Turkey Says Captured ISIS Figure in Syria as Germany, Netherlands Agree to Take Back Extremists

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. (Getty Images)
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. (Getty Images)
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Turkey Says Captured ISIS Figure in Syria as Germany, Netherlands Agree to Take Back Extremists

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. (Getty Images)
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. (Getty Images)

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announced Turkey has captured an "important" figure within the ISIS group in Syria.

Soylu said on Wednesday that the suspect is still being interrogated but did not name the figure or provide further details.

Turkey has said it captured and detained several members of the family of the slain ISIS group leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, including one of his wives, his sister and a daughter.

Baghdadi blew himself up during an October 26 raid by US special forces on his heavily fortified safe house in the Syrian province of Idlib.

Separately, Soylu said Germany and the Netherlands had agreed to take back German and Dutch ISIS detainees and their families from Turkey, after Ankara started to repatriate the fighters this week.

On Monday, Turkey said it had deported two of the detainees, a German and an American, and added that it will deport another 23 European nationals in the coming days.

Turkey holds hundreds of ISIS suspects in its jails and says it has captured another 287 during its military offensive in northeast Syria against Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters – an incursion which has further strained ties with its NATO allies.

"We have our own policy and we are implementing it without compromise. Those who want to step out of our way will, but those who don't will face the consequences," Soylu said in the southeastern province of Van on Wednesday.

"I would like to especially thank two countries here. One is Germany and the other the Netherlands," he added. "As of last night, they have confirmed that they will take back terrorists from ISIS who are citizens of their countries and their wives, children and all the others," he said.

Turkey has said it will deport the detainees to Ireland, Germany, France and Denmark.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said on Tuesday that France would take back 11 suspected ISIS members from Turkey.

Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney also said that two Irish nationals set to be deported from Turkey had the right to return to Ireland.

On Monday, Greek police said that Turkish police came to the border post at the Greek town of Kasanies and requested that one of the detainees, a US citizen of Arab descent, be admitted to Greece as he had been arrested for exceeding his stay in Turkey.

Greek police said that a check carried out in a database of Greek and cooperating countries did not find anything against him, and that the man has been refused entry to Greece and sent back to Turkey. Turkish state media said on Wednesday he was in the buffer zone between Turkey and Greece.

Turkey's offensive against the YPG, US partners in the battle against ISIS in Syria, prompted concern that the detained extremists could break out and regroup amid the chaos.

Washington says that nearly all the 10,000 ISIS suspects held by the SDF in Syria remain in captivity, but a senior US State Department official described them on Tuesday as a "ticking time-bomb" and urged states to take back their citizens.



EU Exploring Support for New Gaza Administration Committee, Document Says

Palestinians push a cart past the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the two-year Israeli offensives, in Gaza City, February 17, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Palestinians push a cart past the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the two-year Israeli offensives, in Gaza City, February 17, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
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EU Exploring Support for New Gaza Administration Committee, Document Says

Palestinians push a cart past the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the two-year Israeli offensives, in Gaza City, February 17, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Palestinians push a cart past the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the two-year Israeli offensives, in Gaza City, February 17, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

The European Union is exploring possible support for a new committee established to take over the civil administration of Gaza, according to a document produced by the bloc's diplomatic arm and seen by Reuters.

"The EU is engaging with the newly established transitional governance structures for Gaza," the European External Action Service wrote in a document circulated to member states on Tuesday.

"The EU is also exploring possible support to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza," it added.

European foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Gaza during a meeting in Brussels on February 23.


Israel Military Says Soldier Killed in Gaza 

A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 21, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israel Military Says Soldier Killed in Gaza 

A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 21, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 21, 2025. (Reuters)

The Israeli military announced that one of its soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Gaza on Wednesday, but a security source said the death appeared to have been caused by "friendly fire".

"Staff Sergeant Ofri Yafe, aged 21, from HaYogev, a soldier in the Paratroopers Reconnaissance Unit, fell during combat in the southern Gaza Strip," the military said in a statement.

A security source, however, told AFP that the soldier appeared to have been "killed by friendly fire", without providing further details.

"The incident is still under investigation," the source added.

The death brings to five the number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza since a ceasefire took effect on October 10.


Syria: SDF’s Mazloum Abdi Says Implementation of Integration Deal May Take Time

People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
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Syria: SDF’s Mazloum Abdi Says Implementation of Integration Deal May Take Time

People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman

Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, said the process of merging the SDF with Syrian government forces “may take some time,” despite expressing confidence in the eventual success of the agreement.

His remarks came after earlier comments in which he acknowledged differences with Damascus over the concept of “decentralization.”

Speaking at a tribal conference in the northeastern city of Hasakah on Tuesday, Abdi said the issue of integration would not be resolved quickly, but stressed that the agreement remains on track.

He said the deal reached last month stipulates that three Syrian army brigades will be created out of the SDF.

Abdi added that all SDF military units have withdrawn to their barracks in an effort to preserve stability and continue implementing the announced integration agreement with the Syrian state.

He also emphasized the need for armed forces to withdraw from the vicinity of the city of Ayn al-Arab (Kobani), to be replaced by security forces tasked with maintaining order.