Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 6 as UNSC plans to meet over Syria issue

Palestinian medical officials said Monday that Israeli strikes in the central Gaza Strip overnight killed at least six people, including one woman.

The strikes came as ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad fled to Moscow on Sunday and received asylum from his longtime ally, according to Russian media, hours after rebels seized control of Damascus.

The UN Security Council plans to hold emergency closed consultations on Syria later Monday at Russia's request.

Among the dead in the overnight Israeli strikes were Raed Ghabaien, who was released from Israeli detention in 2014, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the casualties were taken.

 

He was killed along with his wife when an Israeli strike hit their tent in the central town of Zuweida, the hospital records showed. Two other people were killed in a strike that hit their house late Sunday in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp. Another two were killed in a strike in the Wadi Gaza area early Monday.

An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the hospital's morgue.

Israel's offensive has killed over 44,500 Palestinians in the Gaza since the start of the war, according to local health authorities. They say most of the dead are women and children but do not distinguish between fighters and civilians.

Israel says it only strikes militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in residential areas.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250, including older adults and children. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.

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Syrian prime minister says Cabinet working to ensure smooth transition of power

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We are working so that the transitional period is quick and smooth, Mohammed Ghazi Jalali told Sky News Arabia TV station on Monday.

The government is working with insurgents, Jalali said, adding that he is ready to meet their leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who heads the jihadi Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS.

US Central Command forces launch airstrikes in central Syria

US Central Command says its forces launched dozens of airstrikes targeting Islamic State group camps and operatives in central Syria.

The strikes on Sunday were intended to "disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS, in order to prevent the terrorist group from conducting external operations and to ensure that ISIS does not seek to take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria, it said in a statement.

The airstrikes hit over 75 targets using B-52s, F-15s and A-10s, it said, noting that damage assessments were underway and there were no indications of civilian casualties.

Japanese official says Tokyo is gravely worried' about situation in Middle East

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi says Tokyo is watching recent development in Syria with serious interest," while hoping for an improvement in human rights conditions for the Syrian people.

Japan is gravely worried about large number of deaths among citizens and strongly concerned about further worsening of the humanitarian conditions, Hayashi said Monday.

He added that Japan is hopeful that the latest developments could lead to an improvement in the situation.

New Zealand foreign minister calls for peaceful transition' in Syria

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters says his country is closely following developments related to the collapse of former President Bashar Assad's government in Syria.

This was a regime that perpetrated significant human rights abuses, including repeated chemical weapons attacks, against its own people for many years, Peters said in a statement issued on Monday. Now we need to see a peaceful transition with civilians protected and UN Security Council resolutions upheld. This is critical for moving towards a sustainable and comprehensive political solution.