More than 100 suspected ISIL (ISIS) operatives have been arrested in Istanbul, according to officials, preventing planned attacks on Christmas and New Year’s Day.
According to a statement from the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office, authorities raided 115 of the city’s 124 locations on Thursday, apprehending the suspects they were looking for.
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According to the statement, police learned that ISIL members were “planning attacks in Turkiye against non-Muslims in particular” during the holiday season.
During the sweeps, officers seized firearms, ammunition, and what officials described as organizational documents.
The remaining 22 suspects are still being sought, but they still need to be located.
Individuals who had been instrumental in funding the group’s activities and spreading its propaganda were identified as part of that sweep, which was coordinated by intelligence services, police, and military forces.
The prosecutor’s office pointed out the threat’s transnational nature by stating that those detained had spoken with ISIL operatives outside of Turkiye.
The arrests are Turkiye’s most recent move in the fight against the armed group, which officials view as the second-highest threat to the nation as a “terrorism” threat.
Given its geography and population, ISIL activity has made Turkiye its top target. The armed group still maintains presence in Syria on a long border, even though it lost its territorial holdings in 2019.
Since then, the organization has expanded to other parts of Africa and expanded to include new affiliates.
In recent years, there have been many arrests.
After the group’s self-declared caliphate was overthrown in some of Iraq and Syria in 2019, Turkish authorities claim some of the country’s suspected ISIL members reestablished their presence there.
ISIL was officially a terrorist organization in 2013 thanks to Turkiye. Earlier than that, according to figures from the Turkish presidency, more than 19 000 people were detained for alleged affiliations with the group between 2023 and that time.
In that time, it said, over 7,600 foreign nationals who were suspected of engaging in foreign-armed group activity were also deported.
Following a string of arrests in March, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that 298 suspected ISIL members had been detained in 47 provinces over the course of two weeks.
The arrests come just five days after US forces launched extensive strikes against ISIL positions in Syria, hitting more than 70 targets.
In response to a Palmyra ambush earlier this month that resulted in the deaths of two American soldiers and an interpreter, those attacks were ordered.
After 17 years in exile, Tarique Rahman, the party’s leader and front-runner for the next prime minister in South Asia, was welcomed back to Dhaka on Thursday with a rousing welcome from thousands of supporters.
Rahman, long seen as a prince of Bangladeshi politics, got down at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, alongside his wife Zubaida and daughter Zaima, and stood barefoot on Bangladeshi soil amid heavy security.
Rahman’s symbolic gestures to mark his return to Bangladesh are significant victories for the BNP cadre and leaders. Following the ouster of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a student-led uprising, an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been in place since August 2024. The Yunus administration has announced elections on February 12, after which it is to peacefully transfer power to an elected government.
Former prime minister Khaleda Zia, Rahman’s mother, has been in a critical condition since November 23. Rahman may soon be in charge of Bangladesh’s largest political party, the BNP.
So, here’s everything you need to know about him, his life in exile and the significance of his return for the South Asian nation.
On December 25, 2025, Bangladesh’s ruling party’s supporters gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to welcome BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman.
Rahman, who is he?
Rahman, 60, is the eldest son of former Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia, who in 1991 became the country’s first female prime minister.
Rahman has been a member of the BNP since 2008 and has been there since 2018, when his ailing mother Zia was imprisoned under the rule of her political rival and then-prime minister Hasina.
He gained a significant public profile between 2001 and 2006 during his mother’s second term in power. But he also drew allegations of cronyism, corruption and political violence. These allegations were investigated by a military-backed caretaker government that seized power between 2006 and 2009.
He was detained by army units that stormed his upscale Dhaka home in the middle of the night in March 2007. Months later, he was released on bail and flew to the United Kingdom for medical treatment , — not returning until Thursday.
Rahman and the BNP have consistently said that the accusations against him are politically motivated, but his corruption resemblance extends far beyond his political rivals. In leaked diplomatic cables, American diplomat James F. Moriarty referred to Rahman as a “symbol of kleptocratic government and violent politics,” which were released by WikiLeaks in 2011.
Recommending blocking his entry into the United States, the American embassy in Dhaka wrote: “In short, much of what is wrong in Bangladesh can be blamed on Tarique and his cronies”.
Following that, the Awami League government found him guilty of money laundering, fraud, and political violence, including an attack on Hasina’s rally in 2004 that left at least 20 people dead.
However, the charges and convictions against Rahman have largely been dropped or overturned, facilitating his return to Dhaka following the uprising against Hasina in August 2024.
Addressing his supporters at a rally in Dhaka on Thursday, Rahman said, “Just like 1971, people from all walks of life, all together, defended the independence and sovereignty of this country in 2024”, referring to the country’s war of independence from Pakistan in 1971, and Hasina’s ouster last year.
He urged everyone to create a welcoming Bangladesh and declared, “It is time for us all to build the country together.” A secure Bangladesh is what we want to create. In Bangladesh, no matter who a woman, man, or child is, they should be able to leave their homes safely and return safely”.
After returning from London to Dhaka, Bangladesh, on December 25, 2025, a supporter wave a flag over a footbridge in front of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) acting chairman Tarique Rahman.
Rahman was exiled, but why?
Since 1991, Khaleda and Hasina – two female leaders of opposing political dynasties – have alternated power for more than three decades, barring a few transitional heads.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s founding president, was killed along with the majority of his family in a military coup in August 1975. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who had led the Awami League, rose to power after the death of her husband, former army chief Ziaur Rahman, who was the leader of a failed coup in May 1981.
The parties have fought political rivals for decades, with the exception of a brief moment when they briefly merged in the late 1980s to retake control of a military leader, General Hussain Muhammad Ershad.
In 2009, after Hasina returned to power in Dhaka after eight years in opposition, Zia’s BNP found itself on the other side of the crackdown during Hasina’s long, uninterrupted years of rule.
Rahman was flown to the UK in September 2008 after being released on bail after nearly 18 months of detention while the 2007-08 emergency rule prevented several BNP leaders and activists from experiencing abuse, jail, and trials.
During a ceremony to commemorate Bangladesh’s annual Armed Forces Day on November 21, 2000, the prime minister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia speak.
What is the significance of Rahman’s return?
Hasina faced criticism last year for a popular student-led uprising after years at the helm of Dhaka. The protests started as a campaign against a contentious affirmative-action policy for government jobs, but they turned into more extensive demands for an end to her rule as a result of a brutal crackdown by security forces. The United Nations says up to 1, 400 people were killed.
Over her iron-fisted 15-year leadership, during which thousands of political opponents and critics were detained, murdered, tortured, or forcibly disappeared, anger grew. Hasina won overwhelmingly in 2014, 2018 and 2024 elections that are widely thought to be illegal.
Ultimately, protesters overran her residence after she fled Bangladesh by helicopter on August 5, 2024, to India.
After being found guilty of crimes against humanity for ordering the deadly crackdown against the student-led uprising, Hasina was given the death penalty by hanging last month. Her party’s Awami League is prohibited from participating in the February elections.
Meanwhile, interim leader Yunus met Rahman during a visit to London in June.
Rahman is also returning while Khaleda, Rahman’s mother, is recovering. According to some analysts, the BNP is now attempting to take over the political space created by the Awami League by adopting liberal, centrist, and secular positions. They cite the BNP’s recent breakup with the Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamist force and a longtime ally of Rahman’s party.
Former US diplomat Jon Danilowicz, who worked in Bangladesh for eight years, called Rahman’s return “the final piece in terms of Bangladesh’s election preparations.”
Rahman would have an opportunity to learn more about the country’s past 17 years, according to Danilowicz, and his fellow Bangladeshis would be able to see how he has changed as a result of leading the BNP campaign.
This handout photograph, taken and released on June 13, 2025, by the Bangladesh interim government’s chief adviser’s office, shows Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, right, and acting Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairman Tarique Rahman, shaking hands during a meeting in London]Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor Office of Interim Government/AFP]
What position does the BNP hold in relation to the upcoming election?
In the upcoming elections, which would mark the party’s return to power after nearly 20 years, the BNP is seen as the frontrunner.
A December poll by a United States-based nonprofit, the International Republican Institute (IRI), showed the BNP leading with 30 percent support, followed by the Jamaat-e-Islami with 26 percent. In a multiparty contest, candidates don’t need a majority to prevail in a first-past-the-post system because Bangladesh uses that system.
Due to poor organization and limited resources, the National Citizen Party (NCP), which was founded by a group of student leaders following the uprising, has struggled to gain electoral strength. The party trails far behind the BNP, with just 6 percent support, according to the IRI poll.
Hasina’s Awami League’s participation in the election appears to be in the cards for a favorable electoral climate for Bangladesh after Yunus.
The former US diplomat Danilowicz argued that the upcoming election would be the result of the BNP’s defeat. “The party has shown great resilience over the past 17 years, it has been out of government, and party leaders have to face the full repressive force of the state,” he said.
In his first Christmas sermon as pontiff, Pope Leo made an unusually direct appeal during a typically solemn, spiritual service on the day that Christians around the world commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ.
The first American pope, Leo, claimed on Thursday that the story of Jesus being born in a stable demonstrated that God had “pitched his fragile tent” among the world’s citizens.
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How then can we forget about the tents that have been exposed to the cold, wind, and rain for weeks in Gaza? he inquired.
Leo, who was elected by the world’s cardinals to succeed Pope Francis in May, has a quieter, more diplomatic style than his predecessor and frequently avoids making political references in his sermons.
The new pope, however, has previously expressed regret for the Palestinians’ situation in Gaza and repeatedly stated to journalists last month that a Palestinian state must be the only solution to Israel and Palestine’s decades-long conflict.
After two years of intense bombardment and military operations in Gaza, Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire in October, but humanitarian organizations claim that little is still being distributed to the Strip, where nearly everyone has been displaced by Israeli attacks.
Leo also lamented the destruction caused by the wars that are ravaging the world during his service with thousands on Thursday at St. Peter’s Basilica.
The pope said, “Fragile is the flesh of defenceless populations, tried by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds.”
The young people who are forced to take up arms have a senseless sense of what is expected of them and the lies that fill the pompous speeches of those who force them to die, he continued, “Fragile are the minds and lives of young people.”
Leo demanded, among others, that all global wars, lamentations, political, social, or military conflicts be ended during the “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message and blessing given by the pope at Christmas and Easter.
On December 24 at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV holds a baby Jesus figurine.
The wounds are extensive, they say.
The Christian community in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, celebrated its first festive holiday since more than two years as the Palestinian city and Jesus’ birthplace emerged from Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza ahead of the pope’s mass.
Christmases in Bethlehem were marked by a depressing tone throughout the war. However, parades and music made their way back on Wednesday. On Wednesday night, hundreds of people gathered at the Church of the Nativity for mass.
Many people stood or sat on the floor during the customary mass to celebrate Christmas Day as the crowds were already crowded well before midnight.
Organ music rang out as a crowd of dozens of clergymen marched in Jerusalem at 11:15 pm (21:15 GMT), and the crowd was given the blessing of the cross by Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa.
Pizzaballa urged rest, hope, and rebirth in his homily, arguing that the Nativity story still had relevance in the upheaval of the modern turbulence.
He also mentioned his weekend trip to Gaza, where he claimed, “suffering is still present” despite the ceasefire. In the Strip, makeshift tents are used to shelter hundreds of thousands of residents from gloomy winters.
“The wounds are deep, but I have to say that their proclamation of Christmas is still pervasive,” Pizzaballa said. When I first met them, I was struck by their resolve and desire to start over.
On Wednesday, a sizable crowd gathered in the Bethlehem square to watch the parade down the narrow Star Street. A tall Christmas tree gleaming next to the Church of the Nativity as the night fell, and there were bright, colorful lights overhead Manger Square.
The basilica, which is located on top of a grotto where Christians believe Jesus was born more than 2, 000 years ago, dates from the fourth century.
As near-daily ceasefire violations continue, two people have died in an Israeli drone strike on a minibus in eastern Lebanon, according to Lebanese state media.
The drone struck the vehicle on the Hosh al-Sayyed Ali road in the Hermel district on Thursday, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).
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After more than a year of international attacks in the genocidal war in Gaza, Israel and the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah reached a ceasefire in November 2024. Since then, Israel has attacked Lebanon almost daily.
A “terrorist operative” was the target of the Israeli military’s attack on al-Nasiriyah in eastern Lebanon, according to Avichay Adraee, a spokesman for the Israeli military.
A drone strike by Israel that targeted a car in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon late on Wednesday caused a passerby to suffer injuries.
Approximately 127 civilians have been killed by Israel in Lebanon since the ceasefire ended last year, according to the UN. Almost 1,600 Israeli forces targeted Lebanon between January and late November, according to information gathered by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).
It justifies its nearly daily airstrikes by claiming to be aimed at Hezbollah’s fighters and its infrastructure and demands that the organization be completely deposed under the ceasefire agreement.
As the deadline for disarmament approaches, Hezbollah is still defiant.
Hezbollah has argued that its weapons are necessary to protect Lebanon from Israeli attacks and occupation for a long time. In light of concerns about an Israeli-led escalation in Lebanon, the group demanded on Wednesday that the Lebanese government reject Israel’s threats to disarm the organization.
The organization urged the authorities in Lebanon to take a stand and refrain from following the enemy’s orders to humiliate our army and people and violate our sovereignty.
Meanwhile, the government of Lebanon has claimed that the country is close to finishing the Lebanese group’s disarmament project south of the Litani River before the end of the year.
In addition to a ceasefire, Israeli forces were scheduled to leave southern Lebanon in January, but they only partially, continuing to maintain a military presence at five border crossing points.
More than 64, 000 people are still displaced, according to the UN, the majority from southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese presidency stated in a statement last week that the ceasefire agreement’s “entry point” should be “an entry point for addressing all other details.”
After two years of Israel’s genocidal war on the Strip, Gaza City’s Holy Family Church has officially lit its Christmas tree. The main prayer hall’s main prayer hall is packed with Christmas Eve devotees. Many of them are joyful and excited because they are still alive, not just because Christmas is approaching.
The harsh reality that the conflict in Gaza left behind was unmasked by the glowing lights on the large Christmas tree and holiday decorations. The church made the decision to limit the celebrations to a brief family gathering and a prayer service, but the loud bells rang out.
In the church in Gaza, the Christmas tree is lit during prayers, with no celebrations being halted due to the circumstances of the Strip [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera].
Dmitri Boulos, 58, missed Christmas while serving in the war. After heavy Israeli shelling hit his home in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, south of Gaza City, he was forced to flee along with his wife and two children in the first few days of fighting.
At the time, we fled to the church in search of safety, but it turned out there wasn’t anywhere safe, according to Boulos. We lost friends and loved ones there at the time the church was struck twice while we were inside.
He recalled that nothing in particular had no flavor. For the people we lost, there was great anxiety and grief. When everything is hurt and depressed, how can we celebrate? ”
Since the beginning of the genocidal war in Gaza, Dmitri Boulos, 58, has fled the church with his family [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera].
Boulos hopes that all the suffering and restrictions on Gaza will be lifted this Christmas and the new year.
Even though the reality is difficult, he said, “We are trying to make ourselves and our children feel better.” We anticipate that things will turn around. ”
Beyond the Strip, the only Catholic parish in Gaza, the Holy Family Church, has a long history of symbolic significance. The late Pope Francis called the parish almost daily throughout the conflict, keeping a direct line to the besieged area.
The majority of Palestine’s Christians reside in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, with about 47,000 to 50,000 of them residing in Gaza before the war.
In recent years, there has been a decline in the number of Christians in Gaza. There are only a few hundred registered today, a significant decrease from the 3,000 in 2007.
Israeli attacks during the conflict targeted a number of Christian places of worship where many displaced Palestinians sought refuge.
The other churches in Gaza City, including the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius and the Anglican St. Philip’s Church, were not placed by Israel in the areas designated for expulsions.
However, the nearly 550 displaced people who are staying in the Holy Family Church still have reservations about Israel’s military. Despite Israeli assurances that it does not target places of worship, the church has already been attacked numerous times.
Many of those people continue to experience trauma and attempt to rekindle normality.
As she watched the worshippers outside the Holy Family Church’s courtyard without engaging them, Nowzand Terzi said, “My heart is still heavy with the tragedies and exhaustion we endured during the war.”
After suffering during the war, Nowzand Terzi, 63, doesn’t want to celebrate. [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera]
We were evacuated here two years ago because of bombardment. After remembering her 27-year-old daughter, who did not make it on time to the hospital as a result of the war, I lost my home in an Israeli strike, and then I lost my daughter, who passed away suddenly last year and passed away,” said Terzi as her voice swelled.
She wished peace and safety for all and that God may bless those who have lost loved ones in the Gaza Strip.
Nearly two million people in the Gaza Strip are suffering from ongoing Israeli attacks and ceasefire violations, as well as a lack of food, medicine, shelter, and basic services.
According to the Gaza Government Media Office, more than 288,000 families are facing a shelter crisis as a result of Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid.
UN figures show that more than 80% of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed during the conflict, leading to significant displacement.
Even though Edward Sabah is only 18 years old, he is well-versed in the horrors of war and displacement. He found refuge in the Saint Porphyrius Church in the Zeitoun neighborhood of eastern Gaza City after being forced to leave his house during the war. In an Israeli attack that resulted in 18 casualties on October 19, 2023, the church was bombed.
When a massive explosion struck one of the church buildings, Sabah recalls, “We were gathered in the church courtyard.”
After skipping his high school studies while fighting [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera], Edward Sabah [Abdelhakim Abu Riash] hopes to resume his studies.
The church was targeted, but it did happen. During the war, nothing unusual happened. He continued, adding that he and his family managed to survive and later moved to a different church, where they resided for a year and a half.
We made an effort to create a sense of sadness during the past two Christmases, he said. He also has a lifelong desire and a sense of hope.
Although the intensity is lower this year, we are still concerned about what might occur. Sabah added that he hopes to finish his high school education by decorating the church and making an effort to make the atmosphere joyful.
Many Christians in the Gaza Strip and the rest of Palestine have a sense of joy and relief as a result of this Christmas. Despite the suffering, tragedies, and wars, many Palestinians still describe their sense of belonging and kinship with their land.
For the first time in two years, Gaza-based 32-year-old Janet Massadm made the decision to style her hair and sew new clothes in honor of Christmas.
Janet Massadm, who resides in the church with her parents and siblings, hopes the war will end so she can resume her psychology work [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera].
We are sick of losing so much of our lives and our years, Massadm said emotionally.
Because of what we witnessed, she continued, “Inside, I am completely exhausted.” What can we do, though? We must strive to bring about happiness. ”
Massadm fled the Remal neighborhood of central Gaza City with her family, her parents, her brother, and sister after being bombarded by the government.
Following two years of fighting [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera], Christian families in Gaza hope to bring some Christmas cheer this year.
After 17 years in self-imposed exile in London, Tarique Rahman, the head of Bangladesh’s opposition, has returned. The aspirant leader left the nation in 2008, claiming persecution motivated by political reasons, and has since returned ahead of upcoming elections.
