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Iraq, Morocco Face Full Local Lockdowns after Spike in Cases

A municipal team sprays the streets to halt the spread of coronavirus in Basra. (Reuters)
A municipal team sprays the streets to halt the spread of coronavirus in Basra. (Reuters)
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Iraq, Morocco Face Full Local Lockdowns after Spike in Cases

A municipal team sprays the streets to halt the spread of coronavirus in Basra. (Reuters)
A municipal team sprays the streets to halt the spread of coronavirus in Basra. (Reuters)

Iraq will impose a complete lockdown on some areas of the capital, the country's new health minister said on Monday, amid an uptick in coronavirus cases in recent weeks since curfew hours were relaxed.

The new government under Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi was sworn into power just two weeks ago following a five-month leadership vacuum. Responding to the pandemic and a severe economic crisis brought on by falling oil prices is foremost on its agenda.

Areas of Baghdad believed to play a role in spreading the virus will face a full lockdown as of Wednesday for a period of two weeks, Health Minister Hassan al-Tamimi said in a statement.

The areas lie in Baghdad's peripheries and are mostly impoverished and over-crowded. They include Sadr City, Habibia, Hurriya, Shula, Ameria, and Kamalia.

Al-Tamimi said in the statement the measures were taken in view of the rising number of cases in recent weeks and to stem the spread of the virus, according to the statement.

At least 123 people have died among 3,404 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Iraq, according to Health Ministry statistics.

The number of confirmed cases per day has risen since curfew hours were relaxed during the holy month of Ramadan from 5 pm to 5 am. On Sunday, for example, 144 cases were recorded. Before curfew hours were relaxed, only between 22-30 new infections were being reported daily.

Morocco, meanwhile, will extend its national lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus until June 10, Prime Minister Saad Dine El Otmani said on Monday.

The country had confirmed 6,930 coronavirus cases, including 192 deaths, by Monday morning, as the rise of hotspots within families and factories complicates efforts to curb infections.

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Arab World

Syria Starts Evacuating ISIS-linked Al-Hol Camp

TOPSHOT - Members of Syrian security forces march through the entrance of the Al-Hol camp in the desert region of Hasakeh province on January 21, 2026. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
TOPSHOT - Members of Syrian security forces march through the entrance of the Al-Hol camp in the desert region of Hasakeh province on January 21, 2026. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
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Syria Starts Evacuating ISIS-linked Al-Hol Camp

TOPSHOT - Members of Syrian security forces march through the entrance of the Al-Hol camp in the desert region of Hasakeh province on January 21, 2026. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
TOPSHOT - Members of Syrian security forces march through the entrance of the Al-Hol camp in the desert region of Hasakeh province on January 21, 2026. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

Syrian authorities began evacuating remaining residents of the ISIS group-linked Al-Hol camp in the country's northeast on Tuesday, as they empty the formerly Kurdish-controlled facility, two officials told AFP.

Fadi al-Qassem, the official appointed by the government with managing Al-Hol's affairs, told AFP that the camp "will be fully evacuated within a week, and nobody will remain", adding that "the evacuation started today".

A government source told AFP on condition of anonymity that "the emergencies and disaster management ministry is working now to evacuate Al-Hol camp" and take residents to a camp in Akhtarin, in the north of Aleppo province.

Arab World

Protesters Block Beirut Roads after Cabinet Approves New Taxes that Raise Fuel Prices

Taxi drivers, foreground, block a main highway with their cars during a protest against the increased taxes and gasoline prices issued by the Lebanese Cabinet on Monday, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Taxi drivers, foreground, block a main highway with their cars during a protest against the increased taxes and gasoline prices issued by the Lebanese Cabinet on Monday, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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Protesters Block Beirut Roads after Cabinet Approves New Taxes that Raise Fuel Prices

Taxi drivers, foreground, block a main highway with their cars during a protest against the increased taxes and gasoline prices issued by the Lebanese Cabinet on Monday, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Taxi drivers, foreground, block a main highway with their cars during a protest against the increased taxes and gasoline prices issued by the Lebanese Cabinet on Monday, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Protesters blocked main roads in and around Beirut on Tuesday after Lebanon’s Cabinet approved new taxes that raise fuel prices and other products to fund public pay hikes.

The Cabinet approved a tax of 300,000 Lebanese pounds (about $3.30) on every 20 liters (5.3 gallons) of gasoline on Monday. Diesel fuel was exempted from the new tax, as most in Lebanon depend on it to run private generators to make up for severe shortages in state electricity.

The government also agreed to increase the value-added tax on all products already subject to the levy from 11 to 12%, which the parliament still has to approve, The Associated Press said.

The tax increases are to support raises and pension boosts of public employees, after wages lost value in the 2019 currency collapse, giving them the equivalent of an additional six months’ salary. Information Minister Paul Morcos said the pay increases were estimated to cost about $800 million.

Though the Mediterranean country sits on one of the largest gold reserves in the Middle East, it suffers ongoing inflation and widespread corruption. The cash-strapped country also suffered about $11 billion in damages in the 2024 war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group.

Anger over fuel hike Ghayath Saadeh, one of a group of taxi drivers who blocked a main road leading into downtown Beirut, said the country’s leaders “consider us taxi drivers to be garbage.”

“Everything is getting more expensive, food and drinks, and Ramadan is coming,” he said. “We will block all the roads, God willing, if they don’t respond to us.”

When the Lebanese government proposed new taxes in 2019, including a $6 monthly fee for using internet calls through services such as WhatsApp, mass protests broke out that paralyzed the country for months. Demonstrators called for the country’s leaders to step down over widespread corruption, government paralysis and failing infrastructure, and for an end to the country’s sectarian power-sharing system.

Lebanon has been under international pressure to make financial reforms for years, but has so far made little progress.

Weapons plan discussed

Also Monday, the cabinet received a report from the Lebanese army on its progress on a plan to disarm non-state militant groups in the country, including Hezbollah.

Last month, the army announced it had completed the first phase of the plan, covering the area south of the Litani River, near the border with Israel. The second phase of the plan will cover segments of southern Lebanon between the Litani and the Awali rivers, which includes the port city of Sidon.

Morcos, the information minister, said following the cabinet session that the second stage is expected to take four months but could be extended “depending on the available resources, the continuation of Israeli attacks and the obstacles on the ground.”

The disarmament plan comes after a US-brokered ceasefire nominally ended a war between Hezbollah and Israel in November 2024. Since then, Israel has accused Hezbollah of rebuilding and has continued to launch near-daily strikes in Lebanon and to occupy several hilltop points on the Lebanese side of the border.

Hezbollah has insisted that the ceasefire deal only requires it to disarm south of the Litani and that it will not discuss disarming in the rest of the country until Israel stops its strikes and withdraws from all Lebanese territory.

Arab World

Under Israeli Cover, Gaza Gangs Kill and Abduct Palestinians in Hamas-Controlled Areas 

A group of women wait for news as Palestinian civil defense teams work to recover the remains of 67 members of the Abu Nasr family from beneath the rubble of their home after it was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Beit Lahiya, north of Gaza City, 15 February 2026. (EPA)
A group of women wait for news as Palestinian civil defense teams work to recover the remains of 67 members of the Abu Nasr family from beneath the rubble of their home after it was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Beit Lahiya, north of Gaza City, 15 February 2026. (EPA)
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Under Israeli Cover, Gaza Gangs Kill and Abduct Palestinians in Hamas-Controlled Areas 

A group of women wait for news as Palestinian civil defense teams work to recover the remains of 67 members of the Abu Nasr family from beneath the rubble of their home after it was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Beit Lahiya, north of Gaza City, 15 February 2026. (EPA)
A group of women wait for news as Palestinian civil defense teams work to recover the remains of 67 members of the Abu Nasr family from beneath the rubble of their home after it was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Beit Lahiya, north of Gaza City, 15 February 2026. (EPA)

Amid heavy Israeli airstrikes across Gaza, armed gangs carried out kidnappings and executions of Palestinians on Monday in areas controlled by Hamas, west of the so-called “yellow line” separating Israeli forces from the Palestinian movement.

According to local sources, Sunday’s strikes against Hamas and other armed factions deployed along the separating line resulted in security breaches that allowed armed gangs operating in Israeli-controlled zones to infiltrate areas west of the yellow line.

In response, Palestinian factions expanded their deployment, under what they termed “Operation Ribat”, to prevent the infiltration of collaborators with Israel into their areas. However, the Israeli strikes hit those fighters, killing several.

Before dawn on Monday, gunmen affiliated with the Rami Helles gang, which is active in eastern Gaza City, raided homes on the western outskirts of the Shujaiya neighborhood, just meters from Salah al-Din Road and more than 150 meters from the yellow line.

Field sources and affected families told Asharq Al-Awsat that the gunmen abducted several residents from their homes and interrogated them on the spot amid intense Israeli drone activity. Quad-copter drones were reportedly providing “security cover” for the attackers and opening fire in the surrounding area.

The sources said the gunmen shot and killed Hussam al-Jaabari, 31, after he refused to answer their questions. His body was left at the scene before the attackers withdrew, releasing others who had been detained. Al-Jaabari was later pronounced dead at Al-Maamadani (Al-Ahli Arab) Hospital.

In a separate incident, gunmen linked to the Ashraf al-Mansi gang, which is active in Jabalia and Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, stormed Abu Tammam School in Beit Lahiya that shelters dozens of displaced families, also under Israeli drone surveillance.

Several young men were abducted and taken to a gang-controlled location, and they haven’t been heard of since. Three families of women and children were briefly detained and later released.

Sources in the Palestinian armed factions denied that any of the abducted individuals or the victim of the killing were members of their groups.

Meanwhile, Hamas’ Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades froze deployments near the yellow line after Israeli airstrikes killed 10 of its members in two raids in Khan Younis and Jabalia on Sunday.

A Hamas source said the move was temporary and could be reversed once Israeli strikes subside.

Israel said it targeted Qassam fighters after gunmen emerged from a tunnel in Beit Hanoun, a claim it has used to justify strikes on faction targets and the assassination of senior operatives.

On Monday, the army announced it had killed a group of gunmen in Rafah, raising fears of further escalation.

Separately, dozens of families of missing Palestinians held a protest in Khan Younis, demanding information about relatives who disappeared during the war. UN estimates put the number of missing in Gaza at between 8,000 and 11,000, with their fate still unknown.