PARIS, Feb 26 (Reuters) - A French court on Thursday convicted an Iranian national of glorifying terrorism in social media posts.

* The court sentenced Mahdieh Esfandiari, a student living in the city of Lyon, to four years in prison. Three years of the sentence were suspended.

* Esfandiari was ordered to leave France. Her lawyer described the ruling as "severe" and said she would appeal.

* Esfandiari arrested last year for social media posts that praised Palestinian Islamist group Hamas' October 2023 attack on Israel.

There were scenes of "utter chaos" when thousands of women and children related to suspected Islamic State jihadists escaped a camp in Syria last month following the sudden withdrawal of Kurdish forces, witnesses have told AFP.

An AFP journalist who entered the huge Al-Hol camp on Wednesday found it virtually deserted after the Syrian government decided to evacuate the site.

Until recently, it housed 23,500 people and was the largest camp for relatives of suspected IS jihadists in northeastern Syria.

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday proposed a rule that, if finalized, would sever MBaer Merchant Bank AG's access to the U.S. financial system on the grounds the Swiss bank had supported illicit actors linked to Iran and Russia.

The Treasury alleged MBaer and its employees had facilitated corruption linked to Russian money laundering as well as money laundering and terrorist financing on behalf of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Quds Force, which are sanctioned by the U.S.

By Emma Farge

GENEVA, Feb 26 (Reuters) - A new decree from Afghanistan's Taliban government is set to further crush rights and freedoms in the war-torn nation, especially for women, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said on Thursday.

The Taliban has restricted women's movements and barred girls from education beyond primary school since coming to power in 2021, via a series of morality laws that also limit expression and employment.

Pope Leo XIV's newly announced visit to Algeria in April was welcomed as a dream come true by the archbishop of Algiers on Thursday.

The trip will mark the first time a head of the Catholic Church has visited the North African Muslim-majority country.

"This dream of a pope visiting Algeria... has come true!" Jean-Paul Vesco, the Franco-Algerian cardinal of the Catholic Church who serves as the Archbishop of Algiers, wrote in a statement.

CAIRO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - An Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, the territory's health officials said, and the Israeli military said it killed a militant who posed a threat to its forces in the south of the enclave.

Medics said an Israeli airstrike against a group of Palestinians in Gaza City's Tuffah neighbourhood killed two people and wounded several others. The Israeli military didn't immediately comment on the report.

By Parisa Hafezi and Laila Bassam

DUBAI, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The son of an Iranian carpet merchant from Isfahan, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has compared the country's negotiating style to the bartering of the bazaar, an approach requiring "patience and great time".

But time may not be on his side as the veteran diplomat faces the most critical negotiations of his decades-long career, seeking to reach a nuclear deal to avert military action threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump.

By Amina Ismail

BRUSSELS - Feb 26 (Reuters) - Almost 8,000 people died or went missing last year on perilous migration routes such as across the Mediterranean and Horn of Africa, but the real toll is likely far higher as cuts in funding have hit humanitarian access and tracking of deaths, a U.N. agency said.

Legal pathways for migration are shrinking, pushing more people into the hands of smugglers, the International Organization for Migration said, as Europe, the U.S. and other regions ramp up enforcement and invest heavily in deterrence.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that India and Israel had pledged to fight terrorism "shoulder to shoulder", as he concluded a two-day visit focused on deepening strategic ties.

The trip, which has drawn criticism at home, marks Modi's second visit to Israel as prime minister since he took office in 2014.

A French court on Thursday sentenced Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari to one year in prison for justifying terrorism in a case linked to a possible prisoner swap with two French citizens held in Iran.

The court also handed Esfandiari, 39, was also handed a permanent ban from French territory.

Her lawyer said she would be appealing her conviction. In the meantime she walked free from court.

Iran has suggested Esfandiari could be exchanged for French nationals Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who are still waiting to leave Iran.