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Royal Saudi Air Force pilot Prince Talal Bin Abdelaziz Bin Bandar Al-Saud died on 7 December, the same day an RSAF F-15 crashed in Dhahran.

Red Sea attacks: Houthi forces launched missile and drone attacks against three commercial ships and a United States Navy vessel in the southern Red Sea on 3 December. The first attack targeted Bahamas-flagged bulk cargo ship Unity Explorer at 9:15 am Sanaa time, but the missile missed. Later in the day Unity Explorer was hit by another missile, causing minor damage.

UAE state-owned defence conglomerate Edge Group has been showcasing its drones, guided munitions, electronic warfare products and other wares at the Expodefensa 2023 trade fair in Bogota, Colombia, held from 5-7 December.

Vice President Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan launched the Bani Yas corvette on 29 November at the Mina Zayed naval base in Abu Dhabi.

Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces chief of staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri held a phone call with Saudi  defence minister Prince Khalid Bin Salman on 30 November, which Iranian media described as the first step towards developing bilateral defence ties.

An explosion at the Jabal Attan military site in southern Sanaa on 30 November remains unexplained, with pictures of smoke and fire at the base being shared on social media.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (Nedaja)’s newest vessel, the frigate Deylaman, officially joined its Caspian Sea fleet in late November. The ship is the seventh Moudge-class vessel, a design of light frigate based on the British-built Vosper Thorneycroft Mk5 Alvand.

Qatar has said it is continuing to push for a permanent ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, after a week-long ‘humanitarian pause’ it helped to foster ended on 1 December. The resumption of fighting has seen Israel launch a major bombardment of southern Gaza and brought renewed condemnation from Gulf governments.

In a major coup for Qatar, Doha has been credited with brokering a four-day truce in Gaza, which was due to come into effect as GSN was going to press, in a deal where Hamas would start freeing its 7 October hostages while Israel releases Palestinian prisoners from its jails. There is still a huge amount of work to do by international partners if a wider peace settlement is to be achieved, but what is clear is that Qatari actors have emerged as international players after years of effort to position Doha as a deal-broker that can be all things to all men.

The organisational structure of Hamas is clouded in secrecy, but the current war – and negotiations to bring it to an end – mean it is now critical for Israel and other parties to understand how the group operates and makes its decisions.

Houthi forces in Yemen have continued to launch missiles and drones towards Israel. A drone from Yemen was shot down over the Red Sea in mid-November by the United States Navy destroyer USS Thomas Hudner.

The usual dizzying number of civil and military contracts were unveiled at the mid-November Dubai Airshow where, included among the 54 deals signed by the UAE government's Tawazun Council, was an air defence order with the unknown Black Diamond company, which GSN's research suggests is an Israeli venture created after Abu Dhabi's Abraham Accord was concluded.

Omani officials told GSN that the failure to achieve a settlement to the Israel/Palestinian conflict was nurturing radicalisation and undermining the prospects for resolving other political problems across the Middle East.

Omani officials appear confident that, despite international diplomatic attention having largely switched to the Gaza conflict, a peace settlement can be achieved soon between the warring factions in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, with all parties now appearing to recognise that ending the civil war is in their overwhelming political interest.

The Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) said on 26 October that a fifth serviceman, Major Mohammed Salem Mohammed Anber, had died one day earlier.