this over the finish line in the next two weeks, the time we have remaining," Blinken said during a new conference in South Korea.

It remains unclear how close the two sides remain, with some signs of movement but little indication of a shift in some of the key demands that have so far blocked any truce for more than a year.

US President-elect Donald Trump has said there would be "hell to pay" in the Middle East if the hostages held by Hamas were not freed before his inauguration on January 20. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened once again to order another incursion into neighboring Syria should Ankara feel threatened by the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

"We can not accept under any pretext that Syria be divided and if we notice the slightest risk we will take the necessary measures," the Turkish head of state said, adding that "we have the means."

Erdogan stressed there was no room for "terror" in Syria after the ouster of Bashar Assad. He added that "should the risk present itself, we could intervene in one night."

Turkey  considers the People's Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the SDF, an extension of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) which has long been designated as a terrorist movement by Ankara and its Western allies.

The SDF was supported by the US when it lead the fight against the so-called Islamic State in Syria.

Since the start of the lightning rebel offensive which ousted Assad, the SDF has been locked in fights with pro-Turkish factions.

Turkey has launched several military incursions into northern Syria throughout the civil war in order to push back the Kurdish YPG militia

The United Nations' Yemen mediator has arrived in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Monday as part of a bid to subdue heightened tensions. 

In his first visit in almost two years, a spokesperson said Hans Grundberg aims to "improve the environment for resolution of the conflict [and] prepare the ground for concrete actions for advancing the peace process."

The trip comes amid intensified Israeli and US strikes on  Iran-aligned Houthi strongholds in the past two weeks.

These come in response to the Iran-backed militants launching missiles and drones towards Israel. 

The Houthis have controlled most parts of Yemen, including Sanaa, since seizing power during 2014 and early 2015. 

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) says Israeli forces opened fire on its convoy in Gaza on Sunday in an incident it described as "horrifying."

The agency said that a convoy of three vehicles carrying eight staff members was struck by 16 bullets near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint, causing no injuries. 

In a statement, the WFP said the convoy was clearly marked and had received prior security clearances from Israeli authorities.

"Thankfully, no staff members were injured in this terrifying encounter," it said.

"This unacceptable event is just the latest example of the complex and dangerous working environment that WFP and other agencies are operating in today. Security conditions in Gaza must urgently improve for lifesaving humanitarian assistance to continue."

Israel's offensive in Gaza since the October 7 terror attacks has killed more than 45,854 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's Health Ministry.

There were at least 49 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that at least 109,139 people have been wounded since the latest conflict began.

The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but the UN and multiple humanitarian organizations consider the casualty numbers broadly reliable, though very likely a significant undercount.

Around half of Gaza's 2.3 million inhabitants are children. 

Israel launched its Gaza operation after the Hamas attacks in southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people. 

The German government has quietly cut funding for Zochrot and New Profile, following an earlier defunding of Palestinian NGOs. Some observers fear the move will shrink space for those critical of the Israeli government.

DW's investigative unit has reviewed emails and classified documents, and spoken with dozens of sources from the development sector in Germany, Israel and the occupied West Bank. 

The findings indicate that the defunding of Zochrot and New Profile are part of a larger pattern of cutting federal funds for human rights organizations that have been critical of the Israeli government's policies and the ongoing war in Gaza.

Read DW's investigative report here.

Two children, 10 women, 11 elderly people and another 11 men under the age of 50 are said to appear on a list with the names of the 34 hostages that Hamas has reportedly given to Israel.

However, the condition of the individuals — whether they are alive or dead — has not been made clear.

"As yet, Israel has not received any confirmation or comment by Hamas regarding the status of the hostages appearing on the list," said the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

The names are those of people the group said it would release in the first phase of a ceasefire agreement, leaked to some media.

"That is the list given by Hamas," sources close to the negotiations confirmed to EFE, although it is not clear if all of them are alive.

"The fear is that Hamas will use the possible agreement to hand over mainly the bodies of dead hostages. Israel wants to avoid that and prioritize living captives in the first phase," the same sources indicated to EFE.

Hamas has not officially confirmed the veracity of the list, and the Netanyahu government initially denied having received any list.

However, the Islamist group is believed to have leaked the complete document to the Reuters news agency. Israel has said the list is the same as one that it originally gave to mediators last year.

The war began in Gaza when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. They also abducted about 250.

Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, with at least a third of them believed to be dead. Israel's offensive has killed more than 45,800 Palestinians in Gaza, according to officials from the territory's Hamas-controlled Health Ministry. The officials say women and children make up over half the fatalities.

Gunmen have opened fire on a bus and other vehicles carrying Israelis in the occupied West Bank, Israeli medics have said, killing at least three people and wounding seven others.

Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said those killed in the attack on Monday included two women in their 60s and a man in his 40s.

The attack happened in the Palestinian village of Al-Funduq, on one of the main east-west roads crossing the territory.

The Israeli military said it was looking for the attackers, who fled and whose identities were not initially known. It said troops had set up roadblocks and were encircling several nearby towns.

More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in scores of settlements in the occupied West Bank, which most of the international community considers illegal.

Palestinians have carried out many attacks against Israelis in recent years, with Israel launching near-nightly raids across the territory. 

At least 835 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The UN's Palestinian aid agency has said at least seven babies have died because of cold weather and a lack of shelter in Gaza.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said up to 7,700 newborns in the territory are living in inadequate accommodation due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas militant group.

In late December, the Palestinian WAFA news agency reported that four babies had died of hypothermia. 

After more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have lost their homes. 

rc/kb (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)