Erdogan Threatens to Expand Operations Against Kurds in Northern Syria

Turkish strikes on SDF positions in the Aleppo countryside. (Aleppo News)
Turkish strikes on SDF positions in the Aleppo countryside. (Aleppo News)
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Erdogan Threatens to Expand Operations Against Kurds in Northern Syria

Turkish strikes on SDF positions in the Aleppo countryside. (Aleppo News)
Turkish strikes on SDF positions in the Aleppo countryside. (Aleppo News)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to expand military operations against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after a Turkish policeman was killed in the northern countryside of Syria’s Aleppo governorate.

The development took place in wake of the killing and injury of several SDF members in a Turkish raid on the northern Aleppo countryside. The raid was the latest in the escalation between Turkey and the Ankara-backed Syrian National Army and the SDF the zones of influence held by the two sides in the northwest.

Erdogan said his country would not be satisfied with striking SDF positions in response to the group’s repeated attacks against residential areas and Turkish forces positions in the Aleppo countryside.

Commenting on the Claw-Lock military operation against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, Erdogan stated: “The more our forces tighten the screws on the terrorist organization (PKK) there, the organization will intensify its attacks on the areas that Turkey protects in Syria.”

He added, after a cabinet meeting in Ankara overnight on Monday, that the recent SDF attacks led to the killing of a Turkish policeman from the Special Operations Forces, stressing that Turkey “has the strength, will and firmness necessary to ensure its own security, and will not allow the establishment of a terrorist corridor on its southern borders.”

The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced the launch of a large-scale military operation against the SDF in the Aleppo countryside in response to the killing of the policeman.

Turkish forces and their Syrian allies struck several villages in the north of Raqqa. One resident was killed in the Turkish attack on the village of Bandar Khan in the countryside of Tal Abyad.

Turkey has escalated its attacks against SDF positions since the beginning of April.

At the same time, Turkish forces continue to strengthen their positions in de-escalation zones in Syria’s Idlib by bringing in dozens of military and logistical vehicles and equipment to the area.

On Tuesday, a convoy of 40 armored vehicles and eight trucks loaded with supplies entered the Bab al-Hawa border crossing in Idlib.



Israeli Airstrikes Kill at Least 30 Palestinians in Gaza, Medics Say

A body arrives at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah town, central Gaza Strip, 31 October 2024. (EPA)
A body arrives at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah town, central Gaza Strip, 31 October 2024. (EPA)
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Israeli Airstrikes Kill at Least 30 Palestinians in Gaza, Medics Say

A body arrives at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah town, central Gaza Strip, 31 October 2024. (EPA)
A body arrives at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah town, central Gaza Strip, 31 October 2024. (EPA)

Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 30 Palestinians since Monday night, Palestinian media and medics said on Tuesday, as the Israeli army tightened its siege on northern areas of the enclave.

An airstrike damaged two houses in the town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, where the army has carried out new operations since Oct. 5, and killed at least 20 people late on Monday, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA and Hamas media said.

The Gaza health ministry did not immediately confirm the toll. Four other people were killed in the central Gazan town of Al-Zawayda around midnight on Monday, medics said.

Palestinian health officials said six people had also been killed in two separate Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City and Deir Al-Balah in the central area of the narrow enclave.

The Israeli military said, without giving details, that its forces had "eliminated terrorists" in the central Gaza Strip and Jabalia area. Israeli troops had also located weapons and explosives over the past day in the southern Rafah area, where "terrorist infrastructure sites" had been eliminated, it said.

Palestinians said the new attacks and Israeli orders for people to evacuate were aimed at emptying two northern Gaza towns and a refugee camp to create buffer zones.

Israel says its forces have killed hundreds of Palestinian gunmen and dismantled military infrastructure in Jabalia in the past month.

More than 43,300 Palestinians have been killed in more than a year of war in Gaza, the authorities in Gaza say, and much of the territory has been reduced to ruins.

The war began after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.