«Hunger in Gaza used as a weapon»

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 36 Syrian soldiers died and dozens of others were injured in an alleged attack by the Israeli army near the Syrian city of Aleppo. «As a preliminary assessment, at least 36 members of the regime forces were killed and dozens were injured with various injuries, some of them serious, making it likely that the death toll will increase due to Israeli airstrikes after midnight on Thursday », said the London-based organization. Up to “36 Syrian soldiers were killed in the Israeli target of a Hezbollah warehouse in the Jibreen area, near Aleppo international airport”, the Observatory then wrote on Facebook, ensuring that this is the “highest number of Syrian soldiers killed in Israeli raids.” Although these accusations have not yet been verified, the group assured that the Israeli attack targeted an arms depot belonging to the Lebanese Shiite militia party Hezbollah located in Jibreen, near Aleppo international airport. Another target of the bombings were the defense factories of Al Safira, added the Observatory, specifying that explosions were also heard in the Kafr Joum area, west of Aleppo: «The regime’s air defense missiles were launched to try to counter Israeli missiles and counter the attack. Ambulances and firefighters moved in a tight security cordon to the site of the attacks to transport the injured and put out the fires that broke out.”

Syria’s Defense Ministry says several civilians and soldiers have been killed following attacks by the Israeli army and a militant group in the northern city of Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights speaks of around 30 deaths. The Israeli air raids against several areas in the countryside surrounding Aleppo occurred “in conjunction” with a drone attack against civilians that the ministry described as being conducted by “terrorist organizations” from the city of Idlib, according to several Arab media reports. The Syrian government has not yet provided figures on the number of victims. A military source told the official SANA news agency that “at around 1.45 am the Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the direction of Athriya, southeast of Aleppo”, adding that “civilians and military personnel” were killed and injured in the attack.