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Steven Heydemann, Director of the Middle East Studies Program at Smith College, joins Al Jazeera’s live from Washington, DC. He explains that Aleppo, once a key manufacturing hub in Syria, suffered massive destruction during the war, including the removal of essential equipment to Turkey when factories were shut down. To restart manufacturing, Syria must address its poor power grid, attract skilled labor, and rebuild infrastructure. Heydemann highlights the challenges of returning refugees lacking relevant industrial skills, ongoing sanctions, and the difficulty of accessing international markets due to banking and trade restrictions.

Former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas says that even if his country did provide evidence to back up claims that Hamas has used medical facilities for military operations, it would not justify attacking hospitals. “There is a discrepancy between the big headlines … and the failure to come up with the evidence to support this,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that the Israeli military claimed that more than 250 Hamas fighters were arrested at Kamal Adawan Hospital in northern Gaza. “Even if that’s the case, this does not justify rendering the hospital inoperative,” as it happened with several medical facilities in Gaza, he said. Within Israeli society, the siege and military attack waged against Kamal Adwan “is justified because Israel says it’s justified, and no one is pressuring to provide that incriminating evidence”.

A troubled year comes to an end - lives destroyed by wars that continue to rage in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan. Regimes firmly in control a year ago - gone. And Donald Trump defies the courts and media critics to win the US election. So what lies in store for 2025?

The US military said that it carried out attacks against targets in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa and coastal locations in Yemen on both Monday and Tuesday. “On December 30 and 31, US Navy ships and aircraft targeted a Houthi command and control facility and advanced conventional weapon (ACW) production and storage facilities that included missiles and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV),” the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X. The spokesperson of Yemen’s Houthi rebels Mohammed Abdulsalam said that his country would continue to defend itself after several US strikes targeted facilities in the capital Sanaa. The Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported that a total of 12 air raids were launched by US military jets, targeting two separate districts in Sanaa. Last week, a wave of Israeli air attacks hit Yemen’s main airport, killing at least three people. Separate attacks on the country’s key port city of Hodeidah killed another three people.

With some governments banning apps like TikTok and social media platforms suspending and banning accounts with pro-Palestinian views, it's been a challenging year for free speech on the internet. We look at what tech companies and institutions around the world have done to censor both content and users expressing their opinions.

As the year wraps up, we're looking back at ten of the episodes that defined 2024 at The Take. This originally aired on September 3. None of the dates, titles, or other references have been changed. Despite fraud claims and international condemnation, Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro remains defiant, a month after a disputed election. He has ramped up repression, arresting thousands, including journalists and activists. Will Maduro withstand the wave of opposition, or will this be a moment of change?

Syria's new administration is holding talks to discuss the agenda at a crucial National Dialogue Conference. This week has seen an increasing level of international recognition. On Monday, the Ukrainian foreign minister visited Damascus and announced Kyiv was sending 500 tons of food aid. Syria's foreign minister has been invited to Saudi Arabia for his first official visit overseas.

The whereabouts of the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital are still unknown. Dr Hussam Abu Safiya was detained by Israeli forces on Friday. His family are pleading for his immediate release and say the Israeli military is denying him medical care. The UN has called for Dr Abu Safiya to be released. A spokesperson for the Secretary General told Al Jazeera's Gabriel Elizondo, that innocent civilians should not be detained. Sultan Barakat is a professor of public policy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University. He explains why Israel has not been held accountable, despite repeatedly violating international humanitarian law.

Palestinians in Gaza are being killed by bombs, starvation, disease and now they are freezing to death. At least seven Palestinians, including six babies, have died of hypothermia in the past week. That includes a 20-day-old newborn. Temperatures are plummeting and hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced people are struggling to keep warm, in makeshift tents. The UN has warned Israel is dismantling the means of survival in Gaza and systematically hindering humanitarian access.

There have been more high-level talks in Syria's capital, as the administration looks to form new relationships with regional and global players. On Monday, officials from Syria's new government met delegations from the Arab world and diplomats from Ukraine.