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Zaki Mubarak’s Family: Turkish Authorities Tortured him before his Death

The sister of Zaki Mubarak shows his picture during an interview in their family home in Gaza on April 30. (AFP)
The sister of Zaki Mubarak shows his picture during an interview in their family home in Gaza on April 30. (AFP)
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Zaki Mubarak’s Family: Turkish Authorities Tortured him before his Death

The sister of Zaki Mubarak shows his picture during an interview in their family home in Gaza on April 30. (AFP)
The sister of Zaki Mubarak shows his picture during an interview in their family home in Gaza on April 30. (AFP)

The family of a Palestinian detainee, who died in custody in Turkey, said his body was badly mutilated before his death.

Zaki Mubarak’s tongue was removed, there were effects of blows to his head, deep cut in his foot and an impact of strikes to his chest.

Mubarak was accused by Ankara of espionage in favor of the United Arab Emirates and was allegedly found hanging in a Turkish prison three weeks ago.

His brother Zinedine Mubarak Abu Sbitan told AFP that the family had received the body in a moldy coffin. The body has been since Monday at Palestine Hospital in Cairo and will be transferred to Gaza to be buried.

Zinedine held Turkish authorities responsible for this crime and demanded an impartial international committee to investigate it, denying all charges against his brother.

Another brother Zakaria, who is in Cairo, said he did not want to return his brother's body to Gaza until "we get a doctor's report showing he died due to torture and not suicide."

He told AFP he had seen the body in a Cairo hospital and confirmed the evidence of torture.

Zaki was arrested last month and charged with "military and political" and "international espionage".

The Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office revealed that the suspect, who was arrested along with another on April 28, was found hanging in front of the bathroom in his solitary confinement cell at Silivri Penitentiaries Campus.

Turkish newspapers claimed the two men had links with UAE. The media, further, accused a Palestinian leader of spearheading the coup attempt in Turkey in June 2016, but Zaki’s family denied him having any ties with that official.

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Arab World

Israeli Minister Smotrich Calls for US-led Center for Gaza to Be Shuttered

US and Israeli soldiers convene at the Civil Military Coordination Center, the US-led center overseeing the implementation of President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza, in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel November 17, 2025. REUTERS/Alexander Cornwell
US and Israeli soldiers convene at the Civil Military Coordination Center, the US-led center overseeing the implementation of President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza, in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel November 17, 2025. REUTERS/Alexander Cornwell
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Israeli Minister Smotrich Calls for US-led Center for Gaza to Be Shuttered

US and Israeli soldiers convene at the Civil Military Coordination Center, the US-led center overseeing the implementation of President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza, in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel November 17, 2025. REUTERS/Alexander Cornwell
US and Israeli soldiers convene at the Civil Military Coordination Center, the US-led center overseeing the implementation of President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza, in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel November 17, 2025. REUTERS/Alexander Cornwell

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to shut a US-led multinational coordinating center that supports President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war.

Washington established the Civil Military Coordination Center (CMCC) last October as a center for civilian and military personnel from other countries to work alongside US and Israeli officials on post-war Gaza planning.

"The time has come to dismantle the headquarters in Kiryat Gat," said Smotrich, the far-right cabinet minister, in remarks shared by his office to media, referring to the Israeli city northeast of Gaza where the center is based.

The Israeli prime minister's office, the US State Department ‌and the US ‌military's Central Command did not immediately respond to requests ‌for ⁠comment on the ‌remarks.

Smotrich also said that Britain, Egypt and other countries that are "hostile to Israel and undermine its security" should be removed from the CMCC. The British and Egyptian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Central Command in December said that 60 countries and organizations were represented at the center. The CMCC has also been tasked with facilitating humanitarian aid entering Gaza.

The US-led CMCC was established after Trump announced his 20-point plan to end the war. Germany, ⁠France, and Canada are also among countries that have sent personnel there.

Smotrich, speaking at an event marking the ‌establishment of a new Jewish settlement in the Israeli-occupied West ‍Bank, said that Hamas should be given ‍a "very short" ultimatum to disarm and go into exile, and once that ultimatum expires, ‍the military should storm Gaza with "full force" to destroy the militant group.

"Mr. Prime Minister, it's either us or them. Either full Israeli control, the destruction of Hamas, and the continued long-term suppression of terrorism, encouragement of the enemy's emigration outward and permanent Israeli settlement," he said.

The plan, announced by Trump in September, states that members of Hamas who commit to peaceful coexistence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty. Those who want to leave ⁠Gaza will be given safe passage to other countries.

The White House last week announced that the president's plan to end the war was moving to the second phase, which would include the demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza.

Under the initial phase of the plan, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza that went into effect in October.

Hamas also released the remaining living hostages abducted from Israel during the October 2023 attack, who had been held in Gaza since then. The remains of all but one deceased hostage have been handed over as well.

Since the ceasefire started, Israel has repeatedly carried out air strikes in Gaza which it has said were responding to or fending off attacks carried out by Palestinian militants.

Arab World

Israel Army Says Struck Hezbollah Sites in South Lebanon

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Sohmor, in southern Lebanon on January 15, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Sohmor, in southern Lebanon on January 15, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Army Says Struck Hezbollah Sites in South Lebanon

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Sohmor, in southern Lebanon on January 15, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Sohmor, in southern Lebanon on January 15, 2026. (AFP)

Israel's army said it carried out several strikes against Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon on Monday, despite Lebanon this month announcing progress in disarming the party.

Israel has continued to launch regular strikes in the area even after a ceasefire was agreed with Hezbollah in November 2024 to end more than a year of hostilities.

"A short while ago, the (Israeli military) struck terror infrastructure in several areas of southern Lebanon... used by Hezbollah to conduct drills and training for terrorists" to attack Israeli forces and civilians, the military said in a statement.

It did not specify the exact locations, but Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported "a series of Israeli strikes" on at least five villages -- Ansar, Zarariyeh, Kfar Melki, Nahr al-Shita and Buslaya.

Last week, the Lebanese army said it had completed disarming Hezbollah south of the Litani River in the first phase of a nationwide plan, though Israel described those efforts as insufficient.

The five villages mentioned by NNA lie north of the Litani, an area not included in the first phase of disarmament.

On Friday, another Israeli strike killed one person in Lebanon's south, according to the country's health ministry.

Arab World

Türkiye Sees Deal between Syria, Kurdish Forces as ‘Historic Turning Point’

A group of civilians smash a statue of a Syrian Democratic Forces fighter in the city of Tabqa after the Syrian army took control of it, in Tabqa, Syria, January 18, 2026. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
A group of civilians smash a statue of a Syrian Democratic Forces fighter in the city of Tabqa after the Syrian army took control of it, in Tabqa, Syria, January 18, 2026. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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Türkiye Sees Deal between Syria, Kurdish Forces as ‘Historic Turning Point’

A group of civilians smash a statue of a Syrian Democratic Forces fighter in the city of Tabqa after the Syrian army took control of it, in Tabqa, Syria, January 18, 2026. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
A group of civilians smash a statue of a Syrian Democratic Forces fighter in the city of Tabqa after the Syrian army took control of it, in Tabqa, Syria, January 18, 2026. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Türkiye sees an integration deal between Syria's government and Kurdish forces there as an "historic turning point", ahead of which the Turkish intelligence agency played an intensive role to ensure restraint by parties involved, Turkish security sources said on Monday.

Türkiye, a strong supporter of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, sees the deal ‌as critical ‌to restoring state authority across ‌Syria ⁠and to ‌its own goal of eliminating terrorism at home, including advancing its long-running efforts toward securing peace with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the sources said.

Ankara is the strongest foreign backer of the administration in neighboring Damascus ⁠and had threatened its own military operation against the ‌Syrian Kurdish Democratic Forces (SDF) in the ‍north if the ‍group did not agree to come under ‍central government control, Reuters said.

On Sunday, Syria and the SDF struck a wide-ranging deal to integrate the Kurdish civilian and military authorities, ending days of fighting in which Syrian troops captured territory including key oil fields.

The Turkish security ⁠sources said the fight against ISIS group in Syria would continue uninterrupted despite the agreement.

Türkiye's intelligence agency MIT had been in dialogue with the United States - which mediated the Sunday agreement - and the Syrian government ahead of the deal, the sources said. MIT also maintained intensive contacts to ensure restraint among parties, including protecting civilians and critical infrastructure, in ‌Syria in the run-up to the deal, they added.