Service members from the United States, Japan and Australia participated in a joint military exercise, Yama Sakura 87, at Camp Asaka in Tokyo on December 6, 2024. Yama Sakura 87 is a scenario-driven command post exercise to help build operational readiness and strengthen deployment capabilities among allied forces.

South Koreans protest President Yoon Suk Yeol and call for him to be impeached after his attempt to impose martial law failed at the National Assembly in Seoul on December 4, 2024. South Korea's opposition parties have submitted an impeachment motion against Yoon.

Lebanese civilians clean the streets of debris after the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah in the Dahieh district of Beirut on December 2, 2024. Recent cease-fire violations have raised the tension between Israel and Hezbollah, however.

Hundreds of participants dressed as Santa Claus and other holiday-themed characters participated in the 2024 Santa Parade Osaka at Osaka Castle in Osaka-Prefecture, Japan, on December 1, 2024. The event benefits charities that support children.

Thousands of displaced Lebanese residents started to return home after the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah. The 60-day cease-fire, announced by U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, came into force in Lebanon at 4 a.m. local time on November 27, 2024.

Israel launched a new wave of extensive airstrikes that hit the area of Tayouneh on the outskirts of Beirut's southern suburbs, on November 26, 2024. The airstrikes come ahead of an expected cease-fire to end the 13-month war between Israel and Hezbollah.

An Israeli airstrike targets Beirut's southern suburbs, in the Shayah neighborhood on November 22, 2024. Israel has stepped up its air strikes on the southern suburbs and eastern Lebanon to force Hezbollah to accept its cease-fire conditions.

Palestinians, including children, receive food from a charity kitchen n the southern Gaza Strip on November 20, 2024. Palestinians are dealing with food shortages as Israel continues bombing the area due to the conflict with Hamas. The International Criminal Court on Thursday issued war crimes arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. A warrant also was issued for the Hamas commander Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, known as Deif.

Japan's parliament convened the 215th Diet on November 14, 2024, after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito coalition lost its majority in the lower house. On November 11, Ishiba Shigeru, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, won a runoff vote -- the first in 30 years --in the lower house. He becomes the country's 103rd prime minister.

Beirut fighters and civilians begin to search through smoldering debris after overnight Israeli airstrikes on the neighborhood of Kafaat, in Beirut's southern suburbs on November 1, 2024. Israeli forces carried out more than 10 airstrikes against targets in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, causing several casualties with numbers yet to be confirmed.

Israeli Bedouins race camels across the Negev desert near Ashalim on November 1, 2024. Two races took place, one for older camels and another for younger ones. Thousands of spectators attended.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the families of victims mourned those killed by Hamas last year during a memorial ceremony at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on October 27, 2024. Israel held a second day of mourning for the victims of the October 7, 2023. attack after earlier events were held on its anniversary.

Israelis celebrate Simchat Torah in the streets of Jerusalem on October 24, 2024. The Jewish holiday that celebrates the conclusion of the annual cycle of Torah readings, which follows immediately after the festival of Sukkot.

Israeli Americans who are living in Israel register to vote in the upcoming 2024 U.S. presidential election in Jerusalem on October 22, 2024. Election Day is November 5.

Displaced Lebanese families take up shelter inside public schools and night clubs in Beirut on October 15, 2024. Lebanon has an unprecedented number of displaced people who were forced to leave their homes due to the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

U.S. Forces Japan and the U.S. Fifth Air Force hold a change of command ceremony at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo on October 8, 2024. The new commander of U.S. forces in Japan, Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost, pledged to work to further strengthen the bilateral alliance.

Israelis mark the one-year anniversary of the Hamas terror attacks on their communities on October 7, 2024. Families gather outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's private residence at 6:29 a.m., the time that Hamas militants attacked Israelis in the Gaza border communities, and large groups come together at the memorial at Re'im in southern Israel. Hamas invaded Israeli communities, killed some 1,200 people and took more than 215 hostages into Gaza. They still may hold some 100.

Israeli forces launched an airstrike that struck the Dahieh region in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 1, 2024. Israel has launched a limited ground incursion into Lebanon to drive Hezbollah forces away from the Israeli border.

Israelis visit the site on September 26, 2024, of the Nova Music Festival massacre carried out by Hamas in Re'im, Israel. on October 7, 2023. Israel is preparing to commemorate one year since the Hamas terrorist attack in which 1,200 people were slain and 240 taken hostage in Gaza.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to other nations for "real peace and justice" during his address at the at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters in New York City on September 25, 2024. A Security Council meeting also was held. The General Assembly runs through September 30.