The Israeli army announced on Sunday that it had carried out a ground raid in Syria, capturing a Syrian citizen involved in Iranian networks. It was the first time in the current war that Israel announced that its troops were operating on Syrian territory.
Israel carried out airstrikes in Syria several times in the last yeartargeting members of Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian officials, a close ally of Hezbollah and Syria. But so far, it has not made public any ground incursions into Syria.
The Israeli military said the seizure was part of a special operation “that took place in recent months”, although it did not specify when it took place. Syria did not immediately confirm the announcement, but a pro-government Syrian radio station, Sham FM, reported Sunday that Israeli forces carried out a “kidnapping operation” over the summer targeting a man in the south of the country.
Israel has carried out an escalating bombing campaign in Lebanon over the past six weeks, as well as a ground invasion along the two countries’ shared border, in a bid to cripple Hezbollah. On Saturday, an Israeli military official said naval forces carried out a raid in a northern Lebanese town, capturing a man they called a senior Hezbollah official.
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The army identified the man as Ali Soleiman al-Assi, saying he lives in the Saida region of southern Syria. The man had been under military surveillance for many months and was involved in Iranian initiatives targeting areas of the Golan Heights annexed by Israel, near the border with Syria.
Body camera video of the raid released by the military shows soldiers seizing a man in a white tank top inside a building. The man was taken to Israel for questioning, the army said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the border with Lebanon on Sunday, saying his goal was to prevent Hezbollah from rearming with the “oxygen lifeline” of Iranian weapons transferred to Lebanon via Syria . Israel says its campaign in Lebanon aims to drive Hezbollah away from the border and end more than a year of firing by the group in northern Israel.
Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed more than 2,500 people over the past year. In Israel, 69 people were killed by Hezbollah projectiles.
During the U.S. presidential campaign this weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged progressives and members of the state’s large Arab-American population who are angry at the Biden administration for its continued l he US alliance with Israel as the Netanyahu government continues its war against Hamas. in Gaza.
“I have made it very clear that the number of deaths of innocent Palestinians is unconscionable,” Harris told reporters.
In East Lansing, Michigan, she addressed the issue shortly after beginning his speech. “As president, I will do everything in my power to end the war in Gaza, bring the hostages home, end the suffering in Gaza, ensure the security of Israel, and ensure that the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self-determination,” she said.
Some East Lansing students voiced their opposition Sunday by loudly calling for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas. At least one participant was escorted out after the ceasefire calls.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued their offensive in the northern Gaza Strip, where the army said it was fighting Hamas fighters who had gathered there.
Shellfire hit Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, injuring patients including children, hospital director Hossam Abu Safiya said in a statement to media. He said the shells hit the hospital’s nursery, dormitory and water tanks just after a visit by a World Health Organization delegation ended.
Kamal Adwan and two other nearby hospitals were repeatedly hit by Israel during the fighting. Earlier this month, Israeli troops stormed Kamal Adwan, arresting large numbers of people, including many of the staff, Abu Safiya said at the time of the raid. The military said those arrested included Hamas members, without providing evidence, and said weapons were found at the premises.
But the Israeli army denied in a statement having struck Kamal Adwan on Sunday, accusing “an explosive device planted by terrorist organizations in Gaza” of being responsible for the attack.
“Attacks on civilians, including aid workers, and what remains of Gaza’s civilian facilities and infrastructure must stop,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement on Saturday. “The entire Palestinian population in northern Gaza, particularly children, are at imminent risk of death from disease, starvation and ongoing bombing.”
In southern Gaza, an Israeli strike hit a group of people gathered outside in an eastern neighborhood of Khan Younis, killing at least eight Palestinians, including four children and a woman, the ministry’s emergency services said of Territorial Health. The city’s Nasser Hospital, which received most of the bodies, confirmed the figures.
Palestinian officials said an Israeli drone strike hit a clinic in northern Gaza on Saturday where children were being vaccinated against polio, injuring six people, including four children. The Israeli army has denied responsibility.
Dr. Munir al-Boursh, director general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, told The Associated Press that a quadcopter struck the Sheikh Radwan Clinic in Gaza City early Saturday afternoon, just minutes after a United Nations delegation left the establishment.
UNICEF and WHO, which are jointly leading the polio vaccination campaign, have expressed concern over the reported strike. Rosalia Bollen, a UNICEF spokesperson, said the strike took place while a “humanitarian pause” agreed to by Israel to allow vaccinations was in effect.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli army spokesman, said that “contrary to claims, an initial review determined that (the Israeli army) did not strike in the area at the specified time.” .
It was not possible to resolve the conflicting accounts. Israeli forces have repeatedly attacked Gaza hospitals during the war, claiming Hamas was using them for militant purposes, allegations denied by Palestinian health officials. Hamas fighters also operate in the north, battling Israeli forces.
Northern Gaza has been surrounded by Israeli forces and largely isolated for a year. Israel has carried out another offensive there in recent weeks that has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands.
A scaled-back campaign to administer a second dose of the polio vaccine began Saturday in parts of northern Gaza. It had been postponed until October 23 due to lack of access, Israeli bombing and mass evacuation orders, as well as the lack of guarantees of humanitarian pauses, according to a UN statement.
The administration of the first doses took place in September throughout the Gaza Strip, including in the north.
At least 100,000 people have been forced to evacuate areas of northern Gaza to Gaza City in recent weeks, but around 15,000 children under the age of 10 remain in northern towns, including Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, which are inaccessible. according to the UN
The final phase of the polio vaccination campaign aimed to reach about 119,000 children in the north with a second dose of the oral polio vaccine, the agencies said, but “it is now unlikely that it will is possible to achieve this objective due to access constraints.
They say 90% of children in every community need to be vaccinated to prevent the spread of the disease.
The campaign was launched after the first case of polio was reported in Gaza in 25 years – a 10-month-old boy, now paralyzed from the waist down. The World Health Organization said the presence of one case of paralysis indicates there could be hundreds more people infected but showing no symptoms.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 250 others. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, who do not. say how many were fighters, but say that more than half were women and children.
