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At Least 42 People Killed by Israeli Strikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip January 3, 2025. REUTERS/Abd Elhkeem Khaled
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip January 3, 2025. REUTERS/Abd Elhkeem Khaled
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At Least 42 People Killed by Israeli Strikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip January 3, 2025. REUTERS/Abd Elhkeem Khaled
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip January 3, 2025. REUTERS/Abd Elhkeem Khaled

Israeli strikes killed at least 42 people in Gaza, including children, overnight and into Friday, hospital and emergency response workers said.
Staff at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said that more than a dozen women and children were killed in strikes in central Gaza, including in Nuseirat, Zawaida, Maghazi and Deir al-Balah. Dozens of people were killed across the enclave the previous day.
“We woke up to the missile strike. We found the whole house disintegrated,” Abdul Rahman Al-Nabrisi said in the Maghazi refugee camp.
Later Friday, officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said that an airstrike killed three people in a car in Zawaida in central Gaza. And the Civil Defense, first responders affiliated with the Hamas-run government, said that an airstrike killed seven people, including four children and a woman, in the Shijaiyah neighborhood outside Gaza City, and another strike killed two people at Al-Samer junction in Gaza City.
The Israeli army said in a statement that during the past day it had struck dozens of Hamas gathering points and command centers throughout Gaza. And it warned people to leave an area of central Gaza, saying that it would attack following launches toward Israel. The military said that a few projectiles entered from central and northern Gaza, with no injuries reported.

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Syrian Caretaker Government to Hike Public Sector Salaries by 400% Next Month

Graffiti of the Syrian revolution flag is painted on a mosaic of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria January 2, 2025. (Reuters)
Graffiti of the Syrian revolution flag is painted on a mosaic of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria January 2, 2025. (Reuters)
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Syrian Caretaker Government to Hike Public Sector Salaries by 400% Next Month

Graffiti of the Syrian revolution flag is painted on a mosaic of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria January 2, 2025. (Reuters)
Graffiti of the Syrian revolution flag is painted on a mosaic of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria January 2, 2025. (Reuters)

Syria's finance minister said on Sunday the government would hike salaries for many public sector employees by 400% next month after completing an administrative restructuring of ministries to boost efficiency and accountability.

The increase, estimated to cost 1.65 trillion Syrian pounds, or about $127 million at current rates, will be financed by existing state resources plus a combination of regional aid, new investments, and efforts to unfreeze Syrian assets held abroad.

"(This is) the first step towards an emergency solution to the economic reality in the country," Mohammed Abazeed, the finance minister in Syria's caretaker government, told Reuters, adding that this month's wages for public sector staff would be paid out this week.

These measures are part of a broader strategy by Syria's new caretaker government to stabilize the country's economy following 13 years of conflict and sanctions.

Salaries of Syria's public sector employees under toppled President Bashar al-Assad's regime were around $25 a month, putting them below the poverty line, along with the majority of the country's population, Abazeed said.

The hike would follow a comprehensive evaluation of up to 1.3 million registered public sector employees to remove fictitious employees from the payroll and would affect those with sufficient expertise, academic qualifications, and the necessary skills for reconstruction.

Syria's state treasury is facing liquidity challenges emerging from a war. The majority of money available in the central bank is Syrian currency, which has lost much of its value. However, the new government was promised assistance from regional and Arab countries, the minister said.

"The launch of investments in the country in the near future will also benefit the state treasury and allow us to finance this salary increase," he said, adding the central bank currently has sufficient funds to finance the next few months.

The government expects to retrieve up to $400 million in frozen Syrian assets abroad, which could co-finance the initial government expenses.

Syria's caretaker government is also discussing exempting taxpayers, as much as possible, from penalties and interest and working on overhauling the tax system within the next three months to achieve tax justice for all taxpayers, with a first draft expected within four months.

"By the end of this year, we expect having a well-designed tax system that takes the interests of all taxpayers into account," he added.