Morning Briefing: Nov. 12, 2025

ISTANBUL

Here is a rundown of all the news you need to start your Wednesday, including the US saying no troops to be sent to Gaza, France and Palestine establishing a committee to consolidate the state of Palestine, and President Erdogan and Georgian premier discussing rescue efforts after a Turkish military cargo plane crash in Georgia.

TOP STORIES

• US maintains no troops to be sent to Gaza amid reports

A senior Pentagon official maintained that no US troops will be on the ground in the Gaza Strip, but acknowledged planning is underway to base international troops near the Palestinian territory.

The official said reports circulating in Israeli media are "inaccurate," but did not offer specifics. Still, the official said that "as a planning organization, U.S. military personnel are currently working with international military partners to develop potential options for basing international troops that are part of a future International Stabilization Force (ISF)."

"The ISF’s formation will support the President’s Gaza Peace Plan," the official, who commented on the matter on condition of anonymity, said in a statement. "To be clear, no U.S. troops will be deployed into Gaza. Any reporting to the contrary is false.”

• France, Palestine to establish committee to consolidate state of Palestine

French President Emmanuel Macron announced Tuesday that France and Palestine will establish a committee to work on legal, constitutional and institutional matters to strengthen the state of Palestine.

Speaking at a news conference in Paris with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Macron said France “will respond strongly with its European partners” if Israel proceeds with any “partial or total annexation, whether legal or de facto.”

He warned Israel that any form of West Bank annexation would cross a “red line."

“Settler violence and the acceleration of settlement projects have reached record levels, threatening the stability of the West Bank and violating international law,” he said, adding that France remains committed to a two-state solution.

• President Erdogan, Georgian premier discuss rescue efforts after Turkish military cargo plane crash in Georgia

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Tuesday discussed the latest developments in the search and rescue efforts after a Turkish military cargo plane crashed in Georgia.

During the phone call, Kobakhidze offered his condolences over the death of soldiers in the crash, Türkiye's Communications Directorate said on the Turkish social media platform NSosyal.

Earlier in the day, a Turkish C-130 military cargo aircraft en route from Azerbaijan crashed in Georgia.

According to the Turkish Defense Ministry, the aircraft was carrying 20 people, including the flight crew, and search and rescue efforts are ongoing.

NEWS IN BRIEF

• Vote counting began in Iraq after polls closed in the country’s parliamentary elections.
  
• Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, a top adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, announced his resignation on Tuesday, local media said.
  
• Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said that "the majority" of the US Congress supports lifting American sanctions on Syria after he met with lawmakers Monday in Washington.
  
• The Turkish National Defense Ministry said Wednesday that an investigation is underway into the crash of a Turkish military cargo plane on the Azerbaijan-Georgia border.
  
• The death toll from Typhoon Fung-wong in the Philippines climbed to 27 as the storm approached Taiwan, local media reported Wednesday.
  
• The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) published its quarterly report on the Caribbean island nation Tuesday, documenting 1,247 murders and 710 injuries between July and September.
  
• Dozens of Indigenous protesters armed with batons breached the security perimeter and briefly stormed the venue of the 30th annual United Nations climate change conference (COP30) in Belem, Brazil, leading to a clash with UN security personnel.
  
• Egypt concluded on Tuesday the first phase of voting in its parliamentary elections, which covered nearly half of the country’s provinces.
  
• Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, who heads the Ukrainian delegation for direct talks with Russia, arrived in Istanbul, Türkiye on Tuesday.
  
• A Sudanese human rights organization on Tuesday accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of transferring hundreds of detained civilians and captured soldiers from El-Fasher in North Darfur state to prisons in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.
  
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US envoy Jared Kushner reached an agreement to remove about 200 Hamas fighters from Rafah in southern Gaza and transfer them outside the Palestinian territories, Israeli media said on Tuesday.
  
• At least 12 people were killed on Tuesday and 27 others injured in a suicide attack outside a court complex in Islamabad, according to Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• China asks Germany to urge Netherlands to resolve dispute over chipmaker Nexperia

China asked Germany on Tuesday to urge the Netherlands to resolve a dispute over chipmaker Nexperia, the Global Times reported, citing China’s Commerce Ministry.

Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao made the remarks during a video call with German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Katherina Reiche at the latter's request.

Nexperia is based in the Netherlands but owned by Chinese firm Wingtech.

• US private employers cut 11,250 jobs per week in October: ADP

US private payrolls lost 11,250 jobs per week in the four weeks through Oct. 25, according to a preliminary estimate released Tuesday by market research firm ADP.

The downturn suggested that the labor market struggled to produce jobs consistently during the second half of the month, ADP said in a statement.

ADP last week reported private nonfarm payroll growth of 42,000 for October after a two-month downturn. However, that growth only reflected data through the middle of the month.