Israeli Bombardment Kills at Least 31 in Gaza as Fighting Rages

A relative mourns over the bodies of Palestinians from the al-Durrah family, who were killed in an Israeli strike, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, October 1, 2024. (Reuters)
A relative mourns over the bodies of Palestinians from the al-Durrah family, who were killed in an Israeli strike, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, October 1, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Bombardment Kills at Least 31 in Gaza as Fighting Rages

A relative mourns over the bodies of Palestinians from the al-Durrah family, who were killed in an Israeli strike, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, October 1, 2024. (Reuters)
A relative mourns over the bodies of Palestinians from the al-Durrah family, who were killed in an Israeli strike, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, October 1, 2024. (Reuters)

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 31 people in Gaza on Tuesday, local medics said and fighting ramped up, as the Israeli military said it had been targeting command centers used by its foe Hamas.

Palestinian health officials said at least 13 people, including women and children, were killed in two Israeli strikes on two houses in Nuseirat, one of the enclave's eight historic refugee camps.

There has been no immediate comment by the Israeli army on the two strikes.

Another strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinian families in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City killed at least seven people, medics added.

The Israeli military said in a statement the air strike targeted Hamas fighters operating from a command center embedded in a compound that had previously served as Al-Shejaia School.

It accused Hamas of using the civilian population and facilities for military purposes, which Hamas denies.

Later on Tuesday, two separate Israeli attacks killed five Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and in the Zeitoun suburb of Gaza City, medics said.

In Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave, six Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on a tent housing displaced people, medics said.

The armed wings of Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and other smaller armed factions said in separate statements that their fighters attacked Israeli forces operating in several areas of Gaza with anti-tank rockets, mortar fire, and explosive devices.

The renewed surge in violence in Gaza comes as Israel began a ground operation in Lebanon, saying its paratroopers and commandos were engaged in intense fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah. The conflict follows devastating Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah's leadership.

The operation into Lebanon represents an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Iran-backed militants that threatens to suck in the US and Iran.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel almost a year ago, in support of its ally Hamas in the war in Gaza, which began after the group staged the deadliest assault in Israel's history on Oct. 7.

The assault, in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage, triggered the war that has devastated Gaza, displacing most of its 2.3 million population and killing more than 41,638 and injuring 96,460 people, according to Gaza health authorities.

Some Palestinians said they feared that Israel's shift in focus to Lebanon could prolong the conflict in Gaza, which marks its first anniversary next week.

"The eyes of the world now are on Lebanon while the occupation continues its killing in Gaza. We are afraid the war is going to go on for more months at least," said Samir Mohammed, 46, a father of five from Gaza City.

"It is all unclear now as Israel unleashes its force undeterred in Gaza, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, and God knows where else in the future," he told Reuters via a chat app.



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.