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Here’s where things stand on Thursday 17 July 2025:
- Syrian government forces are withdrawing from the southern region of Suwayda as part of a ceasefire agreed with the Druze minority.
- The Syrian president accuses Israel of sowing divisions and trying to “ignite tension and chaos” in his country after Israel’s military hit the heart of Damascus in what it says was support for the Druze.
- In the Gaza Strip, casualties are reported after an Israeli strike on a Catholic church in Gaza, with the building also sustaining damage.
- Medical sources tell Al Jazeera that at least 93 Palestinians, including 30 people waiting for food aid, have been killed in Gaza over the latest 24-hour reporting period, and the death toll continues to rise amid ongoing Israeli attacks.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 58,573 people and wounded 139,607, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.
What is the Holy Family Church that was hit in Gaza?
- The Holy Family Church is the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip.
- The church was sheltering both Christians and Muslims, including several children with disabilities, according to Fadel Naem, the acting director of al-Ahli Hospital that received those wounded in the attack earlier today.
- The injured include one child with disabilities, two women, and an elderly person.
- Naem told AP that at least two people were in critical condition.
- The church is a short distance from the al-Ahli Hospital and the area has been repeatedly struck for more than a week, he said.
- Only about 1,000 Christians live in Gaza, an overwhelmingly Muslim territory, according to a US State Department’s report for 2024.
- The majority of Palestinian Christians are Greek Orthodox but they also include other Christians, including Roman Catholics
Syrian president accuses Israel of ‘sowing division’ after attacks
Ahmed al-Sharaa has addressed the nation in a televised address during which he accused Israel of trying to turn Syria into a “theatre of endless chaos”.
Second Israeli drone attack hits southern Lebanon
A second Israeli drone attack has hit the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura, shortly after a separate attack was reported near Nabatieh.
The Health Ministry said the attack, which targeted a truck, killed one person.
Video shows Gaza priest lightly injured in the leg
Footage published by a Palestinian activist and verified by Al Jazeera shows Father Gabriel Romanelli, the pastor of the Holy Family Church in northern Gaza, following the Israeli strike.
The video shows the priest with his right leg bandaged but otherwise in good condition. Romanelli was very close with the late Pope Francis and the two spoke often since the start of the war on Gaza.
Photos: Aftermath of Israeli strike on Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City
Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem says several injured in attack on Gaza church
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has issued a statement confirming that the Holy Family Church in Gaza was hit by a military raid this morning.
“Currently there are no fatalities confirmed,” it said, adding that several people including parish priest Gabriel Romanelli were injured.
“The Patriarchate will provide additional details upon their confirmation,” the statement said.
Israeli drone attack kills one, injures two in southern Lebanon: Health Ministry
At least one person was killed and two were injured in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon, the country’s Health Ministry has said.
A drone hit a vehicle on a highway in the Nabatieh district, it added.
Israel continues to periodically attack Lebanon despite agreeing to a ceasefire with Hezbollah, which ended more than a year of fighting.
According to the November truce, both parties were supposed to pull their forces out of southern Lebanon.
But Israel has maintained troops in at least five outposts and continues to hit the Lebanese group, which it accuses of being rebuilding its capacity. On the other side, Hezbollah says it will not disarm until Israel ends its air raids and fully withdraws from the country’s south.
Italian PM slams Israeli forces over attack on church in Gaza
Giorgia Meloni, prime minister of Italy, has issued a harsh – and rare – condemnation of Israel’s air raids on Palestinians in Gaza after Israeli forces bombed a Catholic church in Gaza City.
“Israeli raids on Gaza also hit the Church of the Holy Family,” Meloni said on X.
“The attacks against the civilian population that Israel has been carrying out for months are unacceptable. No military action can justify such an attitude.”
Two people were killed and six were injured, according to Italy’s ANSA news agency.
More on Israeli strike on Catholic parish in Gaza
As we reported earlier, two women have been killed and several injured in an Israeli strike on the Catholic parish in Gaza City, according to doctors at al-Ahli Arab Hospital.
We now have more information on the strike, which damaged the Holy Family Church.
Italy’s ANSA news agency said six people were seriously injured while the parish priest, Father Gabriele Romanelli, who used to regularly update the late Pope Francis about the war, suffered minor leg injuries.
Death toll in Gaza rises to 22 since dawn
As reported earlier, Israeli air attacks continue in the Strip, and the death toll is rising.
Medical sources now say at least 22 Palestinians have been killed since dawn today.
A source told Al Jazeera on the ground that two women were killed when an Israeli attack hit the Latin Monastery church in the east of Gaza City.
Eight Palestinians killed while trying to protect aid trucks on way to northern Gaza
Reporting from Gaza City
In the past hour, eight people, who had been tasked with securing aid trucks, have been reported killed. As many as 20 trucks were on their way to designated areas in the northern part of the Strip and were hit in a drone attack. Body parts were scattered and civil defence members had to collect them.
This is, unfortunately, routine for those who attempt to secure aid trucks, which will end up in the hands of looters and gangs supported largely by the Israeli military.
Food distribution is still very limited. Whatever is available is coming from the GHF centres and it’s only a trickle.
Only a few people are able to get some food, while those who get large quantities are the looters who are stealing the aid and reselling it on the market for prices that are beyond the capabilities of many here in Gaza.
Israeli drone attack reported in southern Lebanon
Lebanese media are reporting an Israeli drone attack on a car in southern Lebanon.
The attack took place between the southern towns of Kfour and Toul, near Nabatieh, according to Lebanon’s National Broadcasting Network (NBN).
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Syria’s leader bows to ‘reality’ by withdrawing troops from Suwayda
Marco Vicenzino, a global strategy adviser and geopolitical risk specialist, says Syria’s leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has bowed to reality by withdrawing government forces from Suwayda, as he is not in a position to maintain troops there in light of Israeli attacks.
“[Al-Sharaa’s] main challenges are maintaining order at home and centralising power, and also incorporating minorities into the new Syria,” Vicenzino told Al Jazeera.
“So I think, realistically speaking, he realises he’s limited in what he can do. But on the one hand, he risks losing credibility at home – particularly with his political base – but on the other hand, he cannot keep a presence there if there’s the threat of continued [Israeli] bombing.”
Syrian government forces leave Suwayda as ceasefire comes into effect
Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has spelled out what this new ceasefire deal is about, and it involves the state withdrawing from the border region.
We can confirm that we have seen government forces leave Suwayda for now. The responsibility for security will be handed over to the people of this region, which is populated by the Druze minority.
Al-Sharaa made a choice at this point in time, and it really has been Syria’s policy since he took over. Since the beginning, he has been saying that they are not ready for a confrontation with Israel as there are so many challenges that lie ahead.
People here have enjoyed some sort of autonomy, and security was in the hands of local forces. But the Druze are a divided community. There are some who are ready to work with Syrian authorities, and there are others who refuse a deal with the authorities, who they say are not a government but a group of armed gangs.
European missile group MBDA selling parts for bombs used in Gaza: Report
An investigation by a journalism consortium has found that Europe’s top missile manufacturer is supplying Israel with essential parts of bombs, which may have killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
A joint investigation by British newspaper The Guardian, European watchdog Follow the Money, and French investigative journalism nonprofit Disclose found that MBDA produced a key component for the so-called GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb – a glide bomb often used by Israel’s Defense Ministry.
The company has its headquarters near the French capital, Paris, and is owned in part by the French commercial aircraft manufacturer Airbus. It has a contract with US commercial aircraft manufacturer Boeing to produce a key component known as the Diamond Back, according to the report.
MBDA has major subsidiaries in France, Germany and Italy. The UN Arms Trade Treaty, which these countries are signatories to, prohibits the export of weapons where there is an “overriding risk” that they could be used for serious breaches of international humanitarian law.
Syria government forces withdraw from majority-Druze city of Suwayda: Reports
Syrian government forces have withdrawn from areas they entered in recent days in Suwayda, the heartland of the Druze minority in southern Syria, Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting.
The pullout came after al-Sharaa announced in a televised address that “responsibility” for security in Suwayda would be handed to religious elders and some local factions “based on the supreme national interest”.
UNRWA says vulnerable groups most affected by Gaza war
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has said people with disabilities, the elderly, and children are being disproportionately affected by Israel’s war in Gaza.
More than 83 percent of people with disabilities have lost assistive devices, while an estimated 80 percent of the elderly are in urgent need of medication, the agency said on X.
GHF says Khan Younis aid site to be closed today after deadly stampede
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) says its Khan Younis aid distribution site will be closed today “for maintenance”.
On Wednesday, at least 20 people were killed at the GHF’s distribution hub in the southern Gaza city, including 15 from a stampede and suffocation due to tear gas fired at aid seekers, according to Palestinian health officials.
The Israel- and US-backed group acknowledged the deaths at its distribution point but accused Hamas-affiliated Palestinians of fomenting the unrest. It also denied its forces used tear gas against the crowd.
Witnesses said guards at the site sprayed pepper gas at them after they had locked the gates to the centre, trapping them between the gates and the outer wire fence.
Since it began operating in late May, the GHF has been engulfed in criticism for setting up sites that the UN describes as “death traps”. More than 870 people have been killed near or at its distribution hubs.
Palestinian ministry says medical supplies set to arrive in Gaza
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza has announced that later today, “trucks carrying medical supplies and vaccinations for children” are scheduled to arrive at hospitals in the enclave.
It said the shipments were being facilitated “through the World Health Organization and UNICEF” and “they do not contain any food items”.
“The items expected to arrive are of great importance and urgent need to continue providing medical care to the wounded and sick and save lives,” the ministry said in a statement.
It called on all “concerned parties” to “make every effort to protect the convoy” and “enable their safe arrival to hospitals”.
At least 18 killed in Gaza since dawn
Medical sources have told Al Jazeera correspondents on the ground that at least 18 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn today.
Thirteen of them were killed in Gaza City, they said.
Two Israeli soldiers seriously wounded in Gaza
Two members of Israel’s Battalion 202 paratrooper brigade have been “seriously injured” in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, the Israeli military says without providing further details.
The two were medically evacuated for treatment in Israel, and their families have been informed, the military said.
‘Any attack on the Syrian state is an attack on the Druze community’
Druze religious leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou has condemned Israel’s air strikes on central Damascus, which Israel says it carried out to protect the Druze minority and prevent hostile forces from gaining ground near its borders.
“Any attack on the Syrian state is an attack on the Druze community,” Jarbou told Al Jazeera Arabic.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced late on Wednesday that all parties, including Israel, had agreed to a ceasefire.
Jarbou said the agreement enjoyed broad support within the majority-Druze city of Suwayda in southern Syria and expressed his hope that the Syrian state would overcome the obstacles posed by attempts to disrupt it.
Israeli forces arrest 8, set explosives to demolish two homes in occupied West Bank
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report that at least eight Palestinians were arrested in raids by Israeli forces across the occupied West Bank overnight.
The Palestinian news agency, WAFA, said two Palestinians aged 58 and 23 were arrested in raids on two homes in the Bethlehem governorate, and in a separate incident a Palestinian youth was injured by troops south of Tubas city.
In Qabatiya town, south of Jenin, one person was arrested and the family homes of two slain Palestinians were rigged with explosives by Israeli forces in preparation for demolition, a punitive action that is regularly carried out by Israeli forces, WAFA reports.
Palestinian homes were also raided by Israeli forces in the villages of Kafr Jamal and Kafr Zibad, southeast of Qalqilya city.
Israel’s attacks on Syria aren’t about protecting Druze, but expanding control
Israel is threatening to continue its attacks on Syria, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming they are to protect the Druze community there.
Mohamad Elmasry, professor of media studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said Israel’s attacks are not about protecting the Druze, but about expanding control and weakening Syria.
Elmasry views Israel’s actions as part of a wider strategy to divide and fragment the region.
Hague Group meeting on Gaza gives hope Israel’s ‘era of impunity’ will end
Delegates in Bogota call it the most ambitious multilateral action since the start of the war in Gaza.
Thirty-two countries, mostly from the Global South, came together not just to condemn Israel’s actions but to adopt coordinated steps to try to stop it.
To launch the process, 12 of the countries from different regions pledged to immediately implement six concrete steps, including preventing the provision or transfer of arms to Israel, stopping the transit of vessels that might be used to carry arms to Israel, and ensuring public funds are not used to support Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian territory.
The group also set September 20 – during the UN General Assembly – as a target date for the other countries to join.
Palestine’s ambassador to the UN called the move “historic”.
But others warned that without the participation of Western powers and the imposition of diplomatic and political sanctions, the initiative risks falling short.
Now the real test will be whether these promises can translate into enforcement, and if this will be the beginning of the dismantling of what many here called an era of impunity for Israel.
Israeli military strikes Gaza City, killing at least 1
The Israeli military has bombed a gathering of residents in Nassr neighbourhood, west of Gaza City in the north of the enclave, killing at least one person and injuring others, the Palestinian Information Center and the Quds News Network report.
We will bring you more information when we have it.
If you’re just joining us
Here’s a look at the latest developments:
- The Israeli military has continued its assault on Gaza with several overnight attacks, including a strike on a school in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, which has killed at least four people.
- The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza has published a list of 58,380 people killed as a result of Israel’s war on the besieged enclave since October 7, 2023, including the names of some 953 children less than a year old.
- US President Donald Trump hinted that Gaza ceasefire negotiations are going well, as he said his administration would soon announce some “good news”.
- President Ahmed al-Sharaa has given his first speech since Israel attacked Syria, saying his country would overcome attempts to tear it apart and drag the Druze into the “hands of an external party”.
- The UN Security Council will meet on Thursday for an emergency session on Israel’s attacks on Syria, the Reuters news agency reports, citing unnamed diplomatic sources.
Israel’s Syria strikes expose push for regional hegemony – Marwan Bishara
Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara condemned Israel’s strikes on Syria as “vulgar exhibitionism” aimed at asserting regional hegemony.
He argued Israel exploits minority divisions under false pretexts of protection, just as colonial powers historically did, while deflecting from Gaza’s genocide.
Bishara noted Syria’s Druze community prefers national unity despite Israeli interference, comparing it to failed attempts to divide the Kurds.
US lawmakers condemn Irish bill to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements
Almost two-dozen mostly Republican members of Congress have expressed their opposition to legislation making its way through Ireland’s parliament attempting to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham – one lawmaker who posted on X as part of a coordinated campaign opposing the bill – said he hopes “Ireland will reconsider their efforts to economically isolate Israel”.
“I do not believe these efforts would be well received in the United States and they certainly would not go unnoticed,” he added.
US lawmakers opposing the legislation include:
- Republican Senators Hal Rogers, Tom Cotton, Bill Hagerty, Kevin Cramer, Lindsey Graham and Rick Scott.
- Republican Representatives Mario Diaz-Balart, Tom Emmer, Daniel Webster, Lisa McClain, Mike Lawler, Andy Barr, Pete Stauber, Harriet Hageman, Mike Crapo, Andy Ogles, Barry Moore, Mark Messmer and Claudia Tenney.
- Democratic Representatives Brad Schneider and Josh Gottheimer.
Israel’s bombing of Syrian capital caught live on camera
In its third consecutive day of attacks on Syria, Israel bombed the country’s capital, Damascus, hitting the Defence Ministry and areas near the presidential palace, killing a number of people and injuring dozens.
The bombing was captured live on camera.
Palestinian Ministry of Health publishes list of every person killed in Gaza
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza has published a list of every known death of a Palestinian killed as a result of Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7, 2023.
The 2,086-page document, published on Telegram, lists the name, age, gender, and ID number of 58,380 people.
The list features some 953 children less than a year old, with the first nine entries documenting children killed on the same day they were born.
Syrian leader’s speech ‘encouraging’ for Druze, but action needs to follow: Analyst
Al Jazeera spoke earlier to Mohamad Elmasry, professor of media studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. Here’s more from what Elmasry said about the televised speech by Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Israeli attacks on Syria.
“It’s a very difficult situation in Syria. You are talking about a very multiethnic society. You have outside forces, starting with Israel, trying to basically fragment the country and establish a separatist system, if you will, in Syria,” Elmasry said.
“I thought it was interesting that al-Sharaa decided to devote part of his speech to the Druze, and the messages were encouraging. He said that the Druze are an essential component. They are an essential part of Syria. He said it’s the Syrian government’s responsibility to protect them and to hold to account those who have transgressed against them in recent days. So that’s all encouraging,” he said.
“But it’s going to come down to policy and what he does and what the government does with their actions, because I think their actions will speak louder than words for those minority groups in Syria.”
‘There is no one who has clean hands when it comes to Palestine’: UN’s Albanese
Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory, has called on countries to cut all ties with Israel over its genocide in Gaza while speaking at a two-day conference in Colombia focused on ending Israel’s war on the territory.
Syrian leader’s speech marks ‘significant departure’ in tone towards Israel: Analyst
Mohamad Elmasry, professor of media studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said the televised speech by Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa contained a note of warning to Israel that while the country does not want a war, “anyone who starts a war with Syria … would regret it”.
“He said it’s easy to start a war. But it’s not easy to control the end results of a war,” Elmasry told Al Jazeera.
“So these were messages directed at Israel, and it marked a very significant departure from what we’ve heard from him and at times not heard from him when Israel has attacked Syria,” Elmasry said.
“I think we’re at a potentially dangerous tipping point and it really will come down to, I think, the extent to which Donald Trump and the United States are willing to kind of rein in Israel,” he said.
Syrian president says he will stop Druze being dragged into hands of ‘external party’
Earlier, we reported that interim President al-Sharaa gave a televised address to the nation, saying Syria would overcome attempts by Israel to tear the country apart.
During that speech, al-Sharaa also said that protecting the Druze citizens and their rights is “our priority”.
Addressing Syria’s Druze citizens, al-Sharaa said, “We reject any attempt to drag you into the hands of an external party”.
“We are not among those who fear the war. We have spent our lives facing challenges and defending our people, but we have put the interests of the Syrians before chaos and destruction,” he said.
We will bring you further updates when we have them.
Four dead as Israeli military bombs central Gaza school; 3 killed in Gaza City
The Israeli military’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip is continuing overnight, with news emerging of two deadly attacks over recent hours.
A strike on the Abu Halu School in the Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza, has killed at least four people, the Palestinian Information Center and the Quds News Network report.
An Israeli strike on a residential apartment near the Imam Shafi’i School in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood, northern Gaza, has also killed at least three people and injured others, the Palestinian Information Center reports.
We will bring you more information on these attacks when we have it.
US calls Israel’s bombing of Syria a ‘misunderstanding between new neighbours’
Throughout the course of the day, the State Department has been characterising this conflict as a misunderstanding.
The spokesperson for the State Department, Tammy Bruce, said, “It’s a misunderstanding between new neighbours”.
The secretary of state has been in touch with all parties from both the Israeli and the Syrian side, and he has now taken to social media announcing that the conflict may be nearing an end.
So the US secretary of state is apparently convinced that an end to this splurge of conflict is now in sight.
It is now, he says, up to the parties involved to make good on whatever commitments they have made to the United States and, perhaps, to each other.
Photos: Demonstrators protest arms shipment to Israel at Greek port
Syrian president addresses Israel’s attacks in televised address
Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has given a televised address to the nation, saying that Syria has rejected all forms of division over its long history and would overcome attempts by Israel to tear the country apart, according to reports.
Addressing the country’s minority Druze community, al-Sharaa said the Druze people are an essential part of the national fabric in Syria and protecting them was a priority.
He also said that Druze “elders” have been tasked with restoring security in the south of the country, where clashes broke out between Bedouin and Druze fighters.
Al-Sharaa said that Israel was seeking to turn Syria into a land of conflict, and that could not be allowed to happen.
We will bring you more on this shortly.
Gaza humanitarian camp totally unbearable, impractical idea – ex-Israeli PM
This week, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert likened Israel’s plans for a so-called “humanitarian city” in Gaza to a concentration camp.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Olmert, Israel’s leader from 2006-09, clarified his comments on the planned forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into a small zone in southern Gaza.
“I said some will try to interpret it [as a concentration camp]. It’s bad, it shouldn’t be done. But it’s not a concentration camp, and it’s not a genocide. It’s just stupid, reckless, irresponsible and something that may amount to a crime, which should be prevented,” Olmert said.
“And I hope my voice and the voices of many Israelis will succeed to stop it. The idea of a ‘humanitarian camp’ is totally unbearable and impractical,” he added.
UNSC to hold emergency session to discuss Israel’s strikes on Syria: Reports
The UN Security Council (UNSC) will meet on Thursday for an emergency session on Israel’s attacks on Syria, the Reuters news agency reports, citing unnamed diplomatic sources.
The Anadolu news agency also reports that the meeting – requested by Syria’s UN mission and endorsed by Algeria, a current UNSC member – will take place on Thursday afternoon, Eastern Time.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, called for the UNSC to “condemn the barbaric crimes committed against innocent civilians on Syrian soil” by Syria’s government, according to Reuters.
“Israel will continue to act resolutely against any terrorist threat on its borders, anywhere and at any time,” he added.
Israel’s bombing of Syria sends a message to Damascus and the Druze: Analyst
Mohammad Al Abdallah, executive director of the Washington, DC-based Syria Justice and Accountability Centre, said Israel’s bombing of Syria appears to be aimed at sending “a message” to the new Syrian leadership as well as the Druze minority in Israel.
Israel is trying to “reinforce their leverage on Syria”, Al Abdallah told Al Jazeera earlier.
“The second element is that Netanyahu is facing some domestic pressures from the Druze of Israel who crossed the border into Syria and [are] trying to fight along with the Syrian Druze against Damascus,” he said.
“Netanyahu is also sending a message to the Druze of Israel that basically they can count on him and he can count on them on domestic political issues,” he added.
The Israeli bombing is also sending a message to Damascus that it will not tolerate a “militarised zone” in its border regions with Syria.
Trump says ‘good news’ coming on Gaza truce as he hails ‘fantastic’ job by Witkoff
US President Donald Trump thanked his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, as he hinted that Gaza ceasefire negotiations are going well, ahead of a meeting with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani on Wednesday.
“We have some good news on Gaza and good news on a couple of things that we’re working on at a very high level, but you’ve done a fantastic job,” Trump said to Witkoff during a White House bill signing event.
Syrian official says Israeli military attacking medical convoy trying to reach Suwayda
Syria’s Minister of Health Musab al-Ali said Israeli military aircraft are preventing a medical convoy sent by the government from entering the city of Suwayda, the state-run SANA news agency reports.
Al-Ali said Israeli air attacks have been targeting any moving vehicle in and near the southern Syrian city over recent hours.
The medical convoy is comprised of 15 ambulances, 10 surgeons from various specialities and two trucks carrying medication and medical supplies, he added.
Separately, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent in Syria reports that the Israeli military has shelled the headquarters of the Syrian army’s 107th Brigade in the village of Bzamel in the Latakia governorate.
We will bring you more information when we have it.
Israel says strikes on Syria to continue as long as it deems necessary
Israel says it’s going to continue carrying out air strikes in Syria until however long it sees fit.
For the last couple of days, they have mainly been targeting areas in the south near Suwayda, where all of the unrest was going on.
But earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli army targeted the heart of Damascus, saying they want to send a message to the Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa.
But elsewhere in the north, in the occupied Golan Heights, there were more than a thousand members of the Druze community who crossed the border, prompting the Israeli army chief of staff to go there and deploy more forces.
Israeli forces even used measures like tear gas to disperse the people who were trying to go above or beneath the fence into Syrian territory.
All this comes as the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel is carrying out these attacks to protect the Druze community. That they are not going to sit idly by while the Druze are being attacked.
The Israelis have also said that they want the area along their border, which includes Suwayda, to be completely demilitarised and that they would carry out any sort of military action they deemed necessary.
But there is a different rhetoric within Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Members of his far-right coalition, including the national security minister and the minister for diaspora affairs now calling for the assassination of the Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, while Israeli forces and the defence minister say that these types of military actions against Syrian forces might continue.
Israel targets Syrian government with attacks on Damascus
Israel launched powerful air strikes on Damascus on Wednesday, targeting the Defence Ministry and the area around the presidential palace in the Syrian capital.
At least three people were killed in the strikes and around 34 were wounded, according to Syrian state media.
Analysts told Al Jazeera the assault signals that Israel has chosen “military hegemony” over potential cooperation in the region.
A recap of recent developments
- Israel continued its relentless assault on Gaza, with at least 93 Palestinians killed on Wednesday, according to health officials in the besieged enclave.
- Among the dead were at least 25 more people killed at a GHF aid distribution site, most of whom were trampled in a stampede reportedly caused by tear gas being fired into the crowd by the American contractors.
- GHF, the controversial US- and Israeli-backed aid contractor, again justified the death of unarmed civilians at one of its sites in Gaza, claiming armed groups in the crowd caused unrest.
- Syria’s government said a new ceasefire had been agreed in Suwayda after clashes erupted there between Druze and Bedouin fighters on Sunday, while its army had “begun withdrawing” from the southern city.
- The withdrawal comes after the Israeli military bombed multiple sites in Damascus and warned it would escalate attacks if Syrian troops did not leave the area bordering Israel.
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the various parties involved in fighting in Syria had agreed on “specific steps” to end the clashes there.
Welcome to our coverage
Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza and its attacks on Syria.
Stay with us for the latest news, reactions and analyses.
You can find all our updates from Wednesday, July 16, here.
