The Kingdom of Jordan conducted airstrikes targeting drug smuggling networks in southern Syria between December 23 and 25. The Jordanians coordinated with regional partners, although reports did not specify whom. The strikes targeted rural areas near the Jordanian border in Syria’s southern Suwayda Governorate, which is currently controlled by Druze forces.
The United Arab Emirates announced the withdrawal of its forces from Yemen after demands for their departure from Saudi and select Yemeni leaders and Saudi airstrikes targeting Yemeni separatist groups. The UAE forces previously served in a counterterrorism capacity as part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as their respective local partners, are renegotiating the balance of power in Yemen after southern separatist forces captured the country’s eastern territory.
Israel continued military operations in Lebanon between December 22 and December 28, 2025. Israeli activities this week included strikes on Hezbollah assets and personnel north and south of the Litani River, reaching as far as Hermel, and killing an alleged Lebanese Armed Forces-Hezbollah dual operative.
In late December, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) replaced the 2nd Reserve Infantry Brigade and Kfir Brigade in Gaza with the 16th Reserve Infantry Brigade and 188th Armored Brigade, respectively. The IDF continues to deal with threats from terrorists along the Yellow Line in the territory, and an Israeli soldier was wounded on December 24 by an explosive device. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared for a trip to Miami to meet US President Donald Trump.
President Donald Trump announced that US forces struck Islamic State targets in northwestern Nigeria on December 25 after the Nigerian government reportedly requested military action from the United States. The strikes took place in Sokoto State, which borders Niger and has been one of the scenes of jihadist expansion from the Sahel into Nigeria.
Iranian-backed militias in Iraq are reportedly considering an initiative to disarm and place their weapons under government control. The militias, part of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), have been incorporated as independent units within Iraq’s security forces since 2016. Kataib Hezbollah, one of the most powerful of militias, has rejected disarmament, while the US lauded the potential development.
House of Representatives Speaker Aguila Saleh has declared the 2019 Libya-Turkey maritime agreement illegitimate, arguing that it lacked parliamentary ratification and was concluded amid Libya’s unresolved civil conflict. The deal, signed after Turkey’s military intervention on behalf of the Tripoli-based government, expanded Ankara’s maritime claims in the eastern Mediterranean and provoked sharp opposition from Greece, Egypt, and the European Union. Saleh’s call for multilateral negotiations—including Greece, Egypt, and Turkey—underscores Libya’s continued fragmentation and signals a potential challenge to Ankara’s long-term military and energy ambitions in the region.
Israel continued military operations in Lebanon between December 15 and December 21, 2025. Israeli activities this week included strikes on Hezbollah assets and personnel north and south of the Litani River, reaching as far as Baalbek and Hermel.
On December 19, US Central Command announced that US forces conducted “a large-scale strike against ISIS infrastructure and weapons sites in Syria.” Al Arabiya reported that the United States hit “70 ISIS targets in sites in central Syria.”
US Central Command (CENTCOM) published new data in the wake of the killing of two American soldiers and an interpreter in Syria on December 13, showing that US and partner forces have carried out 80 operations in the country since July 2025. “We will continue to work closely with our Syrian partners to hunt down ISIS networks and prevent their resurgence,” Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of CENTCOM, said. There have also been several security operations in Syria and Iraq conducted by Syrian and Iraqi security forces in the wake of the attack.
According to the Taliban’s self-assessment (what could go wrong), Afghanistan is “stable” — but according to reality, it’s not. Terrorist groups still operate openly, Al Qaeda remains embedded, and the same extremists are now being trusted to “fight” other extremists. Bill Roggio and Edmund Fitton-Brown break down why outsourcing counterterrorism to jihadists is a fatal mistake — and why the so-called “peace of the Taliban” comes at an unbearable price: the erasure of half the country’s population and the return of Afghanistan as a global terror hub.
As Israel awaits the return of the remains of the final hostage in Gaza, Hamas and Palestinian terror groups violated phase one of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan 12 times between December 4 and 18, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Dozens of countries attended a United States Central Command conference in Doha to discuss the deployment of an International Stabilization Force in Gaza, but no nations have committed to sending troops. Meanwhile, Hamas leadership reiterated the terror group’s unwillingness to disarm.
Israel continued military operations in Lebanon between December 8 and December 14, 2025. Israeli activities were more intense than in the preceding weeks and included a resumption of targeted killings.
In contrast to its ambiguity about casualty announcements during the recent war with Israel, Hamas confirmed the killing of veteran senior leader Raed Saad and additional operatives. Israel said Saad held multiple senior positions within Hamas and was among the planners of the October 7 attack.
The Iowa National Guard released the names of two US soldiers who were killed by an Islamic State member in Syria on December 13. In the aftermath of the attack, Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al Shaibani spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on December 14 and said the Syrian government would work with the US to degrade and destroy the Islamic State (IS). Syria’s Interior Ministry also conducted an anti-IS operation and detained five people. In northern Syria, an armed group killed four Syrian Interior Ministry personnel.
Two gunmen carried out an antisemitic terrorist attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killing at least 16 people and wounding dozens before one attacker was killed and the other arrested. Australian authorities, who said one suspect was previously known to the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, are investigating possible foreign links as Israel separately examines whether Iran or its proxies played a role amid warnings about Iranian-backed threats to Jewish communities abroad.
US Central Command announced that “two U.S. service members and one U.S. civilian were killed, and three service members were injured, as a result of an ambush by a lone [Islamic State] gunman in Syria.” A Syrian government official confirmed reports that the attacker was a member of the government’s security forces, stating that he had been under investigation and may have had “extremist ideas.”
Ukrainian forces appear to have regained ground in and around the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, giving Kyiv a much-needed victory amid setbacks elsewhere on the battlefield and in peace negotiations.
The Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP), locally known as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), has killed almost 1,000 civilians this year, with the vast majority of its victims being Christian villagers. ISCAP has explicitly framed its attacks as a war against Congo’s Christians. However, the group’s rhetoric has changed in recent months to also focus on trying to convert Christians to Islam.
Iranian Baluch separatist factions have formed a new coalition known as the Popular Fighters Front (JMM), presenting themselves as a unified movement against the Islamic Republic of Iran. The coalition’s manifesto outlines its constituent groups, including PADA Baluch, Harakat-e Nasr, Jaish al Adl, the Mohammad Rasulullah network, and independent fighters, and frames its mission as defending the “dignity, culture, and political identity” of the Baluch people while appealing to broader Iranian opposition forces. JMM has already claimed responsibility for a December 2025 attack in Zahedan that left four of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel dead.
The United States has significantly escalated tensions with the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in recent weeks. After US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced “Operation Southern Spear” on November 13, the US sent the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Caribbean. The US also captured a sanctioned Venezuelan oil tanker and issued a Notice to Air Missions cautioning that civilian aircraft face a “potentially hazardous situation” when flying over Venezuelan territory. In response to US strikes on speedboats allegedly operated by Venezuelan “narco-terrorists,” France and the UK have diplomatically challenged the US.
Israel continues to wait for the last deceased hostage, Israeli police officer Ran Gvili, to be returned from Gaza. Reports indicate that the US is expected to announce members of the Board of Peace in early 2026 and appoint a two-star general to command the International Stabilization Force (ISF). UN Ambassador Mike Waltz visited Israel and discussed the next steps in Gaza with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
In a seismic policy shift after decades of Western indifference, the Trump administration has moved to designate key chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations. Bill Roggio is joined by FDD’s Edmund Fitton-Brown, who explains why this first round of designations is just the opening salvo.
The Israeli military and Shin Bet reported on a Hamas financial network operating in Turkey under direct Iranian supervision and moving hundreds of millions of dollars through Turkish-based money changers to fund terrorism. Three key operatives based in Turkey were identified as managing large-scale financial activity for Hamas. Israeli officials warned that any entity linked to this network will face consequences and criticized the concept of a NATO member enabling Iran-backed terror financing.
Israel continued military operations in Lebanon between December 1 and December 7, 2025. Israeli activities were less intense than usual last week; while they targeted and destroyed alleged Hezbollah infrastructure, they, unusually, resulted in zero casualties.
An Iraqi government investigation into the November 26 attack on the Khor Mor gas field in the Kurdistan Region concluded on December 3 that two drones carried out the attack. The committee investigating the incident has recommended establishing an integrated air defense system for the site. US officials meeting with their counterparts from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) discussed support for the KRG and bolstering coordination against threats.
Yasser Abu Shabab, the head of the Popular Forces, was killed in Gaza on December 4. Shabab was a polarizing figure who led the first armed group to emerge during the Gaza war that actively opposed Hamas and its allies’ rule in the territory.
Tensions between Israel and Syria have continued in the wake of an Israeli raid in southern Syria on November 27. On December 4, Syria accused Israel of a new incursion into the Yarmouk Basin near the Golan. US President Donald Trump has called for a dialogue between Israel and Syria.
Forces aligned with the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which controls much of southern Yemen and advocates for the region’s secession, advanced into key areas in Hadramawt governorate. The STC, which is part of the Internationally Recognized Government (IRG), clashed with rival government forces in the large, resource-rich Yemeni province following rising tensions with a Hadramawt tribal leader, Sheikh Amr Bin Habriesh.
Palestinian terrorists again ambushed Israeli troops in the southern Gaza hotspot of Rafah, injuring five soldiers, one seriously, and marking the first instance of the Israeli military taking casualties in over a month. Palestinians have violated the truce in the territory at least seven times in the past week, according to Israel Defense Forces reports.