UN, OPCW Experts Blame Regime for Khan Sheikhoun Sarin Attack

This photo provided April 4, 2017 by the Syrian anti-government activist group Edlib Media Center, shows a Syrian doctor treating a child following the chemical attack, at a makeshift hospital, in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, northern Idlib province, Syria.(AP Photo)
This photo provided April 4, 2017 by the Syrian anti-government activist group Edlib Media Center, shows a Syrian doctor treating a child following the chemical attack, at a makeshift hospital, in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, northern Idlib province, Syria.(AP Photo)
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UN, OPCW Experts Blame Regime for Khan Sheikhoun Sarin Attack

This photo provided April 4, 2017 by the Syrian anti-government activist group Edlib Media Center, shows a Syrian doctor treating a child following the chemical attack, at a makeshift hospital, in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, northern Idlib province, Syria.(AP Photo)
This photo provided April 4, 2017 by the Syrian anti-government activist group Edlib Media Center, shows a Syrian doctor treating a child following the chemical attack, at a makeshift hospital, in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, northern Idlib province, Syria.(AP Photo)

Investigators from the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have blamed a sarin nerve gas massacre in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun on Bashar al-Assad's regime.

More than 87 people died on April 4 when sarin gas projectiles were fired into Khan Sheikhoun, which is a rebel-held town in northwestern Idlib province.

Images of dead and dying victims, including young children, in the aftermath of the attack provoked global outrage and a US cruise missile strike on the regime air base of Shayrat. 

The report supports the initial findings by the US, France and Britain that a Syrian military plane dropped a bomb with sarin on Khan Sheikhoun.

Syria and Russia, its close ally, have denied any attack and have strongly criticized the Joint Investigative Mechanism, known as the JIM, which was established by the UN and OPCW to determine responsibility for chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

"The panel is confident that the Syrian Arab Republic is responsible for the release of sarin at Khan Sheikhun on 4 April 2017," the report, seen by news agencies, said.

Responding to the report, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said: "Today's report confirms what we have long known to be true. Time and again, we see independent confirmation of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime."

Clearly referring to Russia, she said: "In spite of these independent reports, we still see some countries trying to protect the regime. That must end now."

The Security Council should make it clear that "the use of chemical weapons by anyone will not be tolerated," Haley added.



UN Chief: Palestinians in Gaza Enduring Humanitarian Catastrophe of Epic Proportions

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, near Gaza City, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, 29 July 2025. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, near Gaza City, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, 29 July 2025. (EPA)
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UN Chief: Palestinians in Gaza Enduring Humanitarian Catastrophe of Epic Proportions

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, near Gaza City, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, 29 July 2025. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, near Gaza City, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, 29 July 2025. (EPA)

A trickle of aid into the Gaza Strip must become an ocean, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday.

“Food, water, medicine and fuel must flow in waves and without obstruction,” he said, describing an alert by a global hunger monitor on Tuesday as confirming “what we have feared: Gaza is on the brink of famine.”

“Palestinians in Gaza are enduring a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. This is not a warning. It is a reality unfolding before our eyes,” he said in a statement.

A worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding in Gaza and immediate action is needed to end fighting and allow unimpeded aid access, a global hunger monitor warned on Tuesday, saying failure to act now would result in widespread death.

Its alert coincided with a statement from Gaza health authorities saying Israel's military campaign had now killed more than 60,000 Palestinians.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) raised the prospect that the manmade starvation crisis could be formally classified as a famine, in the hope that this might raise the pressure on Israel to let far more food deliveries in.

"Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths," the IPC said.

It added that it would quickly carry out the formal analysis that could allow it to classify Gaza as "in famine".