Seth J. Frantzman

“Today, on behalf of President Trump, we are announcing the launch of Phase Two of the President’s 20-Point Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, moving from ceasefire to demilitarization," Witkoff said.

There are also concerns about how detainees are being treated by the Syrian authorities and about the desecration of the bodies of the fallen.

The future of the International Stabilization Force is also in question, as the only major success so far has been the CMCC, the US's coordination center in Kiryat Gat.

This week is crucial in terms of the protests. Many issues are coming together at the same time as Iran’s regime seeks to ride out the challenge. 

As protests in Iran escalate, Kurdish opposition groups, including PDKI, PAK, and PJAK, call for regime change, despite ongoing violence and a deadly crackdown on demonstrators.

Iran’s diplomatic moves, not calling for assistance or reaching out to its allies, seem to be intended to show that Tehran believes everything is going to turn out all right.

Clashes grew in the first days of January 2026, and now Syrian security forces have taken over most of the Kurdish neighborhoods, causing many Kurds to flee and also leading to abuses against Kurds.

Is it possible that Riyadh’s decision to move quickly to stop the STC in late December was linked to larger strategy issues in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden?

The US president is a man of action, as Rubio has characterized him. "If you don't know, now you know.” Now Madruo knows. Iran, Russia, China, and other countries will be watching. 

Flights were halted on Thursday at Yemen’s Aden international airport, the main international gateway for regions of the country outside Houthi control.