Israel Revokes Diplomatic Status of Dutch Diplomats in Ramallah

An Israeli flag installed by the settlers is pictured in the al-Tireh neighborhood at the western entrance to Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on September 27, 2026. (AFP)
An Israeli flag installed by the settlers is pictured in the al-Tireh neighborhood at the western entrance to Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on September 27, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Revokes Diplomatic Status of Dutch Diplomats in Ramallah

An Israeli flag installed by the settlers is pictured in the al-Tireh neighborhood at the western entrance to Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on September 27, 2026. (AFP)
An Israeli flag installed by the settlers is pictured in the al-Tireh neighborhood at the western entrance to Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on September 27, 2026. (AFP)

Israel said on Sunday it was revoking the diplomatic status of Dutch diplomats who represent the Netherlands at the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, in response to Dutch sanctions targeting Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Israel earlier this month ordered the closure of the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, which is Britain's representative with the Palestinian Authority, after London announced similar sanctions banning the import of goods from settlements.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon ‌Saar said on ‌X that Dutch diplomats operating in ‌Ramallah ⁠must return their ⁠Israeli-issued diplomatic documentation within seven days, when their diplomatic privileges and immunities are due to expire.

"Any country that acts in a hostile and unilateral manner against Israel will lose influence and relevance in the region," Saar said.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry declined to comment. The Netherlands' ⁠ban on imports of goods produced ‌in settlements came into effect ‌last week.

Israel in August banned Dutch diplomats from a US-led coordination ‌center for Gaza that is based in ‌Israel, over what the foreign minister described as "anti-Israel measures."

Many countries, including the Netherlands, have long had diplomats who represent their governments with the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah while living in ‌East Jerusalem.

Israel has traditionally accredited those diplomats and granted them certain privileges under ⁠the Vienna ⁠Convention on treatment of diplomatic missions.

France and Canada joined Britain this month in announcing a ban on goods from settlements, but Israel has not taken any action against those two countries.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government has found itself diplomatically isolated from many of its allies over its conduct in recent years in Gaza and the West Bank.

Two prominent Israeli cabinet ministers have been sanctioned by several countries, while Spain, Ireland and others have also announced a ban on goods originating from settlements.



Syrian Security Forces Arrest Official Responsible for Torture of Child Hamza al-Khatib in Daraa

Hamza al-Khatib became a symbol of the Syrian revolution. (SANA)
Hamza al-Khatib became a symbol of the Syrian revolution. (SANA)
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Syrian Security Forces Arrest Official Responsible for Torture of Child Hamza al-Khatib in Daraa

Hamza al-Khatib became a symbol of the Syrian revolution. (SANA)
Hamza al-Khatib became a symbol of the Syrian revolution. (SANA)

Syrian Internal Security Forces arrested Brig. Gen. Jaber Mehrez Ibrahim, who served as commander of the 138th Air Defense Brigade in the town of Saida during the era of the deposed regime, following a precise surveillance and tracking operation, reported Syria’s state news agency SANA on Sunday.

Records and preliminary investigations showed that Ibrahim was involved in issuing orders to kill and arrest people and suppress protesters, as well as participating in military campaigns targeting villages and towns in eastern Daraa countryside, pursuing civilians and targeting their homes.

Investigations also indicate that he was directly responsible for the Saida Housing massacre, in which nearly 120 people were killed, and that his name was linked to systematic arrests and torture involving a large number of people from the province, including child martyr Hamza al-Khatib.

The ousted regime arrested al-Khatib, 13, in the early days of the Syrian uprising that erupted in the city of Daraa on March 18, 2011. He died under torture in detention.

On May 21, 2011, al-Khatib’s tortured and mutilated body was returned to his family, weeks after his arrest during an anti-government demonstration.

His death, alongside the torture of other children and teenagers arrested for writing anti-Assad graffiti, triggered widespread protests and a brutal crackdown by government forces.

Following the ouster of the regime in December 2024, the new authorities launched a crackdown against former officials and military personnel. Ibrahim’s arrest is part of these ongoing prosecutions over allegations of abuses committed during the former regime's years in power.


Hezbollah Chief Says Israel Unable to ‘Break’ Group on Anniversary of Nasrallah’s Killing

Supporters of Hezbollah shout slogans as they watch a televised speech by Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem during a ceremony held to mark the second anniversary of the killing of former leader Hassan Nasrallah in a strike by Israel, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 27, 2026. (AFP)
Supporters of Hezbollah shout slogans as they watch a televised speech by Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem during a ceremony held to mark the second anniversary of the killing of former leader Hassan Nasrallah in a strike by Israel, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 27, 2026. (AFP)
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Hezbollah Chief Says Israel Unable to ‘Break’ Group on Anniversary of Nasrallah’s Killing

Supporters of Hezbollah shout slogans as they watch a televised speech by Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem during a ceremony held to mark the second anniversary of the killing of former leader Hassan Nasrallah in a strike by Israel, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 27, 2026. (AFP)
Supporters of Hezbollah shout slogans as they watch a televised speech by Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem during a ceremony held to mark the second anniversary of the killing of former leader Hassan Nasrallah in a strike by Israel, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 27, 2026. (AFP)

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem told supporters gathered in Lebanon on Sunday to mark two years since the killing of longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah that Israel had been unable to break his Iran-backed group.

The party was weakened after all-out war with Israel in 2024, but regrouped and drew Lebanon into the Middle East conflict in March this year by attacking Israel, which responded with massive airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people.

Hezbollah has demonstrated that Israel and its soldiers "were unable to achieve their goals to break the resistance, end its existence, consolidate the Israeli occupation and establish settlements in Lebanon", Qassem said in a televised speech broadcast at the gathering.

AFP correspondents saw tens of thousands of people, some carrying Hezbollah, Lebanese and Iranian flags or pictures of Nasrallah, rallying for the commemorative event near the slain leader's tomb in Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold that Israel bombed during conflicts this year and in 2024.

Some in the crowd chanted "death to America, death to Israel".

Nasrallah, a leader revered by his supporters but who headed a group whose armed wing is blacklisted by many Western capitals, was killed in a massive Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on September 27, 2024.

The assassination came during more than two months of all-out war that pummeled Hezbollah and decimated its top leadership.

Nasrallah's chosen successor Hashem Safieddine, who was also being commemorated on Sunday, was killed in another strike days after his predecessor.

The latest hostilities have further weakened the group.

- 'Liberate the south' -

Ali Nasser, 30, from Haddatha in south Lebanon, said "this is a historic day. Every year we commemorate it to renew our pledge" to Nasrallah "that we are walking along his path".

The former chief "illuminated the path for us and God willing, we'll carry on... these crowds are proof of our continuation and our loyalty to this pledge", he added.

After a November 2024 ceasefire, Lebanese authorities committed to disarming Hezbollah and banned the group's military activities after it drew Lebanon into this year's Middle East war.

Violence in Lebanon has decreased since a fragile ceasefire announced in June after the signing of a US-Iran understanding on the broader conflict.

Lebanon and Israel reached a framework agreement later that month, under which Hezbollah is supposed to disarm and the Lebanese military to deploy in so-called pilot zones in south Lebanon as Israel withdraws.

But progress has largely stalled, with Israel warning it will stay put as long as Hezbollah remains a threat.

"We are ready for dialogue and discussion, but first, liberate the south, and let the people return," Qassem said.

He said that with the framework agreement, "the authorities are helping the Israeli-US project instead of confronting it".

"All the pressure on Lebanon today aims to accomplish what Israel was unable to achieve over two years," he said, adding that the Lebanese national army should not be used as "a tool" against the group.

Israel has kept up its attacks and maintains troops in a self-declared "security zone" running around 10 kilometers (six miles) inside south Lebanon.

Israel's far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich called on Sunday for the annexation of areas of south Lebanon under Israeli military control "as far as the Litani River", which runs about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border.

Qassem said holding onto positions "is not the main objective" for his group, after Israel carried out massive detonations this month to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure on the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge.

"With the great sacrifices that we have made up until now, we can only keep going, and we cannot be defeated," Qassem vowed.


Syria Arrests Members of ISIS Cell Planning Attacks

A member of the Syrian security forces stands guard along a street in Latakia, Syria March 10, 2025. (Reuters)
A member of the Syrian security forces stands guard along a street in Latakia, Syria March 10, 2025. (Reuters)
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Syria Arrests Members of ISIS Cell Planning Attacks

A member of the Syrian security forces stands guard along a street in Latakia, Syria March 10, 2025. (Reuters)
A member of the Syrian security forces stands guard along a street in Latakia, Syria March 10, 2025. (Reuters)

Syria said on Sunday that its forces had arrested four leaders and several members of an ISIS group cell that was planning attacks.

Security and intelligence forces "dismantled a cell affiliated with the ISIS terrorist organization that was involved in carrying out kidnappings, planting explosive devices, and assassinations", state television reported the internal security forces as saying.

"Four leaders of the cell", the statement said, were arrested in north Syria's Raqqa "alongside a number of its members in Aleppo, Idlib and Homs".

The cell was also "planning terrorist acts targeting the security and stability of the region", it said, adding that explosives, weapons and ammunition were seized in the "pre-emptive operation", with investigations ongoing.

Last year, Syria's new authorities, who ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024, joined a US-led coalition against ISIS.

The authorities have faced significant security challenges, and regularly announce the arrest of ISIS commanders or members, including the capture last month of an extremist commander in the country's north.

Once in control of swathes of Syria and Iraq, ISIS was territorially defeated in Syria in 2019, but remnants of the group are still present there, particularly in the country's vast desert.

The group occasionally claims attacks, mainly targeting Syrian security forces.

Syria has blamed the extremists for bomb blasts in July during a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron. Authorities said they had arrested the cell responsible.