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.



Hamas to Turn over Bodies of Four Israeli Hostages in Exchange for Release of Hundreds of Prisoners 

Armed fighters from Hamas' Qassam Brigades stand guard during the handover of three Israeli hostages to Red Cross representatives in Al Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 22 February 2025. (EPA)
Armed fighters from Hamas' Qassam Brigades stand guard during the handover of three Israeli hostages to Red Cross representatives in Al Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 22 February 2025. (EPA)
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Hamas to Turn over Bodies of Four Israeli Hostages in Exchange for Release of Hundreds of Prisoners 

Armed fighters from Hamas' Qassam Brigades stand guard during the handover of three Israeli hostages to Red Cross representatives in Al Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 22 February 2025. (EPA)
Armed fighters from Hamas' Qassam Brigades stand guard during the handover of three Israeli hostages to Red Cross representatives in Al Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 22 February 2025. (EPA)

Hamas will return the bodies of four dead Israeli hostages on Thursday in exchange for Israel's release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, the group said, just days before the first phase of the ceasefire between the warring parties was to expire.

Israel has delayed the release of some 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it says is the cruel treatment of hostages during their release by Hamas.

The group has said the delay is a “serious violation” of their ceasefire and that talks on a second phase are not possible until the Palestinians are freed.

Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Hamas would hand over the bodies of four Israelis the next day.

In exchange, Israel would release the Palestinian prisoners, as well as an unspecified number of women and minors detained since the militant group's Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the conflict.

An Israeli official confirmed that the bodies of four hostages were expected to be turned over but provided no further details. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Israel and Hamas had already said on Tuesday that an agreement had been reached to return the bodies of the hostages, but no date had been announced.

Hamas has released hostages, and the bodies of four dead hostages, in large public ceremonies during which the Israelis were paraded and forced to wave to large crowds.

Israel, along with the Red Cross and UN officials, have said the ceremonies were humiliating to the hostages, and Israel last weekend delayed the scheduled prisoner release in protest.

The deadlock over the exchange had threatened to collapse the ceasefire when the current six-week first phase of the deal expires this weekend.

The latest agreement would complete both sides’ obligations of the first phase of the ceasefire — during which Hamas is returning 33 hostages, including eight bodies — in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

It also could clear the way for an expected visit this week by the White House’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, to the region.

Witkoff has said he wants the sides to move into negotiations on the second phase, during which all remaining hostages held by Hamas are to be released and an end to the war is to be negotiated. The Phase 2 talks were supposed to begin weeks ago, but never did.

The ceasefire, brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of heavy fighting that erupted after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed some 1,200 people in Israel and took about 250 people hostage.

Israel’s military offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, displaced an estimated 90% of Gaza’s population and decimated the territory’s infrastructure and health system. The Hamas-run Health Ministry does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths, but it says that over half of the dead have been women and children.