US aircraft carrier strike group arrives in Middle East

The move was planned before the fall of the Assad regime, an official said.

ByDavid Brennan, Meredith Deliso, Nadine El-Bawab, and Ivan Pereira
Last Updated: December 16, 2024, 3:49 AM EST

Rebel forces in Syria captured the capital Damascus and toppled 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 also 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.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
Dec 12, 2024, 3:36 AM EST

UN General Assembly demands immediate Gaza ceasefire

The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved resolutions demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

A picture taken from Israel's southern border with the Gaza Strip on Dec. 11, 2024, shows destroyed buildings inside the Palestinian territory.
Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

Unlike U.N. Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, though they do reflect world opinion.

The 193-nation body voted 158-9, with 13 abstentions to demand an immediate ceasefire.

A second vote broke 159-9 with 11 abstentions in support of the agency known as UNRWA -- officially the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East -- which Israel has banned from operating on its territory and sought to undermine elsewhere.

The language of the ceasefire resolution adopted by the assembly on a ceasefire mirrors the text of a security council resolution vetoed by the U.S. on Nov. 20, which also demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

The U.S. objected to the resolution because it was not tied to an immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas militants during their Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel.

-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian

Dec 11, 2024, 5:44 PM EST

Israel to build fence around Jordan border 'quickly' to prevent weapon smugglers

Israel will expedite the construction of a fence along the Jordan-Israel border, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in comments Wednesday.

"We have destroyed and severely damaged Khamenei's octopus arms in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria - I came here to make sure that Iran will not succeed in establishing an Iranian octopus arm on Israel's eastern front; we will quickly build the eastern fence and prevent Iranian plans to smuggle weapons into Israel through Jordan," Katz said while visiting the Jordan-Israel border.

"We will build the fence quickly. And we will ensure protection and prevent the growth of an octopus here in this place - even before it is established and in order to strengthen security and our control over this region of the country," he added.

-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman

Dec 11, 2024, 5:31 PM EST

IDF in Syria, less than a mile from buffer zone

The Israel Defense Forces operated in Kwdana, Syria, Wednesday slightly beyond the buffer zone.

The IDF says they are there for "strategic reasons" but wouldn't elaborate.

Doron Kadosh, an Israeli journalist, posted on X, showing IDF setting up less than a mile away from the Bravo Line of the buffer zone, in Syria.
Doron_Kadosh/X

Videos posted online see IDF soldiers setting up their vehicles and buildings in the area.

-ABC News' Karem Inal and Will Gretksy

Dec 11, 2024, 5:12 PM EST

49 people killed in Gaza

Forty-nine people were killed in Gaza Wednesday, with 34 killed in the northern Gaza, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said.

The Israel Defense Forces instructed people to evacuate several blocks in the Al-Maghazi area in central Gaza in a new leaflet distributed Wednesday.

-ABC News' Diaa Ostaz and Sami Zyara

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