Syrian Observatory: Top Commander among 4 Killed in Aleppo Strike

A view of Aleppo International Airport, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, Syria February 14, 2023. (Reuters)
A view of Aleppo International Airport, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, Syria February 14, 2023. (Reuters)
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Syrian Observatory: Top Commander among 4 Killed in Aleppo Strike

A view of Aleppo International Airport, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, Syria February 14, 2023. (Reuters)
A view of Aleppo International Airport, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, Syria February 14, 2023. (Reuters)

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights revealed that the Israeli strike on Aleppo on Wednesday destroyed a weapons cache used by Iranian militias in the vicinity of Aleppo International Airport.

A top Syrian commander was among four killed in the attack.

One of the dead was another Syrian, while the other two have not been identified.

The attack had taken the airport out of service. It will resume operations on Friday.

This is the second time Israel strikes the airport within a month.

The airport has been a key channel for the flow of aid into the country after the Feb. 6 earthquake hit Türkiye and Syria, killing over 50,000 people, including more than 6,000 in Syria.

Earlier this month, an Israeli airstrike put the airport out of service for several days and flights were rerouted to two other airports in war-torn Syria until the damage was fixed.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, including attacks on the Damascus and Aleppo airports, but rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations.

Israel has acknowledged, however, that it targets bases of Iran-allied militant groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.

Along with airports, Israel has also targeted seaports in government-held areas, an apparent attempt to prevent Iranian arms shipments to militant groups backed by Tehran, including Hezbollah.

Late on Wednesday, the Israeli military said a drone crashed in Syria while on a “routine operation.” It said no sensitive information had been lost and it was investigating the incident.



Israel Is Ramping up Annexation of West Bank, UN Rights Chief Says 

Israeli army vehicles block a road during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 14 March 2025. (EPA)
Israeli army vehicles block a road during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 14 March 2025. (EPA)
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Israel Is Ramping up Annexation of West Bank, UN Rights Chief Says 

Israeli army vehicles block a road during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 14 March 2025. (EPA)
Israeli army vehicles block a road during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 14 March 2025. (EPA)

Israel has significantly expanded and consolidated settlements in the occupied West Bank as part of the steady integration of these territories into the State of Israel, in breach of international law, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday.

The report to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council later this month comes amid growing fears of annexation amid US policy shifts under President Donald Trump and new settler outposts in areas of the West Bank seen as part of a future Palestinian state.

"The transfer by Israel of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies amounts to a war crime," UN High Commissioner Volker Turk said in a statement accompanying the report, urging the international community to take meaningful action on Israel’s advancing settlement.

"Israel must immediately and completely cease all settlement activities and evacuate all settlers, stop the forcible transfer of the Palestinian population, and prevent and punish attacks by its security forces and settlers," he said.

Israel disengaged from the UN Human Rights Council earlier this year, alleging a chronic anti-Israeli bias. Its military says it is conducting counter-terrorism operations in the West Bank and targeting suspected militants.