Turkey in ‘Final Stage’ of Preparations for N. Syria Operation

A member of a Turkish-backed Syrian faction is seen in the Aleppo province on Monday. (AFP)
A member of a Turkish-backed Syrian faction is seen in the Aleppo province on Monday. (AFP)
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Turkey in ‘Final Stage’ of Preparations for N. Syria Operation

A member of a Turkish-backed Syrian faction is seen in the Aleppo province on Monday. (AFP)
A member of a Turkish-backed Syrian faction is seen in the Aleppo province on Monday. (AFP)

Turkey announced that it has reached the final stage of its preparations to launch a military operation against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria.

Speaking at the 13th Ambassadors Conference in Ankara on Tuesday, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said his country resorts to cross-border operations to protect itself from “terrorist organizations.”

He stressed that Ankara has no interest in seizing the land of other countries.

“We are taking care of 9 million Syrians and are making their lives easier. Some of them are in Turkey and others in Syria. We are now working on making regions safe for their return,” he explained.

In May, Turkey announced that it would pursue a full-scale military campaign in northern Syria to complete the establishment of safe zones near its borders. The said zones would extend 30 kilometers deep in Syrian territory.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed on Monday his country's determination to connect safe zones in northern Syria to each other.

He reiterated his threat to clear northeastern Syria of Kurdish-led forces, a reference to the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara views as a terrorist group.

“We will continue our fight against terrorism. Our decision to establish a 30-kilometre-deep secure line along our southern border is permanent,” he told the same conference in Ankara.

Despite Erdogan’s threats, Turkey’s plans for a military campaign in Syria remains without international support.

The United States, which considers the Kurds a key ally in the war against ISIS in Syria, has warned against any Turkish military move, saying that it would pose a threat to the forces participating in the war against the terror group.

European countries also rejected any new Turkish incursion.

Meanwhile, Russia demanded that Ankara cooperate with Damascus instead of resorting to a military option.

Iran, another backer of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Damascus, declared that any Turkish operation would play out in the interests of terrorists only, and would destabilize the region.

Turkish opposition parties also reject the operation and have been employing the issue ahead of next year’s parliamentary and presidential elections.

They have been using the Syrian refugee file to pressure Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party and demanding their return to their home in coordination with Damascus.



Israeli Gunfire and Strikes Kill at Least 42 in Gaza as Many of the Dead Sought Aid

26 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Relatives of Palestinians who lost their lives mourn in Al-Shifa Hospital after an Israeli bombing at buildings sheltering displaced people in Gaza city. (dpa)
26 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Relatives of Palestinians who lost their lives mourn in Al-Shifa Hospital after an Israeli bombing at buildings sheltering displaced people in Gaza city. (dpa)
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Israeli Gunfire and Strikes Kill at Least 42 in Gaza as Many of the Dead Sought Aid

26 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Relatives of Palestinians who lost their lives mourn in Al-Shifa Hospital after an Israeli bombing at buildings sheltering displaced people in Gaza city. (dpa)
26 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Relatives of Palestinians who lost their lives mourn in Al-Shifa Hospital after an Israeli bombing at buildings sheltering displaced people in Gaza city. (dpa)

Israeli airstrikes and gunshots killed at least 42 people in Gaza overnight and into Saturday, according to Palestinian health officials and the local ambulance service, as starvation deaths continued and ceasefire talks appear to have stalled. 

Gunfire killed at least a dozen people waiting for aid trucks close to the Zikim crossing with Israel in the north, said staff at Shifa hospital, where bodies were taken. Israel's military said it fired warning shots to distance a crowd "in response to an immediate threat" and it was not aware of any casualties. 

A witness, Sherif Abu Aisha, said people started running when they saw a light that they thought was from aid trucks, but as they got close, they realized it was Israel’s tanks. That’s when the army started firing, he told The Associated Press. He said his uncle was among those killed. 

"We went because there is no food ... and nothing was distributed," he said. 

Elsewhere, those killed in strikes included four people in an apartment building in Gaza City, hospital staff and the ambulance service said. Another Israeli strike killed at least eight people, including four children, in the crowded tent camp of Muwasi in the city of Khan Younis in the south, according to the Nasser hospital, which received the bodies. 

Also in Khan Younis, Israeli forces opened fire and killed at least nine people trying to get aid entering Gaza through the Morag corridor, according to the hospital’s morgue records. There was no immediate comment from Israel's military. 

Stalled ceasefire talks  

Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas were at a standstill after the US and Israel recalled negotiating teams on Thursday. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday his government was considering "alternative options" to ceasefire talks. A Hamas official, however, said negotiations were expected to resume next week and described the recall of the Israeli and US delegations as a pressure tactic. 

Egypt and Qatar, which mediate alongside the United States, called the pause temporary and said talks would resume. They did not say when. 

"Our loved ones do not have time for another round of negotiations, and they will not survive another partial deal," said Zahiro Shahar Mor, nephew of hostage Avraham Munder, one of 50 still in Gaza from Hamas' attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war. Mor spoke at a weekly rally in Tel Aviv. 

Children starving to death  

The United Nations and experts say Palestinians in Gaza are at risk of famine. And now children with no preexisting conditions have begun to starve to death. 

"We only want enough food to end our hunger," said Wael Shaaban at a charity kitchen in Gaza City as he tried to feed his family of six. 

While Israel’s army says it’s allowing aid into the enclave with no limit on the trucks that can enter, the UN says it is hampered by military restrictions on its movements and incidents of criminal looting. The Hamas-run police had provided security for safe aid delivery, but it has been unable to operate after being targeted by airstrikes. 

Israel on Saturday said over 250 trucks carrying aid from the UN and other organizations entered Gaza this week. About 600 trucks entered per day during the latest ceasefire that Israel ended in March. 

The Zikim shootings came days after at least 80 Palestinians were killed trying to reach aid entering through the crossing, one of the deadliest days for aid-seekers in the war. 

Israel faces growing international pressure. More than two dozen Western-aligned countries and over 100 charity and human rights groups have called for an end to the war, harshly criticizing Israel’s blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out. 

More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food, mostly near the new aid sites run by an American contractor, the UN human rights office says. 

The charities and rights groups said even their own staff were struggling to get enough food. 

"Stand for Gaza, for silence is a crime, and indifference is a betrayal of humanity," said Father Issa Thaljieh, a Greek Orthodox priest at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, as religious figures and the mayor gathered to call for prayers to end the war. 

Turning to airdrops, with a warning 

For the first time in months, Israel said it is allowing airdrops, requested by neighboring Jordan. A Jordanian official said the airdrops mainly will be food and milk formula. 

Britain plans to work with partners such as Jordan to airdrop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said Saturday. The office did not give details. 

But the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, warned on social media that airdrops are "expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians" and won't reverse the increasing starvation or prevent aid diversion. 

More than 59,700 Palestinians have been killed during the war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn’t distinguish between fighters and civilians, but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The UN and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.