JERUSALEM, Dec 26 (Reuters) - An Israeli reservist soldier rammed his vehicle into a Palestinian man as he prayed on a roadside in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, after earlier firing shots in the area, the Israeli military said.

"Footage was received of an armed individual running over a Palestinian individual," it said in a statement, adding the individual was a reservist and his military service had been terminated.

The reservist acted "in severe violation of his authority" and his weapon had been confiscated, the military said.

An explosion killed at least eight worshippers at a mosque in a predominantly Alawite area of Syria's Homs on Friday, state media said, with an Islamist militant group claiming responsibility.

The attack during Friday prayers is the latest on the Alawite community, and the second blast in a place of worship since Islamist authorities took power a year ago, after a suicide bombing in a Damascus church killed 25 people in June.

DUBAI, Dec 26 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates welcomes Saudi Arabian efforts to support security and stability in Yemen and remains committed to backing stability in the country, the UAE’s foreign ministry said on Friday.

Yemen's main southern separatist group, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which is supported by Abu Dhabi, has pushed the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government from its headquarters in Aden while claiming broad control across the south earlier this month.

Saint Peter's, one of the world's oldest rock churches, is a sacred rallying point for the isolated Christians still left in quake-hit Antakya in southeastern Turkey, the city known in ancient times as Antioch.

"Since the earthquake, our community has scattered," said worshipper Mari Ibri.

"Those who remain are trying to regroup. We each had our own church but, like mine, they have been destroyed."

By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Pope Leo decried conditions for Palestinians in Gaza in his Christmas sermon on Thursday, in an unusually direct appeal during what is normally a solemn, spiritual service on the day Christians across the globe celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Leo, the first U.S. pope, said the story of Jesus being born in a stable showed that God had "pitched his fragile tent" among the people of the world.

"How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold?" he asked.

By Cordelia Hsu

SYDNEY, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Christmas celebrations were muted at Sydney's famed Bondi Beach on Thursday in the aftermath of a terror attack that killed 15 people there more than a week ago, as the community continued to grapple with the country's deadliest mass shooting in nearly three decades.

Police patrolled across the beachfront in Bondi, a traditional Christmas destination, as hundreds of people, many wearing Santa hats, gathered on the sands.

Turkish democracy has taken a heavy beating since the jailing of Istanbul's popular opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, his wife told AFP, saying it has been painful for his family but that the ordeal has made them stronger.

"It's an extremely difficult time for our children and for me... but we hold onto one another," Dilek Kaya Imamoglu, 51, told AFP in her first interview with foreign media.

LONDON, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Countries including Britain, Canada, Germany and others on Wednesday condemned the Israeli security cabinet's approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying they violated international law and risked fuelling instability.

"We call on Israel to reverse this decision, as well as the expansion of settlements," said a joint statement released by Britain, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain.

By Maayan Lubell

JERUSALEM, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Israel's parliament gave the initial go-ahead on Wednesday for a government-empowered inquiry into the surprise October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on southern Israel rather than the expected independent investigation demanded by families of the victims.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has resisted calls to establish a state commission to investigate Israel's failures in the run-up to its deadliest day and has taken no responsibility for the attack that sparked the two-year Gaza war.

Dec 24 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas on Wednesday of violating the Gaza ceasefire agreement after a military officer was wounded by an explosive device in Rafah and Israel vowed retaliation.

His office said in a statement that Hamas must fully uphold the October agreement, noting that it envisaged the militant group being removed from power in Gaza as well as demilitarisation and deradicalisation of the territory.

"Israel will respond accordingly," the statement added.