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Russia and Ukraine accused each other of targeting civilians over the New Year, with Moscow reporting a deadly strike on a hotel in territory that it occupies in southern Ukraine while Kyiv said there had been another broad attack on its power supplies. The reports coincide with intensive talks aimed at bringing an end to the nearly four-year-old war, overseen by US President Donald Trump. Both countries have said the other is doing all it can to influence his views and shape the outcome. “On New Year, Russia deliberately brings war. Over 200 attack drones were launched onto Ukraine in the night,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram, saying that energy infrastructure in seven regions across Ukraine had been targeted. Russia accused Ukraine of killing at least 24 people, including a child, in a drone strike on a hotel and cafe where civilians were seeing in the New Year in a Russian-controlled part of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine. Ukraine’s military, which has accused Russia of killing many civilians in its own attacks on Ukrainian cities, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened a probe into the attack, which had “killed more than 20 people and injured many more”. The Russian foreign ministry said the death toll was still being clarified. According to Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor of the region, more than 100 revellers gathered at the hotel the night of the attack. He said that many people had been burnt alive. Russia’s foreign ministry said that as well as the 24 dead, 50 people had been injured, including six minors who were being treated in hospital. “There is no doubt that the attack was planned in advance, with drones deliberately targeting areas where civilians had gathered to celebrate New Year’s Eve,” the ministry said in a statement, calling the attack a “war crime”. On Monday, Moscow accused Kyiv of trying to strike a residence of President Vladimir Putin. Ukrainian and European officials have said the incident did not happen and US security officials were also reported to have found that Ukraine did not target the residence. Russia said Thursday that it would send Washington proof. The Russian foreign ministry accused Ukraine of carrying out a “terrorist attack”, called on international organisations to condemn it and warned Kyiv of “appropriate consequences” in a statement. It also accused the Ukrainian authorities of “deliberately torpedoing any attempts to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict”. Zelensky meanwhile said that Russia’s holiday season attacks showed Ukraine could not afford delays in air defence supplies. “(Our) allies have the names of equipment which we are lacking. We expect that everything agreed with the United States at the end of December for our defence will arrive on time,” he said, without clarifying further. Reuters was not able to immediately verify the reported Kherson region attack or photographs of what Saldo’s press service said was the aftermath. The images showed at least one dead body was visible beneath a white sheet. The building showed signs that a fire had raged and there were what looked like blood stains on the ground. Russia’s Tass news agency published video showing drone fragments, some with Ukrainian writing on them. Ukrainian officials regularly report civilian deaths from Russian air attacks, including in the Ukrainian-held city of Kherson, which lies near the front line. The Ukrainian governor of Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, said that one man had been killed and an 87-year-old woman injured in attacks on the city Thursday, posting a video showing the woman’s badly damaged apartment. Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Oleksiy Kuleba said rail facilities had been attacked in three regions, including a locomotive depot and a station in the frontline region of Sumy. The Russian defence ministry said Thursday that its strikes had hit military targets, as well as energy infrastructure which it claimed was being used to support Ukraine’s military. In a separate report, Russia-appointed Saldo said later that a five-year-old child had been killed and three more people injured in a Ukrainian drone strike on a car near Tarasivka, another coastal village, close to Khorly. He did not provide evidence. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, told Tass that those who carried out the hotel attack and their commanders should be targeted. Kherson is one of four regions in Ukraine which Russia claimed as its own in 2022, a move Kyiv and most Western countries denounced as an illegal land grab. Ukraine came under intense pressure in 2025, both from Russian bombardment and on the battlefield, where it has steadily ceded ground to Russia’s army. An AFP analysis based on Ukrainian air force data showed a slight fall in overnight Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukraine in December. Russia fired at least 5,134 drones in overnight attacks in the final month of 2025, 6% less than the month before, while the number of missiles declined by 18% in the same period, according to the data. However, the same data showed Ukraine destroyed a smaller share of the total sum of missiles and drones in December – 80%, compared with 82% in November. 

The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested on Wednesday four Palestinian civilians after having raided the governorates of Tulkarm and Bethlehem across the occupied West Bank.WAFA news agency reported that the IOF arrested three young Palestinians in Kafr Al-Labad town, east of Tulkarm governorate, after having raided their homes.In Bethlehem Governorate, the IOF arrested a Palestinian in Beit Fajjar town, deployed in several neighborhoods, and raided several other homes.These arrests come as part of the daily raids carried out by the IOF across the West Bank, during which Palestinians are repeatedly arrested, and their homes are raided.

Seven civilians were killed and at least 20 others were injured on Tuesday after Thai artillery shelling struck Cambodian territory, as violence continued to escalate along the border between the two countries.Spokesperson for Cambodia's Ministry of National Defense, Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata, said the shelling targeted areas inside Cambodia, resulting in the deaths of at least seven civilians and injuries to 20 others.She described the attacks as "inhumane and brutal," saying they constituted a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement and the joint declaration signed by the prime ministers of both countries on October 26 under the auspices of US President Donald Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who currently chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).In Bangkok, the Thai military announced the deaths of two soldiers in border clashes with Cambodia, bringing the total number of Thai military fatalities to three since fighting resumed on Sunday."A total of three soldiers have been killed, one on December 8 and two on December 9," the military said in a statement, adding that Thailand would take steps to expel Cambodian forces from the Thai territory.Thailand and Cambodia have long disputed sovereignty over several areas along their shared 817-kilometer land border, a dispute that dates back more than a century. Armed clashes have occurred intermittently, with the most serious confrontation being a week-long exchange of artillery fire in 2011.Tensions escalated again last May after a Cambodian soldier was killed in a skirmish, prompting both sides to significantly reinforce their border deployments. The situation later deteriorated into full-scale armed clashes following the collapse of diplomatic efforts.

Two Palestinians were martyred when Israeli occupation forces targeted civilians east of Gaza City. The Palestinian news agency (WAFA), citing a medical source, reported that two Palestinians were martyred by Israeli occupation fire in Al-Sha'af area of ​​the Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City. According to medical sources, 44 Palestinians were martyred yesterday by Israeli occupation forces' fire in various areas of the Gaza Strip. The death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has risen to 68,159 martyrs and 170,203 wounded since October 7, 2023.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed grave concern over the number of civilians fleeing violence in northern Mozambique, making it impossible for many of them to return home. UNHCR revealed that approximately 22,000 people fled Cabo Delgado province in a single week in late September. Last month, militants attacked the strategic coastal city of Mocimboa da Praia, clashing with the army. "Civilians continue to be targeted amid reports of killings," UNHCR's representative in Mozambique, Xavier Créach said. He added, "During 2025, the violence has sharply accelerated. By the end of August, over 500 security incidents affecting civilians had been recorded, including raids on villages, abductions, killings of civilians, looting, and the destruction of homes and infrastructure." More than 100,000 people have been forced to flee this year, according to the UNHCR representative, who noted that 89% of them had been displaced previously. Twenty-two humanitarian organizations have announced the suspension of their operations in Cabo Delgado this year, making it difficult to respond to the crisis. Since the conflict erupted in 2017, more than 1.3 million people have been displaced in Mozambique.

The United Nations warned that the situation in Gaza is deteriorating by the hour and renewed its call for immediate protection for civilians. It emphasized that issuing displacement orders does not absolve the parties to the conflict of their responsibilities to protect civilians, especially in light of the ongoing attacks launched by the occupying power, Israel, on Gaza. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that Al-Rantisi Children's Hospital in Gaza was damaged after being hit by multiple airstrikes two days ago, forcing half of the patients and their caregivers to flee under the bombardment in search of safety. Meanwhile, UN humanitarian partners confirmed that since the ceasefire collapsed in March, 80 medical facilities and primary healthcare centers providing health services to patients have been damaged, with 65 of them out of service. In a related development, the Palestinian Telecommunications Company reported that Wednesday night, there was a complete internet outage throughout Gaza and the north, preventing residents and humanitarian workers from accessing vital information. UN humanitarian partners have established three support points in areas hosting internally displaced persons in southern Gaza to assist unaccompanied children, orphans, and the wounded. They reported that the heavy shelling of Gaza is exacerbating the suffering of the people, especially children.

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper strongly condemned the attack launched by the Israeli occupation forces on Gaza City on Tuesday morning, describing the operation as "utterly reckless and appalling."The new IDF assault on Gaza is utterly reckless and appalling. It will only bring more bloodshed, kill more innocent civilians and endanger the remaining hostages," she wrote on the social media platform X.Cooper added, "We need an immediate ceasefire, all hostages released, unrestricted humanitarian aid and a path to lasting peace."The British Foreign Secretary stressed that the international community must assume its responsibility in pressuring the Israeli occupation to stop its attacks, warning that the continued military escalation exacerbates the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and threatens the stability of the entire region.Cooper affirmed that London will continue to cooperate with its international partners to ensure respect for international humanitarian law, and called on all parties to exercise restraint and avoid any steps that could exacerbate the humanitarian suffering.For days, Israeli occupation forces have been launching violent raids on Gaza City. The occupation forces expanded the pace of destruction by bombing and detonating buildings, in an attempt to force Palestinians to flee south.

Hundreds killed in Sweida bloodshed in JulySuspects filmed several killingsSome later confessed, committee saysDruze deaths spark calls for justiceSyria has interrogated and detained members of its defence and interior ministries suspected of committing abuses against civilians in the predominantly Druze province of Sweida in July, the committee investigating the violence has said.Hundreds of people were killed in Sweida in violence that began between tribes and Druze factions but which worsened after Syrian troops were dispatched to the area. Bereaved relatives accused government forces of committing execution-style killings on camera.Syria appointed a committee to investigate the violence on July 31. Its spokesperson Ammar Izzedin told Syrian and regional media outlets on Tuesday night that members of both the interior and defence ministries had been questioned and referred to the judiciary over their suspected involvement in abuses.Izzedin declined to say how many personnel were detained, but said they were Syrian nationals who carried out the atrocities in an individual capacity.He told regional broadcaster Al-Hadath the committee had confronted the suspects with "the video footage in which they were seen" committing abuses without specifying what they were.Izzedin said the footage was "enough" as evidence since the fighters had filmed themselves, but that several had also confessed to committing the abuses after being shown the videos."They were detained by the interior and defence ministries to be transferred to the judiciary when the investigations are concluded to be publicly tried for the crimes they committed against Syrians," Izzedin said.He told local outlet Syria TV that the committee was keen to act swiftly to arrest the suspects even as it continued its investigative work. He did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for additional comment.Amnesty International urged Syrian authorities on Tuesday to hold members of government forces accountable for extrajudicial executions of Druze men and women on July 15 and 16 in Sweida.In March, Syria's military was accused of mass killings of members of the Alawite minority, to which much of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ruling elite belonged.A Syrian government fact-finding committee said in July that 1,426 people had died in March in attacks on security forces and subsequent mass killings of Alawites, but concluded that commanders had not given orders for the revenge attacks.It said 298 suspects were linked to violations against Alawites and 265 involved in the initial attack on security forces, and said they had been referred to the judiciary.