Israel strikes Damascus as fighting rages in southern Syria

Al Jazeera update

THE Israeli army has launched air attacks on the Syrian Defence Ministry and near the presidential palace in the capital, Damascus, as it continues strikes on Syrian forces in the southern city of Suwayda.

The strikes come after Israel threatened to increase attacks if Syrian government forces are not withdrawn from the south of the country where there has been fighting between Druze and security forces.

The Health Ministry in Gaza says at least 21 people have been killed at a food distribution site of the controversial US- and Israeli-backed GHF in southern Gaza.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says one in 10 children screened in its clinics in Gaza are malnourished as Israel’s siege on the triggers triggers a man-made starvation crisis.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 58,479 people and wounded 139,355, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.