Last Australians Leave Syria Camp Holding Suspected Militant Relatives

Zeinab Ahmad, one of two women linked to alleged ISIS militants, is seen being taken away in an armored police vehicle outside the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in Melbourne on May 8, 2026, following her court appearance. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP)
Zeinab Ahmad, one of two women linked to alleged ISIS militants, is seen being taken away in an armored police vehicle outside the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in Melbourne on May 8, 2026, following her court appearance. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP)
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Last Australians Leave Syria Camp Holding Suspected Militant Relatives

Zeinab Ahmad, one of two women linked to alleged ISIS militants, is seen being taken away in an armored police vehicle outside the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in Melbourne on May 8, 2026, following her court appearance. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP)
Zeinab Ahmad, one of two women linked to alleged ISIS militants, is seen being taken away in an armored police vehicle outside the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in Melbourne on May 8, 2026, following her court appearance. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP)

The last Australian women and children held in a northeast Syria camp housing relatives of suspected foreign militants left the site this week seeking to return home, a camp official told AFP on Saturday.

"Twenty-one Australians left Roj camp" on Thursday -- seven women and 14 children, aged eight to 14 -- the Kurdish administrative official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Syrian Kurdish forces control the Roj camp, where relatives of suspected foreign militants including Westerners have been held for years.

"They were handed over to the Syrian government and transferred to the Syrian capital with the aim of sending them to Australia," the official said, adding: "There are no more Australians remaining in Roj."

Earlier this month, 13 more Australians -- four women and their nine children -- flew home from Syria.

Two of the women, a mother and a daughter, were arrested on arrival, with police accusing them of having kept a female slave after travelling to Syria in 2014 to support the ISIS, and of crimes against humanity.

They had been detained by Kurdish forces in 2019.

A third woman was also arrested on arrival in Australia and charged with entering a restricted area and joining a "terrorist organization.”

The fourth woman was not arrested.

Small groups of women and children flew back to Australia in 2019, 2022 and 2025.



At Oct 7 Memorial, Netanyahu Says Will Be No Hamas Rule in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the State Memorial Ceremony for the three year anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack - REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the State Memorial Ceremony for the three year anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack - REUTERS
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At Oct 7 Memorial, Netanyahu Says Will Be No Hamas Rule in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the State Memorial Ceremony for the three year anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack - REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the State Memorial Ceremony for the three year anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack - REUTERS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday vowed there would be no Hamas rule in Gaza as he attended a memorial event marking three years since the October 7, 2023 attack.

Speaking during a state ceremony at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said "we have achieved enormous accomplishments, but there are still missions ahead of us, and we intend to complete them".

"There will be no Hamas rule in Gaza," he added, vowing to continue targeting anyone who was involved in the attack or who held hostages.

The Hamas-led attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants also dragged 251 hostages into Gaza, 44 of them already dead.

In response, Israel launched a massive military offensive that has killed more than 74,200 people in Gaza, according to the territory's health ministry, which is under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

Since a ceasefire was declared last October, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,440 people in Gaza, according to the ministry.

Plans for Gaza's post-war governance have begun to take shape, but the issue remains largely unresolved in practice.

Since Hamas's October 2023 attack, Israel has fought wars on several fronts, including against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

During his speech on Monday, Netanyahu also vowed to keep striking Hezbollah to "create an opportunity for peace with a country whose people, for the most part, want peace with us".

Netanyahu also hit out at the clerical leadership in Iran, where Israel and the United States launched a joint attack on February 28, triggering the Middle East war.

"We will not allow the ayatollah regime in Tehran to threaten our existence," Netanyahu said, adding the Iranian leadership was "weaker than it has been since its establishment".


Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian in West Bank

A blue body bag containing the body of a Palestinian man shot by Israeli forces in an incident in which a car hit a military jeep, is guarded as it lies on the road close to the Israeli-occupied West Bank town of Bani Naim on October 5, 2026. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
A blue body bag containing the body of a Palestinian man shot by Israeli forces in an incident in which a car hit a military jeep, is guarded as it lies on the road close to the Israeli-occupied West Bank town of Bani Naim on October 5, 2026. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
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Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian in West Bank

A blue body bag containing the body of a Palestinian man shot by Israeli forces in an incident in which a car hit a military jeep, is guarded as it lies on the road close to the Israeli-occupied West Bank town of Bani Naim on October 5, 2026. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
A blue body bag containing the body of a Palestinian man shot by Israeli forces in an incident in which a car hit a military jeep, is guarded as it lies on the road close to the Israeli-occupied West Bank town of Bani Naim on October 5, 2026. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

Israeli forces killed one Palestinian and injured two others in the occupied West Bank on Monday, Palestinian authorities said, while the military said troops fired at a car that had hit an army vehicle.

The military said a "vehicle carrying three suspects... accelerated toward an army vehicle and hit it" in the area of Bani Naim, north of the city of Hebron.

In a statement, it said no injuries were reported among Israeli forces and that soldiers "responded by firing toward the vehicle, and hits were identified."

The Palestinian General Authority for Civil Affairs said "Israeli forces opened fire on a civilian vehicle" at the entrance to Bani Naim, without giving details on whether those inside had been attempting to ram soldiers, according to AFP.

"One citizen was killed and two young men sustained serious and moderate injuries," it added, saying the wounded had been transferred to hospitals inside Israel and that the identity of the deceased remained unknown.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and violence there has surged since October 7, 2023.

More than 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank in settlements illegal under international law, a minority of whom engage in violence towards Palestinians.

According to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli forces or settlers have killed 1,112 Palestinians in the territory since the start of the Gaza war.

Israeli figures show at least 49 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations during the same period.


Al-Alimi Launches ‘Yemen Dawn’ Operation to Retake Sanaa, End Houthi Rule

Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi addresses the nation in a televised address in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia October 4, 2026. Yemen News Agency/Handout via REUTERS
Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi addresses the nation in a televised address in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia October 4, 2026. Yemen News Agency/Handout via REUTERS
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Al-Alimi Launches ‘Yemen Dawn’ Operation to Retake Sanaa, End Houthi Rule

Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi addresses the nation in a televised address in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia October 4, 2026. Yemen News Agency/Handout via REUTERS
Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi addresses the nation in a televised address in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia October 4, 2026. Yemen News Agency/Handout via REUTERS

Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi announced on Monday the launch of a military operation dubbed Yemen Dawn aimed at restoring state institutions, retaking the capital Sanaa and ending the Iran-backed Houthi militia’s control.

In a post on X, al-Alimi said the operation would advance with the support of Yemen’s armed forces and military formations, as well as backing from allies and partners. He said Yemen was moving toward a new era of freedom, peace and stability.

The announcement came hours after the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen said it was providing full operational support to Yemeni forces and would continue backing the government until state institutions were restored and the Houthi militia’s threat to freedom of maritime navigation was ended.

On Sunday, al-Alimi had said that the government had turned to military action after exhausting peace efforts, while stressing that the campaign was not aimed at civilians and that authorities would protect civilians and property and reject retaliation.