Turkiye warns it will target any ‘terrorland’ on its southern borders
Airstrikes launched against outlawed Kurdish militant group in Iraq and Syria
PKK may be taking advantage of ‘changing dynamics in warfare technologies,’ analyst says
Updated 14 January 2024
MENEKSE TOKYAY
ANKARA: In the aftermath of the killing of nine Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq, Turkiye carried out a series of airstrikes against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in northern Syria and Iraq.
“Turkiye will never allow the establishment of a ‘terrorland’ on its southern borders under any pretext and for any reason,” the official statement said after the security meeting chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later on Saturday.
Simultaneously, more than 113 people were arrested in Turkiye over suspected links with the PKK, which Ankara and its Western allies classify as a terrorist group.
Along with military incursions in Syria, several airstrikes hit Hakurk, Metina, Gara and Qandil regions in northern Iraq, destroying caves, shelters, bunkers and oil facilities.
On Sunday, the Turkish intelligence organization announced that it “neutralized” Hasan Seburi, a PKK member responsible for intelligence gathering and surveillance against Turkiye, in Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah region.
Turkiye has been conducting Operation Claw-Lock in northern Iraq since April 2022, establishing several military points in the Duhok governorate to fight the group.
Three weeks ago, a Turkish base in northern Iraq was targeted by PKK-affiliated groups, resulting in the death of six Turkish soldiers. Another three soldiers were killed during clashes that followed the attack.
The recent escalation of PKK attacks against Turkish positions in the region is now under scrutiny.
Rich Outzen, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, suggests that the PKK may be driven by a need to demonstrate its capability to inflict casualties on the Turkish military amid changing dynamics in warfare technologies.
“The advent of drone warfare, enhanced intelligence and precision strike in Iraq, Syria and southeastern Turkiye has badly eroded what once seemed like a serious military threat to Turkish forces,” he told Arab News.
“By selecting the most favorable circumstances — bad weather and very rugged terrain — PKK leadership focused efforts to achieve a very rare successful operation,” he said.
The second reason, Outzen believes, “is a desire to alter the trajectory of US policy in Iraq and Syria.”
Outzen said the US “has decreasing interest in Syria and decreasing rationale for continuing support to the YPG as Daesh recedes as a primary security concern in the region.”
In Iraq, “increasing tensions between pro-Iranian militias and US forces — as well as the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Peshmerga forces — has put obstacles in the path of the PKK-friendly ‘Kurdish unity’ push that elements of the President Joe Biden’s administration have supported,” he said.
Outzen added: “By provoking Turkish overreaction and creating new pressure in Washington to protect and unify ‘the Kurds,’ the PKK hopes to renew its ability to leverage US policy against Turkiye.”
Finally, Outzen draws attention to the Iran factor.
“Qandil has a long history of tacit deals with Tehran; the ascendance of the PKK in northeast Syria is largely a product of cooperative strategy among Assad, the Revolutionary Guard Corps and Qandil,” he said.
“Tehran has its own reasons for wanting new escalations around the region in the period following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks against Israel, and it is likely that the PKK is serving as an instrumentality in that strategic approach,” he added.
The extent of Turkiye’s operations against PKK positions remains uncertain.
Outzen believes the PKK is operating near the limit of its operational reach, and that only under limited circumstances it is capable of engaging Turkish forces at a relative advantage — conditions that exist in the mountains between Iraq and Turkiye, but not on the plains in Syria or in southeast Turkiye.
“The question of how large Turkish counterattacks will be remains open, but a large-scale offensive against the PKK where it is most vulnerable, in Syria, is a possibility,” he said.
Dr. Bilgay Duman, coordinator of Iraq studies at Ankara-based think tank ORSAM, said the PKK has recently shifted its tactics and is pursuing a different strategy, which can partly explain the increase in attacks against Turkish soldiers in the region.
“Previously, the PKK was launching attacks in spring. However, in the past couple of years, it began attacking Turkish military points during winter to establish control over the areas and to result in more casualties,” he told Arab News.
Dr. Duman said that there had been a PKK presence in almost eight mountainous areas in northern Iraq, resulting in the evacuation of about 800 villages in the zone.
“Turkiye has been developing consecutive operations toward the region to break this dominance and to cut the logistic connections between different areas,” he said.
Duman said Turkiye “significantly narrowed down the territory of the PKK camps.”
He said Turkiye “also targets Qamisli and Al-Dirbasiyah in Syria, where the Syrian branch of the PKK is mainly located.”
But the presence of Turkish soldiers in the region “inevitably makes direct confrontation with the terror group a necessity,” he said.
The PKK, which has launched a bloody insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, claimed responsibility last October for an attack on the headquarters of the Turkish interior ministry in Ankara in which two police officers were injured.
Anticipating a more aggressive stance from the PKK as military pressure continues, Duman said that Turkish counterterrorism authorities have already taken measures to confront any domestic security threat that may arise in retaliation to cross-border operations in Iraq and Syria.
“As long as the central government of Iraq and the KRG cannot actively counteract to contain the PKK, Turkiye is expected to continue its operations during winter and spring,” he said.
Anti-aircraft missiles fire as drones fly over Port Sudan: witnesses
Since Sudanese authorities fled the capital Khartoum early in the war, Port Sudan has hosted government ministries, the United Nations and hundreds of thousands of people
Updated 6 sec ago
AFP
PORT SUDAN, Sudan: Anti-aircraft missiles fired over Sudan’s wartime capital Port Sudan on Saturday, eyewitnesses reported, as drones flew over the once-safe haven city.
Since April 2023, war has raged between Sudan’s regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Port Sudan, seat of the army-backed government, came under attack by drones blamed on the RSF for the first time early this month.
The campaign of drone strikes attacked infrastructure including the country’s last functioning civilian international airport, power stations and major fuel depots.
The near-daily strikes had stopped for over a week until Saturday, when residents in the city heard “the sound of anti-aircraft missiles north and west of the city and drones flying in the sky,” one witness told AFP.
Since Sudanese authorities fled the capital Khartoum early in the war, Port Sudan has hosted government ministries, the United Nations and hundreds of thousands of people.
Nearly all aid into the country — home to nearly 25 million people suffering dire food insecurity — transits through Port Sudan.
The war has killed tens of thousands, uprooted 13 million and created what the UN describes as the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.
It has also effectively split Sudan in two, with the army holding the center, east and north, while the paramilitaries and their allies control nearly all of Darfur and parts of the south.
Since losing Khartoum in March, the RSF has adopted a two-pronged strategy: long-range drone strikes on army-held cities accompanied by counteroffensives to reclaim territory in the country’s south.
The drone strikes have impacted infrastructure across Sudan’s army-held northeast, with attacks on power stations causing blackouts for millions of people.
A blackout in Khartoum also cut off access to clean water, according to health authorities, causing a cholera outbreak that has killed close to 300 people this month.
Will the lifting of sanctions usher in a new beginning for the Syrian people?
As Syrians begin to dream of a peaceful and prosperous future, experts warn progress will be slow, uneven, and depend on structural reform
Analysts say rejoining the global economy is within reach for Syria, but hinges on the pace of reconstruction and restoration of trust in leadership
Updated 31 May 2025
ANAN TELLO
LONDON: When news broke that Western sanctions on Syria would be lifted, Marwah Morhly finally allowed herself to imagine something she had not dared to in years: a stable life in her hometown of Damascus.
A Syrian writer and editor now living in Turkiye, Morhly once navigated a precarious existence back home — trying to earn a remote income in a country cut off from global banking systems and mired in uncertainty.
Returning to Damascus always felt like a distant dream — too risky and too complicated. But with sanctions easing, that dream is beginning to look attainable.
“It’s a different kind of freedom — the freedom to dream,” she told Arab News.
“As someone who works remotely, the lifting of sanctions lets me imagine a future where I can work from my home in Damascus, receive my salary through a bank transfer directly to my account there, without any form of danger or exploitation.”
Under sanctions, she said, Syrians working with foreign clients had to operate in secrecy.
“We were working in the shadows … like ghosts,” she said. “We weren’t allowed to be visible, like unknown soldiers, because the moment it became clear (to employers abroad) that the work was happening inside Syria, it could jeopardize our livelihoods.”
The breakthrough came on May 13, when US President Donald Trump, during a visit to Riyadh, announced the lifting of sanctions on Syria. He framed the move as a historic opportunity for economic recovery and political stabilization.
A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace shows the historic meeting between President Donald Trump (C) and Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh on May 13, 2025, arranged by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R). (AFP)
Ten days later, the US Treasury Department issued General License 25, authorizing transactions with Syria’s new transitional government, led by President Ahmad Al-Sharaa. In parallel, the State Department suspended the Caesar Act sanctions for 180 days, signaling a pivot toward reconstruction and humanitarian relief.
The EU soon followed suit, announcing the end of its own economic sanctions in a coordinated effort to support a nation fractured by more than a decade of civil war.
On Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud announced from Damascus a joint effort with Qatar to fund salary support for Syria’s state employees.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan (L) Syria's interim foreign minister Asaad Shaibani giving a joint press conference in Damascus on May 31, 2025. (SANA handout via AFP)
The move built on the two countries’ decision earlier in May to pay off the $15.5 million debt Syria owed to the International Development Association, a World Bank fund that provides zero- or low-interest loans and grants to the world’s poorest countries.
This policy shift did not happen in a vacuum. Ibrahim Al-Assil, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said years of grassroots advocacy were pivotal.
“Of course, the Saudi role was huge, and many Syrians appreciate that, and same for the Turkish role,” Al-Assil told CNN.
“But also, many Syrians have been working on that — from students to academics to activists to business leaders and journalists writing and talking about this and pushing more and more towards lifting sanctions.”
The impact of these efforts goes beyond international politics. “Why? Because it allows Syrians to breathe again,” he said, adding that sanctions are often viewed only on a macro level as something that affects an entire country. In reality, they have a serious impact on daily life.
“We forget that they affect the lives of the individuals on the tiny details — from medicine to connectivity and being able to check their email normally … also to what industries they can have, where they can travel, what kind of machines they can buy for their factories.”
For ordinary Syrians, these limitations posed immense challenges. Now, Al-Assil said, the situation is changing.
“It’s still challenging, but the major obstacle seems to have been moved out of the way for Syrians, allowing them to move ahead and rebuild their country.”
Beyond basic needs, the lifting of sanctions opens new possibilities for professionals still living in Syria — many of whom have endured years of isolation, limited access to technology, and restricted earning potential.
Salma Saleh, a graphic designer based in Damascus, says she has spent 13 years building her career under the weight of sanctions, along with the years before that dedicated to her education.
“The challenges have been endless,” she told Arab News. “We struggled to access most technologies and tools. Often, we had to use workarounds just to get hold of banned software or platforms.”
Freelancing is no easier. “Syrians are blocked from PayPal and most global payment platforms used by freelancing platforms,” she said.
“Even sites essential for our work like Shutterstock, Freepik, and Envato are inaccessible. We can’t even purchase courses on Coursera or Udemy, nor the software we work with, such as Adobe programs.
“We can’t promote our work on social media platforms due to the ban on paid advertisements in Syria. Clients are afraid to work with Syrian freelancers because of the difficulty with payment methods and fears of being accused of funding terrorism.”
Electricity outages posed further challenges. “My heart nearly stopped every time the power cut while I was rendering a video on my laptop,” said Saleh.
“It happened so many times we eventually got used to it. Syrian designers have become the most resilient professionals out there.”
Syria’s electricity sector has all but collapsed owing to infrastructure damage, fuel shortages, and economic sanctions. Once relatively stable, the system now delivers just a few hours of electricity per day. In some areas, that is as little as 30 minutes.
“We had to jump through hoops just to keep up with the rest of the world,” said Saleh. “We gave it everything. I consider the Syrian designer a super designer — and rightfully so.”
For Syrians across the diaspora, the developments mark a fragile but significant turning point. Cautious optimism is beginning to take root — even as the country remains divided and the road to recovery is long.
Lama Beddawi, a Syrian-American DevOps environment analyst based in the US, echoed that sentiment. “The recent decision to lift sanctions on Syria marks a pivotal turning point, and I am hopeful that it signals a move in the right direction,” she told Arab News.
“This development brings a sense of optimism that the country’s long-strained economy may begin to recover, opening the door for increased stability and renewed international investment,” she said.
“With fewer restrictions, Syria has the potential to rebuild its infrastructure, strengthen its institutions, and create opportunities for its people, paving the way for a more sustainable and prosperous future.”
Syrian men work in a textile workshop in Gaziantep, Turkiye, on January 30, 2025. (AFP)
Still, the benefits remain largely theoretical for now. On the ground, daily challenges persist, and progress will take time.
“Everyone understands this isn’t a magic fix — the effects will take time to show,” said Morhly. “As one man from central Damascus put it: ‘For now, we’ll take a hit from the dollar rate, but in a couple of months, more people will actually be able to afford meat again.’”
There is also cautious optimism that basic services might begin to improve. “There’s hope the electricity situation might improve — which is the second biggest concern after water, especially with summer approaching and the heat already setting in,” she added.
From an economic perspective, the lifting of sanctions presents both opportunities and challenges.
Mohamed Ghazal, managing director of Startup Syria, a community-led initiative supporting Syrian entrepreneurs, believes translating sanctions relief into concrete gains such as jobs, investment, and basic services “will be a complex and gradual process.”
He remains optimistic about certain sectors. “Quicker gains are possible in transport and trade,” Ghazal told Arab News.
However, critical areas like general business development and startups are experiencing slower momentum. “Lifting sanctions can take months,” said Ghazal. “Capital flow issues persist due to a crippled banking system.
“Syria’s banks lack access to SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), suffer low liquidity, and operate under opaque regulations.
“Attracting foreign capital requires a modern investment law, clear property rights, business licensing frameworks, and financial repatriation mechanisms.
“The speed of progress depends on comprehensive reforms, institutional rebuilding, international investment, and continued humanitarian support.
“The lifting of sanctions is expected to open up channels like new funding, banking, or investment channels for Syrian startups.”
Diaspora and foreign investors could offer the capital injection needed to get the economy off its knees.
There are “positive signs from the Syrian diaspora and potential foreign direct investment, especially from GCC countries and Turkiye,” said Ghazal. “Interest from impact investors seeking financial returns and social and environmental impact.”
He identified several immediate priorities for revitalizing the economy, including restoring access to SWIFT, enacting a modern investment law with clear legal protections, and easing import restrictions on essential technology to enable the use of software, cloud services, and digital tools.
The SWIFT system is a global messaging network that enables financial institutions to exchange transaction details — like money transfer instructions — quickly, securely, and accurately across borders.
Before Lebanon’s 2019 financial collapse, many Syrians used its banking system to bypass sanctions, parking billions in assets and accessing US dollars and trade channels. When the system froze, transfers stopped, savings were locked, and Syrians lost access to critical funds.
An employee counts Syrian pounds at an exchange counter in Damascus on May 21, 2025. (AFP)
The Syrian pound then collapsed, inflation surged, and the economy worsened. While some estimates once placed Syrian deposits as high as $40 billion, remaining deposits in 2025 were estimated at just $3 to $4 billion, according to the Karam Shaar Advisory consultancy.
Some experts believe sanctions relief could signal a path forward. Ghassan Ibrahim, a London-based Syria analyst and founder of the Global Arab Network, believes sanctions relief could unlock trade and investment.
“Lifting Western sanctions removes long-standing barriers to Syria joining the global market,” he told Arab News. “It restores credibility and sends a message that Syria is on the right path.”
Investor interest is already growing. “Next week, a few American investors are heading to Damascus. We’re also seeing engagement from GCC countries and Chinese firms already operating there.
“Any relief, especially from the US, will help get Syria back on track. It boosts the government’s legitimacy and strengthens its diplomatic hand.”
The broader economic and political impact cannot be understated. “President Al-Sharaa will be able to travel more freely, engage in diplomacy, and attract serious development partnerships,” said Ibrahim. “That’s critical for reconstruction.
“Ultimately, this shift could improve quality of life, create jobs, and drive long-term growth.”
A man looks at fruits at a stall, some of which were not available while deposed president Bashar al-Assad was in power, like kiwi, mango and pineapple, in the Shalaan Market in the Syrian capital Damascus on May 26, 2025. (AFP)
Still, Syria’s path to recovery remains long. Nearly six months after the fall of Bashar Assad, the country is still plagued by deep sectarian divisions, persistent violence, and political fragmentation.
In March 2025 alone, more than 1,100 people were killed in attacks targeting the Alawite minority following coordinated assaults on government forces. Survivors remain fearful of further violence, and many perpetrators have not been brought to justice.
Foreign threats compound internal instability. Israel has launched multiple airstrikes, including one near the presidential palace, citing threats to the Druze minority. Syria’s new leadership condemned the attacks, highlighting the fragility of foreign relations.
Internally, law and order remains weak. Women and minorities still face abuse, rights protections are unevenly enforced, and extremist groups continue to assert control in some regions, several news agencies have reported.
The humanitarian crisis also endures. Around 16.7 million Syrians rely on aid, while millions remain displaced. Israel maintains a military presence, and Turkiye has voiced opposition to any settlement between Damascus and Kurdish factions — complicating efforts toward national unity.
Though US, EU, and UK sanctions relief is meant to support Syria’s transition, the UN warns of “real dangers of renewed conflict.”
Meanwhile, the interim government faces the daunting task of rebuilding a country where 90 percent of the population lives in poverty and millions remain displaced.
The door may be open, but walking through it will require more than hope. It will take time, trust, and tangible change.
UNRWA chief warns Gaza famine ‘can still be prevented’ as aid access remains blocked
Philippe Lazzarini said amount of aid reaching territory “vastly disproportionate” to the scale of crisis
Updated 31 May 2025
Arab News
LONDON: The head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees has warned that famine in Gaza remains preventable, but only if there is the political will to act.
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said the amount of aid reaching the territory is “vastly disproportionate” to the scale of the crisis.
“What we are asking for is not impossible,” he said in a press statement on Saturday, urging that UN agencies be allowed to deliver vital assistance and uphold the dignity of those in need.
According to Lazzarini, just 900 aid trucks have entered Gaza over the past two weeks — covering only around 10% of the population’s daily needs. He stressed that preventing famine requires political decisions, not just logistical efforts.
He also called for the full resumption of humanitarian operations, which have largely been suspended since March 2. During the previous ceasefire, UNRWA and its partners had managed to bring in 600 to 800 trucks per day, he noted, underlining that it is feasible to scale up aid if access is granted.
Meanwhile, medical sources in Gaza said at least 60 Palestinians were killed and 284 injured in the past 24 hours amid ongoing fighting. Local health authorities report that since the conflict began in October 2023, 54,381 people have been killed and 124,381 wounded, with women and children making up the majority of casualties.
Since hostilities resumed on March 18, following a two-month truce, a further 4,117 people have been killed and 12,013 injured, the same sources added.
The March agreement states that the Kurds are an “essential component of the Syrian state,” guaranteeing the “right to citizenship and all ... constitutional rights.”
Updated 31 May 2025
AFP
DAMASCUS: A delegation from northeast Syria’s semi-autonomous Kurdish administration was headed to Damascus on Saturday for talks on implementing a March deal to integrate Kurdish institutions into the state, a member of the delegation said.
Under the agreement signed by Syria’s interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurds are to integrate their civil and military institutions into the national government.
The deal includes all border crossings, oil and gas fields, and a regional airport.
A member of the Kurdish delegation said that “a delegation from the autonomous administration is on the way to Damascus to discuss” details of the March deal.
Despite the accord, the Kurds have criticized a constitutional declaration announced by the new authorities, who took power after ousting Bashar Assad in December, and said the new government failed to reflect the Syrian Arab Republic’s diversity.
Last month, Syrian Kurdish parties adopted a joint vision of a “decentralized democratic state,” a move rejected by Damascus, which warned against attempts at separatism or federalism by the minority group.
The March agreement states that the Kurds are an “essential component of the Syrian state,” guaranteeing the “right to citizenship and all ... constitutional rights.”
Syria’s Kurds suffered marginalization and repression under Assad’s rule, being deprived of the right to speak their language and celebrate their holidays and, in many cases, of Syrian nationality.
Earlier this month, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani warned that delaying the implementation of the deal would “prolong the chaos” in the country.
In an interview broadcast by Shams TV, based in Irbil in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region, SDF chief Abdi said that “we are committed to what was agreed with Damascus and we are currently working on implementing this agreement.”
He emphasized the need for a “decentralized Syria where all its components live with their full rights and nobody is excluded.”
But he accused Syria’s new authorities of wanting centralization and of “not being ready for everyone to live in Syria.”
Kurdish-led forces took control of much of Syria’s northeast, including its oil fields, during the country’s civil war and the Daesh insurgency.
With support from a US-led international coalition, the Kurdish-led SDF played a key role in Daesh’s territorial defeat in Syria in 2019.
Abdi said all Syrians should benefit from Syria’s oil wealth but said the Kurds wanted “an autonomous administration to govern locally and for the people of the area to manage security and political institutions.”
Hamas seeks changes in US Gaza proposal; Witkoff calls response ‘unacceptable’
“This response aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip,” Hamas said
Witkoff wrote in a posting on X: “It is totally unacceptable and only takes us backward”
Updated 31 May 2025
Reuters
CAIRO/JERUSALEM: Hamas said on Saturday it was seeking amendments to a US-backed proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Israel in Gaza, but President Donald Trump’s envoy rejected the group’s response as “totally unacceptable.”
The Palestinian militant group said it was willing to release 10 living hostages and hand over the bodies of 18 dead in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. But Hamas reiterated demands for an end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, conditions Israel has rejected.
A Hamas official described the group’s response to the proposals from Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff as “positive” but said it was seeking some amendments. The official did not elaborate on the changes being sought by the group.
“This response aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to our people in the Strip,” Hamas said in a statement.
The proposals would see a 60-day truce and the exchange of 28 of the 58 hostages still held in Gaza for more than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, along with the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.
A Palestinian official familiar with the talks told Reuters that among amendments Hamas is seeking is the release of the hostages in three phases over the 60-day truce and more aid distribution in different areas. Hamas also wants guarantees the deal will lead to a permanent ceasefire, the official said.
There was no immediate response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office to the Hamas statement.
Israel has previously rejected Hamas’ conditions, instead demanding the complete disarmament of the group and its dismantling as a military and governing force, along with the return of all 58 remaining hostages.
Trump said on Friday he believed a ceasefire agreement was close after the latest proposals, and the White House said on Thursday that Israel had agreed to the terms.
I received the Hamas response to the United States’ proposal. It is totally unacceptable and only takes us backward.
Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week.
That is the only…
— Office of the Special Envoy to the Middle East (@SE_MiddleEast) May 31, 2025
Saying he had received Hamas’ response, Witkoff wrote in a posting on X: “It is totally unacceptable and only takes us backward. Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week.”
On Saturday, the Israeli military said it had killed Mohammad Sinwar, Hamas’ Gaza chief on May 13, confirming what Netanyahu said earlier this week.
Sinwar, the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the group’s deceased leader and mastermind of the October 2023 attack on Israel, was the target of an Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza. Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied his death.
The Israeli military, which relaunched its air and ground campaign in March following a two-month truce, said on Saturday it was continuing to hit targets in Gaza, including sniper posts and had killed what it said was the head of a Hamas weapons manufacturing site.
The campaign has cleared large areas along the boundaries of the Gaza Strip, squeezing the population of more than 2 million into an ever narrower section along the coast and around the southern city of Khan Younis.
Israel imposed a blockade on all supplies entering the enclave at the beginning of March in an effort to weaken Hamas and has found itself under increasing pressure from an international community shocked by the desperate humanitarian situation the blockade has created.
On Saturday, aid groups said dozens of World Food Programme trucks carrying flour to Gaza bakeries had been hijacked by armed groups and subsequently looted by people desperate for food after weeks of mounting hunger.
“After nearly 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving and they are no longer willing to watch food pass them by,” the WFP said in a statement.
