Mourners Attend Funeral of Man Killed in Israeli Airstrikes on Syrian City of Daraa

People gather during the funeral of civilians killed in an Israeli strike on Monday, in Daraa, Syria March 18, 2025. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
People gather during the funeral of civilians killed in an Israeli strike on Monday, in Daraa, Syria March 18, 2025. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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Mourners Attend Funeral of Man Killed in Israeli Airstrikes on Syrian City of Daraa

People gather during the funeral of civilians killed in an Israeli strike on Monday, in Daraa, Syria March 18, 2025. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
People gather during the funeral of civilians killed in an Israeli strike on Monday, in Daraa, Syria March 18, 2025. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Syria's foreign ministry on Tuesday condemned the latest Israeli airstrikes on targets in the south of the country, calling the attack a violation of international law.

At least three people were killed in a strike on Monday on the southwestern city of Daraa, where crowds of people had gathered to mark the 14th anniversary of a shooting by government forces that sparked the uprising against Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Syria’s Civil Defense said that three people were killed and many others wounded, including four children, a woman and three civil defense volunteers. Hundreds of people attended a funeral on Tuesday for one of the victims.

Dr. Nizar Rashdan, director of the Daraa General Hospital, told The Associated Press that the airstrike hit an abandoned army barracks near a residential area killing three and wounding 25.

Yasser al-Sharaa was standing in front of his shop when the strike occurred. “We are civilians living here. The children were scared and the building was damaged,” al-Sharaa said. “Thank God my losses were material, with no human losses.”

The Israeli military said it had hit “command centers and military sites containing weapons and military vehicles belonging to the old Syrian regime, which (the new army) are trying to make reusable.”

Israel’s military has destroyed much of the now-dissolved Syrian army assets in hundreds of airstrikes after groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, whose roots comes from al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, captured Damascus following the ouster of Assad last December.

The commemoration of the March 18, 2011, shooting in Daraa that sparked the uprising against Assad’s government was held at the city's Omari Mosque where hundreds of people marched Tuesday chanting “Oh Gaza, we will support you to death.”

The body of a young man who was killed in Monday's airstrike was carried in a coffin draped in Syrian flag. During the funeral, Ahmad al-Masalmeh carried a banner that read in English, Arabic and Hebrew, “Netanyahu and Assad are two sides of the same coin.”

“Today marks the spark of the revolution that began in Daraa against Bashar Assad,” al-Masalmeh said. “Thank God we are victorious. We are united with the Palestinian people and we will always be God willing.”



UN Food Agency Says Its Food Stocks in Gaza Have Run out under Israel’s Blockade

A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
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UN Food Agency Says Its Food Stocks in Gaza Have Run out under Israel’s Blockade

A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)

The World Food Program says its food stocks in the Gaza Strip have run out under Israel’s nearly 8-week-old blockade, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the territory.

The WFP said in a statement that it delivered the last of its stocks to charity kitchens that it supports around Gaza. It said those kitchens are expected to run out of food in the coming days.

Some 80% of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million relies primarily on charity kitchens for food, because other sources have shut down under Israel’s blockade, according to the UN. The WFP has been supporting 47 kitchens that distribute 644,000 hot meals a day, WFP spokesperson Abeer Etefa told the Associated Press.

It was not immediately clear how many kitchens would still be operating in Gaza if those shut down. But Etefa said the WFP-backed kitchens are the major ones in Gaza.

Israel cut off entry of all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to Gaza on March 2 and then resumed its bombardment and ground offensives two weeks later, shattering a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. It says the moves aim to pressure Hamas to release hostages it still holds. Rights groups have called the blockade a “starvation tactic” and a potential war crime.

Israel has said Gaza has enough supplies after a surge of aid entered during the ceasefire and accuses Hamas of diverting aid for its purposes. Humanitarian workers deny there is significant diversion, saying the UN strictly monitors distribution. They say the aid flow during the ceasefire was barely enough to cover the immense needs from throughout the war when only a trickle of supplies got in.

With no new goods entering Gaza, many foods have disappeared from markets, including meat, eggs, fruits, dairy products and many vegetables. Prices for what remains have risen dramatically, becoming unaffordable for much of the population. Most families rely heavily on canned goods.

Malnutrition is already surging. The UN said it identified 3,700 children suffering from acute malnutrition in March, up 80% from the month before. At the same time, because of diminishing supplies, aid groups were only able to provide nutritional supplements to some 22,000 children in March, down 70% from February. The supplements are a crucial tool for averting malnutrition.

Almost all bakeries shut down weeks ago and the WFP stopped distribution of food basics to families for lack of supplies. With stocks of most ingredients depleted, charity kitchens generally can only serve meals of pasta or rice with little added.

World Central Kitchen -- a US charity that is one of the biggest in Gaza that doesn’t rely on the WFP -- said Thursday that its kitchens had run out of proteins. Instead, they make stews from canned vegetables. Because fuel is scarce, it dismantles wooden shipping pallets to burn in its stoves, it said. It also runs the only bakery still functioning in Gaza, producing 87,000 loaves of pita a day.

The WFP said 116,000 tons of food is ready to be brought into Gaza if Israel opens the borders, enough to feed 1 million people for four months.

Israel has leveled much of Gaza with its air and ground campaign, vowing to destroy Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. It has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, whose count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

In the Oct. 7 attack, gunmen killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. They still hold 59 hostages after most were released in ceasefire deals.