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Israeli Police Confiscate Money, Cars of Released Prisoners Karim, Maher Younes

Released prisoner Maher Younes with his relatives. (EPA)
Released prisoner Maher Younes with his relatives. (EPA)
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Israeli Police Confiscate Money, Cars of Released Prisoners Karim, Maher Younes

Released prisoner Maher Younes with his relatives. (EPA)
Released prisoner Maher Younes with his relatives. (EPA)

An Israeli police unit raided the family home of the two freed prisoners, Karim and Maher Younes, and seized money worth about $150,000 and a car belonging to the family.

The police said they carried out this operation on the orders of Minister Yoav Galant, who claimed that the two prisoners received the money and the vehicle from the financial allocations transferred to them by the Palestinian Authority (PA).

A source close to Galant stated that the order came on the recommendation of the economic anti-terrorism authority in the Ministry of Defense, claiming that new financial allocations had arrived from the PA.

A Younes family source asserted that the money and the vehicles were the family's property, explaining they were allocated to the two prisoners as a gift to facilitate their lives and compensate for their long years of captivity.

He described the Israeli seizure as a "robbery" in line with the series of repressive measures implemented by Israeli authorities against Palestinian prisoners and their families.

Israeli authorities released Karim earlier this month and Maher last week after spending nearly 40 years in Israeli prisons.

Israel was angered by the warm reception the brothers received upon their release.

Israeli had authorities carried out several raids against the family's homes and interrogated several family members, including women.

On Monday, police forces raided Karim's house and detaining two of his relatives for investigation. They also confiscated banners and pictures the family had hung up for the celebrations.

The Israeli government has started enacting a law - tailored with the two prisoners in mind - that aims to deport any citizen convicted of terrorism after serving their sentence and if they had received a salary or allowances from the PA.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir had declared he would not rest until Karim and Maher Younes were expelled to Syria.

Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri had submitted a request to the judicial adviser to the government to deport Younis' relatives.

Karim was elected a member of Fatah's Central Committee while he was in captivity, and given his position, he receives allocations for his political activity.

Israeli intelligence is trying to push him to leave his homeland or move to the West Bank.

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Arab World

Syrian Leader Pledges to Work with Germany on Migration, Recovery

Interim Syria President Ahmed al-Sharaa smiles during the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP)
Interim Syria President Ahmed al-Sharaa smiles during the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP)
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Syrian Leader Pledges to Work with Germany on Migration, Recovery

Interim Syria President Ahmed al-Sharaa smiles during the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP)
Interim Syria President Ahmed al-Sharaa smiles during the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP)

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Monday pledged to work with Germany to enable more Syrians to return home and rebuild their country after its devastating civil war, as he made a historic visit to Berlin.

Europe's top economy is home to the largest Syrian diaspora in the European Union at more than a million, many of whom arrived during the peak of the migrant influx in 2015-2016.

After meeting Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Sharaa said that "we are working with our friends in the German government to establish a 'circular' migration model", AFP reported.

This would "enable Syrians to contribute to the reconstruction of their homeland without giving up the stability and lives they have built here, for those who wish to stay", he said.

Merz, who has made a tougher immigration policy a priority since taking office last year, also said he and Sharaa were "working jointly towards more Syrians being able to return to their homeland".

Sharaa was speaking on his first trip to Germany since ousting his country's longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad in late 2024.

He has managed to build relations with Western governments and made several overseas trips, including to the United States, France and Russia.

As a result, many international sanctions on Syria have been lifted to help the country rebuild after a bloody 14-year civil war.

Earlier, Sharaa told a foreign ministry forum in Berlin that Syria had experienced a "huge amount of destruction" during its long conflict, saying that Syrians "want to catch up with the rest of the world" as Germany did after World War II.

He pointed to investment opportunities in Syria's energy, transport and tourism sectors, describing his homeland as very diverse and with "a great wealth of human resources".

Merz said Germany wanted to "support" reconstruction in Syria as it struggles to rebuild after a long and bloody civil war, adding that a German government delegation would travel to the Middle Eastern country in the next few days.

However, Merz also said that he had stressed to Sharaa in their meeting "that many joint projects in the future will depend on our finding a state governed by the rule of law".

Arab World

Lebanon Judge Completes Investigation into Port Blast

A view shows the partially collapsed grain silos, damaged in the August 4, 2020 Beirut port blast as Lebanon marks third anniversary of the explosion on Friday, in Beirut Lebanon August 2, 2023. REUTERS/Issam Abdallah
A view shows the partially collapsed grain silos, damaged in the August 4, 2020 Beirut port blast as Lebanon marks third anniversary of the explosion on Friday, in Beirut Lebanon August 2, 2023. REUTERS/Issam Abdallah
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Lebanon Judge Completes Investigation into Port Blast

A view shows the partially collapsed grain silos, damaged in the August 4, 2020 Beirut port blast as Lebanon marks third anniversary of the explosion on Friday, in Beirut Lebanon August 2, 2023. REUTERS/Issam Abdallah
A view shows the partially collapsed grain silos, damaged in the August 4, 2020 Beirut port blast as Lebanon marks third anniversary of the explosion on Friday, in Beirut Lebanon August 2, 2023. REUTERS/Issam Abdallah

Lebanese judge Tarek Bitar has completed his investigation into the 2020 Beirut port blast, a years-long case that involves possible charges against dozens of people, a judicial official told AFP on Monday.

Since 2023, the investigation into the massive Beirut port explosion, which killed more than 220 people on August 4, 2020, has been in jeopardy after Hezbollah led a campaign demanding the removal of Bitar, who was later hit with dozens of lawsuits to remove him from the case.

Bitar resumed his investigation last year as Lebanon's balance of power shifted following a 2023-2024 war between Israel and Hezbollah that weakened the Iran-backed militant group.

"The investigating judge in the Beirut port explosion case, Tarek Bitar, decided to conclude his investigations into the case and referred the entire file to public prosecutor Jamal Hajjar," the official told AFP.

The number of defendants in the case reached around 70 people, including politicians, security and military officials and civil servants, according to the official.

The prosecutor will study the file and present his opinion and then refer it again to Bitar "who will issue his indictment and determine the responsibility for each of the defendants".

Bitar is supposed to "make a decision regarding about 20 defendants who appeared before him since the beginning of 2025" on whether to "detain them, set them free or conditionally release them", the official said.

Bitar has already made his decision regarding the remaining 50, including politicians and judges who refused to appear before him for questioning, according to the official.

No one is currently detained in relation to the port blast.

Lebanese authorities say the explosion was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertiliser had been stored haphazardly for years, despite repeated warnings to senior officials.

Arab World

Egypt Says Only Trump Can Stop War, Warns Oil Could Top $200

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during a bilateral meeting at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 21, 2026. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during a bilateral meeting at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 21, 2026. (Reuters)
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Egypt Says Only Trump Can Stop War, Warns Oil Could Top $200

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during a bilateral meeting at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 21, 2026. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during a bilateral meeting at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 21, 2026. (Reuters)

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged US President Donald Trump on Monday to stop the Iran war and said fears of the oil price going above $200 were not exaggerated.

"I tell President Trump: nobody can stop the war in our region in the Gulf but you," Sisi said at the Egypt Energy Show 2026 energy conference in Cairo.

Noting ‌the impact ‌of supply shortages and price ‌rises, ⁠Sisi cited analysts' concerns ⁠that "the price of a barrel of oil could reach more than $200, and this is not an exaggeration."

Egypt has condemned Iranian attacks on Gulf Arab ⁠states and pushed diplomatic efforts ‌to avoid a wider regional ‌war.

The secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council ‌bloc, Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, urged the international community ‌to protect vital maritime corridors, condemning Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz and its attacks on regional energy infrastructure.

Addressing the conference virtually, he said Iranian aggression ‌was a threat to the world.

"The brutal Iranian threats against energy ⁠facilities ⁠and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz constitute not only a blatant violation of international law but also a direct threat to global energy," he said.

The GCC, grouping Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, has faced drone and missile attacks. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has choked off a crucial route that previously handled about a fifth of global oil supplies.