Israeli forces struck Syria’s Damascus and Aleppo airports, Syrian state TV and the UK-based war monitor Syrian Organisation for Human Rights (SOHR) both reported on Thursday.
“Israeli aggression targets Damascus and Aleppo airports,” Syrian state TV said.
SOHR, meanwhile, reported on smoke rising as air defence systems attempted to counter the alleged strikes.
The war monitor said reports suggested the two airports were out of service.
Earlier, the presidents of Iran and Syria urged Islamic countries to support Palestinians, according to an Iranian news agency report.
“Islamic and Arab countries as well as all free people of the world must reach a single position to stop the crimes of the Zionist regime against the oppressed Palestinian people,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, over the phone, Nournews reported.
The two presidents stressed their support for the Palestinian people, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported. Assad urged swift action on the Arab and Islamic levels to protect the Palestinian population, particularly in the Gaza Strip.
‘Treat Hamas like ISIS’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a press conference that Hamas will be “crushed.”
“Just as ISIS was crushed, so too will Hamas be crushed. And Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated,” Netanyahu said.
Blinken told reporters there should be no ambiguity in condemning terror attacks against Israel and the Hamas “reign of terror.”
Hamas, Blinken added, does not represent Palestinians’ “legitimate aspirations.”
He went on to promise Israel the unequivocal support of the United States.
“You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself. But as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to,” Blinken said. “We will always be there by your side.”
Egypt says it ‘never closed’ crossing to Gaza
Egypt has called on those willing to send aid to the Gaza Strip to deliver their assistance to the Arish International Airport in the Sinai Peninsula, denying its closure of the border crossing to Gaza.
The Egyptian foreign ministry said in a Thursday statement that the airport will be receiving any international humanitarian aid, calling for “aid to the Palestinian people who face huge risks.”
Cairo also denied earlier reports that it shuttered its Rafah border crossing with Gaza, saying the reports are “inaccurate.”
“The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip is open for operation and has not been closed at any stage since the start of the crisis,” the ministry said. It added that the Palestinian side of the crossing was destroyed due to repeated Israeli strikes, which disrupted its operation.
Egypt called on Israel to refrain from targeting the Palestinian side of the crossing to allow for the efforts to repair it and allow it to operate.
The death toll from the Hamas deadly weekend attacks on Israel and the subsequent Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip have continued to rise, with over 2,500 killed since Saturday.
Israel’s public broadcaster Kan said at least 1,300 were killed since the attack, with 3,300 more injured.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, meanwhile, said 1,203 were killed, with 5,763 more injured.
UN experts condemn ‘horrific’ Hamas attack, Israeli ‘collective punishment’
A group of United Nations independent experts have condemned Hamas’ deadly weekend terror attacks on Israel as “horrific” and decried “indiscriminate military attacks” by Israel hitting the Gaza Strip.
“They [Palestinians in Gaza] have lived under unlawful blockade for 16 years, and already gone through five major brutal wars, which remain unaccounted for,” the group, which includes several UN special rapporteurs, said in a statement.
The independent experts, who are mandated by the UN but do not speak on its behalf, described the attacks on Gaza as “collective punishment.”
“There is no justification for violence that indiscriminately targets innocent civilians, whether by Hamas or Israeli forces. This is absolutely prohibited under international law and amounts to a war crime,” the statement said.
Israeli military spokesman Richard Hecht denied Israeli forces were “carpet bombing” the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas,.
He acknowledged that the Israeli airstrikes on the besieged Palestinian strip were “bigger” than ever before. Hecht, however, said that the targeting of struck sites is based on intelligence information.
The Israeli army was receiving specific information in each case about where Palestinian militants were heading, Hecht said. He added that the attacks were focused on destroying the infrastructure of Hamas.
Israel has announced it will not allow humanitarian aid or basic resources, including water, electricity and fuel, to the besieged Gaza Strip until its Hamas rulers release hostages abducted during their deadly weekend attack.
“Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electric switch will be turned on, no water tap will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home,” Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
This article was originally published on DW.