Israel’s military said it intercepted a missile fired toward the country by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, setting off sirens late Monday in central areas including Tel Aviv.
The Houthis are firing drones and missiles at Israel, as well as attacking shipping in the Red Sea corridor – with attacks they say will not stop until Israel agrees to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more than 45,500 people, more than half of them women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry. Its counting does not differentiate between combatants and civilians. The Health Ministry said on Monday that at least 27 people had been killed in Israeli air strikes and bombings the previous day. Israel says its forces only target militants.
In Syria, Ukraine is pledging support for the new government that ousted Bashar Assad, who was a key Russian ally in the Middle East. Ukraine’s foreign minister met with Syria’s de facto leader during a visit to Damascus on Monday.
Here’s the latest:
United Nations – The United Nations humanitarian agency said on Monday that Israel had a day earlier allowed a United Nations and Palestinian Red Crescent team to deliver medical supplies, food and water to critical patients in northern Gaza.
The United Nations said patients were forced by Israeli troops to evacuate Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza and were taken to an Indonesian hospital, which is not functioning.
“Ten patients were evacuated from the hospital, four of whom were arrested by Israeli forces at an exit checkpoint from the area,” said the UN humanitarian office, known as OCHA.
“Seven patients along with 15 caregivers and health workers remain in the facility, which is severely damaged and does not have the capacity to provide medical care,” it said.
The UN humanitarian office is warning that Israeli attacks on health care and humanitarian access in Gaza, coupled with persistent attacks that kill and injure civilians daily, are destroying Palestinians’ means of survival.
OCHA stressed that humanitarian access to Gaza remains constrained.
“Over the past three days, more than 60% of 42 UN-coordinated movements across Gaza were rejected, interfered with or disrupted on the ground,” it said.
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s military said it intercepted a missile fired toward the country by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, setting off sirens across central Israel, including Tel Aviv, late Monday. Israel’s rescue service Magen David Adom reported no injuries.
The Houthis are firing drones and missiles at Israel as well as attacking shipping in the Red Sea corridor – with attacks they say will not stop until Israel agrees to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has twice launched intensified strikes in Yemen in recent weeks in response to missile attacks. The latest launch raises the possibility of Israeli retaliation.
At a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon vowed that his country would respond decisively to the Houthi attacks.
Gaza City, Gaza Strip – Wounded Palestinians evacuated from a northern Gaza hospital over the weekend by Israeli soldiers described horrific conditions where they were forced to strip to their underwear in freezing weather for hours.
“They surrounded the hospital at 4 a.m. and burned all the buildings around the hospital,” said Wissam Warsh, a 45-year-old father of five who spent nearly a week being treated at Kamal Adwan Hospital. He said the soldiers asked hospital director Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya to bring all the patients out before detaining them.
“They told them over the loudspeaker that they had 10 minutes to get them out, and they started firing shells around the hospital as a pressure tactic,” Warsh said. He and other patients were recovering at Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, where he spoke to The Associated Press from a hospital bed on Sunday.
Israel’s military says its troops entered the hospital because Hamas militants were using it as a base, and said more than 240 militants, including Abu Safiya, were detained. Hospital officials have denied those claims.
Other patients said that Israeli forces refused to provide them with food or water.
“The hardest thing was that we were in the cold and winter and apart from moments of humiliation, we could not get clothes. All moments were difficult,” said Ramadan al-Aswad, who was a patient at the hospital.
Kamal Adwan hospital staff say it has been attacked several times over the past three months as Israeli forces have launched an offensive against Hamas fighters, who the army says have regrouped in northern Gaza. Have gone. Israel has virtually cut off the areas of Jabaliya, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya from food or medical aid.
ADRA, Syria — Syria’s new government said it deployed dozens of troops to the Damascus suburb of Adra on Monday in search of alleged militiamen loyal to ousted President Bashar Assad, after military police vehicles were seen carrying detainees.
“A security operation was launched in the city of Adra that led to the arrest of militia leaders in the area,” said Abu Yaroub, a security official who did not give his full name in accordance with regulations. He said five top militiamen have been detained.
Clashes broke out in several Syrian cities last week between Assad supporters and the new government led by Islamist rebels.
Since Assad’s fall, dozens of Syrians have been killed in reprisals, according to activists and monitors, most of them from the minority Alawite community, a branch of Shia Islam to which Assad belongs.
By Leo Correa and Ghaith AlSayed.
JERUSALEM – The family of a hospital director in northern Gaza is pleading with the international community and the Israeli military for his release after soldiers detained Dr. Hussam Abu Safia over the weekend.
Abu Safiya’s family say he is being denied medical care and being held in freezing cold at Sde Teiman, an Israeli detention center that has been sharply criticized for inhumane conditions.
Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said that Abu Safiya “is being interrogated regarding his possible involvement in terrorist activity.”
Over the weekend, Israeli troops evacuated staff and patients from Kamal Adwan Hospital, where it detained 240 people it said were terrorists and took them for questioning in Israel. The army said that some terrorists tried to pose as patients and hid in the ambulance without providing any evidence.
Israel alleged that Hamas was using the facility, which hospital officials denied.
Israel’s latest military offensive in northern Gaza has left the area largely isolated, with little medical or other aid reaching hospitals there.
On Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said that Israeli operations have “destroyed the health care system in northern Gaza”, noting that Kamal Adwan and Indonesian hospitals are now “completely defunct”.
DAMASCUS, Syria — Days after Kiev announced the delivery of a large consignment of wheat flour to the country following the ouster of Russia’s ally Bashar Assad, Ukraine’s foreign minister on Monday met Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus. Met with.
Syria is gradually moving away from Iran and Russia and re-strengthening ties with Western and Gulf Arab countries, which opposed Assad’s rule, as well as Turkey, which supported opposition forces during the civil war. Had done.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine will send 500 tons of wheat flour to Syria through the United Nations World Food Program to help improve the country’s food security and economic crisis. According to the United Nations, nearly 90% of Syrians live in poverty, while more than half do not know where their next meal will come from.
“The Ukrainian delegation held important talks with the Syrian administration, leader Ahmed al-Sharaa and ministers. We support the Syrian people in overcoming decades of dictatorial rule and restoring stability, security and normal life in Syria,” Zelensky wrote on We do.”
Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiha said he hoped “the new Syria will become a country that respects international law.” He said Ukraine is ready to share its experience in gathering evidence and conducting investigations to hold war criminals accountable.
“The Russians and the Assad regime supported each other because their foundation is violence and tyranny,” he said.
BEIRUT – Syria appointed its first female interim central bank governor on Monday, as the country moves to fix its battered economy following the fall of the Assad dynasty’s rule.
Maysa Sabreen is the second woman appointed to a leadership role under Ahmed al-Sharaa and his Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which ousted Assad from power in an offensive in early December.
Sabreen served as the First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank.
He inherited a severe financial crisis after a decade of civil war, mismanagement and sanctions, which has caused the Syrian pound to lose much of its value against the US dollar. The United Nations estimates that about 90% of Syrians live in poverty.
ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey is ready to export electricity to Syria and Lebanon to help ease electricity shortages, Turkey’s energy minister said, ahead of a Turkish delegation to evaluate Syria’s energy infrastructure. He was in Damascus.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alperslan Baykartar also said on Monday that the Turkish delegation includes experts who will assess how Syria’s oil and natural gas can be used to improve the economy.
“After seeing the state of the transmission network we can see the picture a little more clearly,” Bekartar was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu Agency.
He said Syria’s electricity capacity has declined significantly due to the civil war.
“Most people meet their electricity needs through generators,” he said. “There is a serious need for electricity.”
Turkey has backed the rebels who ousted President Bashar Assad and has expressed willingness to support the new administration.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
