Iraqis face difficult return from Syria camp for Daesh families

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Updated 15 July 2025
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Iraqis face difficult return from Syria camp for Daesh families

Iraqis face difficult return from Syria camp for Daesh families

MOSUL: After years in a Syrian detention camp, Ibrahim Darwish was relieved to be allowed to return home to Iraq, but his joy was quickly punctured by the harsh reality that he had to disown his sons accused of being militants.

“All I wanted was to return to Iraq,” the 64-year-old said of his time in the Kurdish-controlled Al-Hol camp, where family members of suspected Daesh fighters are held in prison-like conditions alongside refugees and displaced people.

But back home in Iraq, “I had to disown my sons. My house is gone,” he said. “I am back to square one.”

Thousands of Iraqi returnees from the camp have faced major obstacles reintegrating into their communities, their perceived affiliation with Daesh casting a dark shadow over their prospects.

They described armed groups and local authorities in some areas pressuring returnees to cut ties with relatives suspected of Daesh links as a precondition for going home or obtaining essential documents.

A lawyer for many returnees equated the pledges of disownment to denunciations, “essentially complaints by one family member against another.”

He also warned of a widespread misconception among returnees that they must comply in order to obtain identity cards and other government papers.

But a senior Iraqi official insisted that the authorities supported reintegration, including when it came to the issuance of documents.

Requesting “disownment statements has become illegal, and anyone who asks for it should be reported,” the official said.

Darwish said he was allowed to leave Al-Hol after receiving Iraqi security clearance and support from his tribal leader.

Back in Iraq, he spent the first several months at Al-Jadaa camp, presented by the authorities as a “rehabilitation” center where returnees wait for further permission to return home.

There, “we felt the most welcome,” Darwish said.

But when it was time to go home to Salaheddin province, Darwish said local authorities told him he first had to disown his sons, who are locked away on suspicion of joining Daesh — a charge he denies.

Reluctantly, he complied.

Otherwise, “how was I going to farm my land and make ends meet?” he said.

In the northern city of Mosul, one woman in her thirties said she was afraid to return to her hometown in Salaheddin, where her father was arrested upon his arrival and later passed away in prison.

She is currently squatting with her sister and children in a dilapidated house, living in fear of eviction.

When the family first returned to Iraq, she said, people “looked at us differently, just because we came from Al-Hol.”

Now her concern is obtaining new identity cards, which are essential for accessing healthcare, education and employment, and she fears she will have to disown her husband to do so.

The authorities, she said, “did well” by bringing them back from Al-Hol, where many speak of increased violence, but they must now solve the issue of reintegration.

“We need them to support us so we can stand on our feet,” she added.

Thanassis Cambanis, director of New York-based Century International, said the returnees “face a murky future,” especially since some of those tarred as Daesh families are denied documentation.

“At a minimum, collective punishment of the Daesh families is an injustice and a moral error,” Cambanis warned.

“At a maximum, Iraq’s policy creates a ripe pool of potential recruits for violent sectarian extremists.”

While many countries refuse to repatriate their nationals from Al-Hol, Baghdad has so far brought back around 17,000 people, mostly women and children.

Local and international organizations facilitated reintegration. The Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund, a Geneva-registered organization that focuses on preventing extremism, supports several centers that have so far assisted around 6,000 returnees.

According to the fund’s Kevin Osborne, the centers provide services such as psychosocial support and vocational training.

But the growing number of returnees requires “expanded support to adequately prepare communities and enable smooth, sustainable reintegration,” Osborne said.

Noran Mahmood, of the GCREF-supported Iraqi Institution for Development, said many returnees fear “society’s refusal” to welcome them, as if having spent time in Al-Hol is a “disgrace.”

Her organization in Mosul provides counselling for the many returnees who suffer from depression, insomnia and anxiety.

Rahaf, 24, is one of the many women receiving help after years of accumulated trauma.

With the organization’s assistance, she achieved her long-held dream of furthering her education, enrolling in middle school.

“I feel successful,” she said. “I want to become a lawyer or a teacher.”


Five killed in courthouse attack in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province, Iranian media report

Five killed in courthouse attack in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province, Iranian media report
Updated 6 sec ago
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Five killed in courthouse attack in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province, Iranian media report

Five killed in courthouse attack in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province, Iranian media report
  • Jaish Al-Adl took responsibility for the attack and urged “all civilians to immediately evacuate the area of clashes for their safety”

An armed attack by the Sunni Jaish Al-Adl Baluch group on a courthouse in Iran’s restive southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province killed at least five people and injured 13, Iranian media reported.

Three assailants were also killed in the ensuing clashes with security forces, a senior police official told the state news agency IRNA.

He said a mother and child were among those killed by the gunmen who threw a hand grenade into the building in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan.

In a statement posted on its Telegram account, Jaish Al-Adl took responsibility for the attack and urged “all civilians to immediately evacuate the area of clashes for their safety.”

The Baluch human rights group HAALVSH, quoting eyewitnesses, said several judiciary staff members and security personnel were killed or wounded when the assailants stormed the judges’ chambers.

Sistan-Baluchestan province, near the borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, is home to Iran’s Sunni Muslim Baluch minority, who have long complained of economic marginalization and political exclusion.

The province frequently sees clashes between security forces and armed groups, including Sunni militants and separatists who say they are fighting for greater rights and autonomy. The Iranian government accuses some of them of ties to foreign powers and involvement in cross-border smuggling and insurgency.


Israeli military says ‘projectile’ fired at Israel from Gaza Strip

Israeli military says ‘projectile’ fired at Israel from Gaza Strip
Updated 26 July 2025
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Israeli military says ‘projectile’ fired at Israel from Gaza Strip

Israeli military says ‘projectile’ fired at Israel from Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said a “projectile” was fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israel on Saturday.

“A projectile was identified crossing the Gaza Strip from the south and most likely falling in an open area,” the military said in a statement, adding that there were no injuries reported.


UN gathering eyes solution to deadlocked Palestinian question

UN gathering eyes solution to deadlocked Palestinian question
Updated 26 July 2025
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UN gathering eyes solution to deadlocked Palestinian question

UN gathering eyes solution to deadlocked Palestinian question
  • In 1947, a resolution of the UN General Assembly decided on the partition of Palestine, into two independent states — one Jewish and the other Arab
  • But with the ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements and Israeli plans to annex occupied territory, it is feared a Palestinian state could be geographically impossible

UNITED NATIONS: Fired by France’s imminent recognition of Palestinian statehood, UN members meet next week to breathe life into the push for a two-state solution as Israel, expected to be absent, presses its war in Gaza.

Days before the July 28-30 conference on fostering Israeli and Palestinian states living peacefully side-by-side to be co-chaired by Riyadh and Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would formally recognize the State of Palestine in September.

His declaration “will breathe new life into a conference that seemed destined to irrelevance,” said Richard Gowan, an analyst at International Crisis Group.

“Macron’s announcement changes the game. Other participants will be scrabbling to decide if they should also declare an intent to recognize Palestine.”

According to an AFP database, at least 142 of the 193 UN member states — including France — now recognize the Palestinian state proclaimed by the Palestinian leadership in exile in 1988.

In 1947, a resolution of the UN General Assembly decided on the partition of Palestine, then under a British mandate, into two independent states — one Jewish and the other Arab.

The following year, the State of Israel was proclaimed, and for several decades, the vast majority of UN member states have supported the idea of a two-state solution: Israeli and Palestinian, living side-by-side peacefully and securely.

But after more than 21 months of war in Gaza, the ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and senior Israeli officials declaring designs to annex occupied territory, it is feared a Palestinian state could be geographically impossible.

The war in Gaza started following a deadly attack by Hamas on Israel, which responded with a large-scale military response that has claimed tens of thousands of Palestinian lives.

The New York conference is a response to the crisis, with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa and several dozen ministers from around the world expected to attend.

The meeting comes as a two-state solution is “more threatened than it has ever been (but) even more necessary than before, because we see very clearly that there is no alternative,” said a French diplomatic source.

Beyond facilitating conditions for recognition of a Palestinian state, the meeting will have three other focuses — reform of the Palestinian Authority, disarmament of Hamas and its exclusion from Palestinian public life, and normalization of relations with Israel by Arab states that have not yet done so.

The diplomatic source warned that no announcement of new normalization deals was expected next week.

Ahead of the conference, which was delayed from June, Britain said it would not recognize a Palestinian state unilaterally and would wait for “a wider plan” for peace in the region.

Macron has also not yet persuaded Germany to follow suit and recognize a Palestinian state in the short term.

The conference “offers a unique opportunity to transform international law and the international consensus into an achievable plan and to demonstrate resolve to end the occupation and conflict once and for all, for the benefit of all peoples,” said the Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour, calling for “courage” from participants.

Israel and the United States will not take part in the meeting.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon “has announced that Israel will not be taking part in this conference, which doesn’t first urgently address the issue of condemning Hamas and returning all of the remaining hostages,” according to embassy spokesman Jonathan Harounoff.

As international pressure continues to mount on Israel to end nearly two years of war in Gaza, the humanitarian catastrophe in the ravaged coastal territory is expected to dominate speeches by representatives of more than 100 countries as they take to the podium from Monday to Wednesday.

Gowan said he expected “very fierce criticism of Israel.”

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Israel says it is considering alternatives to ceasefire talks with Hamas, deepening uncertainty

Israel says it is considering alternatives to ceasefire talks with Hamas, deepening uncertainty
Updated 26 July 2025
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Israel says it is considering alternatives to ceasefire talks with Hamas, deepening uncertainty

Israel says it is considering alternatives to ceasefire talks with Hamas, deepening uncertainty
  • Israeli and US delegations have pulled out of the talks in Qater, accusing Hamas of showing “lack of desire” to reach a truce
  • Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating the talks alongside the US, said the pause was only temporary and that talks would resume

ICAIRO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday his government was considering “alternative options” to ceasefire talks with Hamas after Israel and the US recalled their negotiating teams, throwing the future of the negotiations into further uncertainty.

Netanyahu’s statement came as a Hamas official said negotiations were expected to resume next week and portrayed the recall of the Israeli and American delegations as a pressure tactic. Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating the talks alongside the United States, said the pause was only temporary and that talks would resume, though they did not say when.

The teams left Qatar on Thursday as President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said Hamas’ latest response to proposals for a deal showed a “lack of desire” to reach a truce. Witkoff said the US will look at “alternative options,” without elaborating.

 

In a statement released by his office, Netanyahu echoed Witkoff, saying, “Hamas is the obstacle to a hostage release deal.”

“Together with our US allies, we are now considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas’s terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region,” he said. He did not elaborate. Israel’s government didn’t immediately respond to whether negotiations would resume next week.

Stall in talks comes as hunger worsens

A breakthrough on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has eluded the Trump administration as experts warn Gaza is being pushed closer to famine, after months of Israel entirely blocking food or letting in only limited amounts. This month, deaths related to malnutrition have accelerated.

More then two dozen Western-aligned countries and more than 100 charity and human rights groups have called for an end to the war, harshly criticizing Israel’s blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out. The charities and rights groups said even their own staff were struggling to get enough food.

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognize Palestine as a state. “The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved,” he said.

Jordan has requested to carry out airdrops of aid into Gaza “due to the dire situation,” a Jordanian official said. The official said the airdrops will mainly be food and milk formula.

An Israeli security official said the military was coordinating the drops, which were expected in the coming days. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the yet-to-be-finalized plans.

Desperate Palestinians gathered at a charity kitchen in Gaza City on Friday, clutching empty pots waiting for a share of watery lentil soup. Such kitchens distributing cooked meals have been a main source of food for many Palestinians, but the number of meals they produce every day has plummeted to 160,000 from more than a million in April, according to the UN

“We’ve been living three months without bread,” said one woman in line, Riham Dwas. “We’re relying on charity kitchens, surviving on a pot of lentils and there are many times when we don’t even have that.”

When she can’t find food, she takes her children to a hospital to be put on saline IV drips for sustenance.

Mourners carry the bodies of strike victims

An Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter for displaced people in Gaza City, killing at least five people, including an 11-year-old boy, according to hospital officials. Afterwards, dozens of mourners marched carrying the bodies from Shifa Hospital as women nearby screamed and wept.

“Enough!” screamed Taraji Adwan, whose son and grandson were among the dead. She said the strike hit as she was filling up water jugs.

“Stop the war! Our children are dying from starvation, malnutrition, dehydration, lack of food, strikes, and dying from fear and destruction. Enough, Hamas! Enough, Israel! Enough, world!” she said.

The Gaza Health Ministry said around 80 people were killed since Thursday night, mostly in strikes but including nine killed while seeking aid.

 

 

Talks have struggled over issue of ending the war

Hamas official Bassem Naim said Friday that the group was told that the Israeli delegation returned home for consultations and would return early next week to resume ceasefire negotiations.

Hamas said that Witkoff’s remarks were meant to pressure the group for Netanyahu’s benefit during the next round of talks and that in recent days negotiations had made progress. Naim said several gaps had been nearly solved, such as the agenda of the ceasefire, guarantees to continue negotiating to reach a permanent agreement and how humanitarian aid would be delivered.

In a joint statement, Egypt and Qatar also said progress had been made. “It is a natural to pause talks to hold consultations before the resumption of the dialogue once more,” they said.

The sides have held weeks of talks in Qatar, reporting small signs of progress but no major breakthroughs. Officials have said a main sticking point is the redeployment of Israeli troops from positions in Gaza after any ceasefire takes place.

The deal under discussion is expected to include an initial 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Aid supplies would be ramped up, and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting ceasefire.

The talks have been bogged down over competing demands for ending the war. Hamas says it will only release all hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal and end to the war. Israel says it will not agree to end the conflict until Hamas gives up power and disarms. The militant group says it is prepared to leave power but not surrender its weapons.

Hamas is believed to be holding the hostages in different locations, including tunnels, and says it has ordered its guards to kill them if Israeli forces approach.

Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza but fewer than half are believed to be alive. Their families say the start-stop talks are excruciating.

“I thought that maybe something will come from the time that the negotiation, Israeli team were in Doha,” said Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is being held hostage. “And when I heard that they’re coming back, I ask myself: When will this nightmare end?”

 


Gaza civil defense says Israeli forces kill 28 people

Gaza civil defense says Israeli forces kill 28 people
Updated 26 July 2025
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Gaza civil defense says Israeli forces kill 28 people

Gaza civil defense says Israeli forces kill 28 people
  • The toll includes at least eight people killed by Israeli fire while waiting to collect humanitarian aid, Bassal said

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli military operations killed at least 23 people on Friday across the Palestinian territory, with another five killed in an overnight air strike.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that five people were killed in a strike on Gaza City that hit a school building sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war, now in its 22nd month.

Bassal said five others were killed when an Israeli strike hit a tent used by displaced Palestinians also in Gaza City, in the territory’s north.

The Israeli military said that strike was carried out late Thursday, targeting “a key terrorist in the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization,” a militant group that has fought alongside Hamas in Gaza.

According to the civil defense agency, more than a dozen other Palestinians were killed in several strikes in Gaza’s north, center and south on Friday.

The toll includes at least eight people killed by Israeli fire while waiting to collect humanitarian aid, Bassal said.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military did not comment on the agency’s reports.

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

Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza after a deadly attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023.

The Israeli campaign has killed 59,676 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.