By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The United Nations and aid groups ​warned on Wednesday that humanitarian operations in ​the Palestinian territories, particularly Gaza, wereat risk of collapse if Israel does not lift ⁠impediments that include a "vague, arbitrary, and highly politicized" registration process.

Dozens of international aid groups face de-registration by December 31, which then means they have to close ​operations within 60 days, said the U.N. and more than 200 ‍local and international aid groups in ​a joint statement.

The US Congress on Wednesday permanently ended sanctions imposed on Syria under ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, paving the way for the return of investment to the war-ravaged nation.

President Donald Trump had already twice suspended the implementation of sanctions in response to pleas from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, allies of the new government headed by former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa.

By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump attended ​a ceremony on Wednesday for ​three U.S. personnel killed in Syria by a suspected Islamic State ⁠attacker as they were returned to American soil in flag-draped caskets.

Trump, accompanied by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, traveled ​to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for ‍the "dignified transfer" of the bodies ​in the presence of their families.

By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to advance a $901 billion bill setting policy for the ​Pentagon, sending the massive piece of legislation to the White House, ​which has said President Donald Trump will sign it into law.

UNITED NATIONS, ​Dec 17 (Reuters) - ​United Nations ⁠Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday urged ​all parties ‍in Yemen ​to exercise maximum restraint after an ⁠advance by southern separatists that risks rekindling a 10-year-old civil war ​after ⁠a ⁠long lull.

He also said the operating environment had ‌become untenable ​in the areas held by the Iran-aligned ‍Houthi movement - Yemen's capital ‌Sanaa and ‌the heavily populated northwest.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols, editing ⁠by David Ljunggren)

An Iranian boxer sentenced to death on charges of membership of an outlawed group is at imminent risk of execution after his request for a retrial was rejected, rights groups and the exiled opposition said on Wednesday.

The World Boxing Council and sporting luminaries including former tennis star Martina Navratilova have called on Iran to spare the life of Mohammad Javad Vafaei-Sani, 30, a silver medallist in the national boxing championship.

LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - British police on Wednesday said ​they would take tougher ​action against people who use placards and chants to ⁠target the Jewish community, saying recent violent incidents had changed the context around such protests.

The move comes ​days after 15 people died in ‍a mass shooting at Australia's ​Bondi Beach targeting an event for the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, and following an attack at a synagogue in Manchester in northern England ⁠in October in which two Jewish worshippers were killed.

Dec 17 - More than two months after Israel and Hamas agreed a ceasefire halting two years of devastating warfare in Gaza, most fighting has stopped.

However, both ​sides accuse each other of major breaches of the deal and look no closer ​to accepting the much more difficult steps envisaged for the next phase.

WHAT HAVE THEY AGREED TO?

Ceasefire steps are outlined in three different documents.

By Tarek Amara

TUNIS, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Tunisian President Kais Saied's ​supporters rallied in the capital on ​Wednesday calling the opposition "traitors", following mounting street protests in recent ⁠weeks that have highlighted widening political divisions.

The rival rallies come amid a deepening economic crisis marked by high inflation, ​shortages of some basic goods and poor public ‍services, which have fuelled public ​anger.

By Michael Georgy

DUBAI, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The shooting attack at a Jewish Hanukkah event at Sydney's Bondi Beach put ​the spotlight on Islamic State, which police said appeared to ​inspire the gunmen.

The men accused of carrying out Australia’s worst mass shooting in nearly 30 years had spent time in the Philippines, ⁠where Islamic State-linked networks are known to operate.

WHAT IS ISLAMIC STATE?

The Sunni Muslim group emerged in Iraq and Syria and quickly created a "caliphate", declaring its rule over all Muslims and largely displacing al Qaeda.