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Thousands joined a New Year’s Day rally for Gaza in Istanbul Thursday, waving Palestinian and Turkish flags and calling for an end to the violence in the tiny war-torn territory. Demonstrators gathered in freezing temperatures under cloudless blue skies to march to the city’s Galata Bridge for a rally under the slogan: “We won’t remain silent, we won’t forget Palestine,” an AFP reporter at the scene said. More than 400 civil society organisations were present at the rally, one of whose organisers was Bilal Erdogan, the youngest son of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Police sources and Anadolou state news agency said some 500,000 people had joined the march at which there were speeches and a performance by Lebanese-born singer Maher Zain of his song “Free Palestine”. “We are praying that 2026 will bring goodness for our entire nation and for the oppressed Palestinians,” said Erdogan, who chairs the board of the Ilim Yayma Foundation, an educational charity that was one of the organisers of the march. Turkey has been one of the most vocal critics of the war in Gaza and helped broker a recent ceasefire that halted the deadly war waged by Israel in response to Hamas’s unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023. But the fragile October 10 ceasefire has not stopped the violence with more than more than 400  Palestinians killed since it took hold. 

Israel said on Thursday that 37 international NGOs operating in Gaza had not complied with a deadline to meet “security and transparency standards,” in particular disclosing information on their Palestinian staff, and that it “will enforce” a ban on their activities.The groups will now be required to cease their operations by March 1, which the United Nations has warned will exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.”Organisations that have failed to meet required security and transparency standards will have their licenses suspended,” the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism said in a statement on Thursday.Several NGOS have said the requirements contravene international humanitarian law or endanger their independence, while Israel has faced international criticism in the run-up to the deadline.Israel says the new regulation aims to prevent bodies it accuses of supporting terrorism from operating in the Palestinian territories.”The primary failure identified was the refusal to provide complete and verifiable information regarding their employees, a critical requirement designed to prevent the infiltration of terrorist operatives into humanitarian structures,” the ministry said.In March, Israel gave a ten-month deadline to NGOs to comply with the new rules, which demand the “full disclosure of personnel, funding sources, and operational structures.”The deadline expired on Wednesday.The 37 NGOs “were formally notified that their licenses would be revoked as of January 1, 2026, and that they must complete the cessation of their activities by March 1, 2026,” the ministry said Thursday.- ‘Weaponisation of bureaucracy’ -Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli said “the message is clear: humanitarian assistance is welcome — the exploitation of humanitarian frameworks for terrorism is not”.Numerous prominent humanitarian organisations have been hit by the ban, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), World Vision International and Oxfam, according to the list provided by the ministry. In the case of MSF, Israel accused it of having two employees who were members of Palestinian militant groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas. MSF said earlier this week that the request to share a list of its staff “may be in violation of Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law” and said it “would never knowingly employ people engaging in military activity”.On Thursday, 18 Israel-based left-wing NGOs denounced the decision to ban their international peers, saying “the new registration framework violates core humanitarian principles of independence and neutrality.””This weaponisation of bureaucracy institutionalises barriers to aid and forces vital organisations to suspend operations,” they said.On Wednesday, United Nations rights chief Volker Turk described Israel’s decision as “outrageous”, calling on states to urgently insist Israel shift course.”Such arbitrary suspensions make an already intolerable situation even worse for the people of Gaza,” he said.UN Palestinian refugee agency chief Philippe Lazzarini said the move sets a “dangerous precedent”.”Failing to push back against attempts to control the work of aid organisations will further undermine the basic humanitarian principles of neutrality, independence, impartiality and humanity underpinning aid work across the world,” he said on X.- ‘Catastrophic’ -On Tuesday, the foreign ministers of 10 countries, including France and the United Kingdom, urged Israel to “guarantee access” to aid in the Gaza Strip, where they said the humanitarian situation remains “catastrophic”. A fragile ceasefire has been in place in Gaza since October, following a deadly war waged by Israel in response to Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023.Conditions for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip remain dire, with nearly 80 percent of buildings destroyed or damaged by the war, according to UN data. About 1.5 million of Gaza’s more than two million residents have lost their homes, said Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza.

Revellers around the world toasted the start of 2026 on Thursday, bidding farewell to a volatile year when temperatures soared, US President Donald Trump upended global trade, and the brutal conflict in Ukraine raged on.While a fragile truce took hold in devastated Gaza, violence in Sudan continued unabated. A new American pope was installed at the Vatican, the world lost pioneering zoologist Jane Goodall, and Labubu dolls sparked a worldwide frenzy.In Sydney, partygoers paused for a minute of silence to remember the victims of the mass shooting on Bondi Beach before fireworks lit up the skies at the stroke of midnight.Heavily armed police patrolled the shoreline, packed with hundreds of thousands of people, barely two weeks after 15 people were gunned down at a Jewish festival in Australia’s deadliest mass shooting for almost 30 years.The famed Sydney Harbour Bridge was bathed in white light to symbolise peace.Pacific nations including Kiribati and New Zealand were the first to see in 2026, with Seoul and Tokyo following Sydney in celebrations that make their way around the globe with each passing hour.In Hong Kong, a major New Year fireworks display was cancelled in homage to 161 people killed in a fire in November that engulfed several apartment blocks.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country was “10 percent” away from a deal to end the fighting with Russia, soon to reach the four-year mark.Russia’s Vladimir Putin meanwhile used his traditional New Year address to urge his compatriots to believe that Moscow would deliver a victory in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.And Kim Jong Un praised North Korea’s “invincible alliance” with Russia, where Pyongyang has sent troops to assist Moscow.In the Ukrainian city of Vyshgorod, beauty salon manager Daria Lushchyk said the war had made her work “hell” but that her clients were still showing up.”Nothing can stop our Ukrainian girls from coming in and getting themselves glam,” Lushchyk said.- Tariffs and fragile truce -This year has brought a mix of stress and excitement for many, war for others still — and a daring jewel heist at the Louvre.Pop megastar Taylor Swift got engaged to her American football player boyfriend Travis Kelce, and K-pop heartthrobs BTS made their long-awaited return.Trump returned as US president in January, launching a tariff blitz that sent global trade and world stock markets into meltdown.The 79-year-old Republican met with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for five meetings in his first year back in office — and hosted the ally at his lavish Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, at a glittering New Year’s Eve party.After two years of war that left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins, pressure from Trump helped land a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October — though both sides have accused each other of flagrant violations.”We bid farewell to 2025 with deep sorrow and grief,” said Gaza City resident Shireen Al-Kayali.”We lost a lot of people and our possessions. We lived a difficult and harsh life, displaced from one city to another, under bombardment and in terror.”In contrast, there was optimism despite abiding internal challenges in Syria, where residents of the capital Damascus celebrated a full year since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.”There is no fear, the people are happy, all of Syria is one and united, and God willing… it will be a good year for the people and the wise leadership,” marketing manager Sahar al-Said, 33, told AFP as bells rang in Damascus.In Dubai, thousands queued for up to nine hours for a spectacular fireworks and laser display at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.Revellers popped champagne near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Bulgaria adopted the euro, and huge crowds danced at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay street party.Crowds packed Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach for what authorities have called the world’s biggest New Year’s Eve party.”A wonderful, unforgettable day,” said partygoer Ayane de Fatima, 30, adding she hoped 2026 would be “free from the bad things happening in the world”.In the US capital, the Washington Monument was lit up as America kicked off its 250th birthday celebration year.And in New York, thousands gathered in freezing temperatures amid tight security for the traditional ball drop in Times Square.Nearby, at an abandoned subway stop near City Hall, Zohran Mamdani — a leftist and persistent thorn in Trump’s side — was sworn in as the city’s first Muslim mayor.- Sports, space and AI -The coming 12 months promise to be full of sports, space and questions over artificial intelligence.Athletes will gather in Italy in February for the Winter Olympics.And for a few weeks in June and July, 48 nations will compete in the biggest football World Cup in history in the United States, Mexico and Canada.NASA is planning a crewed mission to circle the moon during a 10-day flight, more than 50 years since the last Apollo lunar mission.And after years of unbridled enthusiasm, AI is facing scrutiny, and nervous investors are questioning whether the boom might now resemble a market bubble.bur-pbt-cw-sst/ceg/mjw

US President Donald Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a glittering New Year’s Eve party at his lavish Mar-a-Lago resort on Wednesday, according to social media.Netanyahu, who arrived at the US president’s Palm Beach residence on Monday, was spotted alongside tuxedo-clad Trump Wednesday night in a social media post from conservative influencer Michael Solakiewicz.Trump had joked that the Israeli leader could attend the party during meetings Monday to discuss the fragile Gaza ceasefire and other regional geopolitical concerns in the Middle East.The party guest list included Trump’s ardent supporters Rudy Giuliani and Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani, along with his sons Eric and Don Jr., and top members of his administration, including Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino.The Gaza ceasefire in October is one of the major achievements of Trump’s first year back in power, but some White House officials fear Netanyahu is slow-walking the process.This week, Trump downplayed reports of tensions with Netanyahu over the second stage of the ceasefire, saying that Israel had “lived up” to its commitments and that the onus was on Palestinian militant group Hamas.Siding with the Israeli premier, Trump said he was “not concerned about anything that Israel’s doing.”This week’s talks mark the fifth such meeting in the United States since Trump’s return to power this year.