Regional
Daesh confirms death of its leader, names replacement

Daesh on Thursday confirmed the death of its leader Abu Hussein al-Husseini al-Quraishi and named Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Quraishi as his replacement, the group's spokesperson said in an undated recording published on its Telegram channel.
It appeared to be the militant group's first official announcement on his fate since Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said in April that Turkish intelligence forces had killed him in Syria, Reuters reported.
Erdogan said the Turkish national intelligence organization had pursued Quraishi for a long time.
Quraishi was killed during a gun battle with Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), the main Islamist group that holds sway in the last opposition bastion in northwest Syria, the spokesman said.
Daesh that once ruled a third of Iraq and Syria, gave no details about the new leader, Reuters reported.
Daesh reached its peak in 2014 when its then head, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared the territory it controlled a caliphate.
It was beaten back by adversaries in both countries including a U.S.-led coalition, and Baghdadi was killed during a U.S. military operation in Syria in 2019.
According to Reuters Abu Hussein al-Husseini al-Quraishi took over in November 2022 after his predecessor was killed, also in Syria.
Daesh militants continue to wage insurgent attacks in both Syria and Iraq.
Its remaining thousands of militants have in recent years mostly hid out in remote hinterlands of both countries, though they are still capable of carrying out hit-and-run attacks.
The U.S.-led coalition alongside a Kurdish-led alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is still carrying out raids against Daesh in Syria.
Regional
Iran’s Khamenei says experience proves talks with US ‘not smart’

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday experience had proven that talks with the United States are "not smart, wise or honorable", the official IRNA news agency reported.
This week U.S. President Donald Trump said he would like to start working on a "verified nuclear peace agreement" with Iran after restoring his maximum pressure campaign on the country, Reuters reported.
During his previous term in office in 2018, Trump pulled the United States out of Tehran's 2015 nuclear pact with world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy.
The harsh measures prompted Tehran to violate the pact's nuclear limitations.
"Negotiating with America is neither smart, wise, or honorable. It will not solve any of our problems. The reason? Experience!" Khamenei was quoted as saying.
Iran had reached its agreement with the U.S. and other countries after two years of talks, he said, but the Americans did not adhere to it despite Iran's many concessions. "The person in charge tore it up," said Khamenei, referring to Trump.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday that Iran was ready to give the United States a chance to resolve disputes.
Khamenei said Iran would retaliate in kind if the Americans attacked Iran. "If they threaten our security, we will threaten theirs. If they act on their threats, we will do the same."
Referring to Trump's proposal to forcibly move Palestinian inhabitants from Gaza to neighboring Arab countries, Khamenei said:
"On paper, Americans are changing the world map. Of course it's only on paper because it's devoid of reality."
Regional
Trump says Israel would hand over Gaza after fighting is over, no US troops needed

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday Israel would hand over Gaza to the United States after fighting was over and the enclave's population was already resettled elsewhere, which he said meant no U.S. troops would be needed on the ground.
A day after worldwide condemnation of Trump's announcement that he aimed to take over and develop the Gaza Strip into the "Riviera of the Middle East", Israel ordered its army to prepare to allow the "voluntary departure" of Gaza Palestinians, Reuters reported.
Trump, who had previously declined to rule out deploying U.S. troops to the small coastal territory, clarified his idea in comments on his Truth Social web platform.
"The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting," he said. Palestinians "would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region." He added: "No soldiers by the U.S. would be needed!"
Earlier, amid a tide of support in Israel for what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Trump's "remarkable" proposal, Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the army to prepare a plan to allow Gaza residents who wished to leave to exit the enclave voluntarily.
"I welcome President Trump's bold plan. Gaza residents should be allowed the freedom to leave and emigrate, as is the norm around the world," Katz said on X.
He said his plan would include exit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air.
Trump, a real-estate-developer-turned-politician, sparked anger around the Middle East with his unexpected announcement on Tuesday, just as Israel and Hamas were expected to begin talks in Doha on the second stage of a ceasefire deal for Gaza, intended to open the way for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, a further release of hostages and an end to a nearly 16-month-old war.
Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia rebuffed the proposal outright and Jordan's King Abdullah, who will meet Trump at the White House next week, said on Wednesday he rejected any attempts to annex land and displace Palestinians.
Egypt also weighed in, saying it would not be part of any proposal to displace Palestinians from neighbouring Gaza, where residents reacted with fury to the suggestion.
"We will not sell our land for you, real estate developer. We are hungry, homeless, and desperate but we are not collaborators," said Abdel Ghani, a father of four living with his family in the ruins of their Gaza City home. "If (Trump) wants to help, let him come and rebuild for us here."
It was unclear whether Trump would go ahead with his proposal or, in keeping with his self-image as a shrewd dealmaker, has simply laid out an extreme position as a bargaining tactic. His first term in 2017-21 was replete with what critics said were over-the-top foreign policy pronouncements, many of which were never implemented.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Thursday that people would have to live elsewhere while Gaza was rebuilt. He did not say whether they would be able to return under Trump's plan to develop the enclave, home to more than 2 million Palestinians.
Axios reported Rubio planned to visit the Middle East in mid-February with an itinerary that includes Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
DISPLACEMENT
What effect Trump's shock proposal may have on the ceasefire talks remains unclear. Only 13 of a group of 33 Israeli hostages due for release in the first phase have so far been returned, with three more due to come out on Saturday. Five Thai hostages have also been released.
Hamas official Basem Naim accused Israel's defence minister of trying to cover up "for a state that has failed to achieve any of its objectives in the war on Gaza", and said Palestinians are too attached to their land to ever leave.
Displacement of Palestinians has been one of the most sensitive issues in the Middle East for decades. Forced or coerced displacement of a population under military occupation is a war crime, banned under the 1949 Geneva Conventions.
Details of how any such plan might work have been vague. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said different thinking was needed on Gaza's future but that any departures would have to be voluntary and states would have to be willing to take them.
"We don't have details yet, but we can talk about principles," Saar told a press conference with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani. "Everything must be based on the free will of (the) individual and, on the other hand, of a will of a state that is ready to absorb," he said.
A number of far-right Israeli politicians have openly called for Palestinians to be moved from Gaza and there was strong support for Trump's push among both security hawks and the Jewish settler movement, which wants to reclaim land in Gaza used for Jewish settlements until 2005.
Giora Eiland, an Israeli former general who attracted wide attention in an earlier stage of the war with his "Generals' Plan" for a forced displacement of people from northern Gaza, said Trump's plan was logical and aid should not be allowed to reach displaced people returning to northern Gaza.
Israel's military campaign has killed tens of thousands of people since Hamas' October 7, 2023, cross-border attack on Israel touched off the war, and has forced Palestinians to repeatedly move around within Gaza in search of safety.
But many say they will never leave the enclave because they fear permanent displacement, like the "Nakba", or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands were dispossessed from homes in the war at the birth of the state of Israel in 1948.
Katz said countries that have opposed Israel's military operations in Gaza should take in the Palestinians.
"Countries like Spain, Ireland, Norway, and others, which have levelled accusations and false claims against Israel over its actions in Gaza, are legally obligated to allow any Gaza resident to enter their territories," he said.
Regional
US military prepared to look at all options for Gaza, US defense secretary says

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday the Pentagon was prepared to look at all options for Gaza, a day after President Donald Trump said he would like the U.S. to take control of and redevelop the Gaza Strip.
"On the question of Gaza, the definition of insanity is attempting to do the same thing over and over and over again," Hegseth said before the start of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Pentagon, Reuters reported.
"The president is willing to think outside the box, look for new and unique, dynamic ways to solve problems that have felt like they were intractable ... We're prepared to look at all options," Hegseth added.
The White House said earlier on Wednesday that Trump has not committed to putting U.S. troops in the Gaza Strip as part of his proposal for a U.S. takeover of the Palestinian enclave.
Trump's idea prompted international condemnation and some dissent from Republicans in Congress, who have largely fallen in line behind Trump's initiatives such as pausing foreign aid and eliminating thousands of federal workers.
It was unclear whether Trump would proceed with his proposal or was taking an extreme position as a bargaining strategy, as he has done on other issues.
Hegseth said the Pentagon would strive to supply weapons to Israel that "were previously not supplied, that are useful in eradicating radical enemies."
Trump has instructed the U.S. military to release a hold imposed by Democratic former President Joe Biden on the supply of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel.
One 2,000-pound bomb can rip through thick concrete and metal, creating a wide blast radius. Reuters reported last year that the Biden administration had sent thousands of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian Hamas militants from Gaza but had put a hold on one shipment.
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