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Palestinians Mourn Israel’s Creation amid Outcry over Funeral Raid

Palestinians participate in a rally marking the 74th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, 15 May 2022. (EPA)
Palestinians participate in a rally marking the 74th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, 15 May 2022. (EPA)
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Palestinians Mourn Israel’s Creation amid Outcry over Funeral Raid

Palestinians participate in a rally marking the 74th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, 15 May 2022. (EPA)
Palestinians participate in a rally marking the 74th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, 15 May 2022. (EPA)

Palestinians rallied Sunday to mark the "Nakba," or catastrophe, 74 years after Israel's creation, with condemnation spreading over a police raid on the funeral of a slain journalist.

The annual demonstrations across the occupied West Bank, annexed east Jerusalem and inside Israel came with tensions high over the killing of 51-year-old Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh.

The Palestinian-American was shot dead Wednesday during an Israeli raid in Jenin, a West Bank flashpoint. A Palestinian militant wounded in clashes there, Daoud al-Zubaidi, died from his injuries in an Israeli hospital Sunday.

Israeli police have vowed to investigate the chaos that marred the day of Abu Akleh's funeral, after television footage seen worldwide showed pallbearers struggling to stop the casket from toppling to the ground as baton-wielding police descended upon them, grabbing Palestinian flags.

The scenes Friday sparked international condemnation, including from the United States, United Nations and the European Union, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday calling for a "credible" investigation into Abu Akleh's death as he offered condolences to her family.

Late South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu's foundation said Israeli police "attacking pallbearers" was "chillingly reminiscent of the brutality" seen at the funerals of anti-apartheid activists.

'Unbridled brutality'
Israeli commentators joined the chorus lambasting the raid as Abu Akleh's coffin emerged a Jerusalem hospital.

In leading Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot, Oded Shalom said the footage "documented a shocking display of unbridled brutality and violence".

"The Jerusalem District Police decided to come down like a ton of bricks on anyone who dared to hold a Palestinian flag," Shalom wrote.

"As if holding up a flag -- a mere piece of cloth, for God's sake -- at a funeral procession for an hour or two could have had any impact whatsoever" on Israeli claims to control over Jerusalem, he added.

Israeli police regularly crack down on people holding Palestinian flags.

Thousands of Palestinians streamed through central Ramallah for the main Nakba rally, with crowds also turning out in Gaza City, in the Israeli-blocked strip.

At a student Nakba event at Tel Aviv University (TAU), police said three Arabs were arrested "for attacking demonstrators and police officers."

The arrests followed a confrontation with Im Tirtzu, a right-wing Israeli movement holding a counter rally.

Arab TAU student Aline Nasra said that demonstrators were assaulted by police as they moved to protect one of their members from Im Tirtzu threats.

The right-wing Israelis taunted the Arab students, including with calls that Israel is only for "Jewish people," Nasra said.

Posthumous report
Al Jazeera on Sunday posthumously aired a piece produced by Abu Akleh on the Nakba, which marks Israel's 1948 declaration of independence.

A highly respected reporter, she was killed while wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest marked "Press".

Israel's army said an interim investigation could not determine who fired the fatal bullet, noting that stray Palestinian gunfire or Israeli sniper fire aimed at militants were both possible causes.

The Palestinian public prosecution said an initial probe proved Israeli troops were to blame.

Abu Akleh's posthumously aired piece retraced the fate of the Palestinian people since 1948, with a particular focus on refugees and the displaced.

More than 700,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes during the conflict that surrounded Israel's creation.

One of the latest casualties of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Daoud al-Zubaidi, was the brother of Zakaria, who headed the armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement and briefly escaped from an Israeli prison last year.

The most recent Israeli fatality was special forces police officer Noam Raz, 46, who was shot Friday in Jenin. He was being buried on Sunday.

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Arab World

Iraqi Guards Threatened by ISIS Prisoners

US military vehicles move along a road in a convoy transporting ISIS detainees being transferred to Iraq from Syria, on the outskirts of Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on February 7, 2026. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
US military vehicles move along a road in a convoy transporting ISIS detainees being transferred to Iraq from Syria, on the outskirts of Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on February 7, 2026. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
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Iraqi Guards Threatened by ISIS Prisoners

US military vehicles move along a road in a convoy transporting ISIS detainees being transferred to Iraq from Syria, on the outskirts of Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on February 7, 2026. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
US military vehicles move along a road in a convoy transporting ISIS detainees being transferred to Iraq from Syria, on the outskirts of Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on February 7, 2026. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)

Iraq is continuing to transfer prisoners believed to be mostly ISIS members to its own detention facilities under a previous arrangement with Washington and the US-led coalition fighting the group, Iraqi security sources said.

The move is aimed at preventing jailbreaks following unrest last month in parts of northeastern Syria, which host camps and prisons holding thousands of ISIS fighters and their families.

Iraqi security officials said some detainees threatened Iraqi soldiers and guards during the transfer process, telling them, “We will kill you when we escape from prison,” an indication that the group’s violent ideology persists even while its members are in custody.

Iraq formally agreed last month to receive thousands of ISIS detainees held in northeastern Syria under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a step the government described as preemptive to protect national security and prevent escapes, particularly given the fragile security situation in the area.

At the end of January, Iraq’s National Security Ministerial Council approved the formation of a high-level security committee to fully oversee the transfer process and the handling of detainees, including security, judicial, and logistical aspects.

Prosecutions

The Security Media Cell said on Saturday that Iraq had received 2,250 militants from the Syrian side and had begun judicial classification procedures “in accordance with Iraqi laws in force related to counterterrorism.”

The head of the Security Media Cell, Lt. Gen. Saad Maan, told the state news agency that Iraq had received the 2,250 militants by land and air in coordination with the international coalition, following extensive efforts by the security forces, and that they were being held in tightly secured official facilities.

Maan said the government and security forces were fully prepared to deal with the numbers “to avert danger not only from Iraq, but globally,” adding that specialized teams had started initial investigations and classifying the detainees according to their level of risk, as well as recording their confessions under direct judicial supervision.

He said all those involved in crimes against Iraq and affiliated with ISIS would be tried before competent Iraqi courts, noting that the foreign ministry was in continuous contact with several countries regarding detainees of other nationalities.

He added that the process of handing over militants to their home countries would begin once legal requirements were completed. At the same time, security agencies continued their field and investigative duties in the case.

In the same context, the Supreme Judicial Council announced last week the opening of investigation procedures into 1,387 ISIS members who were recently received from Syrian territory.

Former judge Rahim al-Uqaili previously told Asharq Al-Awsat that detainees transferred from Syria could be tried before Iraqi criminal courts if they were charged with committing crimes outside Iraq that affected internal or external state security, among other offenses.

He expressed doubt, however, about the possibility of obtaining conclusive evidence in some cases.

Tight transfer measures

Security sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that most detainees transferred from Syria were being held in prisons and detention centers in Baghdad and Hilla, both of which host highly fortified facilities.

They said the Counter Terrorism Service was supervising the transport and distribution process, adding that detainees’ hands and feet were bound and their faces covered. Some hurled insults and direct death threats at guards if they managed to escape, while others remained silent.

The sources said security personnel had strict orders not to speak with or interact with detainees, and that most guards were unaware of the detainees' nationalities, as part of measures aimed at reducing risks and preventing communication or security breaches.

Arab World

Head of Arab World Institute in Paris Resigns over Epstein-linked tax Fraud Probe

(FILES) France's former culture minister and president of Paris's famed Arab World Institute (AWI), Jack Lang, poses on January 28, 2013 in Paris. (Photo by Martin BUREAU / AFP)
(FILES) France's former culture minister and president of Paris's famed Arab World Institute (AWI), Jack Lang, poses on January 28, 2013 in Paris. (Photo by Martin BUREAU / AFP)
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Head of Arab World Institute in Paris Resigns over Epstein-linked tax Fraud Probe

(FILES) France's former culture minister and president of Paris's famed Arab World Institute (AWI), Jack Lang, poses on January 28, 2013 in Paris. (Photo by Martin BUREAU / AFP)
(FILES) France's former culture minister and president of Paris's famed Arab World Institute (AWI), Jack Lang, poses on January 28, 2013 in Paris. (Photo by Martin BUREAU / AFP)

France’s former Culture Minister Jack Lang has resigned as head of a Paris cultural center over alleged past financial links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that prompted a tax investigation.

Lang was summoned to appear at the French Foreign Ministry, which oversees the Arab World Institute, on Sunday, but he submitted his resignation.

He is the highest-profile figure in France impacted by the release of Epstein files on Jan. 30 by the US Department of Justice, known for his role as a culture minister under Socialist President François Mitterrand in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Foreign Ministry confirmed his resignation Saturday evening.

The financial prosecutors' office said it had opened an investigation into Lang and his daughter, Caroline, over alleged “aggravated tax fraud laundering.”

French investigative news website Mediapart reported last week on alleged financial and business ties between the Lang family and Jeffrey Epstein through an offshore company based in the US Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea.

Jack Lang's name was mentioned more than 600 times in the Epstein files, showing intermittent correspondence between 2012 and 2019. His daughter was also in the released files.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has “taken note” of Lang's resignation and began the process to look for his successor, the foreign ministry said.
Lang headed the Arab World Institute since 2013.

Arab World

Lebanon PM Pledges Reconstruction on Visit to Ruined Border Towns

This handout picture released by the Lebanese Government Press Office shows Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam being showered with confetti as he is received by locals during a tour in the heavily-damaged southern village of Dhayra near the border with Israel on February 7, 2026. (Lebanese Government Press Office / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Lebanese Government Press Office shows Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam being showered with confetti as he is received by locals during a tour in the heavily-damaged southern village of Dhayra near the border with Israel on February 7, 2026. (Lebanese Government Press Office / AFP)
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Lebanon PM Pledges Reconstruction on Visit to Ruined Border Towns

This handout picture released by the Lebanese Government Press Office shows Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam being showered with confetti as he is received by locals during a tour in the heavily-damaged southern village of Dhayra near the border with Israel on February 7, 2026. (Lebanese Government Press Office / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Lebanese Government Press Office shows Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam being showered with confetti as he is received by locals during a tour in the heavily-damaged southern village of Dhayra near the border with Israel on February 7, 2026. (Lebanese Government Press Office / AFP)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam visited heavily damaged towns near the Israeli border on Saturday, pledging reconstruction.

It was his first trip to the southern border area since the army said it finished disarming Hezbollah there, in January.

Swathes of south Lebanon's border areas remain in ruins and largely deserted more than a year after a US-brokered November 2024 ceasefire sought to end hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed group.

Lebanon's government has committed to disarming Hezbollah, and the army last month said it had completed the first phase of its plan to do so, covering the area between the Litani River and the Israeli border about 30 kilometers (20 miles) further south.

Visiting Tayr Harfa, around three kilometers from the border, and nearby Yarine, Salam said frontier towns and villages had suffered "a true catastrophe".

He vowed authorities would begin key projects including restoring roads, communications networks and water in the two towns.

Locals gathered on the rubble of buildings to greet Salam and the delegation of accompanying officials in nearby Dhayra, some waving Lebanese flags.

In a meeting in Bint Jbeil, further east, with officials including lawmakers from Hezbollah and its ally the Amal movement, Salam said authorities would "rehabilitate 32 kilometers of roads, reconnect the severed communications network, repair water infrastructure" and power lines in the district.

Last year, the World Bank announced it had approved $250 million to support Lebanon's post-war reconstruction, after estimating that it would cost around $11 billion in total.

Salam said funds including from the World Bank would be used for the reconstruction and rehabilitation projects.

The second phase of the government's disarmament plan for Hezbollah concerns the area between the Litani and the Awali rivers, around 40 kilometers south of Beirut.

Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of rearming, has criticized the army's progress as insufficient, while Hezbollah has rejected calls to surrender its weapons.

Despite the truce, Israel has kept up regular strikes on what it usually says are Hezbollah targets and maintains troops in five south Lebanon areas.

Lebanese officials have accused Israel of seeking to prevent reconstruction in the heavily damaged south with repeated strikes on bulldozers, excavators and prefabricated houses.

Visiting French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Friday said the reform of Lebanon's banking system needed to precede international funding for reconstruction efforts.

The French diplomat met Lebanon's army chief Rodolphe Haykal on Saturday, the military said.