Civilians Killed in Syria, Most in Russian Air Strikes

A cloud of smoke is seen near Al-Tamanah in Syria's province of Idlib. AFP file photo
A cloud of smoke is seen near Al-Tamanah in Syria's province of Idlib. AFP file photo
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Civilians Killed in Syria, Most in Russian Air Strikes

A cloud of smoke is seen near Al-Tamanah in Syria's province of Idlib. AFP file photo
A cloud of smoke is seen near Al-Tamanah in Syria's province of Idlib. AFP file photo

At least 23 civilians were killed Wednesday in the Syrian opposition stronghold of Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, most of them in Russian air raids, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Britain-based Observatory told Agence France Presse that 18 people were killed by Russian strikes in the town of Misraba, while the remainder died in shelling from regime forces.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said three children and 11 women were among those killed.

Victims were taken to a hospital in Douma, where an AFP correspondent saw rescuers bringing in mostly women and children.

A medical source at the hospital told the news agency that "among the wounded were two women in their twenties."

Medical staff tried to revive an infant who had been pulled from the rubble, but without success. A young girl among the wounded received stitches for a serious injury to her face.

The latest raids came after at least seven civilians, including five children, were killed Tuesday by air strikes in northwestern Idlib province, the Observatory said.



Israel Orders Evacuation of Area Designated as Humanitarian Zone in Gaza

 A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
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Israel Orders Evacuation of Area Designated as Humanitarian Zone in Gaza

 A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)

Israel’s military ordered the evacuation Saturday of a crowded part of Gaza designated as a humanitarian zone, saying it is planning an operation against Hamas militants in Khan Younis, including parts of Muwasi, a makeshift tent camp where thousands are seeking refuge.

The order comes in response to rocket fire that Israel says originates from the area. It's the second evacuation issued in a week in an area designated for Palestinians fleeing other parts of Gaza. Many Palestinians have been uprooted multiple times in search of safety during Israel's punishing air and ground campaign.

On Monday, after the evacuation order, multiple Israeli airstrikes hit around Khan Younis, killing at least 70 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, citing figures from Nasser Hospital.

The area is part of a 60-square-kilometer (roughly 20-square-mile) “humanitarian zone” to which Israel has been telling Palestinians to flee to throughout the war. Much of the area is blanketed with tent camps that lack sanitation and medical facilities and have limited access to aid, United Nations and humanitarian groups say. About 1.8 million Palestinians are sheltering there, according to Israel's estimates. That's more than half Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 39,100 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The UN estimated in February that some 17,000 children in the territory are now unaccompanied, and the number is likely to have grown since.

The war began with an assault by Hamas fighters on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. About 115 are still in Gaza, about a third of them believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities.