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Arab World

Egypt to Convene Global Leaders, Including Trump, in Sharm El-Sheikh on Gaza War Agreement

US President Donald Trump and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during a previous meeting in New York (dpa file)
US President Donald Trump and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during a previous meeting in New York (dpa file)
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Egypt to Convene Global Leaders, Including Trump, in Sharm El-Sheikh on Gaza War Agreement

US President Donald Trump and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during a previous meeting in New York (dpa file)
US President Donald Trump and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during a previous meeting in New York (dpa file)

Egypt will host an international peace summit in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday afternoon to finalize an agreement aimed at ending the war in Gaza, said an Egyptian presidency statement on Saturday.

The summit will be co-chaired by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and US President Donald Trump and attended by more than 20 leaders, the spokesperson added in a statement.

“The summit aimed to end the war on Gaza, bolster efforts to establish peace in the Middle East and open a new chapter in regional security and stability,” it added.

The summit is being held in “wake of Trump’s vision to achieve peace in the region and his efforts to end conflicts around the world.”

Israel will not send a representative to the summit.

"No Israeli official will attend," Shosh Bedrosian, a spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told AFP on Sunday.

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected at the summit, the Elysee Palace said on Saturday.

The plan, brokered by Trump along with Qatar, Egypt and Türkiye, aims to establish a permanent ceasefire, secure the release of all hostages and restore full humanitarian access to Gaza, the presidency said.

Macron will meet regional partners to discuss the next steps in carrying out the agreement, it added.

He will also reaffirm France’s commitment to a two-state solution as the basis for lasting peace, security and reconstruction in the region, the Elysee said.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will also attend the summit.

The first phase of the plan is set to begin with the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners by Monday, marking what Britain called a "historic turning point" after two years of war.

Starmer is expected to call for continued international coordination to implement the next phase, which includes deploying a ceasefire monitoring mission and establishing transitional governance in Gaza.

He will reiterate Britain's "steadfast support" to help secure the ceasefire and deliver humanitarian aid.

Jordan's King Abdullah II, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and European Council President Antonio Costa are confirmed to attend the summit.

The Gaza ceasefire held in its second day as tens of thousands of Palestinians returned to their neighborhoods Saturday and Israelis cheered Monday's expected release of remaining hostages.

Israelis applauded Trump, and some booed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner addressed a weekly rally in Tel Aviv that many hoped would be the last.

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Arab World

Israel Releases Detained Palestinian Woman Footballer

07 June 2026, Israel, Tzur Yitzhak: Israeli Security forces inspect the scene of a shooting attack in the town of Tzur Yitzhak in central Israel near the occupied West Bank border. (dpa)
07 June 2026, Israel, Tzur Yitzhak: Israeli Security forces inspect the scene of a shooting attack in the town of Tzur Yitzhak in central Israel near the occupied West Bank border. (dpa)
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Israel Releases Detained Palestinian Woman Footballer

07 June 2026, Israel, Tzur Yitzhak: Israeli Security forces inspect the scene of a shooting attack in the town of Tzur Yitzhak in central Israel near the occupied West Bank border. (dpa)
07 June 2026, Israel, Tzur Yitzhak: Israeli Security forces inspect the scene of a shooting attack in the town of Tzur Yitzhak in central Israel near the occupied West Bank border. (dpa)

Israeli authorities released a player on the Palestinian national women's football team after six days in detention in Jerusalem, her mother and police told AFP on Monday.

Wissam Halawani said Israeli police released her daughter Rand Halawani, 20, on Sunday evening, with an order to remain under house arrest for five days.

Halawani told AFP that she had "gone through very difficult times over the past few days" following her daughter's detention, and that she now felt "overwhelming joy" after her return home.

An Israeli police spokesperson told AFP that "the court has ordered that the suspect remain under house arrest," and stressed that "this ruling does not indicate or determine the outcome of any future legal proceedings."

Police had said last week that Halawani was arrested along with an 18-year-old man in relation to an incident in Jerusalem in which objects were allegedly thrown from a balcony at demonstrators marching on a street below.

"The investigation remains ongoing, and evidentiary material continues to be collected and assessed," police told AFP.

The Palestinian Football Association celebrated Halawani's release in a statement late Sunday.

"Rand Halawani breathes freedom," the association said in a social media post, accompanied by an image showing her wearing the Palestinian national team's red kit.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club, the main rights group for Palestinian prisoners, said Monday that that the number of women in Israeli prisons and detention camps has risen to around 95.

The number of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons stands at around 9,500, according to figures released by the organization last week.

Arab World

Lebanon Reports Israeli Strikes as Hezbollah Claims Attacks Against Troops in South

Workers clean the debris following Israeli airstrikes that hit the previous day, near the archaeological site of the Roman hippodrome in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on June 8, 2026. (AFP)
Workers clean the debris following Israeli airstrikes that hit the previous day, near the archaeological site of the Roman hippodrome in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on June 8, 2026. (AFP)
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Lebanon Reports Israeli Strikes as Hezbollah Claims Attacks Against Troops in South

Workers clean the debris following Israeli airstrikes that hit the previous day, near the archaeological site of the Roman hippodrome in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on June 8, 2026. (AFP)
Workers clean the debris following Israeli airstrikes that hit the previous day, near the archaeological site of the Roman hippodrome in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on June 8, 2026. (AFP)

An Israeli strike hit a vehicle in the city of Tyre, south Lebanon on Monday, Lebanese state media reported, as Israel vowed to press attacks on Hezbollah despite Iranian warnings.

Hezbollah meanwhile said it targeted Israeli troops in Lebanon, but did not claim any attacks on Israeli territory.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that "an enemy airstrike targeted a car with a missile in the city of Tyre, near the Lebanese Red Cross building".

An AFP photographer in Tyre saw flames erupting from a car on a coastal road as residents gathered at the scene and an ambulance and paramedics headed towards it.

Reporting airstrikes from the early morning, the NNA said Israeli raids hit more than a dozen locations in the south, including Burj al-Shemali near Tyre.

A Lebanese culture ministry official said Israeli bombardment on the city a day earlier damaged a UNESCO World Heritage site there, and AFP correspondents saw dust and debris at the site.

The NNA said some of Monday's strikes caused casualties, though Lebanon's health ministry has not yet released any tolls.

Iran's military command on Monday afternoon said it was halting its operation against Israel after the two sides exchanged fire for the first time since a truce in the Middle East war took effect in April.

Iran had delivered a "painful response" to Israel and "accordingly, the cessation of armed forces operations is hereby announced", the Khatam al-Anbiya central command said in a statement carried by state television.

"However, it is emphasized that should acts of aggression and hostility continue, including in southern Lebanon, much more severe and crushing measures than before will follow," it added.

But Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz later vowed that the military would "continue to operate in Lebanon against the terrorist organization Hezbollah".

He added that Israel would strike Beirut's southern suburbs in retaliation for every attack on northern Israel.

"We categorically reject Iran's threats. Any Iranian attempt to link Lebanon and Iran and attack Israel will be met with great force, as happened yesterday," Katz said.

Iran insists a halt to the broader Middle East conflict must include a ceasefire in Lebanon, and on Sunday fired missiles at Israel in response to Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs earlier in the day.

On Monday, Hezbollah claimed a series of attacks on Israeli troops who have invaded south Lebanon.

Israel's military intercepted three projectiles fired from Lebanon, an AFP correspondent near the border reported, as Israel's military said the munitions had targeted its forces operating in Lebanon's south.

Lebanon says Israeli strikes have killed more than 3,600 people since Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East conflict on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel to avenge the US-Israeli killing of Iran's supreme leader.

After an April 17 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah began, Israel announced a so-called Yellow Line inside Lebanese territory about a dozen kilometers from its northern border where its ground troops are operating.

Arab World

Iraq Reopens Airspace after Iran Ends Operation against Israel

A picture shows Iraq Airlines planes parked at the Baghdad International Airport on April 24, 2024 - AFP
A picture shows Iraq Airlines planes parked at the Baghdad International Airport on April 24, 2024 - AFP
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Iraq Reopens Airspace after Iran Ends Operation against Israel

A picture shows Iraq Airlines planes parked at the Baghdad International Airport on April 24, 2024 - AFP
A picture shows Iraq Airlines planes parked at the Baghdad International Airport on April 24, 2024 - AFP

Iraq reopened its airspace on Monday, the country's civil aviation body said, following Iran's announcement that it was halting its military operation against Israel, AFP reported.

The Civil Aviation Authority was reopening "Iraqi airspace to flights to and from all airports" and will continue to "monitor and assess the regional situation", it said in a statement.

It had announced a 72-hour closure of its airspace on Sunday evening after Iranian missile strikes on Israel, the first since a ceasefire in the Middle East war began on April 8.