Swedish Delegation Visits Northeastern Syria for Humanitarian, Political Talks

A boy pulls a cart at al-Hol displacement camp in Hasaka governorate, Syria, April 1, 2019.  Photo by REUTERS/Ali Hashisho.
A boy pulls a cart at al-Hol displacement camp in Hasaka governorate, Syria, April 1, 2019. Photo by REUTERS/Ali Hashisho.
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Swedish Delegation Visits Northeastern Syria for Humanitarian, Political Talks

A boy pulls a cart at al-Hol displacement camp in Hasaka governorate, Syria, April 1, 2019.  Photo by REUTERS/Ali Hashisho.
A boy pulls a cart at al-Hol displacement camp in Hasaka governorate, Syria, April 1, 2019. Photo by REUTERS/Ali Hashisho.

A high ranking delegation from Sweden's Foreign Ministry arrived in northeastern Syria to hold talks with the Autonomous Administration.

The delegation was headed by Special Envoy of the Syrian Crisis in the Foreign Ministry Piere Ornious, Foreign Ministry Tomas Marcus, and counselor in the European Institute for Peace Avin Jetin.

The officials met with Co-chair of the ERD in the Autonomous Administration, Abdul Karim Omar, and discussed humanitarian and political issues.

They also tackled the condition of al-Hol and Roj camps, a place for the families of terrorist ISIS members, in addition to the issue of foreign prisoners held by the Autonomous Administration.

Last year, the Swedish government evacuated eight orphans while dozens of women and children remain stranded in the camps.

However, the Autonomous Administration revealed that it repatriated around 200 women and 300 children from 20 different nationalities to their origin countries.

Leader of the Arab-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces Mazloum Abdi expressed support for the statements made by Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Ann Linde in which she called for the Turkish withdrawal from Syria and urged a political solution.

Her statements were made during a press conference she held with her Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara last week.

“We agree with Swedish FM comments regarding the violations committed by Turkey in northeast Syria & we support Sweden's call for Turkey to withdraw its forces from Syria and work on a political solution that respects Syria's territorial integrity and political diversity,” he said in a tweet.

For her part, Head of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) Ilham Ahmed welcomed the Swedish FM call on Ankara to withdraw its army from northeastern Syria.

In statements to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, she expressed gratitude to Linde who clearly demanded the withdrawal of Turkey from Syria. The head of SDC lauded the unconditional support shown by the Swedish FM to the residents of north and east Syria.

In a related context, Russia evacuated a new batch of Russian children from al-Hol camp in northeast Syria last Friday using a Russian defense ministry plane.

The children age between 2 and 13, the Commissioner for the Rights of the Child Anna Kuznetsova said, noting that this is the third flight since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.



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.


Israeli Far-Right Minister to Push for ‘Migration’ of West Bank, Gaza Palestinians 

A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)
A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)
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Israeli Far-Right Minister to Push for ‘Migration’ of West Bank, Gaza Palestinians 

A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)
A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would pursue a policy of "encouraging the migration" of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported Wednesday.

"We will eliminate the idea of an Arab terror state," said Smotrich, speaking at an event organized by his Religious Zionism Party late on Tuesday.

"We will finally, formally, and in practical terms nullify the cursed Oslo Accords and embark on a path toward sovereignty, while encouraging emigration from both Gaza and Judea and Samaria.

"There is no other long-term solution," added Smotrich, who himself lives in a settlement in the West Bank.

Since last week, Israel has approved a series of measures backed by far-right ministers to tighten control over the West Bank, including in areas administered by the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords, in place since the 1990s.

The measures include a process to register land in the West Bank as "state property" and facilitate direct purchases of land by Jewish Israelis.

The measures have triggered widespread international outrage.

On Tuesday, the UN missions of 85 countries condemned the measures, which critics say amount to de facto annexation of the Palestinian territory.

"We strongly condemn unilateral Israeli decisions and measures aimed at expanding Israel's unlawful presence in the West Bank," they said in a statement.

"Such decisions are contrary to Israel's obligations under international law and must be immediately reversed.

"We underline in this regard our strong opposition to any form of annexation."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called on Israel to reverse its land registration policy, calling it "destabilizing" and "unlawful".

The West Bank would form the largest part of any future Palestinian state. Many on Israel's religious right view it as Israeli land.

Israeli NGOs have also raised the alarm over a settlement plan signed by the government which they say would mark the first expansion of Jerusalem's borders into the occupied West Bank since 1967.

The planned development, announced by Israel's Ministry of Construction and Housing, is formally a westward expansion of the Geva Binyamin, or Adam, settlement situated northeast of Jerusalem in the West Bank.

The current Israeli government has fast-tracked settlement expansion, approving a record 52 settlements in 2025.

Excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements and outposts, which are illegal under international law.