Israel Attacks Damascus and Aleppo Airports, 2 Dead

Aleppo international airport. Reuters
Aleppo international airport. Reuters
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Israel Attacks Damascus and Aleppo Airports, 2 Dead

Aleppo international airport. Reuters
Aleppo international airport. Reuters

An Israeli missile attack targeted Damascus and Aleppo international airports early on Sunday, killing two people and putting the airports out of service, Syrian state media reported.

At least two workers were killed "as a result of Israeli bombardment targeting Syria's Damascus airport at dawn," Syria's general directorate of meteorology said in a statement.

The two workers who were killed were from the meteorology service and based at the airport, the agency said. 

Scheduled flights to and from Damascus and Aleppo airports were diverted to Latakia International Airport, according to the Ministry of Transportation.

Israel’s military has carried out several attacks in Syria over the past week targeting the two airports and putting them out of service.

Israel has for years carried out strikes against what it has described as Iran-linked targets in Syria, including against the Aleppo and Damascus airports.



Blinken: US Will Continue to Press Israel to Do More to Spare Humanitarian Sites in Gaza

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his plane at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his plane at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP)
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Blinken: US Will Continue to Press Israel to Do More to Spare Humanitarian Sites in Gaza

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his plane at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his plane at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday the United States will continue to urge Israel to do more to spare humanitarian sites in the Gaza Strip after an Israeli airstrike on a UN school complex sheltering displaced Palestinians killed six UN staffers.

When asked at a news conference in the Polish capital about Israel’s bombing of the school complex in central Gaza the day before, Blinken told reporters that “we need to see humanitarian sites protected.”

“That’s something we continue to raise with Israel,” he said.

Wednesday's strike on the UN-supported al-Jaouni Preparatory Boys School in Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza, killed at least 14 people, including two children and a woman, hospital officials said. Among those killed were six staffers from the UN Palestinian refugee agency, known as UNRWA, the main UN relief agency in Gaza.

UNRWA described the strike as the deadliest single incident for its staff members. Among those killed at the school, it said, were the manager of the shelter and others working to help the thousands of displaced people taking refuge there, including teachers.

The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, said at least 220 UNRWA staffers have been killed in Gaza since Israel’s military offensive began in response to Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Blinken blamed Hamas for continuing to hide its fighters among civilians and said the bombing “underscores the urgency" of reaching a cease-fire in the embattled territory.