Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill 6 people
Jerusalem: Palestinian medical officials said Monday that Israeli strikes in the central Gaza Strip overnight killed at least six people, including one woman.
The strikes came as ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad fled to Moscow on Sunday and received asylum from his longtime ally, according to Russian media, hours after rebels seized control of Damascus.
The UN Security Council plans to hold emergency closed consultations on Syria later Monday at Russia’s request.
Among the dead in the overnight Israeli strikes were Raed Ghabaien, who was released from Israeli detention in 2014, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the casualties were taken.
He was killed along with his wife when an Israeli strike hit their tent in the central town of Zuweida, the hospital records showed.
Two other people were killed in a strike that hit their house late Sunday in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp. Another two were killed in a strike in the Wadi Gaza area early Monday.
An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the hospital’s morgue.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 44,500 Palestinians in the Gaza since the start of the war, according to local health authorities.
They say most of the dead are women and children but do not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
Israel says it only strikes militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in residential areas.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250, including older adults and children. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Monday that Ankara hopes the fall of the Syrian government will usher in a new era where different ethnic and religious groups can live peacefully under an inclusive new government.
Fidan also said his country hopes that a “new Syria” would maintain good relations with its neighbors and bring stability to the volatile region.
“The developments in Syria yesterday have given us a glimmer of hope,” Fidan said in a speech to Turkish ambassadors. “We expect international actors, especially the United Nations, to reach out to the Syrian people and support the formation of an inclusive government.”
The minister said Turkey would continue to support Syria’s territorial and political unity and work toward the country’s “prosperity, security and stability.”
