Israel kills 3 WCK workers in Gaza. Assad vows response to Syria rebel advances

International aid agency Save the Children said a staff member was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza's Khan Younis on Saturday, the second staffer killed in the enclave since the war began in October 2023.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Saturday that his country could defeat "all terrorists and their backers" after rebels seized dozens of towns and overran most of Syria's second city of Aleppo.

"Syria continues to defend its stability and territorial integrity in the face of all terrorists and their backers, and it is capable, with the help of its allies and friends, of defeating and eliminating them, no matter how intense their terrorist attacks are," his office quoted him as saying during a call with his Emirati counterpart.

The Syrian government has denied reports that its army had withdrawn from Hama, with a military source telling state news agency SANA that forces are stationed in the northern and eastern countryside of the governorate.

The opposition said on Saturday evening that its forces had reached the centre of Hama city.

Russia's defence ministry said its air force carried out strikes on Syrian rebels in support of the Assad regime, Russian news agencies reported on Saturday, amid an advance by forces opposed to Syrian President Bashar Assad, who is a close Moscow ally.

Israel and the United States are coordinating over the possibility of the collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, Israel's Channel 12 reported.

The Israeli broadcaster also said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held consultations over the possible collapse of the Assad government.

Two Palestinian children were injured after Israeli forces attacked the village of Asira al-Qibliya, south of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said its team treated a 15-year-old child who was shot and a 16-year-old who was beaten by Israeli soldiers in the village.

Hafez Saleh, the head of the village council, told WAFA the Israeli forces stormed the village, firing live bullets and tear gas.

Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi will travel to Syria on Sunday for talks on this week's rebel offensive in the north, his ministry said.

Araghchi "will go to Damascus on Sunday to talk with the Syrian authorities" before heading to Ankara for consultations with Turkish officials, ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said.

France on Saturday urged all sides in Syria's decade-long civil war to protect civilians in the second city, Aleppo, where rebels largely seized control after launching an offensive earlier this week.

With the escalating fighting having already killed more than 320 people, "France is following the military developments in Aleppo with attention," said a statement from France's foreign ministry.

US-based aid charity World Central Kitchen is pausing operations in Gaza following an attack on a vehicle, killing three of its workers in Khan Younis.

Writing on X, the organisation says they "are working with incomplete information and are urgently seeking more details".

While Israel claimed it has targeted a "terrorist" who was allegedly involved during the 7 October attacks, WCK said it "had no knowledge that any individual in the vehicle had alleged ties to the October 7th Hamas attack".

We are heartbroken to share that a vehicle carrying World Central Kitchen colleagues was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.

At this time, we are working with incomplete information and are urgently seeking more details.

World Central Kitchen had no knowledge that any… pic.twitter.com/7fPLZ8z9Vy

— World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) November 30, 2024

Hamas published a video of an Israeli-American captive on Saturday, in which he pleads for US President-elect Donald Trump to secure his release from captivity.

There was no immediate comment from the family of captive Edan Alexander, 20, or from Israeli authorities who have described previous such videos as cruel psychological warfare.

Around half of the 101 foreign and Israeli captives still held incommunicado in Gaza are believed to be still alive. All but four of them were abducted during the 7 October attacks on southern Israel.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday called for coordination with Russia to enable Damascus's two main allies to help it deal with this week's rebel offensive in northern Syria.

In a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Araghchi "emphasised the need for vigilance and coordination" between Iran and Russia "to confront the actions of terrorists in Syria", a foreign ministry statement said.

The foreign ministers of Russia and Iran expressed "extreme concern" at escalating hostilities in Syria, where rebels launched an assault on the city of Aleppo, Moscow said Saturday.

"Strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic was reaffirmed," Moscow's foreign ministry said in a readout of a call between Sergei Lavrov and Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke by phone with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Saturday to discuss the situation in Syria, Turkish Foreign Ministry sources said.

Earlier on Saturday, Fidan also spoke to Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

(Reuters)

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held a phone call with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Saturday to discuss recent developments in Syria and the status of the ceasefire in Lebanon, Turkish Foreign Ministry sources said.

Earlier on Saturday, Fidan had also spoke to Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. 

(Reuters)

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Saturday, discussing developments in Syria and the Astana peace process, according to sources from Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

(Reuters)

The Israeli military claims it carried out strikes against Hezbollah on Saturday after detecting activity in southern Lebanon "that posed a threat" days into a ceasefire.

The military, in a statement, listed four separate incidents, including an Israeli air force strike on "Hezbollah terrorists identified approaching Hezbollah structures in southern Lebanon". In another, the military said the air force hit "a Hezbollah facility with rocket launchers".

An Israeli strike on a car wounded three people, including a seven-year-old child, on Saturday in the south Lebanon village of Majdal Zoun, the Lebanese Health Ministry said in a statement.

Later on Saturday, another person was injured in a separate Israeli strike on Al Bisariya, which lies near the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, the ministry said.

The Israeli military claimed it had attacked a Hezbollah facility in Sidon that housed rocket launchers for the armed group.

It added that it had also hit a vehicle in southern Lebanon loaded with rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and military equipment as part of its actions against ceasefire violations.

A truce came into effect on Wednesday, but both sides have accused each other of breaching a ceasefire that aims to halt over a year of fighting. 

(Reuters)

A monitor of Syria's conflict said 16 civilians were killed Saturday when an air strike, likely carried out by Damascus ally Russia, hit an area of the city of Aleppo recently captured by rebels.

"At least 16 civilians were killed and 20 others wounded" when "warplanes, likely Russian, targeted civilian vehicles" at a roundabout in the city of Aleppo, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, raising the overall toll in heavy fighting since Wednesday to 327.

Syrian rebel forces have succeeded in fully capturing the city of Ma'arat al-Nu'man, the largest city in Idlib province in northwestern Syria. This came after fierce battles with Syrian regime forces and Iranian-backed militias, resulting in casualties and injuries, the capturing of regime-loyal prisoners, and the seizure of tanks and ammunition depots.

Military sources from the rebel coalition operations room told The New Arab's Arabic-language sister to site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that their factions took complete control of Ma'arat al-Nu' and owns and villages in its eastern countryside. They also seized the "Wadi al-Dhaif" camp, the largest regime camp in the province.

Thousands of civilian cars were fleeing the Syrian city of Aleppo from the main Khanasir Athriya intersection out of Aleppo hours after insurgents overran main neighbourhoods, three residents told Reuters.

They said they were mostly heading to Latakia and Salamiya, with the main Damascus-Aleppo highway closed. 

(Reuters)

Syrian rebel forces said they had captured the city of Maraat Al-Numan, south of Idlib city, putting the whole of Idlib province under rebel control, two rebel sources told Reuters on Saturday.

(Reuters)

The Gaza Health Ministry revealed that at least 44,382 people have been killed in over 13 months of war on Gaza.

The toll includes 19 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 105,142 people have been wounded.

The Israeli military claimed it killed a Palestinian it accused of involvement in the 7 October attacks on Israel in a vehicle strike in Gaza and is investigating claims that the individual was an employee of WCK.

The World Central Kitchen has not yet commented on the incident. 

At least 25 Palestinians were killed in Israeli military strikes across Gaza overnight and into Saturday, with most casualties reported in northern areas, medics told Reuters.

Among those killed, at least seven died in an Israeli strike on a house in central Gaza City, according to a statement from the Gaza Civil Defense and the official Palestinian news agency WAFA early on Saturday.

The Gaza Civil Defense also reported that one of its officers was killed in attacks in northern Gaza's Jabalia, bringing the total number of civil defence workers killed since October 7, 2023, to 88.

(Reuters)

An Israeli strike on a car in south Lebanon wounded three people, including a seven-year old child, the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

"An Israeli enemy strike on a car in Majdal Zoun wounded three people including a seven-year-old child," the health ministry said in a statement.

The strike took place in Majdal Zoun village. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. 

(Reuters)

Aleppo International Airport has been taken over by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The SDF has reportedly started moving out of the Manbij territory and securing strategic locations.

SDF takes control of Aleppo International Airport. pic.twitter.com/n8k29MPHNm

— Jamal Balî (@Jamal_Bali7) November 30, 2024

Five Palestinians, including three workers from World Central Kitchen, have been killed after an Israeli airstrike targeted a car belonging to the aid organisation in Khan Younis - according to Al Jazeera.

The Israeli military killed seven aid workers in April, causing international outrage.

Assad regime forces said on Saturday that rebels had entered "large parts" of the northern city of Aleppo, reporting dozens of soldiers killed and wounded in large-scale clashes.

A military statement said "armed terrorist organisations" launched "a broad attack from multiple axes on the Aleppo and Idlib fronts" and reported fierce battles "over a strip exceeding 100 kilometres (60 miles)".

It added, "dozens of men from our armed forces were killed and others wounded", as "terrorist organisations were able over the past hours to enter large parts of neighbourhoods of Aleppo city."

Assad regime forces announced on Saturday a "temporary troop withdrawal" in Aleppo to prepare a counteroffensive against what it called terrorists.

The forces added that dozens of soldiers had been killed or injured in fierce battles with insurgents in Aleppo and Idlib over the past few days.

(Reuters)

The Israeli military said on Saturday it had struck "military infrastructure" at the Syria-Lebanon border being used by Hezbollah for weapons smuggling in violation of their ceasefire agreement.

The air force launched a "strike on military infrastructure sites adjacent to border crossings between Syria and Lebanon that were actively used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons from Syria into Lebanon" the military said in a statement. It said the smuggling happened "after the ceasefire agreement went into effect".

The Israeli military said on Saturday that it had intercepted a drone approaching the country from the east.

"A short while ago, an Israeli Navy missile boat intercepted a UAV that was approaching Israeli territory from the east," it said in a statement.

The Israeli military said on Saturday that Lebanese residents were prohibited from moving south to several villages and called on them not to return to around 62 villages in the area.

(Reuters)