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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
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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.

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Arab World

US Issues Sanctions on Hezbollah-linked Targets

A man walks with a boy, carrying a Hezbollah flag, past a mural depicting former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other senior figures near the burial site of Hassan Nasrallah on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 17, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A man walks with a boy, carrying a Hezbollah flag, past a mural depicting former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other senior figures near the burial site of Hassan Nasrallah on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 17, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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US Issues Sanctions on Hezbollah-linked Targets

A man walks with a boy, carrying a Hezbollah flag, past a mural depicting former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other senior figures near the burial site of Hassan Nasrallah on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 17, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A man walks with a boy, carrying a Hezbollah flag, past a mural depicting former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other senior figures near the burial site of Hassan Nasrallah on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 17, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Washington has issued new "counter ‌terrorism" ‌sanctions ​targeting ‌individuals ⁠and entities ​linked to ⁠Lebanon’s ‌Hezbollah, details ‌posted ​to ‌the US‌ Treasury Department's ‌website on Thursday showed.

It announced sanctions against several Lebanese officials it said were aligned with Hezbollah and members of the sanctioned ⁠Alaa Hassan Hamieh ⁠business network for obstructing Lebanon’s peace process and delaying the disarmament of Hezbollah.

The Treasury said its Office of Foreign Assets Control was also designating individuals in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, who it said were raising ⁠funds ⁠and operating front companies to generate revenue for Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group.
 

Arab World

Paris Awards Honorary Citizenship to Palestinian Civilians, Journalists

Paris' mayor Emmanuel Gregoire delivers a speech during the launch of a Citizens' Convention on Protecting Children and Their Time at School at Paris city hall in central Paris on May 18, 2026. (Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP)
Paris' mayor Emmanuel Gregoire delivers a speech during the launch of a Citizens' Convention on Protecting Children and Their Time at School at Paris city hall in central Paris on May 18, 2026. (Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP)
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Paris Awards Honorary Citizenship to Palestinian Civilians, Journalists

Paris' mayor Emmanuel Gregoire delivers a speech during the launch of a Citizens' Convention on Protecting Children and Their Time at School at Paris city hall in central Paris on May 18, 2026. (Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP)
Paris' mayor Emmanuel Gregoire delivers a speech during the launch of a Citizens' Convention on Protecting Children and Their Time at School at Paris city hall in central Paris on May 18, 2026. (Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP)

The City of Paris on Thursday granted honorary citizenship to Palestinian civilians and journalists, in a symbolic gesture of support for "the suffering the Palestinian people."

"Honorary citizenship is not just a symbol, but a commitment to peace. We are extending a hand to an entire people," Emmanuel Gregoire, the capital's Socialist mayor, said before the Council of Paris.

He spoke in the presence of the Palestinian representative in France, Hala Abou-Hassira, who received a long round of applause.

"Recognizing the suffering of the Palestinian people in no way erases that of the Israeli people," AFP quoted Gregoire as saying.

"We will never forget October 7, 2023," he added, stressing that the French capital had earlier granted honorary citizenship to the hostages of Palestinian militant group Hamas.

A resolution adopted by the Council of Paris said "the humanitarian situation of Gaza's population remains dramatic".

The right voted against the resolution, pointing to a resurgence of antisemitic acts in France.

Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data.

It sparked the war in Gaza, where a ceasefire in effect since October last year has largely halted fighting.

The war has reduced much of the Palestinian territory to rubble, with an estimated death toll of more than 73,000 people, the majority of them civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

Last week, Paris hosted a meeting of Palestinian and Israeli civil society groups, who urged global leaders to take urgent action and help implement a permanent ceasefire.

France as well as Britain, Canada and several other countries recognized a Palestinian state last year. Paris has earlier bestowed honorary citizenship on the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

Arab World

Israel Military Says will Keep Operating in South Lebanon

A child flashes a victory sign as he and his family return to their village with their belongings on a highway near the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A child flashes a victory sign as he and his family return to their village with their belongings on a highway near the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Israel Military Says will Keep Operating in South Lebanon

A child flashes a victory sign as he and his family return to their village with their belongings on a highway near the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A child flashes a victory sign as he and his family return to their village with their belongings on a highway near the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

The Israeli military said on Thursday it will continue operating in southern Lebanon and "remove threats" beyond its so-called security zone, after the US and Iran signed an agreement to end the Middle East war, including in Lebanon.

The military published a map of its declared "security zone" -- which runs some 10 kilometres (six miles) inside Lebanese territory.

It said troops would continue to be deployed there "to remove threats and strengthen the defence of Israel's northern residents".

In a later statement, an Israeli military official said the army "will continue to remove threats to soldiers and the civilians of the State of Israel that are identified beyond the security zone".

The announcement came after the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday meant to end the Middle East war, with fighting supposed to be halted on all fronts, including in Lebanon.

Hours after the agreement was signed, Lebanese state media reported one person killed in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon.

Israel's military meanwhile announced the death of one of its soldiers the night before during an incident in south Lebanon that also left seven other troops wounded.

The military official on Thursday called on the Lebanese Armed Forces to operate in coordination with Israeli forces and urged Lebanese civilians to avoid entering the security zone.

Since Iran and the US announced they had reached an agreement on Monday, there has been a sharp decrease in the level of violence in Lebanon.

Lebanon and Israel have been holding direct talks in Washington since April, seeking to end the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah and separate their conflict from the wider regional war.

"Further steps are still being discussed within the framework of direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon," the Israeli military official said on Thursday, adding that "the representatives will reconvene next week".