One SDF Fighter Killed in Attack by ISIS in Eastern Syria

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters sit on a vehicle in the north of Raqqa city, Syria. (Reuters file)
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters sit on a vehicle in the north of Raqqa city, Syria. (Reuters file)
TT

One SDF Fighter Killed in Attack by ISIS in Eastern Syria

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters sit on a vehicle in the north of Raqqa city, Syria. (Reuters file)
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters sit on a vehicle in the north of Raqqa city, Syria. (Reuters file)

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a group led by Kurdish fighters, said on Monday that one of its fighters was killed and another injured in an attack by ISIS in Syria's eastern Deir Ezzor region.

The SDF was the main fighting force allied to the United States in Syria during fighting that defeated ISIS in 2019 after the group seized swathes of Syria and Iraq.

The SDF reached an agreement in March to integrate with the Syrian government, now led by former opposition groups that toppled President Bashar al-Assad last year.

Syria's new authorities have clashed with ISIS fighters, particularly in the east. Last month ISIS killed five SDF fighters in one of the deadliest recent attacks against the group.



Israel Far-right Minister Warns Beirut Suburb Faces Devastation Like Gaza

Fires erupt from buildings damaged in an early morning Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on March 3, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
Fires erupt from buildings damaged in an early morning Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on March 3, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
TT

Israel Far-right Minister Warns Beirut Suburb Faces Devastation Like Gaza

Fires erupt from buildings damaged in an early morning Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on March 3, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
Fires erupt from buildings damaged in an early morning Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on March 3, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned Thursday that a southern Beirut suburb, a stronghold of Hezbollah, will face devastation similar to Gaza after the Israeli military told residents to evacuate.

"Very soon Dahiyeh will resemble Khan Yunis," Smotrich said, referring to a southern Gaza city which has been heavily damaged by Israeli bombardments during the two-year war with Hamas, AFP reported.

"Hezbollah made a mistake, and it will pay a heavy price. We are striking at the head of the octopus in Iran, and at the same time we will sever Hezbollah's arm," he said in a video statement as he visited Israel's northern border.


HRW Says Israel's Lebanon Evacuation Risks Violating Laws of War

Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 4, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 4, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
TT

HRW Says Israel's Lebanon Evacuation Risks Violating Laws of War

Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 4, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 4, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that the Israeli military's call for residents of vast areas of southern Lebanon to evacuate raised "serious risks of violations of the laws of war".

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war when Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel with Israel conducting air strikes across the country and its troops pushing into border towns.

On Thursday, Israel renewed its warning to residents of hundreds of square kilometres (miles) of southern Lebanon to evacuate because of military action, AFP reported.

"Calling on everyone who lives south of the Litani (River) to evacuate immediately raises serious legal and humanitarian red flags and fears for the safety of civilians," said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch.

"How are older people, the sick and people with disabilities going to be able to evacuate immediately? And how will their safety be guaranteed as they leave?" he said in a statement from the rights group.

HRW said "the sweeping nature" of Israel's call raised "concerns that their purpose is not to protect civilians", adding that the area was home to hundreds of thousands of people.

The evacuation call "raises serious risks of violations of the laws of war", it added.

Lebanese authorities said dozens of people have been killed and tens of thousands displaced from their homes since Monday.


Lebanese Government Bans All Activity by Iran Guards in Lebanon

A general view shows the parliament building, ahead of the parliamentary election, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon May 12, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A general view shows the parliament building, ahead of the parliamentary election, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon May 12, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
TT

Lebanese Government Bans All Activity by Iran Guards in Lebanon

A general view shows the parliament building, ahead of the parliamentary election, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon May 12, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A general view shows the parliament building, ahead of the parliamentary election, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon May 12, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

The Lebanese government said on Thursday it would ban any activity by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps -- a main backer of the militant group Hezbollah -- and seek to deport its members from Lebanon, AFP reported.

Information Minister Paul Morcos said the country's cabinet had decided to "prevent any activity" that members of the Iran Guards "may carry out from Lebanese territory... and to have them detained by the competent judiciary to deport them".

He added that Iranians would now require a visa to enter Lebanon.