Two PKK Leaders Killed Near Sulaymaniyah

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters are pictured in Sinjar, northwest Iraq, on March 11, 2015. Asmaa Waguih/Reuters
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters are pictured in Sinjar, northwest Iraq, on March 11, 2015. Asmaa Waguih/Reuters
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Two PKK Leaders Killed Near Sulaymaniyah

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters are pictured in Sinjar, northwest Iraq, on March 11, 2015. Asmaa Waguih/Reuters
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters are pictured in Sinjar, northwest Iraq, on March 11, 2015. Asmaa Waguih/Reuters

Two senior Kurdistan Communities Group (KCK) were killed while on Mount Azmar overlooking the city of Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan Region’s Asayesh (Security) announced on Tuesday following an investigation.

In its statement on Tuesday, the committee said that they were killed in a vague explosion on Oct.15, demanding that the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan command provide justifications regarding the incident.

Initially, Sulaimaniyah's security forces labeled it an explosion and did not allow media to go to the scene. On Tuesday, they provided more details, stating that it was a targeted killing of senior PKK members.

“On October 15, 2019, between hours 17:10 to 17:15, two senior cadres of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) named Jameel and Demhat, atop Mount Azmar in a tourist location among civilians, were barbarically targeted,” Kurdistan Region’s Asayesh Agency announced in a statement on Tuesday.

Following “sophisticated and dense investigations” on the “crime scene”, they uncovered the identity of the targeted to be members of the KCK, an umbrella group under which PKK and its affiliated groups fall.

“While they had gone into that area without notifying the relevant authorities of the Kurdistan Region, they were targeted by a Turkish drone while among civilians and in the city of Sulaimaniyah at a tourist location,” added the Asayesh.

The statement called on the legislative and executive regional authorities to clarify the ramifications of the incident and announce them transparently.

PUK spokesman Latif Sheikh Omer stated that the incident has security prospects. Analysts said that the operation has likely been conducted by a grenade that was closely thrown at the two men since the operation can’t be carried out by a drone.



Germany Seeks to Quash Gaza Genocide Case at Top UN Court

An overview of the court during a hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) filed by Nicaragua against Germany over the financial and military aid that the European country provides to Israel and the lifting of subsidies to the aid organization UNRWA, in the Hague on April 8, 2024.  Robin Van Lonkhuijsen, AFP
An overview of the court during a hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) filed by Nicaragua against Germany over the financial and military aid that the European country provides to Israel and the lifting of subsidies to the aid organization UNRWA, in the Hague on April 8, 2024. Robin Van Lonkhuijsen, AFP
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Germany Seeks to Quash Gaza Genocide Case at Top UN Court

An overview of the court during a hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) filed by Nicaragua against Germany over the financial and military aid that the European country provides to Israel and the lifting of subsidies to the aid organization UNRWA, in the Hague on April 8, 2024.  Robin Van Lonkhuijsen, AFP
An overview of the court during a hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) filed by Nicaragua against Germany over the financial and military aid that the European country provides to Israel and the lifting of subsidies to the aid organization UNRWA, in the Hague on April 8, 2024. Robin Van Lonkhuijsen, AFP

Germany will Monday ask the top United Nations court to toss out a case brought against it by Nicaragua, which has accused Berlin of "facilitating genocide" with its support of Israel.

Lawyers for Germany will kick off four days of hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the court based in The Hague that rules on disputes between countries, reported AFP.

The case dates back to 2024, following the start of Israel's offensive in Gaza. Nicaragua urged ICJ judges to impose emergency measures to force Berlin to halt all aid to Israel, in particular military equipment.

The court threw out Nicaragua's request in April of that year, saying "the circumstances, as they now present themselves" did not justify emergency orders.

The case is nevertheless ongoing and Germany is now seeking to have it removed, either by persuading judges they do not have the power to rule in the case or that Nicaragua's argument does not stack up.

Berlin has filed so-called "preliminary objections to the jurisdiction of the Court and to the admissibility of certain claims" presented by Nicaragua, according to an ICJ statement.

The detail of Berlin's case has not yet been made public.

- Genocide claim -

After Germany presents its case on Monday, Nicaragua will respond before both countries get another chance to address the court on Wednesday and Thursday.

It takes on average six months for the court to hand down a ruling in such cases.

The court could either side with Germany and throw out the case completely or rule against Berlin, meaning the case would then be considered "on the merits" in more detail.

During hearings at the court in April 2024, Nicaragua said Germany was "pathetic" to provide aid to Gaza while also simultaneously furnishing Israel with weapons.

Nicaragua's ambassador to the Netherlands, Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, told the court: "Germany seems not to be able to differentiate between self-defense and genocide."

Germany retorted that Nicaragua's case was "grossly biased", strongly denying the accusations that it was in breach of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza in response to the deadly October 7, 2023 attacks against it by Hamas militants.

Due to its Nazi past, Germany has placed Israel's security "at the core" of its foreign policy, its representative told the court in the 2024 hearings.

Germany said its arms trade with Israel was subject to "detailed scrutiny... that far exceeds the requirements of international law".

This procedure is separate from a high-profile case also before the ICJ, in which South Africa has accused Israel of perpetrating genocide in Gaza, which Israel denies.

The ICJ's rulings are binding but it has no power to enforce them.

For example, it has ordered Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine, a demand that has fallen on deaf ears in the Kremlin.


Israel Army Orders Evacuation of Zone in South Lebanon ahead of Strikes

Smoke and flames rise as Israeli forces demolish homes in Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, southern Lebanon, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Smoke and flames rise as Israeli forces demolish homes in Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, southern Lebanon, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
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Israel Army Orders Evacuation of Zone in South Lebanon ahead of Strikes

Smoke and flames rise as Israeli forces demolish homes in Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, southern Lebanon, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Smoke and flames rise as Israeli forces demolish homes in Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, southern Lebanon, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

The Israeli army demanded early Monday that residents of Deir Zahrani in southern Lebanon leave a specific zone ahead of strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The army said that an explosive drone had been launched toward its forces and that “Hezbollah's terrorist activity compels” the Israeli army “to act forcefully against it", without specifying whether any of its soldiers were wounded, said AFP.

It warned in a message in Arabic that it was targeting a "Hezbollah terrorist facility" and said those who remained in the area were at risk.

Hezbollah's Al-Manar television channel later reported Israeli airstrikes on Deir Zahrani.

On Sunday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged Washington and the international community to help stop Israeli attacks.

Israel's army earlier issued its first evacuation notice in Lebanon in a month, warning residents near a building it called a Hezbollah facility in Arab Salim to leave ahead of an attack on the site.

Lebanon was drawn into the wider Middle East war in March after Hezbollah attacked Israel in support of its backer Iran.

Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion of Lebanon that Beirut says have killed more than 4,300 people.

Violence has decreased since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding on the broader regional conflict in June and the Israel-Lebanon framework agreement later that month.

Israeli forces are operating inside a self-declared "security zone" around 10 kilometers (six miles) deep inside Lebanon along the border.


Netanyahu Orders Evacuation of Some West Bank Settler Outposts

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, votes in Likud party primary elections ahead of Israel’s general election in October, in Jerusalem, Monday, August. 17, 2026.   Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, votes in Likud party primary elections ahead of Israel’s general election in October, in Jerusalem, Monday, August. 17, 2026. Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Netanyahu Orders Evacuation of Some West Bank Settler Outposts

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, votes in Likud party primary elections ahead of Israel’s general election in October, in Jerusalem, Monday, August. 17, 2026.   Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, votes in Likud party primary elections ahead of Israel’s general election in October, in Jerusalem, Monday, August. 17, 2026. Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the evacuation of some West Bank settlements deemed illegal under Israeli law, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Sunday.

"To my knowledge, Netanyahu has given the instruction to evacuate" certain settlements, AFP quoted Smotrich as saying.

He added that he did not approve of the measure.

While all Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law, some established without government approval -- often consisting of just a few prefabricated homes -- are also considered illegal by Israel.

It was not immediately clear when the operation would begin.

UN bodies and most governments deem all Israeli settlements illegal under international law ⁠and consider the West ⁠Bank to be occupied territory under military control. Israel argues the territory is disputed, not occupied.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Saturday denounced violent settlers as terrorists and called for them to face severe consequences following a meeting with several Palestinian Americans in a West ⁠Bank Palestinian town.

Israeli website Ynet earlier reported the orders targeted around 100 outposts across the occupied territory.