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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 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.

While the United States is further building up its naval projection in the region, Chinese PLA Navy’s ships have continued to make port calls around the Gulf.

UAE Air Force (UAEAF) aircraft have started an airlift to Ethiopia, flying C-17 and C-130 cargo planes to the Ethiopian Air Force’s main base at Harar Meda military airport, 40km south-east of Addis Ababa.

Governments across the region are trying to ensure the war between Hamas and Israel doesn’t escalate, with potentially disastrous expansion to other fronts. Meanwhile the monarchies and others are trying to assuage the anger many of their citizens feel towards Israel’s actions in Gaza, in a conflict that has profoundly upset recent comfortable assumptions about the regional status quo.

China's People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has used a routine rotation of its ships based in Djibouti to double its presence in the region, just as the United States Navy is preparing to deploy its first aircraft carrier strike group (CSG) to the region for two years.

Eight years after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal was adopted, a wave of restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile programme have automatically fallen away. The US, Europe and others have vowed to keep up the pressure, imposing fresh restrictions on Iran, but the flows of drones and other weapons from Iran to Russia – and perhaps other consumers – seems only likely to increase.

Saudi Arabia is planning to hold a naval exercise with its counterparts in the Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA) Navy. Exercise Blue Sword is scheduled to take place during October in Zhanjiang, where China’s South Sea Fleet is headquartered.  

The US and Bahrain signed a Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement (C-SIPA), during a visit to Washington by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Al-Khalifa. Analysts said it could provide a framework for deals with others in the region.

Personnel from Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are among the 8,000 troops from 19 African, European and Middle East countries involved in the Bright Star 23 exercise, which is being led by the United States and Egypt, and is centred around the Mohammed Neguib Military Base, west of Alexandria.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (Iriaf) has reportedly received two Russian-made Yakovlev Yak-130 advanced training jets. As yet, however, there is no sign of a promised delivery of Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets making their way to Iran.

Saudi Arabia is continuing to push to join an initiative by Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom to develop a sixth-generation fighter jet. Saudi defence minister Prince Khalid Bin Salman had claimed in March the kingdom was set to join the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme but this was soon politely denied by the UK. 

Pictures of armoured vehicles manufactured by Calidus on parade in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) underline the Abu Dhabi-based military hardware company's growing reach.