BBC News reports that Islamic States (IS) militants have surrendered to the US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) forces after seizing a prison in the north-eastern Syrian city of Hasakah last Thursday. Over 160 people died in the fighting, including 114 IS militants and 45 Kurdish fighters. While 300 militants handed themselves over on Monday with another 250 surrendering, there are fears that dozens of guards and hundreds of children are still being holed up inside the city. According to the UN, close to 45,000 residents have fled amid ongoing clashes.

The Telegraph reports that a Lebanese coffee shop owner held seven bank staffers hostage in order to get $50,000 from his own account. The man, Abdallah Assaii, has been hailed as a hero as Lebanese are growing increasingly frustrated with the country from allowing its citizens to access their savings. This comes as the country continues to face an unprecedented economic collapse. One NGO worker said: “Abdallah managed to do what nobody could do in all of Lebanon. He didn’t steal the money. It was his.”

The Financial Times and The Times report that Israel’s vaccine advisory panel has recommended a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for all adults to combat the Omicron variant. Israel is now the first county to officially recommend a fourth jab. The announcement came after research showed that a fourth shot increased severe illness by three to five times, compared with just three doses. The research examined 400,000 Israelis over 60 who received the fourth dose.

BBC News reports that a French tourist has been sentenced in Iran on spying charges. Benjamin Brière was arrested in May 2020 after flying a drone near the Iran-Turkmenistan border. His lawyer said a court in Iran has sentenced him to eight years in prison. He was also jailed for ‘propaganda against the Iranian Islamic system.’ Speaking to the press, Brière’s lawyer said: “This verdict is the result of a purely political process that is … devoid of any basis.”

In the Israeli media, Kan Radio reports that the Knesset passed into law the new coronavirus bill, which draws a distinction between a special health situation that exists between infection waves and an emergency situation caused by the coronavirus. In times of a special health situation, the directives will be submitted to a Knesset committee for approval five days before they are to go into effect and will only be enacted if they are approved by that committee. The number of people hospitalised in serious condition has continued to rise and stands at 871, among whom 184 are on ventilators. Since the outbreak of the pandemic in Israel, 8,502 people have died in Israel of Covid.

In Yediot Ahronot Nadav Eyal writes: “No one—neither Bennett nor Netanyahu—knows how many people have actually become infected in Israel and, more importantly, when the number of people who are hospitalized in serious condition is going to begin to drop. The cabinet ministers have opted exclusively to ease restrictions and constraints. Yes, some experts have told them that restrictions aren’t going to do any good anymore and that infection is so widespread that nothing more can be done to curb it. Some of the hospital directors have also fully supported the political leadership’s decisions, and that is very important (they have been accused by their colleagues from the periphery of having abandoned them so as to be able to continue to perform elective surgeries). On the question of what ought to be done now in terms of quarantines and the patient load at hospitals, one group of academics has recommended restricting public gatherings. But that position won’t come close to being endorsed as long as the number of people hospitalized in serious condition is lower than 1,200.”

Channel 12 News reports that Khan al-Ahmar, the illegal Bedouin compound located near Route 1 in the West Bank, is set to be dismantled and rebuilt 300m away from its current location. The proposal, worked out by the security establishment and the National Security Council, will be put to the security cabinet for its approval. The High Court of Justice ruled that the buildings there are illegal and approved the demolition orders that are pending against them, but those orders have not yet been executed because of the various governments’ hesitance and pressure from foreign countries. The High Court of Justice approved another six-month delay in September and criticised the fact that the issue had not yet been resolved.

Members of the Opposition as well as Eid Jahalin, who serves as a representative for the residents of Khan al-Ahmar, have criticised the proposal. According to Makor Rishon, Jahalin said: “I won’t move a single meter.” MKs Yoav Kisch (Likud) and Orit Struck (Religious Zionist Party), who co-chair the Land of Israel Caucus in the Knesset, described the plan as a “fake removal with very dangerous broad repercussions. The damage caused by legitimizing Khan al-Ahmar is tremendous. The significance, in practice, is the State of Israel ratifying the Palestinian plan to seize control over that strategic area. Khan al-Ahmar needs to be removed, as the court ruled, and we shouldn’t be establishing with our own hands a Palestinian outpost in the heart of the Adumim Plains.”

In Walla, Barak Ravid interviews Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh following his meeting on Monday with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid. “I told Minister Lapid that it is important that there be a political horizon between us and the Israelis,” said al-Sheikh. “It’s true that we talk about security, the economy and civilian issues, but it’s important that there be a political umbrella for everything that we’re doing. Without that, the situation is going to become very difficult.” Al-Sheikh also said: “The important thing to remember is that Israel’s problem isn’t with Mauritania, but with the Palestinians. If [Israel] doesn’t speak with the Palestinians, then with whom will [it] speak? Negotiations are held with the people you disagree with.”