ISTANBUL. Turkey: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Russia must be held accountable for the people it has killed in Syria, saying Moscow and Damascus were together responsible for 400,000 deaths there, Dogan News Agency reported on Friday.
Speaking at a joint press conference with his Senegalese counterpart while on a state visit to the West African country, Erdogan also said Russia was engaged in an invasion of Syria and accused it of trying to set up a “boutique state” for its longtime ally President Bashar al Assad.
“Russia must be held accountable for the people it has killed within Syria’s borders,” Dogan quoted him as saying. “By cooperating with the regime, the number of people they have killed has reached 400,000.”
NATO's secretary general said that Russian airstrikes in Syria that mainly target opposition forces are "undermining efforts to find a political solution to the conflict."
Jens Stoltenberg says that increased Russian air force activity in Syria also is leading to increased violations of Turkish airspace.
Stoltenberg said Friday that "this creates risks, heightened tensions and is of course a challenge for NATO because they're violations of NATO's airspace."
He was speaking on the sidelines of an informal meeting of European Union defense ministers in Amsterdam.
A Turkish fighter jet downed a Russian bomber at the border with Syria on Nov. 24, the first time in more than half a century that a NATO member had shot down a Russian plane.
Turkey said another Russian warplane violated its airspace a week ago, and Turkish President Erdogan warned Moscow that it would be forced to "endure the consequences" if its jets continue to violate Turkish airspace.
'Let them in"
Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said some 15,000 Syrians fleeing Syrian and Russian bombings of Aleppo, Syria's largest city, have reached Turkey's borders, adding that tens of thousands more could also be on the way.
In a televised speech Friday, Davutoglu promised that Turkey would not leave the displaced "without food or shelter" but did not say whether the country intended to let them in.
The border gate between Syria and Turkey was closed on Friday and no refugee has been admitted, prompting the human rights advocacy group Amnesty International to call on Turkey to allow those who have massed at the border to cross in.
Amnesty's Global Issues Director Sherif Elsayed-Ali says Turkey "must not close its doors to people in desperate need of safety."
A Turkish charity said 50,000 people fleeing intense fighting in northern Syria have arrived at a Syrian-Turkish border crossing.
Serkan Nergis of the Islamic charity IHH says displaced Syrians began streaming toward the Bab al-Salam border crossing Thursday.
Nergis said Friday that the group is setting up tent camps in Syria near the crossing to provide temporary shelter. The charity runs about 10 camps for displaced Syrians along the frontier.
Earlier this week, Syrian troops backed by allied militias and intense Russian air strikes launched an offensive in northern Syria. It appears aimed at eventually encircling the contested city of Aleppo, Syria's largest.
Iranian troops
Iran's supreme leader, meanwhile, said Iranian forces must fight the Daesh group in Syria and Iraq to prevent the militant organization spreading to Iran.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments, which were reported by Tasnim news agency Friday, closely followed the announced death of a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander in Syria.
Iranian officials have said that Iranians have an "obligation" to protect Syrian Shiite shrines.
Iran, a longtime ally of Assad, acknowledges that Iranian officers are providing an advisory role in Syria, but denies sending combat troops.
Several Iranian troops, including high-ranking officers, have been killed in Syria. On Saturday Iran will hold a funeral for Gen. Mohsen Ghajarian, a senior commander killed in recent fighting.
Erdogan: Russia must be held accountable for Syria killings
Erdogan: Russia must be held accountable for Syria killings
Israel to partially reopen Gaza’s Rafah crossing
- Reopening comes amid ongoing violence in the Palestinian territory
- Gaza’s civil defense agency says dozens killed in Israeli attacks on Saturday
RAFAH, Palestinian Territories: Israel is set to partially reopen the Rafah crossing between the war-devastated Gaza Strip and Egypt on Sunday, following months of urging from humanitarian organizations, though access will be limited to the movement of people.
The reopening comes amid ongoing violence in the Palestinian territory, with Gaza’s civil defense agency reporting dozens killed in Israeli attacks on Saturday, while the Israeli military said it was retaliating against ceasefire violations.
The Rafah crossing is a vital gateway for both civilians and aid, but has remained closed since Israeli forces seized control of it in May 2024 during the war with Hamas, aside from a brief and limited reopening in early 2025.
Israel had previously said it would not reopen the crossing until the remains of Ran Gvili — the last Israeli hostage held in Gaza — were returned.
His remains were recovered days ago and he was laid to rest in Israel on Wednesday.
“The Rafah Crossing will open this coming Sunday (February 1st) in both directions, for limited movement of people only,” COGAT, an Israeli defense ministry body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, said on Friday.
Entry and exit “will be permitted in coordination with Egypt, following prior security clearance of individuals by Israel, and under the supervision of the European Union mission,” it added.
However, key details remain unclear, including how many people will be allowed to cross and whether those seeking to return to Gaza will be permitted entry.
A source at the border told AFP that Sunday would be largely devoted to preparations and logistical arrangements.
The crossing is set to open on Sunday on a trial basis to allow the passage of wounded individuals, ahead of a regular reopening scheduled for Monday, three sources at the crossing said.
However, no agreement has yet been reached on the number of Palestinians permitted to enter or exit, the sources added, noting that Egypt plans to admit “all Palestinians whom Israel authorizes to leave” the territory.
“Every day that passes drains my life and worsens my condition,” said Mohammed Shamiya, 33, who suffers from kidney disease and requires dialysis treatment abroad.
“I’m waiting every moment for the opening of the Rafah land crossing.”
Anxious wait
Safa Al-Hawajri, who has received a scholarship to study overseas, is also eagerly awaiting the reopening on Sunday.
“I’m waiting in the hope of fulfilling my ambition, which is tied to the reopening of the crossing,” said Hawajri, 18.
“I hope to be able to travel as soon as it opens.”
Located on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, Rafah is the only crossing into and out of the territory that does not pass through Israel.
The crossing lies in an area held by Israeli forces following their withdrawal behind the so-called “Yellow Line” under the terms of a US-brokered ceasefire that came into effect on October 10.
Israeli troops still control more than half of Gaza, while the rest remains under Hamas authority.
The ceasefire has now entered its second phase and calls for reopening the crossing following the release or return of all Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants.
Hamas had called for its full reopening in both directions after the remains of Gvili were brought back to Israel.
The reopening is expected to facilitate the entry of a 15-member Palestinian technocratic body, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), established to oversee the day-to-day governance of the territory’s 2.2 million residents.
The committee is to operate under the supervision of the so-called “Board of Peace” chaired by US President Donald Trump.
The NCAG, headed by former Palestinian Authority deputy minister Ali Shaath, is expected to enter the Gaza Strip once the Rafah crossing reopens.
Violence continued ahead of the crossing’s reopening.
At least 32 people, including children, were killed on Saturday in Israeli air strikes in Gaza, reported the civil defense agency, which operates as a rescue force under the Hamas authority.
Israel’s military said the strikes were retaliation for an incident on Friday in which eight Palestinian fighters exited a tunnel in the city of Rafah, which it said violated the ceasefire.
