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At Least 5 Reported Killed in West Bank Airstrike as Israeli Raids Continue 

An ambulance is seen at the site of Israeli strikes where Palestinians were killed, in Tubas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, September 11, 2024. (Reuters)
An ambulance is seen at the site of Israeli strikes where Palestinians were killed, in Tubas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, September 11, 2024. (Reuters)
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At Least 5 Reported Killed in West Bank Airstrike as Israeli Raids Continue 

An ambulance is seen at the site of Israeli strikes where Palestinians were killed, in Tubas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, September 11, 2024. (Reuters)
An ambulance is seen at the site of Israeli strikes where Palestinians were killed, in Tubas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, September 11, 2024. (Reuters)

An Israeli airstrike killed at least five people in the West Bank city of Tubas on Wednesday, Palestinian emergency services said, as Israeli security forces continued an extended operation that the military said targeted Iranian-backed militant groups. 

The Palestinian Red Crescent said rescue crews had recovered five bodies at the site and had transferred them to hospital. 

The Israeli military confirmed the strike, which it said had hit an armed group, but gave no details. 

"As part of the counter-terrorism activity, an IAF (Israeli Air Force) aircraft struck an armed terrorist cell a short while ago in the area of Tubas", it said in a statement. 

Entrances and exits from Tubas were sealed off and Israeli military vehicles, including road diggers and armored personnel carriers, could be seen moving through the city, close to the border with Jordan at the northern end of the West Bank. 

Israeli forces have been conducting a series of operations in the northern West Bank for the past two weeks, with extended raids in Tubas, Jenin and Tulkarm. All three cities have a heavy presence of armed factions including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah. 

Heavy clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters have been reported, while streets and infrastructure in all three cities have suffered extensive damage as Israeli forces have dug up roads and targeted militant bases. 

On Tuesday, a Palestinian man and woman were killed during an Israeli raid on Tulkarm, Palestinian health authorities said. 

Violence has surged in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, with almost daily sweeps by Israeli forces that have made thousands of arrests and regular gunbattles between security forces and Palestinian fighters. 

More than 680 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, including both fighters and unarmed civilians, according to the Palestinian health authorities. 

In the same period, about 40 Israeli troops and civilians have been killed in attacks by Palestinians or in clashes with fighters, according to Israel's domestic security agency. 

On Wednesday, the military reported a car ramming attack east of Ramallah in the West Bank, in which an Israeli man was injured.  

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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.