23:00 In a new massacre, Israel conducted an airstrike on the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least 27 Palestinians, including ten children, and injuring dozens, according to local reports.
The strike targeted a residential building and nearby homes near Al-Qassam Cemetery.
22:30 Medical sources told Al Jazeera that 71 people were killed in Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip, including 58 in the central and southern areas.
22:00 Turkey has named a new chief of mission to its long-closed embassy in Damascus, which it has pledged to reopen following the overthrow of strongman Bashar al-Assad, the Anadolu news agency said Thursday.
Burhan Koroglu was named Turkey's temporary charge d'affaires at its embassy, Anadolu said, quoting foreign ministry sources who did not say when he would take up his post.
On Tuesday, Turkey's top diplomat Hakan Fidan said Ankara would reopen its Damascus embassy when conditions allowed.
The Damascus embassy closed on March 26, 2012, a year after Syria's civil war began, due to the deteriorating security situation amid calls by the Turkish government for Assad to step down.
A year ago, Koroglu was named Turkey's ambassador to Nouakchott, Mauritania.
21:30 Twenty-one people were killed and dozens injured in Israeli shelling of homes in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reported.
A Palestinian woman mourns next to the bodies of loved ones killed in overnight Israeli air strikes on Gaza City at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, also known as the Baptist Hospital.AFP
21:10 UN chief Antonio Guterres is "deeply concerned" over "extensive violations" of Syrian sovereignty, and by Israeli strikes on the country, his spokesman said Thursday.
Guterres "is deeply concerned by the recent and extensive violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Secretary-General is particularly concerned over the hundreds of Israeli airstrikes on several locations in Syria," Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
20:50 Lebanon said an Israeli strike on the border town of Khiam killed one person on Thursday, hours after Washington announced Israel had withdrawn from the area as Lebanon's army deployed under a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah.
Lebanese army soldiers clear debris from a road in the southern Lebanese village of Khiam, near the border with Israel.AFP
"The Israeli enemy strike on the town of Khiam killed one person and injured another," the health ministry said in a statement.
20:00 The EU's migration chief said Thursday that forcibly returning Syrians to their home country was "not possible" for the time being after member state Austria said it was planning to do so.
Vienna signalled this week it intended to deport refugees back to war-ravaged Syria after an Islamist-led rebel offensive ended the Assad clan's decades-long grip on the country.
However, the European Union's migration commissioner Magnus Brunner -- who is himself Austrian -- made clear following talks with interior ministers in Brussels that such a move would be premature.
"For now, I would say forced return is not possible," Brunner told a press conference -- while noting that returning home voluntarily "may be attractive for many Syrians" celebrating the end of Bashar al-Assad's brutal rule.
"As the situation is still volatile, we have to focus on these voluntary returns," Brunner said, arguing for EU support -- including financial -- for returnees.
"When it comes to the question of money, yes," Brunner said. "I think we have to do something."
Multiple EU nations including Germany and Italy have frozen new asylum requests by Syrian citizens in the wake of Assad's ouster, with more than 100,000 cases pending across the bloc at the end of October according to official data.
19:30 Israeli occupation forces demolished two homes and three concrete walls today in the Malha area, east of the town of Za'tara, in the southern West Bank province of Bethlehem, according to local sources, Wafa News Agency reported.
Abdel Qader Dweib, a member of the Za'tara Municipal Council, stated that an Israeli military force, accompanied by heavy machinery, demolished two homes in the area, each approximately 100 square meters in size.
The demolition also targeted three concrete walls surrounding land belonging to residents. The Israeli authorities justified the demolitions by claiming the structures were built in Area C of the West Bank, under full Israeli control.
Dweib explained that this action is part of a deliberate strategy by Israel to intensify pressure on Palestinians by demolishing their homes. He added that the eastern Bethlehem countryside has been subjected to a series of measures aimed at seizing land for colonial purposes and displacing residents.
19:30 Visiting US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared prepared to negotiate a deal for the release of hostages held in Gaza and a ceasefire.
"We're now looking to close a hostage release deal and a ceasefire (in Gaza). It's time to finish the job and bring all of the hostages home... I got the sense from the prime minister he's ready to do a deal," Sullivan said at a press conference at the Tel Aviv annexe of the US embassy in Jerusalem, after meeting Netanyahu.
There has been growing optimism that a new round of talks for a ceasefire and hostage release deal might succeed, with key mediator Qatar talking of new "momentum" last week.
Sullivan said he would travel onward to Qatar and Egypt in a bid to secure progress in negotiations.
19:00 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said that the role of the Kurdish-led SDF fighters was "critical" to preventing a resurgence of Islamic State militants in Syria following Bashar al-Assad's ouster.
"At a time when we want to see this transition... to a better way forward for Syria, part of that also has to be ensuring that ISIS doesn't rear its ugly head again. And critical to making sure that doesn't happen are the so-called SDF -- the Syrian Democratic Forces," he said on a visit to Jordan, using an alternative term for IS for Islamic State.
18:20 Strikes on Syrian chemical weapons sites risk contaminating and destroying valuable evidence, the head of the international watchdog warned Thursday, admitting the group did not yet know whether sites have been affected.
There has been widespread global concern about the fate of Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons since the dramatic overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.
On Monday, Israel said it had struck "remaining chemical weapons or long-range missiles and rockets so that they will not fall in the hands of extremists".
The director-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Fernando Arias, said his group was "following closely" reports of strikes on military facilities.
"We do not know yet whether these strikes have affected chemical weapons-related sites. Such airstrikes could create a risk of contamination," said Arias in a speech.
"Another real risk would be the destruction of valuable evidence for investigations by different independent international bodies related to past use of chemical weapons," he added.
In 2014, the OPCW set up what it called a "fact-finding mission" to investigate chemical weapons use in Syria.
This team has issued 21 reports covering 74 instances of alleged chemical weapons use, according to the OPCW.
Investigators concluded that chemical weapons were used or likely used in 20 instances.
"Additionally, we also have to consider the risk of any dangerous chemicals or equipment being lost, without any control," warned Arias in his speech.
18:00 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Jordan's King Abdullah II called for a secure Syria as the top US diplomat began a regional tour following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.
Blinken, who is heading to Turkey next, has called for an "inclusive" process to form Syria's next government that includes protections for minorities after Islamist-led rebels ended the repressive rule of Assad.
Meeting King Abdullah in the Red Sea resort of Aqaba, Blinken, who leaves office in little more than a month, promised US support for "the stability of Syria's neighbours, including Jordan, during this period of transition", State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
Blinken called for "an inclusive transition that can lead to an accountable and representative Syrian government chosen by the Syrian people", Miller said.
He also said the United States hoped to ensure that Syria is not "used as a base for terrorism" and does not pose "a threat to its neighbours".
"When it comes to many actors who have real interests in Syria, it's also really important at this time that we all try to make sure that we're not sparking any additional conflicts," Blinken told reporters at Aqaba airport before heading to Turkey, where he will meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
17:30 Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin was in Damascus on Thursday, just days after rebel push ousted Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad, Turkish television channels reported.
The footage, which was shown on multiple channels including private NTV, showed him leaving the Syrian capital's Umayyad Mosque surrounded by tight security detail.
17:00 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Thursday against triggering further conflicts in Syria. Blinken, speaking on a visit to Jordan, mentioned Israeli and Turkish military activity on Syrian soil in recent days, and said: "When it comes to many actors who have real interests in Syria, it's also really important at this time that we all try to make sure that we're not sparking any additional conflicts."
15:15 While numerous prisoners have been released from Syrian prisons since President Bashar Al-Assad's ouster, "countless" others are still being held, the UN envoy for Syria said, demanding their immediate release.
"Countless children, women and men are still held arbitrarily in detention facilities under various authorities," Geir Pedersen said in a statement. "They must be immediately released," he added.
14:45 Israeli forces reportedly forced residents of two Syrian towns to evacuate, according to Sky News Arabia.
The Israeli military advanced into the Quneitra Governorate in southern Syria, instructing the residents of the towns of Al-Hadr and Al-Hamidiyah to leave, aiming to annex these areas into the buffer zone along the border between the two countries.
14:35 The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported Israeli strikes near Damascus.
"Israeli air strikes targeted the outskirts of the capital Damascus," observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
14:25 Syria's new government spokesman told AFP that the country's constitution and parliament would be suspended for the duration of the three-month transition period.
"A judicial and human rights committee will be established to examine the constitution and then introduce amendments," Obaida Arnaout told AFP.
14:20 Palestinian doctor Said Joudeh was killed by Israeli snipers' gunfire, who targeted his head while he was on his way to work at Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia, northern Gaza, Al Jazeera reported.
Dr. Joudeh was the only orthopedist in northern Gaza, which has been under siege for more than 70 days.
14:10 The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that the Israeli army committed three massacres in the Gaza Strip, killing 30 people and injuring 99 in the last 24 hours.
The death toll in Gaza has risen to 44,835 people, with 106,365 injuries, the ministry said.
14:00 A medical source told Al Jazeera that more than 4,000 people have either been killed or gone missing since the beginning of the Israeli military operation in northern Gaza 70 days ago, amid the ongoing siege and the blocking of humanitarian aid.
13:50 Syria's new government thanked eight countries for swiftly reopening their diplomatic missions, as reported by AFP.
The new government's Department of Political Affairs issued a statement thanking Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman, and Italy "for resuming the activities of their diplomatic missions in Damascus."
13:35 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding a meeting with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to discuss the progress of negotiations for a captive-prisoner exchange deal in Gaza, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
13:20 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces will remain in a Syrian buffer zone until a new force on the other side of the border can guarantee security.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that this created a vacuum on the border.
“Israel will not permit jihadi groups to fill that vacuum and threaten Israeli communities on the Golan Heights with October 7th-style attacks,” it said.
The statement added that “this deployment is temporary until a force that is committed to the 1974 agreement can be established and security on our border can be guaranteed.”
13:15 A new study of children living through the war in Gaza has found that 96 per cent of them feel that their death is imminent, and almost half want to die as a result of the trauma they have been through, The Guardian reported.
A needs assessment carried out by a Gaza-based NGO sponsored by the War Child Alliance charity also found that 92 percent of the children in the survey were “not accepting of reality,” 79 percent suffer from nightmares and 73 percent exhibit symptoms of aggression.
“This report lays bare that Gaza is one of the most horrifying places in the world to be a child,” Helen Pattinson, chief executive of War Child UK, said.
“Alongside the levelling of hospitals, schools and homes, a trail of psychological destruction has caused wounds unseen but no less destructive on children who hold no responsibility for this war.”
13:10 Fifty-four journalists were killed worldwide while carrying out their work or because of their profession in 2024, a third of them by the Israeli army, according to an annual report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
According to the press freedom NGO, Israeli armed forces were responsible for the deaths of 18 journalists this year — 16 in Gaza and two in Lebanon.
The organization has filed four complaints with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for "war crimes committed against journalists by the Israeli army."
It said that in total, "more than 145" journalists had been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza since the start of the war there in October 2023, with 35 of them working at the time of their deaths, RSF said.
It described the number of killings as "an unprecedented bloodbath."
File photo: Mexican journalists and journalism students take part in a demonstration of solidarity and protest for the colleagues detained, disappeared, and killed in Gaza.AFP
13:00 US media reports confirmed that the foreign prisoner found in Syria is Travis Timmerman, an American from Missouri who had been detained for seven months.
In an interview with Al-Hadath TV shortly after his discovery, Timmerman explained that he had come to Syria several months ago on a religious trip. He said he had been in Lebanon before entering Syria.
12:45 Reports about the US journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared 12 years ago near the Syrian capital, appear to be incorrect, The Guardian reported.
Footage purporting to show Tice appeared on social media this morning, but some prominent journalists have disputed it.
On Sunday, US President Joe Biden said he believed Tice was still alive and that Washington was committed to bringing him home after Bashar Al-Assad’s ousting from power.
Tice has had his work published by the Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers, and other outlets.
A video released weeks after Tice went missing showed him blindfolded and held by armed men, saying: “Oh, Jesus.”
Nothing has been heard from him since that time. Syria has publicly denied that it was holding him.
12:15 American journalist Austin Tice is found in the Az-Zyabeyeh district south of Damascus, Al Arabiya sources said on Thursday.
Tice, a former US Marine and a freelance journalist was 31 when he went missing in August 2012 while reporting on the Syrian civil war.
Al-Arabiya aired a video about finding Tice.
12:00 The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the country has to live with the new "realities" of Syria after the ouster of President Bashar Al-Assad, state media reported.
Regarding Syria, Iran "was really trying day and night to help in whatever way it could; we have to live with the realities of Syria; we look at them and act based on them," Hossein Salami said, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.
"Strategies must change according to the circumstances; we cannot solve numerous global and regional issues with stagnation and employing the same tactics," he added.
11:50 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Jordan at the start of a crisis tour following the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, AFP reported.
US officials said the top US diplomat will meet Jordan's King Abdullah II and the foreign minister in the Red Sea city of Aqaba as he presses for an "inclusive" process to choose Syria's next government.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken walks with the ambassador of the United States to Jordan, Yael Lempert, upon his arrival in the Red Sea city of Aqaba. AFP
11:30 Two Palestinian youths were shot and killed, and three others were injured by Israeli forces' gunfire during raids on the Balata refugee camp east of Nablus and the city of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 790 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
11:07 Human Rights Watch said the ouster of President Bashar Al-Assad has created an opportunity for Syria to "turn the page" on decades of repression and lead by example on human rights.
Al-Assad's ouster "has created a momentous opportunity for Syria to break with decades of repression and turn the page on human rights," Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement.
"A better future for Syria requires addressing decades of abuse by the former government and other warring parties during the country's 13-year conflict ... and protecting Syrians regardless of their ethnic or sectarian backgrounds or political affiliations."
The group noted that the Islamist Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) and the other insurgent organizations behind the offensive that ousted Al-Assad were "also responsible for human rights abuses and war crimes."
HRW called on Syria's leadership to use this "unprecedented opportunity to lead by example on human rights."
"This is a critical moment to reject the horror show of the past," the rights group's Middle East director Lama Fakih said.
The group also said the United States, European Union, and others should urgently consider lifting some sanctions which have been documented to have had a "negative impact" on humanitarian operations in Syria.
It also said countries which host a sizeable number of Syrian refugees "should not rush to deport or otherwise expel Syrians."
"Forcibly expelling refugees or pressuring them to return at this juncture would risk compounding the humanitarian crisis," Human Rights Watch said.
11:00 99 million Swiss francs ($112 million) worth of frozen Syrian assets are currently in Switzerland, most of which have been blocked for years, the Swiss government said as reported by Reuters.
The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said the bulk of the total has been frozen since Switzerland adopted European Union sanctions against Syria in May 2011.
"There are currently 318 individuals and 87 entities on the sanctions list," a SECO spokesperson told Reuters, declining to say if Switzerland had frozen any assets of ousted Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.
This week, Switzerland added three more people to its Syria-related sanctions list, following the EU's move.
The Neue Zuercher Zeitung newspaper reported that Swiss financial institutions once held blocked Syrian assets worth 130 million Swiss francs ($147 million).
"Fluctuations in the total amount of restricted assets can be explained by several factors, including fluctuations in the value of restricted securities accounts and exchange rate effects and the delisting of certain sanctioned persons or entities," the SECO spokesperson said.
10:50 Director of the Israeli Mossad David Barnea met with Qatar's prime minister in Doha on Wednesday to discuss a Gaza ceasefire deal, two sources familiar with the visit told Axios.
According to Axios, Israel gave Hamas last week an updated proposal for a deal to release some of the remaining 100 captives and begin a ceasefire in Gaza, two Israeli officials said.
The updated framework is not significantly different from the proposal that was negotiated in August but did not materialize.
Israeli officials said the focus now is on implementing, mainly with some changes, the first phase of that deal.
Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz told his US counterpart Lloyd Austin in a phone call on Wednesday that there was now a chance for a new deal that would allow the return of all captives, including US citizens, Katz's office said.
Guarded optimism emerges as US President Joe Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan heads to Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and then to Egypt and Qatar, which are co-mediators with the US on a deal, Reuters reported.
10:40 Israeli forces withdrew from the strategic town of Khiam in southern Lebanon and handed it back to the Lebanese army in coordination with UN peacekeepers, the two militaries said Wednesday.
The Lebanese army said it had deployed units to five positions around the town of Khiam, coinciding with the Israeli army’s withdrawal.
Israel's military confirmed that this was the first town it has turned over to the Lebanese army under the truce, which — if it endures — would end nearly 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
10:30 The Israeli army announced that four of its combat units remain deployed in southern Syria, while the US secretary of defence called for "close consultation" between Tel Aviv and Washington regarding Syria.
The Israeli army also claimed that a combat unit addressed threats along the border within the buffer zone between Israel and Syria, confiscating unused Syrian army tanks.
Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari stated that following an assessment of the situation in the northern Golan area, Israel decided to escalate its operations there from partial activity to full-scale activity.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Defence announced that Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin informed Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant during a phone call that it is important for the United States and Israel to maintain "close consultation on ongoing events in Syria."
Austin also informed Gallant that Washington monitors developments in Syria and supports an inclusive, peaceful political transition.
He emphasized that the United States will continue its mission to prevent ISIS from re-establishing a haven in Syria.
10:15 A monitor of Syria's war said Israeli airstrikes targeted sites belonging to the Syrian military in the coastal Latakia and Tartus provinces.
"Israeli warplanes launched air strikes" targeting "military sites," including "the Latakia port" and warehouses in neighbouring Tartus province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. It added that "Israeli warplanes continue to destroy what remains of Syria's military arsenal for the fourth consecutive day since the fall of the former regime."
10:00 The main commander of the Syrian insurgents Ahmed Al-Sharaa said he would dissolve the security forces of the former regime, close its prisons, and hunt down anyone involved in the torture or killing of detainees.
Al-Sharaa, aka Abu Mohamed Al-Jolani, said in a statement to Reuters that he would "dissolve the security forces of the previous regime and close the notorious prisons."
A soldier from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's "Salvation Government" (R) collects the weapon of a former security guard of the Baath party offices in Damascus. AFP
9:30 Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli airstrikes on Thursday morning killed 12 Palestinian guards securing aid trucks in southern parts of the territory.
Seven guards were killed in a strike in Rafah, while another attack left five guards dead in Khan Younis, agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
"The occupation once again targeted those securing the aid trucks," Bassal said. He added that about 30 people, mostly children, were also wounded in the strikes.
"The trucks carrying flour were on their way to UNRWA warehouses," Bassal said, referring to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.
"The occupation aims to destroy all services for citizens across the Gaza Strip."
9:00 The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution on Wednesday calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza.
The resolution — adopted by a vote of 158-9, with 13 abstentions — urges "an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" and "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" — wording similar to a text vetoed by Washington in the Security Council in November.
At that time, Washington used its veto power on the council as it did before.
It has insisted on the idea of making a ceasefire conditional on the release of all captives in Gaza, saying otherwise that Hamas has no incentive to free those in captivity.
Deputy US Ambassador Robert Wood repeated that position Wednesday, saying it would be "shameful and wrong" to adopt the text.
"The resolutions before the assembly today are beyond logic. (...) The vote today is not a vote for compassion. It is a vote for complicity." Israel's UN envoy Danny Danon said ahead of the vote.
The non-binding resolution demands "immediate access" to widespread humanitarian aid for the citizens of Gaza, especially in the besieged north of the territory.
Dozens of representatives of UN member states addressed the assembly before the vote to offer their support to the Palestinians.
"Gaza doesn't exist anymore. It is destroyed," said Slovenia's UN envoy Samuel Zbogar. "History is the harshest critic of inaction."
Short link: