Airstrike Hits Busy Market in Opposition-held Northwestern Syria and Kills at Least 9 People

US soldiers patrol the countryside of Rumaylan (Rmeilan) in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province on June 7, 2023. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
US soldiers patrol the countryside of Rumaylan (Rmeilan) in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province on June 7, 2023. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
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Airstrike Hits Busy Market in Opposition-held Northwestern Syria and Kills at Least 9 People

US soldiers patrol the countryside of Rumaylan (Rmeilan) in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province on June 7, 2023. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
US soldiers patrol the countryside of Rumaylan (Rmeilan) in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province on June 7, 2023. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)

An airstrike early Sunday over a busy vegetable market in northwestern Syria killed at least nine people, activists and local first responders said.

Activists and Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Russia, a top ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, launched the strike over the strategic opposition-held town of Jisr al-Shughur near the Turkish border.

The strike comes a day after Moscow’s top mercenary group briefly revolted against Russian President Vladimir Putin, said The Associated Press.

Opposition-held northwestern Syria's civil defense organization known as the White Helmets said over 30 people were wounded, and expected the death toll to increase.

“We're hearing that the critically wounded have been dying after reaching the hospital,” Ahmad Yaziji of the White Helmets told The Associated Press. “It was a targeted attack in the main vegetable market where farmers from around northern Syria gather.”

Farmers rushed the wounded to the hospital in bloodied vegetable trucks, while activists shared urgent calls for blood donations.

Neither Syria nor Russia commented on the airstrike, though Damascus says strikes in the northwest province target armed insurgent groups.

Northwestern Syria is mostly held by the militant group Hayat Tahrir al Sham, as well as Turkish-backed forces.



UNRWA: West Bank Witnessing Alarming Spillover of Gaza War

26 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarem: Palestinians carry their items to flee their homes as the Israeli army continues its raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem as part of its biggest yet on going military operation in the West Bank. (dpa)
26 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarem: Palestinians carry their items to flee their homes as the Israeli army continues its raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem as part of its biggest yet on going military operation in the West Bank. (dpa)
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UNRWA: West Bank Witnessing Alarming Spillover of Gaza War

26 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarem: Palestinians carry their items to flee their homes as the Israeli army continues its raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem as part of its biggest yet on going military operation in the West Bank. (dpa)
26 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarem: Palestinians carry their items to flee their homes as the Israeli army continues its raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem as part of its biggest yet on going military operation in the West Bank. (dpa)

UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said on Wednesday that West Bank is undergoing an alarming spillover of the Gaza war.

“More than 50 people, including children, have been reported killed since the Israeli forces’ operation started five weeks ago,” he said.

In a statement posted on his X account, Lazzarini said that destruction of public infrastructure, bulldozing roads and access restrictions are commonplace.

People’s lives have been turned upside down, bringing back traumas and loss, he said, adding that around 40,000 people have been forced to flee their homes especially in refugee camps in the north.

“Fear, uncertainty, and grief once again prevail. Affected camps lie in ruins,” he wrote.

The UN official showed that more than 5,000 children who normally go to UNRWA schools have been deprived of education, some for over 10 weeks now.

Also, patients cannot access healthcare, families are cut off from water, electricity and other basic services, he said.

“More and more people are relying on humanitarian aid at a time when aid agencies are overstretched and severely under-resourced,” Lazzarini noted.

“Our UNRWA teams are tracking displaced people and continue to provide them with much needed food, health care, and basics to keep them warm,” he added.

“This must end,” the UN official concluded.

Meanwhile, the recently-appointed Palestinian governor of Tulkarem, Abdallah Kmeil, said on Wednesday that the Israeli forces had notified residents of their intention to demolish 11 homes in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank, where more than 5,000 people live.

“The Israeli occupation notice to demolish 11 homes under the pretext of constructing a road stretching from the camp square towards the Al-Manshiya neighborhood, is considered a new massacre against this camp through systematic destruction and sabotage,” he said.

Kmeil added that Israel’s unprecedented attack on Tulkarem and its camp will not break the resolve of its people.