BEIRUT: Syrian activists and a doctor reported Thursday of new suspected chemical attacks in the northwestern province of Idlib, leaving several dozens of people suffering from asphyxiation.
Mohammed Tennari, a doctor who testified before the UN Security Council last month after treating a number of victims in Idlib from an earlier chemical attack, said there were at least three separate attacks in the province that injured nearly 80 people.
Tennari, who spoke with The Associated Press from near the border with Turkey, shared field reports from doctors in the three villages that were reportedly hit. The reports said government helicopters dropped barrel bombs containing chlorine on the villages of Janoudieh, Kansafrah, and Kafr Batiekh on Thursday.
Tennari is on his way back from the United States where he reported to the council on a suspected chlorine attack in March that killed three children and their grandmother in the same province. He is the coordinator for the Syrian American Medical Society, which has volunteer medical personnel treating victims and reporting on attacks in Syria.
Also, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, another monitoring group which is based outside the country, reported the three different attacks, sharing on Twitter images it said were from field hospitals where victims were taken. The group reported that 69 people were injured in the attacks.
The reports could not be independently verified. There has been an increase in reports of suspected chlorine bombs amid intensified fighting in the province where the rebels have made significant advances against government troops in recent weeks. Rebel fighters seized the provincial capital and weeks later moved in on a strategic town near the border with Turkey. The government has vowed to restore control.
Tennari said a man in his thirties died Thursday from another suspected chlorine attack in a fourth village in Idlib on May 2. The man’s six-month-old baby died in that attack, Tennari said.
Despite condemning such attacks, the United Nations has been unable to follow through with action or assign blame. The rise in attacks comes as the United States is leading an effort to create a way to attribute blame.
On Thursday, the current council president, Lithuanian Ambassador Raimonda Murmokaite, said a “large majority” of members support the US effort and are ready to move quickly in the next few days. But Syria ally Russia worried whether it will be objective, with Ambassador Vitaly Churkin telling the AP, “They’ve done their attribution of blame already.”
The reports of new attacks came after the International Committee for the Red Cross director of operations, Dominik Stillhart, warned on Thursday that the humanitarian situation in Syria has deteriorated sharply amid intensified fighting in several parts of the country between government forces and rebel groups, as well as among rival opposition faction.
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Idlib suffers chlorine attacks
Idlib suffers chlorine attacks
Gaza’s Nasser Hospital condemns move by MSF to suspend most services
- On Saturday, MSF said the security breaches, arrests and intimidation put staff and patients at serious risk
- Nasser Hospital rejects the claims, and says civilian police are inside to protect patients and staff
CAIRO: One of Gaza’s last functioning large hospitals condemned the move by an international organization to pull out of operations over concerns about armed men, claiming on Sunday that the hospital had installed civil police for security. The move comes as at least 10 Palestinians were killed in clashes with the Israeli military in Gaza.
Doctors Without Borders, also known by its acronym MSF, said in a statement Saturday that all its noncritical medical operations at Nasser Hospital were suspended due to security breaches that posed “serious” threats to its teams and patients. MSF said there had been an increase in patients and staff seeing armed men in parts of the compound since the US-brokered October ceasefire was reached.
Nasser Hospital said Sunday that the increase in armed men was due to a civilian police presence aimed at protecting patients and staff and said MSF’s “allegations are factually incorrect, irresponsible, and pose a serious risk to a protected civilian medical facility.”
Nasser Hospital one of few functioning hospitals left in Gaza
Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis is one of the territory’s few functioning hospitals. Hundreds of patients and war-wounded have been treated there daily, and the facility was a hub for Palestinian prisoners released by Israel in exchange for Israeli hostages as part of the current ceasefire deal.
“MSF teams have reported a pattern of unacceptable acts including the presence of armed men, intimidation, arbitrary arrests of patients and a recent situation of suspicion of movement of weapons,” the organization said. The suspension occurred in January but was only recently announced.
Nasser Hospital staff say that in recent months it has been repeatedly attacked by masked, armed men and militias, which is why the presence of an armed civilian police force is crucial. Hamas remains the dominant force in areas not under Israeli control, including in the area where Nasser Hospital is located. But other armed groups have mushroomed across Gaza as a result of the war, including groups backed by Israel’s army in the Israeli-controlled part of the strip.
Throughout the war, which began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has repeatedly struck hospitals, including Nasser, accusing the militant group of operating in or around them. Hamas security men often have been seen inside hospitals, blocking access to some areas.
Some hostages released from Gaza have said they spent time during captivity in a hospital, including Nasser Hospital.
Ten Palestinians killed in strikes across Gaza
At least 10 Palestinians were killed Sunday by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip, hospital authorities said.
The dead include five men, all in their 20s, who were killed in an Israeli strike in the eastern part of Khan Younis city, according to the Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. The strike hit a group of people in an area close to the Yellow Line which separates Israeli-controlled areas from the rest of Gaza, it said.
The Israeli military did not comment on the strike but has said in the past it will attack militants if its troops are threatened, especially near the Yellow Line.
Rami Shaqra said his son, Al-Baraa, was among the militants who were securing the area from potential attacks by the Israeli forces or Israeli-backed armed groups, when they were hit by the Israeli military. He said that they were killed by an airstrike.
Associated Press footage from the morgue showed at least two of the men had headbands denoting membership in the Qassam Brigades, the militant arm of Hamas. In northern Gaza, a drone strike hit a group of people in the Falluja area of Jabaliya refugee camp, killing five people, according to the Shifa Hospital.
The Israeli military said it was striking northern Gaza in response to several ceasefire violations near the Yellow Line, including militants attempting to hide in debris and others who attempted to cross the line while armed.
The Oct. 10 US-brokered ceasefire deal attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and Hamas. While the heaviest fighting has subsided, the ceasefire has seen almost daily Israeli fire.
Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fire on Palestinians near military-held zones, killing 601 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. But it does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.
Militants have carried out shooting attacks on troops, and Israel says its strikes are in response to that and other violations. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed.
Doctors Without Borders, also known by its acronym MSF, said in a statement Saturday that all its noncritical medical operations at Nasser Hospital were suspended due to security breaches that posed “serious” threats to its teams and patients. MSF said there had been an increase in patients and staff seeing armed men in parts of the compound since the US-brokered October ceasefire was reached.
Nasser Hospital said Sunday that the increase in armed men was due to a civilian police presence aimed at protecting patients and staff and said MSF’s “allegations are factually incorrect, irresponsible, and pose a serious risk to a protected civilian medical facility.”
Nasser Hospital one of few functioning hospitals left in Gaza
Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis is one of the territory’s few functioning hospitals. Hundreds of patients and war-wounded have been treated there daily, and the facility was a hub for Palestinian prisoners released by Israel in exchange for Israeli hostages as part of the current ceasefire deal.
“MSF teams have reported a pattern of unacceptable acts including the presence of armed men, intimidation, arbitrary arrests of patients and a recent situation of suspicion of movement of weapons,” the organization said. The suspension occurred in January but was only recently announced.
Nasser Hospital staff say that in recent months it has been repeatedly attacked by masked, armed men and militias, which is why the presence of an armed civilian police force is crucial. Hamas remains the dominant force in areas not under Israeli control, including in the area where Nasser Hospital is located. But other armed groups have mushroomed across Gaza as a result of the war, including groups backed by Israel’s army in the Israeli-controlled part of the strip.
Throughout the war, which began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has repeatedly struck hospitals, including Nasser, accusing the militant group of operating in or around them. Hamas security men often have been seen inside hospitals, blocking access to some areas.
Some hostages released from Gaza have said they spent time during captivity in a hospital, including Nasser Hospital.
Ten Palestinians killed in strikes across Gaza
At least 10 Palestinians were killed Sunday by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip, hospital authorities said.
The dead include five men, all in their 20s, who were killed in an Israeli strike in the eastern part of Khan Younis city, according to the Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. The strike hit a group of people in an area close to the Yellow Line which separates Israeli-controlled areas from the rest of Gaza, it said.
The Israeli military did not comment on the strike but has said in the past it will attack militants if its troops are threatened, especially near the Yellow Line.
Rami Shaqra said his son, Al-Baraa, was among the militants who were securing the area from potential attacks by the Israeli forces or Israeli-backed armed groups, when they were hit by the Israeli military. He said that they were killed by an airstrike.
Associated Press footage from the morgue showed at least two of the men had headbands denoting membership in the Qassam Brigades, the militant arm of Hamas. In northern Gaza, a drone strike hit a group of people in the Falluja area of Jabaliya refugee camp, killing five people, according to the Shifa Hospital.
The Israeli military said it was striking northern Gaza in response to several ceasefire violations near the Yellow Line, including militants attempting to hide in debris and others who attempted to cross the line while armed.
The Oct. 10 US-brokered ceasefire deal attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and Hamas. While the heaviest fighting has subsided, the ceasefire has seen almost daily Israeli fire.
Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fire on Palestinians near military-held zones, killing 601 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. But it does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.
Militants have carried out shooting attacks on troops, and Israel says its strikes are in response to that and other violations. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed.
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