Lebanon’s parliament has voted to elect the country’s army commander, Joseph Aoun, as head of state. Aoun is widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi Arabia.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says the death toll from the Israel-Hamas war has climbed above 46,000. The ministry updated its toll from the ongoing 15-month conflict on Thursday.

In one of his final interviews before he leaves office, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told the Associated Press the U.S. needs to keep troops deployed in Syria to prevent the Islamic State group from reconstituting as a major threat following the ouster of Bashar Assad’s government.

The Biden administration has decided to maintain the terrorist designation on Syria’s new Islamist rulers for the remainder of President Joe Biden’s tenure, leaving a critical decision about Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham and its leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, to the incoming Trump administration, said three U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

The primary contenders for the presidency include the Lebanese army’s commander, Joseph Aoun, who is widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi Arabia. The candidate previously supported by Hezbollah, Suleiman Frangieh, on Wednesday announced he was pulling out of the race and endorsed Aoun.

India’s statement said its foreign minister conveyed India’s readiness to respond to Afghanistan’s urgent humanitarian and development needs. It said they also discussed how the Afghan business community could use the Chabahar port in Iran for the import and export of goods involving India.

Israeli soldiers recovered the body of a 53-year-old Yosef AlZayadni in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza, the military said Wednesday, and the army was determining if another set of remains belongs to the man’s son.

American forces in the Middle East struck two underground Houthi weapons hubs in Yemen, U.S. Central Command said Wednesday. 

As winter deepens, so does the suffering of dozens of hostages in Gaza, and their families are pressing for a ceasefire that will secure their release. Hamas and Israel appear close to clinching an agreement, but the families of hostages have been disappointed before.

The Biden administration in its final days is shifting more than $100 million in military aid from Israel and Egypt to Lebanon as it tries to bolster a ceasefire agreement it helped mediate between Israel and Hezbollah.