By Feras Dalatey

DAMASCUS, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Fewer than 1,000 families remain at a camp where relatives of suspected Islamic State militants had been held in Syria's northeast, the camp's former director said on Wednesday, with thousands having fled last month as government forces seized control of the area from Kurdish-led fighters.

Al-Hol, near the Iraqi border, was one of the main detention camps for relatives of suspected Islamic State fighters who were detained during the U.S.-backed campaign against the jihadist group in Syria.

The massive US military buildup in the Middle East, including warships, fighter jets, and refueling aircraft, lays the foundation for a potentially sustained campaign against Iran -- should President Donald Trump give the order.

Trump -- who ordered strikes on Iran last year -- has repeatedly threatened Tehran with further military action if ongoing talks do not reach a replacement for the nuclear deal the US president tore up in 2018, during his first term in office.

Leila Shahid, the first woman diplomat representing Palestine abroad, died in southern France aged 76, her family said Wednesday.

"She died today," her sister Zeina told AFP, without providing further details.

Born in Lebanon in 1949, Shahid was the first woman to represent the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) abroad, beginning her career in Ireland before also becoming representative in the Netherlands.

She served as envoy in France and later as the representative at the European Union.

By Parisa Hafezi

DUBAI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Iranians have returned to the streets this week to mourn those killed by security forces during last month's anti-government demonstrations, sparking some new crackdowns in an echo of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought down the U.S.-backed Shah.

The anti-Shah revolutionaries turned Shi'ite Muslim memorial processions 40 days after each death into new protests, which prompted renewed violence from the authorities and fresh "martyrs" for the cause.

DUBAI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan met U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, the senator said in a post on X, where he also criticised what he called “false narratives” circulating about the UAE and its leader.

Earlier in the week, social media speculation about Sheikh Mohammed’s health had surged after Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan postponed a planned visit to Abu Dhabi and his office posted — then deleted — a post on X saying the Emirati leader had a “health problem”.

By Marine Delrue

Feb 18 (Reuters) - Satellite images show that Iran has recently built a concrete shield over a new facility at a sensitive military site and covered it in soil, experts say, advancing work at a location reportedly bombed by Israel in 2024 amid tensions with the U.S.

Images also show that Iran has buried tunnel entrances at a nuclear site bombed by the U.S. during Israel's 12-day war with Iran last year, fortified tunnel entrances near another, and has repaired missile bases struck in the conflict.

By Asif Shahzad

ISLAMABAD, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Before Pakistan commits to sending troops to Gaza as part of the International Stabilization Force it wants assurances from the United States that it will be a peacekeeping mission rather than tasked with disarming Hamas, three sources told Reuters.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is set to attend the first formal meeting of President Donald Trump's Board of Peace in Washington on Thursday, alongside delegations from at least 20 countries.

By Mahmoud Issa

GAZA, Feb 18 (Reuters) - As the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan began in Gaza on Wednesday, Palestinians headed to the shattered ruins of mosques or to makeshift prayer spaces made of tarpaulins and wood, mourning their dead and their lost places of worship.

In Gaza City, the dome of the now destroyed Al Hassaina mosque rests on top of a pile of rubble. Its former courtyard, where worshippers once gathered and today families sleep and cook among the ruins, is criss-crossed with washing lines.

Kurdish fighters who have laid down their arms should be reintegrated into society, Turkish lawmakers urged in a key report released Wednesday, while ruling out an "amnesty".

The recommendations of the cross-party parliamentary commission are meant to prepare the legal groundwork for peace moves between Turkey and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Last year the PKK formally renounced its armed struggle against Turkey after four decades of violence that claimed some 50,000 lives on both sides.

Kurdish fighters who have laid down their arms should be reintegrated into society, Turkish lawmakers urged in a key report released Wednesday, while avoiding any reference to an "amnesty".

The recommendations of the cross-party parliamentary commission are meant to prepare the legal groundwork for peace moves between Turkey and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Last year the PKK formally renounced its armed struggle against Turkey after four decades of violence that claimed some 50,000 lives on both sides.