Syria says Israeli strike in Damascus killed civilians; Israeli fired on peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, UN says

Syria’s foreign ministry has condemned a suspected Israeli air strike on an apartment building in Damascus that, it says, killed seven civilians.

The ministry said women and children were among the dead from Tuesday evening’s attack on the Mezzeh neighborhood, which houses the Iranian embassy and other diplomatic facilities. Israel's military has not commented.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at 13, including nine civilians and two members of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, which is a key ally of Iran and Syria's government.

The UK-based monitoring group said the strike targeted an apartment frequented by leaders of Iran's "Axis of Resistance".

Syria’s state news agency, Sana, cited a military source as saying that the building was hit by three missiles launched by Israeli aircraft from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights identified the civilians killed as a Yemeni doctor, his wife and their three children, as well as a woman and her child, a female doctor and a man.

Iran's embassy said no Iranian citizens were among the casualties.

On Wednesday, a Syrian police officer was killed in an Israeli strike near the south-western city of Quneitra, according to Sana.

Last week, another Israeli strike in Mezzeh reportedly killed the son-in-law of the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Hassan Jaafar Qassir.

Israel has previously acknowledged carrying out hundreds of strikes in recent years on targets in Syria that it says are linked to Iran and allied armed groups such as Hezbollah.

The Israeli strikes in Syria have reportedly been more frequent since the start of the war in Gaza last October, in response to cross-border attacks on northern Israel by Hezbollah and other groups in Lebanon and Syria.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Israeli air and artillery strikes have targeted Syrian territory on 104 occasions since January, killing at least 296 people and resulting in the damage or destruction of about 190 targets, including weapons depots, vehicles and Iran-backed militia headquarters.

Israeli military fired on peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, UN says

The United Nations on Thursday accused the Israeli military of firing on peacekeeper missions in southern Lebanon as Israel conducts a cross-border operation inside the country.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement on the social platform X that Israeli soldiers inside the country have clashed with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and its headquarters in the city of Naqoura, and “nearby positions have been repeatedly hit.”

“We remind the IDF and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of U.N. personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of U.N. premises at all times,” the UNIFIL said, using the acronym for the Israeli military’s official name.

The organization said two peacekeepers were injured by an Israeli tank that fired toward an observation tower at the Naqoura headquarters, and soldiers fired at a peacekeeper bunker and shelter in the town of Labbouneh, damaging vehicles and a communication infrastructure. It also blamed Israel for destroying monitoring and relay equipment.

“Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and of Security Council resolution 1701,” the UNIFIL said. “We are following up with the IDF on these matters.”

The Israeli military said in a post on X that Hezbollah operates near civilian areas in Lebanon, The Hill reported.

UN accuses Israel of war crimes over attacks on Gaza hospitals

A United Nations commission of inquiry has accused Israel of carrying out a “concerted policy to destroy Gaza's healthcare system" during its ongoing war with Hamas.

The commission said Israeli attacks on Gaza’s healthcare facilities and Israel’s treatment of Palestinian detainees amounted to war crimes, as well as the crime against humanity of “extermination”.

Hamas and other Palestinian groups are also accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their treatment of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

The report, which will be presented to the UN General Assembly on 30 October, was led by Navi Pillay, the South African former UN human rights chief.

Israeli security forces have “deliberately killed, detained and tortured medical personnel”, the report said, while children have “borne the brunt” of “the collapse of the health system".

The commission cites the case of five-year-old Hind Rajab, whose car was hit as she and her family tried to flee bombing. Several family members were killed, but Hind managed to phone the Palestinian Red Crescent for help. The ambulance trying to reach her was also shelled, and Hind, her family, and the ambulance crew all died.

The commission says the attacks on the healthcare system have “inflicted conditions of life resulting in the destruction of generations of Palestinian children and, potentially, the Palestinian people as a group”.

The report alleges Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas, have subjected Israeli hostages to "physical violence, abuse, sexual violence, forced isolation, limited access to hygiene facilities, water and food, threats and humiliation".

It calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the remaining hostages.

The report also expresses concern about the treatment of thousands of Palestinian detainees, some of them children.

Israeli security forces have subjected them to systematic abuse, including torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, the reports allege.

The report contains detailed evidence and adds to growing concerns, reflected in a case at the International Court of Justice and investigations by the International Criminal Court, at the conduct of the widening war in the Middle East.

The war began after Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 42,060 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. (Source: BBC News)