More than 26,000 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct.7 – Gaza health ministry

More than 26,000 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct.7 – Gaza health ministry
Some 183 Palestinians were killed and 377 injured in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours, the Gaza health ministry says. (AFP)
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Updated 26 January 2024
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More than 26,000 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct.7 – Gaza health ministry

More than 26,000 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct.7 – Gaza health ministry
  • Some 183 Palestinians were killed and 377 injured in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours
  • Deadly attacks on Gaza, cold weather making it ‘uninhabitable’ — UN

DUBAI: Relentless attacks against infrastructure and cold weather in Gaza are making the Palestinian enclave “completely uninhabitable,” the UN human rights office warned on Friday.
“I fear that many more civilians will die,” said Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
“The continued attacks on specially protected facilities, such as hospitals, will kill civilians, and there will be a further, massive impact on access to health care, safety and security in general of Palestinians.”
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, with thousands more feared buried under rubble and most of the 2.3 million residents displaced, facing acute shortages of food, water and medicine.
Israel launched its offensive in the wake of an Oct. 7 rampage by Hamas militants who killed 1,200 people and seized 240 hostages.
Sunghay said his office was also concerned about the impact of rainy and cold weather in Gaza.
“It was entirely predictable at this time of the year, and risks making an already unsanitary situation completely uninhabitable for the people,” he said.
“Most have no warm clothes or blankets. Northern Gaza, where IDF (Israel Defense Forces) bombardment continues, is barely accessible, even to provide basic humanitarian aid.”
Sunghay said it would be “disastrous” if the bombardment or the street-to-street fight taking place in Khan Younis moved further south to Rafah, where some 1.3 million people are now massed in the town bordering Egypt in an attempt to evade the Israeli assault.


Turkiye says over 25,0000 Syrians returned home since Assad’s fall

Updated 10 sec ago
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Turkiye says over 25,0000 Syrians returned home since Assad’s fall

Turkiye says over 25,0000 Syrians returned home since Assad’s fall
  • Ankara is in close touch with Syria’s new leaders and now focussing on the voluntary return of Syrian refugees
Istanbul: More than 25,000 Syrians have returned home from Turkiye since Bashar Assad was overthrown by Islamist-led HTS rebels, Turkiye’s interior minister said Tuesday.
Turkiye is home to nearly three million refugees who fled the civil war that broke out in 2011, and whose presence has been an issue for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.
“The number of people returning to Syria in the last 15 days has exceeded 25,000,” Ali Yerlikaya told the official Anadolu news agency.
Ankara is in close touch with Syria’s new leaders and now focussing on the voluntary return of Syrian refugees, hoping the shift in power in Damascus will allow many of them to return home.
Yerlikaya said a migration office would be established in the Turkish embassy and consulate in Damascus and Aleppo so that the records of returning Syrians could be kept.
Turkiye reopened its embassy in Damascus, nearly a week after Assad was toppled by forces backed by Ankara, and 12 years after the diplomatic outpost was shuttered early in Syria’s civil war.

12 killed in blast at Turkiye explosives plant

12 killed in blast at Turkiye explosives plant
Updated 43 min 53 sec ago
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12 killed in blast at Turkiye explosives plant

12 killed in blast at Turkiye explosives plant
  • The plant, located in the north of Balikesir, makes munitions and explosives and flares for the domestic and international markets

Istanbul: A powerful blast on Tuesday ripped through an explosives plant in northwest Turkiye killing 13 people and injuring four others, officials said.
Footage showed shards of glass and metal scattered outside the plant, where ambulances stood by.
“According to initial reports, 12 employees died and four were taken to hospital with injuries as a result of the explosion,” local governor Ismail Ustaoglu said.
“I wish God’s mercy upon our deceased citizens and a speedy recovery to our wounded,” he added.
Officials said the wounded were not in a serious condition.
The blast took place at 8:25 am (0525 GMT) at a section of the plant which local officials said collapsed by the force of the explosion.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the cause was not immediately known and authorities ruled out sabotage.
“We are trying to find out what caused it,” he said.
Prosecutors have launched a thorough investigation.
The plant, located in the north of Balikesir, makes munitions and explosives and flares for the domestic and international markets.
Turkiye has become a major defense exporter, particularly for drones, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a major supporter of the industry.


UN investigative team says Syria’s new authorities ‘very receptive’ to probe of Assad war crimes

UN investigative team says Syria’s new authorities ‘very receptive’ to probe of Assad war crimes
Updated 24 December 2024
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UN investigative team says Syria’s new authorities ‘very receptive’ to probe of Assad war crimes

UN investigative team says Syria’s new authorities ‘very receptive’ to probe of Assad war crimes
  • International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria, was the first since the organization was established by the UN General Assembly in 2016

UNITED NATIONS: The UN organization assisting in investigating the most serious crimes in Syria said Monday the country’s new authorities were “very receptive” to its request for cooperation during a just-concluded visit to Damascus, and it is preparing to deploy.
The visit led by Robert Petit, head of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria, was the first since the organization was established by the UN General Assembly in 2016. It was created to assist in evidence-gathering and prosecution of individuals responsible for possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide since Syria’s civil war began in 2011.
Petit highlighted the urgency of preserving documents and other evidence before it is lost.
Since the rebel overthrow of Syria’s President Bashar Assad and the rebel opening of prisons and detention facilities there have been rising demands from Syrians for the prosecution of those responsible for atrocities and killings while he was in power.
“The fall of the Assad rule is a significant opportunity for us to fulfill our mandate on the ground,” Petit said. “Time is running out. There is a small window of opportunity to secure these sites and the material they hold.”
UN associate spokesperson Stephane Tremblay said Monday the investigative team “is preparing for an operational deployment as early as possible and as soon as it is authorized to conduct activities on Syrian soil.”
The spokesperson for the organization, known as the IIIM, who was on the trip with Petit, went further, telling The Associated Press: “We are preparing to deploy on the expectation that we will get authorization.”
“The representatives from the caretaker authorities were very receptive to our request for cooperation and are aware of the scale of the task ahead,” the spokesperson said, speaking on condition of not being named. “They emphasized that they will need expertise to help safeguard the newly accessible documentation.”
The IIIM did not disclose which officials in the new government it met with or the site that Petit visited afterward.
“Even at one facility,” Petit said, “the mountains of government documentation reveal the chilling efficiency of systemizing the regime’s atrocity crimes.”
He said that a collective effort by Syrians, civil society organizations and international partners will be needed, as a priority, ” to preserve evidence of the crimes committed, avoid duplication, and ensure that all victims are inclusively represented in the pursuit of justice.”
In June 2023, the 193-member General Assembly also established an Independent Institution of Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic to clarify the fate and whereabouts of more than 130,000 people missing as a result of the conflict.


US military says it conducts airstrike in Syria, killing two Daesh operatives

US military says it conducts airstrike in Syria, killing two Daesh operatives
Updated 24 December 2024
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US military says it conducts airstrike in Syria, killing two Daesh operatives

US military says it conducts airstrike in Syria, killing two Daesh operatives
  • The Daesh operatives were moving a truckload of weapons in Dayr az Zawr Province

WASHINGTON: The US military said on Monday it conducted an airstrike in Syria that killed two Islamic State operatives and wounded one.
The Daesh operatives were moving a truckload of weapons in Dayr az Zawr Province, an area formerly controlled by the Syrian government and Russians, when they were targeted with the airstrike, US Central Command said in a statement on social media platform X.


Defense minister acknowledges Israel killed Hamas leader in Iran

Defense minister acknowledges Israel killed Hamas leader in Iran
Updated 24 December 2024
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Defense minister acknowledges Israel killed Hamas leader in Iran

Defense minister acknowledges Israel killed Hamas leader in Iran
  • Minister’s comments mark first time Israel has admitted killing Ismail Haniyeh in Iran 
  • Admits Israel killed other leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, helped topple Syria’s Bashar Assad

JERUSALEM: Israel’s defense minister has confirmed that Israel assassinated Hamas’ top leader last summer and is threatening to take similar action against the leadership of the Houthi group in Yemen.

The comments by Israel Katz appeared to mark the first time that Israel has admitted killing Ismail Haniyeh, who died in an explosion in Iran in July.

Israel was widely believed to be behind the blast, and leaders have previously hinted at its involvement.

In a speech Monday, Katz said the Houthis would meet a similar fate as the other members of an Iranian-led alliance in the region, including Haniyeh.

He also noted that Israel has killed other leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, helped topple Syria’s Bashar Assad, and destroyed Iran’s anti-aircraft systems.

“We will strike (the Houthis’) strategic infrastructure and cut off the head of the leadership,” he said.

“Just like we did to Haniyeh, Sinwar, and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza, and Lebanon, we will do in Hodeida and Sanaa,” he said, referring to Hamas and Hezbollah leaders killed in previous Israeli attacks.

The Iranian-backed Houthis have launched scores of missiles and drones at Israel throughout the war, including a missile that landed in Tel Aviv on Saturday and wounded at least 16 people.

Israel has carried out three sets of airstrikes in Yemen during the war and vowed to step up the pressure on the militant group until the missile attacks stop.