ISIS Confirms Death of its Leader, Names New Chief

The house where Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashemi Al-Quraishi was killed. AP
The house where Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashemi Al-Quraishi was killed. AP
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ISIS Confirms Death of its Leader, Names New Chief

The house where Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashemi Al-Quraishi was killed. AP
The house where Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashemi Al-Quraishi was killed. AP

ISIS confirmed on Thursday the death of its leader Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashemi Al-Quraishi and its spokesperson Abu Hamza Al-Quraishi, and announced Abu Al-Hassan Al-Hashemi Al-Quraishi as its new chief.

Quraishi died in a US special forces raid in northern Syria in February when he detonated a bomb that killed him and family members, the US administration said.

The death of Quraishi, 45, was another crushing blow to ISIS two years after the violent group lost longtime leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a similar raid in 2019.

The group did not deny or confirm the US narrative and the new ISIS spokesman, Abu Umar al Muhajir, said in a recorded speech on Thursday that Quraishi's last battle was at Ghuwayran prison in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasaka.

At least 200 prison inmates and militants as well as 30 security forces died in an ISIS attack on the jail in January in a bid to free their members, officials have said.



Demarcating the Lebanese–Syrian Border Tops Agenda of Trump’s Envoy in Beirut

Talks between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and US envoy Thomas Barrack two weeks ago in Beirut (AP). 
Talks between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and US envoy Thomas Barrack two weeks ago in Beirut (AP). 
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Demarcating the Lebanese–Syrian Border Tops Agenda of Trump’s Envoy in Beirut

Talks between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and US envoy Thomas Barrack two weeks ago in Beirut (AP). 
Talks between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and US envoy Thomas Barrack two weeks ago in Beirut (AP). 

US Ambassador to Türkiye Tom Barrack, President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Syria, is prioritizing the demarcation of the Lebanese–Syrian border during his meetings in Beirut this week with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and Army leadership.

The border issue is expected to feature prominently in Lebanon’s response to proposals Barrack presented, as he considers it essential for establishing a mechanism to implement the ceasefire agreement with Israel and asserting Lebanese sovereignty under UN Resolution 1701.

According to Lebanese ministerial sources speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Saudi Arabia recently hosted a Lebanese–Syrian meeting that defused tensions and ended clashes across the overlapping areas between the two countries in northern Bekaa. Riyadh’s mediation created a favorable climate to advance border demarcation along the roughly 375-kilometer frontier from north to east.

Saudi sponsorship of this process, along with measures by the joint Lebanese–Syrian committee to prevent further clashes, strengthened Washington’s interest in supporting these efforts. Much of the violence has stemmed from rival smuggling networks once protected by the former Syrian regime and used for trafficking Captagon into Lebanon and beyond.

Calls to demarcate the border date back to the National Dialogue Committee’s first session in 2006, convened by Berri. At Hezbollah’s request, the term “demarcation” was replaced with “delineation,” arguing it was more appropriate for relations between “brotherly nations.” Nevertheless, the issue remained unresolved as Syria refused to engage in formal negotiations, especially before the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, when Damascus consistently blocked references to completing the Taif Agreement or withdrawing Syrian troops from Beirut.

Later attempts during Saad Hariri’s premiership under President Michel Sleiman also stalled when President Bashar al-Assad declined to cooperate, citing other priorities. Illegal crossings continued to proliferate, justified as necessary for Hezbollah’s movement to avoid Israeli monitoring and to maintain unregulated “military routes” for arms smuggling.

Sources revealed that in a Damascus meeting co-chaired by Hariri and Assad, Lebanon requested not only border demarcation but also a review of bilateral agreements under the Treaty of Brotherhood to address their pro-Syrian bias. While the status of the occupied Shebaa Farms was briefly raised, it was withdrawn to avoid jeopardizing talks. Though an agreement was reached to start demarcation from the northern border, Syrian officials later backed out, citing preoccupation with the Jordanian border.

Lebanon has since prepared a detailed file with maps and coordinates, ready to support renewed negotiations under President Ahmad al-Sharaa. Officials believe the time is now ripe to demarcate the border and end agreements that once facilitated Syria’s dominance over Lebanon.