Drone Strike Hits Assad’s Ancestral Town

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. (AP)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. (AP)
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Drone Strike Hits Assad’s Ancestral Town

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. (AP)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. (AP)

A drone attack targeted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ancestral town of Qardaha on Friday with two projectiles, killing one person and lightly injuring another, Syrian state news agency Sana reported.

The strike came a day after Sana reported a drone attack on Salhab, another opposition-held town in northwest Syria, that killed a woman and a child.

The strikes on Qardaha and Salhab, which are around 35 kilometers apart, come amid a flare up in fighting in the northwest with shelling between Syrian government forces and opposition fighters on some front lines.

They came only days after the conclusion of Astana meetings attended by MPs and FMs of Syria, Russia, Iran, and Türkiye.

Arab News Agency (ANA) quoted Abdel Qader Azouz, advisor to the Syrian Presidency of the Council of Ministers, as saying that the Astana talks represent a test to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s wish to reach a settlement in Syria that leads to Turkish forces’ withdrawal and solutions to the pending issues between both countries.

Azouz affirmed on Wednesday Syria’s keenness on having normal ties with Türkiye given its geographical, strategic, and political weight.

He expressed hope that ties return to normal and disputes are resolved peacefully, saying these demands go in line with the UN principles in abstaining from using force.



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.