Palestinians Warn Israel against Consequences of Prisoners' Abuse

Palestinian prisoners during family visit (Prison Service)
Palestinian prisoners during family visit (Prison Service)
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Palestinians Warn Israel against Consequences of Prisoners' Abuse

Palestinian prisoners during family visit (Prison Service)
Palestinian prisoners during family visit (Prison Service)

Palestinian authorities from various factions issued warnings to the Israeli authorities, stressing that the ongoing abuse in prisons will have serious security consequences.

The deputy head of the Fatah movement, Mahmoud al-Aloul, warned that any Israeli aggression against the Palestinian prisoners has grave consequences, demanding urgent international action to prevent an explosion of the situation due to Israel's repression campaign against the prisoners.

"We are closely monitoring the conditions of the prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons, particularly the prisoners in the Naqab desert prison," Aloul said.

He indicated that the prisoners are subjected to systematic oppression, provocative inspection campaigns, and enforcement of the criminal policies of the Israeli government under the instructions of the extremist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

"Harming the prisoners and attempting to isolate them will have serious consequences. We are continuously trying to prevent the Israeli occupation from abusing [our] prisoners within its prisons," he warned.

Aloul urged all international human rights institutions to urgently and immediately intervene to protect the prisoners from the occupier's repressive apparatus.

"The prisoners are a red line and harming them is harming all the components of the Palestinian people."

The Supreme National Emergency Committee of the National Captive Movement announced that the Prison Service is waging a relentless war of abuse and escalating oppression against Palestinian prisoners, namely in Negev prisons.

More than 1,000 prisoners from various prisons continue their open hunger strike in protest against the ongoing aggression.

The Movement stated that it would not submit to the occupation's measures and would remain at the forefront of the battle against Israel.

The Emergency Committee sent a letter to the Israeli authorities, suggesting they stop the escalation, asserting that all factions of national and Islamic action are united in the face of aggression.

Several Palestinian factions called for mobilizing mass marches to support the prisoners subjected to severe aggression threatening their conditions inside the detention centers.

After Friday prayers, large crowds went to marches expressing solidarity with the prisoners. Several sit-ins were also organized.

According to the 2023 report of the Palestinian National Information Center, there are about 5,000 prisoners, including 160 children, 30 female prisoners, and 1,200 administrative prisoners, with no charges or trials against them.

Since March 9, 2022, the Israeli army has been carrying out daily arrests throughout the West Bank.

Palestinians accuse Israel of violating prisoners' rights, according to the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the First Additional Protocol. Although Israel has not acceded to it, it must apply its provisions of what is known under the principles of general international law.

Israel has established special military courts and arrested hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, putting them on military orders as criminal offenders.

Most detainees are categorized as prisoners of war and, therefore, cannot be tried but must be immediately released after the end of the war.



Iraq Closes Three Iran Crossings, Pursues Those Behind Attacks on Saudi Arabia

Travelers at the Shalamsheh border crossing between Iraq and Iran after Iraqi authorities ordered its closure as a precautionary measure following the latest drone attacks on Saudi Arabia on September 12, 2026 (Reuters)
Travelers at the Shalamsheh border crossing between Iraq and Iran after Iraqi authorities ordered its closure as a precautionary measure following the latest drone attacks on Saudi Arabia on September 12, 2026 (Reuters)
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Iraq Closes Three Iran Crossings, Pursues Those Behind Attacks on Saudi Arabia

Travelers at the Shalamsheh border crossing between Iraq and Iran after Iraqi authorities ordered its closure as a precautionary measure following the latest drone attacks on Saudi Arabia on September 12, 2026 (Reuters)
Travelers at the Shalamsheh border crossing between Iraq and Iran after Iraqi authorities ordered its closure as a precautionary measure following the latest drone attacks on Saudi Arabia on September 12, 2026 (Reuters)

Iraq closed three border crossings with Iran on Saturday, officials told AFP, after a drone attack on a Saudi Arabian pipeline that both Riyadh and Baghdad said was launched from Iraq.

An Iraqi security source and a government official told AFP that authorities ordered the closing of three border crossings with Iran.

The security source said the decision was "part of an intelligence effort to track down the perpetrators and prevent their escape... and to hinder the smuggling of drones through these crossings".

Both sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media, could not specify when the crossings would reopen.

The closed crossings are Shalamsheh in Basra province, al-Shib in Missan and al-Mandali in the central province of Diyala.

Other border crossings with Iran are still open.

A security official said that "security forces found drone launchers near the Iraq-Iran border in the al-Tib" region, a remote part of Missan, close to the al-Shib crossing. A second security source gave the same account.

Military spokesperson Sabah al-Numan said the prime minister had approved "Iran's request to conduct a joint investigation into finding drone launch platforms near the Iraq-Iran border".

The government's security media cell said earlier that authorities "have started administrative and security reorganization operations at several border crossings".

It added that they had stepped up "intelligence activities" to determine "the breaches and violations that took place at these crossings".

It later announced that passengers stranded for hours at two crossings were permitted to pass.


Al-Halbousi Condemns Attacks on Saudi Arabia

Iraqi Speaker of parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi speaks with the news media as he departs the Department of State after meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in Washington, on March 28, 2019. (AP)
Iraqi Speaker of parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi speaks with the news media as he departs the Department of State after meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in Washington, on March 28, 2019. (AP)
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Al-Halbousi Condemns Attacks on Saudi Arabia

Iraqi Speaker of parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi speaks with the news media as he departs the Department of State after meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in Washington, on March 28, 2019. (AP)
Iraqi Speaker of parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi speaks with the news media as he departs the Department of State after meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in Washington, on March 28, 2019. (AP)

Speaker of the Iraqi Council of Representatives Haibat Al-Halbousi strongly condemned the attacks targeting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that originated from within Iraqi territory.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Al-Halbousi rejected the use of Iraq's territory or airspace to threaten Saudi Arabia's security or that of any neighboring state, describing such actions as unacceptable violations that contradict Iraq's national interests, stated foreign policy, and regional relations.

Al-Halbousi emphasized the critical need to restrict weapons exclusively to the state and its constitutional institutions under the authority of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces.

He stressed that enforcing state control over arms is vital to reinforcing national sovereignty, preserving domestic stability, and preventing Iraq from being drawn into wider regional conflicts.


Lebanese Army Detains Bashar Assad’s Relative on Weapons and Drugs Charges

Ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad - File Photo
Ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad - File Photo
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Lebanese Army Detains Bashar Assad’s Relative on Weapons and Drugs Charges

Ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad - File Photo
Ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad - File Photo

Lebanese authorities have detained a relative of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad along with the son of a notorious drug dealer in northeast Lebanon on charges of carrying weapons and drugs, officials and the Lebanese army said Saturday.

Suleiman Assad and Ali Zeiter, son of Noah Zeiter, the suspected drug trafficker arrested last year, were detained Friday near the northeastern city of Baalbek, said the two judicial officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Suleiman Assad is the son of Hilal Assad, a cousin of the ousted president, The AP news reported.

A number of Syrian officials and relatives of Assad have fled from Syria to other countries including Lebanon, after the five-decade Assad family rule came to an end in December 2024, when the opposition seized power. Bashar Assad and his younger brother, Maher, have been living in Russia.

The Lebanese army said in a statement that it detained three people, including a Syrian citizen who did not have documents proving that he is staying legally in Lebanon.

The army said they had weapons with them along with hashish, a drug that is processed from cannabis that are widely planted in northeast Lebanon. The army did not release the names but the initials of their first and family names matched those of Assad and Zeiter. The army said they were questioned under the supervision of judicial officials.

The arrest of Suleiman Assad comes weeks after Lebanon handed over to Syrian authorities a retired major general who commanded a division in Bashar Assad’s army.