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Israel Says Killed Spokesman for Hamas Armed Wing

Abu Obeida (R), spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, delivers a statement in Gaza City late on July 8, 2015. (AFP)
Abu Obeida (R), spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, delivers a statement in Gaza City late on July 8, 2015. (AFP)
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Israel Says Killed Spokesman for Hamas Armed Wing

Abu Obeida (R), spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, delivers a statement in Gaza City late on July 8, 2015. (AFP)
Abu Obeida (R), spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, delivers a statement in Gaza City late on July 8, 2015. (AFP)

Israel said Sunday its forces had killed the spokesman of Hamas's armed wing in a strike on Gaza a day earlier, the latest fatality in the group's senior ranks in the nearly two-year war.

"Hamas terror spokesperson Abu Obeida was eliminated in Gaza," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a post on X, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier said he had been targeted in a strike.

Israel has decimated Hamas's leadership during 23 months of devastating fighting in the Gaza Strip, saying it seeks to eradicate the armed group and return hostages seized by Palestinian fighters in their October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war.

On the ground, as the sun rose on Sunday, smoke drifted into the sky above Gaza City and residents came to inspect the damage at a tent, crumpled in a strike, with bloodstained blankets strewn in the rubble.

Ashraf Abu Amsha, a displaced Palestinian sheltering in the area, said that "horror, fear, destruction, and fire erupted in all the tents."

Israeli forces have been preparing for an offensive to seize Gaza City, the largest urban center in the Palestinian territory, intensifying bombardments in the area in recent days and warning of imminent evacuation.

Hamas meanwhile has not commented on the killing of Abu Obeida, whose real name according to the Israeli military is Hudaifa al-Kahlut.

Since the war began, he had issued dozens of televised speeches, always appearing in military fatigues and a red keffiyeh scarf to obscure his face, and published audio messages, press releases and social media posts.

Iman Rajab, who lives in the displacement camp near Gaza City that residents said was hit by Israel overnight, told AFP that "we are now afraid of the night and of sleeping in our tents."

"We pray to God for the war to end because we are very tired from the displacement, the fear and the hunger," said Rajab.

The vast majority of the Gaza Strip's more than two million residents have been displaced at least once during the war.

The UN estimates that nearly a million people currently live in Gaza City and its surroundings, where famine has been declared.

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli strikes and gunfire across the territory on Sunday killed at least 24 people, 15 of whom near aid distribution sites.

Asked for comment by AFP, the Israeli military requested coordinates to look into the agency's reports.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency or the Israeli military.

Israel's killing of Abu Obeida is the latest in a string of attacks targeting senior Hamas figures, including leader Yahya Sinwar who was accused by Israel of masterminding the 2023 attack.

Israeli operations have also killed Hamas's political chief Ismail Haniyeh, the head of its armed wing Mohammed Deif, and other commanders and political figures, considerably weakening the movement.

Earlier on Sunday, Hamas confirmed the death of Mohammed Sinwar, the group's presumed leader in Gaza, more than three months after Israel said it had killed him in an air strike.

Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 63,459 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

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Arab World

Over 4,500 ISIS Detainees Brought to Iraq from Syria, Says Official

Vehicles transporting ISIS detainees by the US military, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, head from Syria towards Iraq, in Qamishli, Syria, February 8, 2026. (Reuters)
Vehicles transporting ISIS detainees by the US military, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, head from Syria towards Iraq, in Qamishli, Syria, February 8, 2026. (Reuters)
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Over 4,500 ISIS Detainees Brought to Iraq from Syria, Says Official

Vehicles transporting ISIS detainees by the US military, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, head from Syria towards Iraq, in Qamishli, Syria, February 8, 2026. (Reuters)
Vehicles transporting ISIS detainees by the US military, according to a security source from the Syrian Democratic Forces, head from Syria towards Iraq, in Qamishli, Syria, February 8, 2026. (Reuters)

More than 4,500 suspected extremists have been transferred from Syria to Iraq as part of a US operation to relocate ISIS group detainees, an Iraqi official told AFP on Tuesday.

The detainees are among around 7,000 suspects the US military began transferring last month after Syrian government forces captured Kurdish-held territory where they had been held by Kurdish fighters.

They include Syrians, Iraqis and Europeans, among other nationalities.

Saad Maan, a spokesperson for the Iraqi government's security information unit, told AFP that 4,583 detainees had been brought to Iraq so far.

ISIS swept across swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014 where it committed massacres. Backed by US-led forces, Iraq proclaimed the defeat of ISIS in 2017, while in neighboring Syria the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces ultimately beat back the group two years later.

The SDF went on to jail thousands of suspected extremists and detain tens of thousands of their relatives in camps.

In Iraq, where many prisons are packed with ISIS suspects, courts have handed down hundreds of death sentences and life terms to those convicted of terrorism offences, including many foreign fighters.

This month Iraq's judiciary said it had begun investigations into detainees transferred from Syria.

Arab World

UN Force to Withdraw Most Troops from Lebanon by Mid-2027

An Italian UN peacekeeper soldier stands guard at a road that links to a United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) base, in Naqoura town, Lebanon, on May 4, 2021. (AP)
An Italian UN peacekeeper soldier stands guard at a road that links to a United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) base, in Naqoura town, Lebanon, on May 4, 2021. (AP)
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UN Force to Withdraw Most Troops from Lebanon by Mid-2027

An Italian UN peacekeeper soldier stands guard at a road that links to a United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) base, in Naqoura town, Lebanon, on May 4, 2021. (AP)
An Italian UN peacekeeper soldier stands guard at a road that links to a United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) base, in Naqoura town, Lebanon, on May 4, 2021. (AP)

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon plans to withdraw most of its troops by mid 2027, its spokesperson told AFP on Tuesday, after the peacekeepers' mandate expires this year.

UNIFIL has acted as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon for decades and has been assisting the Lebanese army as it dismantles Hezbollah infrastructure near the Israeli border after a recent war between Israel and the Iran-backed group.

Under pressure from the United States and Israel, the UN Security Council voted last year to end the force's mandate on December 31, 2026, with an "orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal" within one year.

Spokesperson Kandice Ardiel, said that "UNIFIL is planning to draw down and withdraw all, or substantially all, uniformed personnel by mid-year 2027", completing the pullout by year end.

After UNIFIL operations cease on December 31 this year, she said that "we begin the process of sending UNIFIL personnel and equipment home and transferring our UN positions to the Lebanese authorities".

During the withdrawal, the force will only be authorized to perform limited tasks such as protecting UN personnel and bases and overseeing a safe departure.

Despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon, mainly saying it is targeting Hezbollah, and has maintained troops in five border areas.

UNIFIL patrols near the border and monitors violations of a UN resolution that ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and which forms the basis of the current ceasefire.

It has repeatedly reported Israeli fire at or near its personnel since the truce.

Ardiel said UNIFIL had reduced the number of peacekeepers in south Lebanon by almost 2,000 in recent months, "with a couple hundred more set to leave by May".

The force now counts some 7,500 peacekeepers from 48 countries.

She said the reduction was "a direct result" of a UN-wide financial crisis "and the cost-saving measures all missions have been forced to implement", and unrelated to the end of the force's mandate.

Lebanese authorities want a continued international troop presence in the south after UNIFIL's exit, even if its numbers are limited, and have been urging European countries to stay.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in Beirut this month that Lebanon's army should replace the force when the peacekeepers withdraw.

Italy has said it intends to keep a military presence in Lebanon after UNIFIL leaves.

Arab World

Israeli Strikes Kill 3 People in Gaza, Hospital Says

Makeshift tents of displaced Palestinian families next to the beach in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 09 February 2026. (EPA)
Makeshift tents of displaced Palestinian families next to the beach in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 09 February 2026. (EPA)
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Israeli Strikes Kill 3 People in Gaza, Hospital Says

Makeshift tents of displaced Palestinian families next to the beach in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 09 February 2026. (EPA)
Makeshift tents of displaced Palestinian families next to the beach in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 09 February 2026. (EPA)

Israeli military strikes on Monday killed three people west of Gaza City, according to the hospital where the casualties arrived.

Shifa Hospital reported the deaths amid the months-old ceasefire that has seen continued fighting. The Israeli army said Monday it is striking targets in response to Israeli troops coming under fire in the southern city of Rafah, which it says was a violation of the ceasefire. The army said it is striking targets “in a precise manner."

The four-month-old US-backed ceasefire followed stalled negotiations and included Israel and Hamas accepting a 20-point plan proposed by US President Donald Trump aimed at ending the war unleashed by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel. At the time, Trump said it would lead to a “strong, durable, and everlasting peace.”

Hamas freed all the living hostages it still held at the outset of the deal in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and the remains of others.

But the larger issues the agreement sought to address, including the future governance of the strip, were met with reservations, and the US offered no firm timeline.

Rafah crossing improving, official says

The Palestinian official set to oversee day-to-day affairs in Gaza said on Monday that passage through the Rafah crossing with Egypt is starting to improve after a chaotic first week of reopening marked by confusion, delays and a limited number of crossings.

Ali Shaath, head of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, told Egypt’s Al-Qahera News that operations at the crossing were improving on Sunday.

He said 88 Palestinians were scheduled to travel through Rafah on Monday, more than have crossed in the initial days since reopening. Israel did not immediately confirm the figures.

The European Union border mission at the crossing said in a statement Sunday that 284 Palestinians had crossed since reopening. Travelers included people returning after having fled the war and medical evacuees and their escorts. In total, 53 medical evacuees departed during the first five days of operations.

That remains well below the agreed target of 50 medical evacuees exiting and 50 returnees entering daily, negotiated by Israeli, Egyptian, Palestinian and international officials.

Shaath and other members of the committee remain in Egypt, without Israeli authorization to enter the war-battered enclave.

The Rafah crossing opened last week for the first time since mid-2024, one of the main requirements for the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. It was closed Friday and Saturday because of confusion around operations.

Palestinian officials say nearly 20,000 people are seeking to leave Gaza for medical care unavailable in its largely destroyed health system.

Palestinians who returned to Gaza in the first days after the crossing reopened described hourslong delays and invasive searches by Israeli authorities and an Israeli-backed Palestinian armed group, Abu Shabab. Israel denied mistreatment.

Gaza's Health Ministry said on Monday that five people were killed over the previous 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 581 since the October ceasefire. The truce led to the return of the remaining hostages — both living captives and bodies — from the 251 abducted during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war.

Hamas-led fighters killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the attack. Israel’s military offensive has since killed over 72,000 Palestinians, according to the ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government and is staffed by medical professionals. The UN and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on war casualties.