Turkish Army Says 1 Killed in North Syria

In this photo taken from the Turkish side of the border between Turkey and Syria, in Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey, a Turkish soldier walks toward Ras al-Ayn, Syria, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
In this photo taken from the Turkish side of the border between Turkey and Syria, in Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey, a Turkish soldier walks toward Ras al-Ayn, Syria, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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Turkish Army Says 1 Killed in North Syria

In this photo taken from the Turkish side of the border between Turkey and Syria, in Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey, a Turkish soldier walks toward Ras al-Ayn, Syria, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
In this photo taken from the Turkish side of the border between Turkey and Syria, in Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey, a Turkish soldier walks toward Ras al-Ayn, Syria, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

An attack by Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria has killed one of the Turkish personnel and wounded five others, bringing Turkey's military death toll to 11 since the launch of its operation, Turkey's army stated.

In a tweet Sunday, the military said the attack occurred near the border town of Ras al-Ayn where its forces were conducting reconnaissance.

The area falls within a 30 kilometers (19 miles) deep border zone Kurdish forces are withdrawing from, under a US-backed cease-fire.

Despite that ceasefire and a second brokered by Russia, occasional skirmishes have continued, the Associated Press reported.

The Turkish military claimed that its forces responded "within the framework of self-defense" to the rockets, mortars and heavy machine gun attack.

A 150-hour truce brokered by Russia, allowing Syrian Kurdish fighters to complete their withdrawal, runs out Tuesday evening.



UNRWA Lebanon Says Not Impacted by US Aid Freeze or New Israeli Law

 Head of UNRWA in Lebanon Dorothee Klaus speaks during a press conference in her offices in Beirut, Lebanon January 29, 2025. (Reuters)
Head of UNRWA in Lebanon Dorothee Klaus speaks during a press conference in her offices in Beirut, Lebanon January 29, 2025. (Reuters)
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UNRWA Lebanon Says Not Impacted by US Aid Freeze or New Israeli Law

 Head of UNRWA in Lebanon Dorothee Klaus speaks during a press conference in her offices in Beirut, Lebanon January 29, 2025. (Reuters)
Head of UNRWA in Lebanon Dorothee Klaus speaks during a press conference in her offices in Beirut, Lebanon January 29, 2025. (Reuters)

The director of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon said on Wednesday that the agency had not been affected by US President Donald Trump's halt to US foreign aid funding or by an Israeli ban on its operations.

"UNRWA currently is not receiving any US funding so there is no direct impact of the more recent decisions related to the UN system for UNRWA," Dorothee Klaus told reporters at UNRWA's field office in Lebanon.

US funding to UNRWA was suspended last year until March 2025 under a deal reached by US lawmakers and after Israel accused 12 of the agency's 13,000 employees in Gaza of participating in the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war.

The UN has said it had fired nine UNRWA staff who may have been involved and said it would investigate all accusations made.

Klaus said that UNRWA Lebanon had also placed four staff members on administrative leave as it investigated allegations they had breached the UN principle of neutrality.

One UNRWA teacher had already been suspended last year and a Hamas commander in Lebanon - killed in September in an Israeli strike - was found to have had an UNRWA job.

Klaus also said there was "no direct impact" on the agency's Lebanon operations from a new Israeli law banning UNRWA operations in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and that "UNRWA will continue fully operating in Lebanon."

The law, adopted in October, bans UNRWA's operation on Israeli land - including East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in a move not recognized internationally - and contact with Israeli authorities from Jan. 30.

UNRWA provides aid, health and education services to millions in the Palestinian territories and neighboring Arab countries of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

Its commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said on Tuesday that UNRWA has been the target of a "fierce disinformation campaign" to "portray the agency as a terrorist organization."