Syria’s Kurds Repatriate 20 Russian Orphans of ISIS Families

Russian orphans born to parents linked to ISIS wait in a bus before Syrian Kurdish authorities hand them over to a Russian delegation for repatriation. (AFP)
Russian orphans born to parents linked to ISIS wait in a bus before Syrian Kurdish authorities hand them over to a Russian delegation for repatriation. (AFP)
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Syria’s Kurds Repatriate 20 Russian Orphans of ISIS Families

Russian orphans born to parents linked to ISIS wait in a bus before Syrian Kurdish authorities hand them over to a Russian delegation for repatriation. (AFP)
Russian orphans born to parents linked to ISIS wait in a bus before Syrian Kurdish authorities hand them over to a Russian delegation for repatriation. (AFP)

Syria’s Kurds on Saturday handed over 20 orphaned children born to parents linked to the ISIS group to a Russian delegation for repatriation.

Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria hold thousands of foreigners with alleged ties to the extremist group in their custody, after spearheading a US-backed battle against ISIS that seized the last patch of their territory in early 2019.

Alleged foreign fighters are held in jails, while women and children with ties to the group live in camps for the displaced in northeast Syria.

“Twenty Russian children who were in the Roj camp were handed over,” the Kurdish authorities said in a statement.

“They are aged three to 16 years old, and all are orphans in good health.”

It said the latest repatriations brought to 205 people those sent home to Russia so far.

In April, 34 orphans returned to Russia from the Kurdish-held region.

Syria’s Kurds have repeatedly urged the international community to repatriate foreign nationals held in crowded camps.

But their calls have largely fallen on deaf ears with only limited numbers, mostly children, allowed to return home until now.

The latest repatriations come after the International Committee of the Red Cross this week sounded the alarm over the Kurdish authorities holding “hundreds of children” in adult prisons.

Kurdish foreign affairs official Abdelkarim Omar on Friday urged international help to set up rehabilitation centers for minors in the region, which so far only has one such re-education facility and another under preparation.



Netanyahu Says Israel Is Establishing a New Security Corridor across Gaza

An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
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Netanyahu Says Israel Is Establishing a New Security Corridor across Gaza

An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is establishing a new security corridor across the Gaza Strip.

In a statement on Wednesday, he described it as the Morag corridor, using the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, suggesting it would run between the two southern cities.

His comments came as Palestinian officials at hospitals inside Gaza said Israeli strikes overnight and into Wednesday had killed more than 40 people, nearly a dozen of them children.

The Israeli government has long maintained a buffer zone just inside Gaza along its security fence and has greatly expanded since the war against Hamas began in 2023. Israel says the buffer zone is needed for its security, while Palestinians view it as a land grab that further shrinks the narrow coastal territory, home to around 2 million people.