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Jordan Warns against Easing Virus Restrictions

Jordanian expatriates return to the country. (Petra news agency)
Jordanian expatriates return to the country. (Petra news agency)
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Jordan Warns against Easing Virus Restrictions

Jordanian expatriates return to the country. (Petra news agency)
Jordanian expatriates return to the country. (Petra news agency)

For the fifth consecutive day, Jordan announced that it had not reported any new COVID-19 cases among residents. It registered three among expatriates, bringing the total caseload to 1,176 since the outbreak of the pandemic.

According to a statement by the government and the Ministry of Health, the three new cases include two Jordanian citizens, who have recently returned from Saudi Arabia and were residing at quarantine-designated hotels, and a Jordanian truck driver, who was tested at the Al-Omari border crossing.

It said five patients have recovered and were discharged from Prince Hamzah Hospital, and a total of 5,808 lab tests were carried out, bringing the total to 460,383.

However, the Health Ministry warned that the danger of the pandemic is still present, calling on everyone to adhere to preventive measures, wear masks, practice social distancing and use the Aman.jo app to alert users if they were in contact with an infected person, and contribute to detecting virus-related cases.

The government had previously said that in case no new COVID-19 cases are registered among residents for 10 consecutive days, it would lift the daily night curfew.

However, National Committee for Epidemics spokesman, Nazir Obeidat warned against easing restrictions.

The registration of cases among expatriates is still a challenge the government is facing in its hasty efforts to ease restrictions, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Jordan allowed the return of 20,000 expatriates in three stages during the last two months.

“A lax approach in dealing with the pandemic would again allow the spread of the virus in the country,” Obeidat warned.

Health Minister Saad Jaber said Saturday that a laboratory would open soon at the Queen Alia Airport to allow around 6,000 PCR tests per day.

Jordan's airports will reopen at the end of July, allowing tourists from a limited list of countries to visit the kingdom.

Asharq Al-Awsat noticed Jordanians flaunting preventive measures in public places, restaurants and shops. The government had warned that violators of the measures would be fined.

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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.

Arab World

Lawyers in Sanaa Under Houthi Repression

Part of previous consultative meetings for Yemeni lawyers in Sanaa (Facebook)
Part of previous consultative meetings for Yemeni lawyers in Sanaa (Facebook)
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Lawyers in Sanaa Under Houthi Repression

Part of previous consultative meetings for Yemeni lawyers in Sanaa (Facebook)
Part of previous consultative meetings for Yemeni lawyers in Sanaa (Facebook)

In areas controlled by the Houthi group in Yemen, there is an increasing number of violations targeting lawyers, raising widespread concerns about the future of justice and the rule of law.

Recent reports from local human rights organizations have revealed a recurring pattern of systematic restrictions on the practice of law profession, including arbitrary arrests, prolonged detentions, and direct threats.

The legal environment in Sanaa and other Houthi-controlled cities no longer provides professional environment for lawyers who themselves are now subject to questioning or targeted for defending their clients, especially in cases of a political or human rights nature.

Observers believe that this reality not only affects lawyers but also threatens the foundation of the judicial system as a whole.

Widespread Violations

The Daoo Yemen Rights and Development organization documented in its report more than 382 Houthi violations against lawyers in Sanaa from January 2023 to December 2025.

These included arbitrary arrests, prolonged detention without legal justification, threats of murder and assault, prevention from practicing the profession, and restrictions on the right to defense in cases of a political or human rights nature.

The report monitored more than 159 Houthi violations against lawyers during 2025, compared to 135 violations in 2023, and 88 violations in 2024, describing this targeting as a “systematic pattern” that affects human rights defenders and undermines what remains of the justice system and the rule of law.

Human Rights Calls

Calls from local and international human rights organizations have escalated for urgent steps to be taken to protect lawyers and ensure the independence of their profession, stressing the need to release lawyers detained for their professional activities and to stop all forms of intimidation or restrictions targeting them.

Human rights activists believe that protecting lawyers is a prerequisite for maintaining any future reform or political path because the absence of an independent defense means the absence of justice itself.

Arab World

Australia Won’t Repatriate 34 Women and Children from Syria 

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stands outside the entrance to his office at Parliament House in Canberra on February 11, 2026. (AFP)
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stands outside the entrance to his office at Parliament House in Canberra on February 11, 2026. (AFP)
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Australia Won’t Repatriate 34 Women and Children from Syria 

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stands outside the entrance to his office at Parliament House in Canberra on February 11, 2026. (AFP)
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stands outside the entrance to his office at Parliament House in Canberra on February 11, 2026. (AFP)

The Australian government will not repatriate from Syria a group of 34 women and children with alleged ties to the ISIS group, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday.

The women and children from 11 families were supposed to fly from the Syrian capital Damascus to Australia but Syrian authorities on Monday turned them back to Roj camp in northeast Syria because of procedural problems, officials said.

Only two groups of Australians have been repatriated with government help from Syrian camps since the fall of the ISIS group in 2019. Other Australians have also returned without government assistance.

Albanese would not comment on a report that the latest women and children had Australian passports.

“We’re providing absolutely no support and we are not repatriating people,” Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp. in Melbourne.

“We have no sympathy, frankly, for people who traveled overseas in order to participate in what was an attempt to establish a ‘caliphate’ to undermine, destroy, our way of life. And so, as my mother would say, ‘You make your bed, you lie in it,’” Albanese added.

Albanese noted that the child welfare-focused international charity Save the Children had failed to establish in Australia’s courts that the Australian government had a responsibility to repatriate citizens from Syrian camps.

After the federal court ruled in the government's favor in 2024, Save the Children Australia chief executive Mat Tinkler argued the government had a moral, if not legal, obligation to repatriate families.

Albanese said if the latest group made their way to Australia without government help, they could be charged.

It was an offense under Australian law to travel to the former ISIS stronghold of al-Raqqa province without a legitimate reason from 2014 to 2017. The maximum penalty was 10 years in prison.

“It’s unfortunate that children are impacted by this as well, but we are not providing any support. And if anyone does manage to find their way back to Australia, then they’ll face the full force of the law, if any laws have been broken,” Albanese added.

The last group of Australians to be repatriated from Syrian camps arrived in Sydney in October 2022.

They were four mothers, former partners of ISIS supporters, and 13 children.

Australian officials had assessed the group as the most vulnerable among 60 Australian women and children held in Roj camp, the government said at the time.

Eight offspring of two slain Australian ISIS fighters were repatriated from Syria in 2019 by the conservative government that preceded Albanese’s center-left Labor Party administration.

The issue of ISIS supporters resurfaced in Australia after the killings of 15 people at a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14. The attackers were allegedly inspired by ISIS.