Erdogan: Afrin Operation Nearing its Conclusion

Turkish forces are seen on Mount Barsaya in northeast of Afrin, Syria January 28, 2018. (Reuters)
Turkish forces are seen on Mount Barsaya in northeast of Afrin, Syria January 28, 2018. (Reuters)
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Erdogan: Afrin Operation Nearing its Conclusion

Turkish forces are seen on Mount Barsaya in northeast of Afrin, Syria January 28, 2018. (Reuters)
Turkish forces are seen on Mount Barsaya in northeast of Afrin, Syria January 28, 2018. (Reuters)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated on Saturday that his forces were close to concluding Operation Olive Branch in Syria’s Afrin region.

He said: “The army has started to control the mountains and it is advancing on Afrin. It has little way to go.”

Later on Saturday, Ankara announced that eight soldiers were killed in the operation against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

A military statement said that one soldier was killed during clashes with the YPG, Syrian Democratic Forces and Islamic State in northern Syria, while the second was killed during shelling on the border region of Kilis in southern Turkey,

Turkey has continued to reinforce its positions on its border with Syria.

The military also dropped leaflets over Afrin, calling on the locals to unite against “terrorist” organizations, adding that the region will remain in the hands of its original residents.



Israeli Missile Hits Gaza Children Collecting Water

A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Israeli Missile Hits Gaza Children Collecting Water

A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

At least eight Palestinians, most of them children, were killed and more than a dozen were wounded in central Gaza when they went to collect water on Sunday, local officials said.

The Israeli military said the missile had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant in the area but that a malfunction had caused it to fall "dozens of meters from the target".

"The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians," it said in a statement, adding that the incident was under review.

The strike hit a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing six children and injuring 17 others, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al-Awda Hospital.

Water shortages in Gaza have worsened sharply in recent weeks, with fuel shortages causing desalination and sanitation facilities to close, making people dependent on collection centers where they can fill up their plastic containers.

Hours later, 12 people were killed by an Israeli strike on a market in Gaza City, including a prominent hospital consultant, Ahmad Qandil, Palestinian media reported. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack.

Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday that more than 58,000 people had been killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, with 139 people added to the death toll over the past 24 hours.

Negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire appeared to be deadlocked, with the two sides divided over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources said at the weekend.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene ministers late on Sunday to discuss the latest developments in the talks, an Israeli official said.

The indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire are being held in Doha, but optimism that surfaced last week of a looming deal has largely faded, with both sides accusing each other of intransigence.

Netanyahu in a video he posted on Telegram on Sunday said Israel would not back down from its core demands - releasing all the hostages still in Gaza, destroying Hamas and ensuring Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel.