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Hariri Tribunal Preparing New Arrest Warrant against Ayyash

A statue of Lebanon's assassinated former PM Rafik Hariri is seen near the site of the suicide truck bombing that killed him in 2005, in Beirut, Lebanon, August 18, 2020. (Reuters)
A statue of Lebanon's assassinated former PM Rafik Hariri is seen near the site of the suicide truck bombing that killed him in 2005, in Beirut, Lebanon, August 18, 2020. (Reuters)
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Hariri Tribunal Preparing New Arrest Warrant against Ayyash

A statue of Lebanon's assassinated former PM Rafik Hariri is seen near the site of the suicide truck bombing that killed him in 2005, in Beirut, Lebanon, August 18, 2020. (Reuters)
A statue of Lebanon's assassinated former PM Rafik Hariri is seen near the site of the suicide truck bombing that killed him in 2005, in Beirut, Lebanon, August 18, 2020. (Reuters)

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) kicked off preparations to launch the public trials in the three cases related to the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri by sending to the Lebanese judiciary a list of witnesses whose statements are requested by the court.

“In its new list, the Tribunal summoned six new persons and asked the Lebanese authorities to inform them of the need to testify at the STL headquarters in The Hague,” a Lebanese judicial source told Asharq Al-Awsat on Tuesday.

The source said this list of witnesses is not the first and will not be the last, adding that the court is expected to send a new witness list at the trial state.

Meanwhile, the STL is expected to witness a new phase of in absentia trial in the coming months.

In August, the UN-backed tribunal found the main defendant, Salim Jamil Ayyash, guilty of the Beirut bombing that killed Hariri in February 2005.

Ayyash was a member of the Iran-backed Hezbollah party. He is also indicted for his involvement in the cases related to the assassination attempt against MP Marwan Hamadeh on October 1, 2004, assassination of former secretary general of the Lebanese Communist Party Georges Hawi on June 21, 2005 and failed attempt on the life of former Minister Elias Murr on July 12, 2005.

Asharq Al-Awsat learned from special sources at the Tribunal that Prosecutor Norman Farrell included in his indictment related to the cases of Hawi, Murr and Hamadeh, an arrest warrant in absentia against Ayyash.

The source added that that Pre-Trial Judge of the Tribunal Daniel Fransen had “certified the substance of the decision and referred it to Chamber I to proceed with the trial.”

On Nov. 4, Fransen will hold a third Status Conference with an aim to review the status of the Ayyash case and to ensure the expeditious preparation for trial, through an exchange between the Prosecution, Defense and Legal Representatives of the Victims.

The same source said Murr had omitted his personal right against any person involved in his assassination attempt, adding that this omission did not negate the follow-up of the case.

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Arab World

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.

Arab World

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.

Arab World

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.