Middle East latest: Israeli strike on a Gaza school kills 17 people sheltering there

Israeli airstrikes slammed into two schools sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City on Thursday, a Health Ministry official said, killing at least 17 people including five children in one of the schools. Rescue workers said at 30 people were also wounded across both locations.

Israel said Hamas operated command centers inside the shelters, without providing evidence.

Elsewhere in the region, Israel launched heavy airstrikes in Yemen on ports, oil and energy infrastructure in rebel-controlled areas, killing nine people, shortly after a Houthi rebel missile badly damaged a school building in Israel.

More than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in 14 months of war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas militants. The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but has said more than half of the fatalities are women and children.

The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas' October 2023 attack on southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people.

Human Rights Watch on Thursday became the latest among a growing number of critics to accuse Israel of genocidal acts in its war in Gaza. Israel vehemently denies the allegations, saying its war is directed at Hamas militants, not Gaza's civilians.

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Here’s the latest:

General Assembly approves resolution asking UN’s highest court about Israel’s obligations in Gaza, West Bank

The U.N. General Assembly has approved a resolution asking the U.N.’s highest court to state what Israel’s obligations are in Gaza and the West Bank to provide humanitarian assistance essential for the survival of Palestinian civilians.

Thursday’s vote on the Norwegian-sponsored resolution seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice was 137-12, with 22 abstentions. The United States, Israel’s closest ally, voted against the resolution.

It follows the ICJ’s condemnation of Israel’s rule over lands it captured 57 years ago. In a nonbinding opinion in July, the court said Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful and called on Israel to end its occupation and halt settlement construction immediately.

Norway’s deputy foreign minister, Andreas Kravik, told reporters that the international community has a responsibility to react to tens of thousands of deaths in Gaza and virtually the entire population experiencing acute hunger, and some near famine.

The resolution seeks the ICJ’s guidance on additional questions about its July ruling, including what Israel’s obligations are “to ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently needed supplies essential to the survival of the Palestinian civilian population.”

Yemen's Houthis claim a drone attack on Israel, hours after firing a missile

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed a drone strike targeting Israel on Thursday, hours after they fired at least one long-range missile that hit an Israeli school building. The Houthi military said the drone was aimed at an unspecified military target in central Israel.

The Houthi missile attack elicited a series of intense Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s rebel-held capital and a port city early Thursday, killing at least nine people, officials said.

The Israeli military says the Iran-backed Houthis have fired more than 200 missiles and UAVs, or unmanned aerial vehicles, during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The Houthis have also been attacking shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden — attacks they say won’t stop until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Israeli strikes Thursday caused “considerable damage” to the Houthi-controlled Red Sea ports “that will lead to the immediate and significant reduction in port capacity,” United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The port at Hodeida has been key for food shipments into Yemen in its decade-long civil war.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said both sides’ attacks risk further escalation in the region and undermine U.N. mediation efforts.

Syrian villagers near the Golan Heights say Israeli forces are banning them from their fields

Israeli forces have set up a position in an abandoned Syrian army base in the village of Maariyah and prevented local farmers from accessing their fields, residents said Thursday.

Associated Press journalists who visited the area saw the Israeli troops from a distance and watched a local resident waving a white flag approach to speak with them.

The village, on the western edge of Syria’s southern Daraa province, is near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, but outside of a buffer zone in the Golan established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement between Syria and Israel.

Abdel Raouf Issa, a resident of Maariyah, said the Israeli military had penetrated about 1 kilometer (two-thirds of a mile) into the village and “is demanding that we hand over all weapons to the occupation. We told them that we have no weapons at all.”

“They prevented us from farming. They prevented us from moving,” he said. “We call on the United Nations to remove the occupation as soon as possible.”

The Israeli military said in a statement that it is “operating within the buffer zone and in several additional locations in its proximity to ensure the security of Israel’s northern border.” It declined to comment on specific locations where its troops are deployed.

The capture of the buffer zone, a roughly 400-square-kilometer (155-square-mile) demilitarized area in Syrian territory, has sparked condemnation, with critics accusing Israel of violating a 1974 ceasefire and exploiting the chaos in Syria to make a land grab.

Putin denies that Russia was weakened by the ouster of Assad in Syria

MOSCOW — In his first comments on the downfall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, Russian President Vladimir Putin denied that events in Syria have weakened Moscow.

Putin argued that Russia had achieved its goal of destroying “terrorist” groups in Syria via a yearslong air campaign that propped up Assad's rule during the country's civil war.

Putin claimed that rebel groups fighting Assad have changed and the West is ready to establish ties with them.

"That means that our goals have been achieved," Putin said Thursday during his annual news conference and call-in show.

He described Israel as the “main beneficiary” of Assad’s downfall, noting the deployment of Israeli troops in southern Syria and voicing hope for their eventual withdrawal.

Moscow has sought to establish contacts with the jihadi-led rebels who ousted Assad to secure Russia's diplomatic and military personnel and try to extend the lease on its air and naval bases in Syria.

“If we stay there, we will need to do something in the interests of the host country,” he said, adding that Moscow offered to use its Hmeimim air base and a naval base in Tartus for humanitarian aid deliveries.

Putin said he has yet to meet the former Syrian ruler, whom he has given asylum in Moscow, but plans to. Putin said he will ask Assad about Austin Tice, an American journalist who vanished in Syria 12 years ago.

“We also can pose the question to people who control the situation on the ground in Syria,” Putin said.

Syrians hold first protest in Damascus under new rulers, calling for an inclusive political transition

DAMASCUS — Hundreds of Syrian protesters gathered Thursday at Umayyad Square in Damascus for the first time since the fall of Bashar Assad's government and the country's sudden takeover by jihadi-led rebels.

Protesters from secular parties and groups called for their broad participation in the incoming government to help build a modern Syria free from sectarian and religious divisions. Others advocated for a national dialogue aimed at creating an inclusive future for all Syrians.

“We are here today to demand a civil state that respects all individuals, regardless of their sect or religious beliefs,” said Tasleem Hamsho, a teacher participating in the protest. Some held up banners in Arabic that read, “Democracy, not Theocracy.”

So far, Syria’s transition has been surprisingly smooth, but it less than two weeks have passed since Assad was ousted. The country is home to diverse sects, and there is growing fear and uncertainty among minority groups, including Christians, regarding their rights and safety under the main rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, once an affiliate of al-Qaida.

“Our ultimate goal is for Syria to be a state for all,” film director Rami Nidal said.

Medical aid group accuses Israel of systematic attacks on Gaza's health care system and restricting aid

NEW YORK — The medical aid group Doctors Without Borders released a report Thursday accusing Israel of systematically attacking Gaza’s health care system and restricting essential humanitarian assistance.

The group, which has worked in Gaza for more than 20 years, said its staff has been subjected to more than 40 attacks since the start of the war, including airstrikes, shelling and military incursions at health facilities. As of October, it said 19 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals were shut down and continual fighting prevented many residents from reaching those still functioning.

“Attacks on civilians, the dismantling of the healthcare system, the deprivation of food, water and supplies are a form of collective punishment inflicted by the Israeli authorities on the people of Gaza,” the report said. “This must stop now.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry called the report “entirely false and misleading.” It said Israel does not target innocent health workers and tries to ensure delivery of aid, and charged the medical group with failing to acknowledge Hamas’ use of hospitals as bases “for terrorist activities and operations.”

Some of the allegations leveled Thursday were echoed in a report by Human Rights Watch, which accused Israel of a campaign in Gaza that amounted to “acts of genocide,” cutting the flow of water and electricity, destroying infrastructure and preventing the distribution of critical supplies.

Israel bombs 2 shelters in northern Gaza, killing at least 17 Palestinians

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes hit two schools sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City on Thursday, killing at least 17 people at one of the schools, including five children, a Health Ministry official said.

Associated Press video showed a donkey cart carrying the headless body of a man from the scene after the strikes on the Shaaban al-Rais and Al-Karama schools in the city's in Daraj Tuffah district. At the Ahli Baptist Hospital where casualties were taken, a dead child was wrapped in a white shroud and another lay next to him, his face covered.

Hospital and Health Ministry officials confirmed a toll of 17 dead. Gaza’s Civil Defense said at least 30 people were wounded across both strikes.

The Israeli army acknowledged in a statement that it struck the two schools, saying Hamas operated command centers inside them, without providing evidence. It said it took steps to mitigate the risk of civilian harm.

Tens of thousands of people are sheltering in Gaza City after being displaced by a monthslong Israeli offensive in heavily destroyed areas further north.

Blinken says the U.S. is hopeful for a Gaza ceasefire in final days of Biden administration

NEW YORK — Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the U.S. remains hopeful that a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal can be negotiated between Israel and Hamas before the Biden administration leaves office next month.

Blinken said negotiations between the parties are ongoing despite multiple false starts and failed previous efforts. But he would not predict if an agreement was likely.

“We are encouraged because this should happen, and it should happen because Hamas is at a point where the cavalry it thought might come to the rescue isn’t coming to the rescue, Hezbollah not coming to the rescue, Iran not coming to the rescue,” he said in an interview with MSNBC on Thursday.

Hamas “sought to have a wider war from day one” when it launched attacks in Israel last Oct. 7 but that has not come to pass, Blinken said. “In the absence of that, I think the pressure is on Hamas to finally get to ‘yes’. So, we should be able to get there, but look, I think we also have to be very realistic.”

He noted that CIA director William Burns and national security council official Brett McGurk are currently in the Middle East engaged in negotiations with Qatari, Egyptian and Turkish officials and that both he and national security adviser Jake Sullivan were also recently in the region.

“Everyone is pushing on this,” Blinken said. “We want to get it over the finish line. We want to get the hostages home. We want to get a ceasefire so that people can finally have relief in Gaza.”

Nearly 2,000 Syrian soldiers return from Iraq under a new amnesty program

BEIRUT — Nearly 2,000 former Syrian army soldiers who fled to Iraq have returned to Syria under an amnesty program, Iraq’s security forces said.

The Iraqi government has close ties with neighboring Iran, which was a primary backer of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad. Baghdad is seeking to build ties with the new Syrian government, after jihadi-led rebels overthrew Assad last week.

On Thursday, more than 1,900 Syrian army personnel crossed back into Syria via the Qaim border crossing, and an additional 36 soldiers had through the Abu Kamal crossing the previous day.

These returns followed the soldiers' written pledges to abide by the amnesty issued by Syria’s current authorities, which grants clemency to former military personnel and transfers them to designated centers, according to a statement from the Security Media Cell, affiliated with Iraq’s security forces.

The statement also noted that weapons previously held by the Syrian army remain under the Iraqi Ministry of Defense’s custody and will be transferred to Syria’s new government once it is established.

More than 4,000 former Syrian army soldiers had fled into Iraq in the wake of Assad's overthrow, according to a local militia official in western Iraq.

UN chief says Syria must not miss opportunity for a peaceful political transition

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations chief says the Syrian people have a long-sought chance to start a peaceful and inclusive political transition leading to democratic elections — and “the opportunity cannot be missed.”

But Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Thursday that “if the ongoing situation is not managed carefully — by Syrians themselves, with the support of the international community — there is a real risk that progress could unravel.”

Guterres said the United Nations is mobilizing to facilitate a transition process and U.N. special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, was in Damascus this week urging a broad Syrian dialogue to chart a way forward which he hopes can start “as quickly as possible.”

While stability has returned to parts of Syria, he said, there are still significant hostilities in the north and a major threat from Islamic State group extremists in many parts of the country. He also said Israel must end its incursion into the demilitarized buffer zone between the two countries, which violates a 1974 Disengagement Agreement.

With more than 130,000 people missing in Syria, he announced the appointment of Karla Quintana, who led Mexico’s commission searching for tens of thousands of people who disappeared, to head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria established by the U.N.

Human Rights Watch says Israel’s restriction of water supply in Gaza amounts to acts of genocide

NEW YORK — Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of causing the deaths of thousands of Palestinians by systematically restricting and targeting Gaza’s water supply in a campaign that amounted to “acts of genocide.” The rights group is the latest among a growing number of critics to accuse Israel of genocidal acts in its war in Gaza.

In Thursday’s report, HRW alleged that countless infants, children and adults have died from malnutrition, dehydration and illness as a result of actions by Israeli authorities over more than a year of war to deliberately cut the flow of water and electricity to Gaza, destroy infrastructure and prevent the distribution of critical supplies.

“As a state policy, these acts constitute a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population. Israeli officials are therefore committing the crime against humanity of extermination,” the New York-based group said.

The rights group said the “pattern of conduct” outlined in its report and statements from Israeli officials “may indicate” genocidal intent — but it did not come down definitively on one side. Under international law, proving intent is key in concluding whether the crime of genocide has been committed.

Israel vehemently denies the allegations, saying its war is directed at Hamas militants, not Gaza’s civilians.

“Human Rights Watch is once more spreading its blood libels in order to promote its anti-Israel propaganda,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said. It claimed Israel has worked to facilitate the flow of water and humanitarian aid into Gaza throughout the war.

“Israel will continue to ensure humanitarian aid enters Gaza, in full compliance with international law,” the statement said.

US-backed force in Syria calls on northern Syrians to fight Turkish troops

DAMASCUS, Syria -- The main U.S.-backed force in Syria has called on residents of a northern town to carry weapons and fight Turkish troops and fighters they back, saying “resistance is the only way to victory.”

The statement by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces came a day after intense fighting between their fighters and Turkey-backed gunmen in the country’s northern province of Aleppo, mainly near the border town of Kobani and the Tishrin dam on the Euphrates river.

The SDF said despite U.S. efforts to reduce tension in the area, Turkish troops and fighters they back launched a wide offensive on the area on Wednesday on the area of the dam. It said SDF fighters repelled the attack.

Earlier this week, the SDF said U.S.-led mediation efforts have failed to reach a permanent truce in Syria’s north between the force’s fighters and Turkish-backed gunmen.

On Tuesday, the SDF suggested the demilitarizing of Kobani and placing the redistribution of security forces under U.S. supervision.

Kobani featured in international headlines a decade ago when it came under a monthslong siege by members of the Islamic State group. SDF fighters broke the siege in early 2015.

Israeli police detain 4 Israelis who crossed illegally into Lebanon

Israel police said Thursday that it detained four Israeli citizens who crossed into Lebanon illegally. The civilians were detained after police received a report from the Israeli army that it had apprehended them inside Lebanese territory.

The police said in a statement that the suspects were being interrogated, and officials will decide on the next steps depending on the findings.

On Wednesday, the Israeli army acknowledged that a group of Israeli settlers had briefly crossed the border into Lebanon earlier in the week before being removed by troops. The civilians involved in that border breach came from the Uri Tzafon movement, a group calling for Israeli settlement of southern Lebanon. The army called it a “serious incident” and said it was investigating.

Netanyahu says Israel is acting on behalf of the whole world by striking Houthis

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel was acting “for the entire international community” by attacking the Houthi rebels in Yemen, following deadly Israeli strikes carried out on Yemen overnight.

“They are not only attacking us — they are attacking the entire world, attacking the international shipping and trade routes. Thus, when Israel acts against the Houthis, it acts for the entire international community,” said Netanyahu.

Early Thursday, Israel carried out two waves of airstrikes on ports and power plants in Yemen it said were being used by the Houthi rebels, who have fired over 200 drones and missiles at Israel since the start of the war Oct. 7, 2023.

The airstrikes killed at least nine people, according to the Houthi-controlled satellite channel al-Masirah, and came after a missile fired by the Houthis collapsed a school building in central Israel.

Netanyahu suggested that more Israeli strikes on the Iranian-backed militant group could be coming.

“After Hamas, Hezbollah and the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis are almost the last remaining arm of Iran’s axis of evil,” he said. “They are learning and they will learn the hard way, that whoever harms Israel pays a very heavy price for it.”