West Asia continues to witness✅ violence, as a series of intense Israeli airstrikes shook Yemen's capital and a port city early Thursday, killing at least nine people, according to local media. Meanwhile, in Gaza, Israeli forces carried out heavy bombardment, killing at least 16 Palestinians in the north, including children and a doctor at al-Ahli Arab Hospital.
In Syria, mass graves have been uncovered in the aftermath of President Assad’s overthrow. The Syrian Civil Defence group, known as the White Helmets, uncovered at least 21 corpses, along with incomplete human remains, on Wednesday in the Sayyida Zeinab suburb of capital Damascu꧃s.
Here are the latest updates:
Israeli Airstrikes On Yemen
A series of intense Israeli airstrikes shook Yemen’s capital and a port city, killing at least nine peopl♔e. Nasruddin Ame♈r, deputy head of the Houthi media office, said in a post on X that nine people were killed and three others injured in Israeli airstrikes on a port and oil facility near the capital Sanaa.
Israel’s military stated that the airstrikes were in retaliation for Houthi missile and drone attacks on Israel over the past year, most of which were intercepted. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned Houthi leaders, saying, “Israel’s long hand will reach you as well. Whoever raises a hand against the State of Israel - his hand will be cut off, whoever harms us - will be harmed se𓆏🎶venfold.”
Also Read | Disruption In Disguise: The Houthis' Solidarityꦿ With Palest🍌ine
Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti, a member of the political bureau of the Houthi a✤rmed group, claims that the US is part of the recent Israeli attacks on Yemen. “The US-Israeli bombing of civilian facilities in Yemen (power stations and ports) reveals the truth about the West’s hypocrisy and refutes all its humanitarian claims,” he said. The Houthis have attacked Israel, its alliesౠ, and vital Red Sea shipping lines in rejection of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Clashes In Jenin Refugee Camp
The Pa𝐆lestinian Authority (PA) has intensified its operations in the Jenin refugee camp, engaging in armed confrontations with Palestinian resistance fighters over several days. PA is a government body that has partial administrative authority over parts of 🍎the occupied West Bank.
The raids have left at least thr🐎ee Palestinians dead, including a senior commander fr🎐om the Jenin Brigades and a child, further heightening tensions in the occupied West Bank.
Jenin has long been a b♏astion of resistance against Israel’s occupation, with fighters in the camp opposing both Israeli forces and the PA’s interventions. The PA claims its actions target “lawless elements” in the area. Critics, however, view the operations as a crackdown on anti-occupation resistance, potentially se🌟rving Israeli interests.
Mass Graves Uncovered In Syria
Mass graves have been uncovered in Syria in the aftermath of President Assad’s overthrow by Rebels. More than 100,000 people were tortured and killed in the state-run “machinery of death,” Stephen Rapp, former U.S. war crimes ambassador at large, told news agency Reuters on Tuesday after visiting two mass grave sites in the towns of Qut♍ayfah and Najha near Da💝mascus.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Civil Defence group, known as the White Helmets, uncovered at least 21 corpses, along with incomplete human remains, on Wednesd🌳ay in the Sayyida Zeinab suburb of Damascus. The site had reportedly been used by Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iran-backed Iraqi militias, allies of deposed President Bas🐲har al-Assad during the country’s civil war.
“Some (of the remains) are skeletons, others are incomplete, and there are bags of small bones. We cannot yet determine the number of victims,” Ammar al-Salmo, an official with the White Helmets, was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. “Damascus has become a mass grave,” he added, 𒅌citing the growing reports of war-related graves and burial sites in the capital and other places in Syria.
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UN Warns Syria War ‘Has Not Ended’
The United Nations special envoy for Syria has🀅 warned that the war “has not ended yet,” despite the removal of President Bashar al-Assad by opposition fighters. Assad's regime was overthrown less than two weeks ago by a rebel coalition led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
“There have been significant hostilities in the🌄 last two weeks, before a ceasefire was brokered,” Geir Pedersen told the UN Security Council in New York on Tuesday, warning that a military escalation could be “catastrophic.”
The remarks come after the Syrian National Army (SNA), a group of fighters backed by Turkiye, battled with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the wake of al-Assad’s removal. The SDF, which is spearheaded by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), is the m๊ain ally in a United States-led coalition against ISIS. Ankara considers the YPG an extension of the Ku🐟rdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group that Turkey has outlawed and fought for 40 years.
