Gaza Rescuers Say at Least 18 Killed in Israeli Strikes

A view of destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, 15 September 2024. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
A view of destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, 15 September 2024. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
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Gaza Rescuers Say at Least 18 Killed in Israeli Strikes

A view of destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, 15 September 2024. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
A view of destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, 15 September 2024. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

Gaza rescuers and medics said Israeli airstrikes killed at least 18 people across the Palestinian territory overnight and on Monday morning, including 10 in one attack on a house.

The 10 were killed and 15 others were injured when an airstrike hit the home of the Al-Qassas family in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, a medic at Al-Awda hospital, where the bodies were brought, told AFP.

Gaza's civil defense agency confirmed the death toll, with its spokesman Mahmoud Bassal saying the strike took place on Monday morning.

The agency said six Palestinians were killed in a similar airstrike during the night on a house belonging to the Bassal family in Gaza City's Zeitun neighbourhood, a regular target of Israeli military raids since the war began in October.

Two people were killed in another overnight airstrike in Rafah that targeted a house belonging to the Abu Shaar family, the agency said.

Several people were also wounded in these strikes, medics and rescuers said.

Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling have continued relentlessly amid an impasse over a ceasefire deal to facilitate the release of remaining hostages in Gaza in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.

The war in Gaza erupted after the October 7 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants on southern Israel.

Israel's retaliatory military offensive has so far killed at least 41,206 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry.



Syria's New Rulers Name Foreign Minister

Syrians wave the independence-era flag after Friday Noon prayers at the Umayyad Mosque in the capital Damascus on December 20, 2024. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
Syrians wave the independence-era flag after Friday Noon prayers at the Umayyad Mosque in the capital Damascus on December 20, 2024. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
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Syria's New Rulers Name Foreign Minister

Syrians wave the independence-era flag after Friday Noon prayers at the Umayyad Mosque in the capital Damascus on December 20, 2024. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
Syrians wave the independence-era flag after Friday Noon prayers at the Umayyad Mosque in the capital Damascus on December 20, 2024. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

Syria's new rulers have appointed a foreign minister, the official Syrian news agency (SANA) said on Saturday, as they seek to build international relations two weeks after Bashar al-Assad was ousted.
The ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step "comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability.”
No details were immediately available about Shibani.
Syria's de facto ruler, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has actively engaged with foreign delegations since assuming power, including hosting the UN's Syria envoy and senior US diplomats.
Sharaa has signaled a willingness to engage diplomatically with international envoys, saying his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development. He has said he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.
The United States, other Western powers and many Syrians were glad to see groups led by Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) topple Assad.