3 Killed in Israeli ‘Aggression’ Targeting Southern Damascus, Says Syria

Missile fire is seen over Damascus, Syria January 21, 2019. (Reuters)
Missile fire is seen over Damascus, Syria January 21, 2019. (Reuters)
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3 Killed in Israeli ‘Aggression’ Targeting Southern Damascus, Says Syria

Missile fire is seen over Damascus, Syria January 21, 2019. (Reuters)
Missile fire is seen over Damascus, Syria January 21, 2019. (Reuters)

An Israeli "aggression" launched from the Golan Heights and targeting southern parts of the Syrian capital Damascus killed three people and caused some material damage, the Syrian ministry of defense said on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, state TV reported that Syrian air defenses shot down a number of missiles in the Damascus countryside.

The pro-government Cham FM said the Israeli attack resulted in a fire near Damascus International Airport, leading to the postponement of two flights.

There was no comment from Israel, which rarely confirms its activities inside Syria.

It says it targets bases of Iran-allied militias, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah party that has fighters deployed in Syria and is fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government forces, and arms shipments believed to be bound for the militias.

The last attack was on May 13, when Israeli missiles struck the town of Masyaf in the Hama countryside, killing five people, according to Syrian state media.



WHO Sends Over 1 Mln Polio Vaccines to Gaza to Protect Children 

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
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WHO Sends Over 1 Mln Polio Vaccines to Gaza to Protect Children 

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)

The World Health Organization is sending more than one million polio vaccines to Gaza to be administered over the coming weeks to prevent children being infected after the virus was detected in sewage samples, its chief said on Friday.

"While no cases of polio have been recorded yet, without immediate action, it is just a matter of time before it reaches the thousands of children who have been left unprotected," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an opinion piece in Britain's The Guardian newspaper.

He wrote that children under five were most at risk from the viral disease, and especially infants under two since normal vaccination campaigns have been disrupted by more than nine months of conflict.

Poliomyelitis, which is spread mainly through the fecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis. Cases of polio have declined by 99% worldwide since 1988 thanks to mass vaccination campaigns and efforts continue to eradicate it completely.

Israel's military said on Sunday it would start offering the polio vaccine to soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip after remnants of the virus were found in test samples in the enclave.

Besides polio, the UN reported last week a widespread increase in cases of Hepatitis A, dysentery and gastroenteritis as sanitary conditions deteriorate in Gaza, with sewage spilling into the streets near some camps for displaced people.