The mother of American journalist Austin Tice, who was taken captive during a reporting trip to Syria in August 2012, arrived in Damascus on Saturday to step up the search for her son and said she hopes she can take him home with her.

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - The head of an American organisation focused on hostage releases said on Monday he believes U.S. journalist Austin Tice was still being held in Syria by people loyal to toppled leader Bashar al-Assad.

At least 12 people were treated for injuries after Israeli settlers attacked two occupied West Bank villages north of Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. The attacks came after newly-inaugurated US president Donald Trump rescinded Biden-era executive orders that sanctioned far-right Israeli settlers for undermining peace in the territory.

Several of Donald Trump’s highest-profile Cabinet nominees are viewed more negatively than positively by Americans, a new poll found. Pete Hegseth is among the least popular.

US officials have expressed concerns that Tice may have been killed in recent Israeli airstrikes or could have suffocated after Bashar al-Assad's forces cut off power to prisons in Damascus before he was overthrow in December by Syrian rebels.

The mother of US journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012, said that the country's new leadership was committed to finding him.

Debra Tice, whose son Austin was abducted near Damascus in 2012, said the rebel group that toppled the Assad regime promised support in helping to find him.

The mother of American journalist Austin Tice said on Monday she was hopeful that the new administrations in the U.S. and Syria would help her find her missing son, who was taken captive during a reporting trip near Damascus about 12 years ago.

The mother of American journalist Austin Tice, who was taken captive during a reporting trip to Syria in August 2012, arrived in Damascus to step up the search for her son and said she hopes she can take him home with her.

Qatar says the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will go into effect at 8:30 a.m. local time (0630 GMT) on Sunday

Debra Tice, mother of missing Marine veteran and American journalist Austin Tice, has returned to Syria to search for her son who was taken captive in August 2012.