Author: Aksunar Karatay

The Turkish Coast Guard Command early on Friday said it rescued dozens of irregular migrants pushed back by Greece along the Aegean coast and caught dozens more attempting to make the crossing. Some 16 migrants were found drifting on two rubber boats after being pushed back by Greek elements into Turkish territorial waters off the coast of Dikili and Çeşme districts in western Izmir province, the agency said. It also picked up 52 other migrants, including 16 children, who were trying to attempt to cross to Greece on rubber boats in the same region. Separately, it said it found 30…

Turkish exporters with firm orders are looking at ways to send their goods to Israel via third countries after Turkey halted bilateral trade, four export company owners told Reuters, saying the decision had caught them by surprise. Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said on May 3 that Turkey will not resume trade with Israel, worth around $7 billion a year, until a permanent ceasefire is secured in the war in Gaza with unhindered humanitarian aid flowing to Palestinians there. Attending Bolat’s press conference, the owner of a household goods exporter said the trade halt had wrongfooted them, with goods held up…

Israeli forces stormed the only operational Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday after besieging and bombarding it for several days, Gaza’s Health Ministry said in a statement. Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qedra said in the statement that Israeli soldiers had ordered all men, including medical personnel, to gather in the hospital courtyard. He expressed concern about the possibility of the medical staff being arrested. Al-Qedra called on the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and the International Committee of the Red Cross to act immediately to save and protect the lives of those people in the hospital. …

The World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board adopted a resolution on Sunday, urging for prompt and unobstructed humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip. At the request of 17 member states, the Executive Board convened a special session at the WHO headquarters in Geneva to discuss the health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem. In his opening remarks, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that “the impact of the conflict on health is catastrophic” and “Gaza’s health system is on its knees and collapsing.” According to the WHO, only 14 hospitals out of the original 36 are…

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday urged the UN Security Council (UNSC) to “press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe” in the Gaza Strip and reiterated his appeal for a ceasefire. Guterres made the remarks at the Doha Forum in Qatar, two days after the United States wielded its veto power during a Security Council emergency meeting to quash a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The resolution, proposed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), got 13 votes of favor, one vote of abstention from Britain and one veto from the United States. “The preeminent forum for…

Two Lebanese civilians and six Israeli soldiers were injured on Sunday in confrontations between Hezbollah and the Israeli army on the Lebanese-Israeli borders, sources said. “In support of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the Islamic Resistance fighters launched a drone attack today on a headquarters of the Israeli army south of Ya’ara Barracks, leading to several casualties among its soldiers,” said a statement by Hezbollah. Later in the day, the Israeli media reported that two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were moderately wounded, and four others were lightly hurt by shrapnels and smoke inhalation in a Hezbollah drone attack…

At least 133 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others were injured on Sunday, as Israel’s air and artillery attacks continued on the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian medical source said. The source told Xinhua that over the past day, the bodies of at least 133 Palestinians who died in Israeli strikes were brought to hospitals across the Gaza Strip, 45 of whom were confirmed in Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza. Security sources and eyewitnesses told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes launched simultaneous raids on the Nuseirat, Al-Maghazi and Al-Zawaida refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip. The sources added that intense…

Israeli archaeologists have found evidence of large-scale war weapon production in the region dating back to 7,200 years ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said in a statement on Wednesday. The IAA said that these are the earliest evidence of warfare and organized arming in the southern Levant region. The team examined 424 sling stones from the Early Chalcolithic period (5800-4500 BCE) that were uncovered at two large archaeological sites of En Esur and En Zippori, both located in northern Israel. It was revealed that the hundreds of limestone and dolomite sling stones were almost identical in size, shape and…

The al-Shifa hospital in Gaza on Wednesday began to evacuate dozens of patients and injuries to the south of the Strip, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said in a statement. The PRCS said 14 ambulances have arrived at the hospital to evacuate the patients. Kidney patients will be transferred to the Abu Yousef Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, while the wounded will be taken to the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, both in the southern strip, according to the statement. On Wednesday, the Israeli army continued its operation at the al-Shifa complex, trapping 259 injured people and patients, along with…

Turkish security forces on Wednesday detained in Istanbul 13 suspected members of the Islamic State (IS) who may have plans to carry out attacks in the country. The state-run Anadolu agency reported that Istanbul anti-terror police units launched simultaneous operations covering 10 districts to capture the suspects. The police believed that the suspects were linked to the IS and other armed terror organizations in conflict zones in countries like Syria and Iraq, and may have plans to carry out attacks against Türkiye. Türkiye listed IS as a terrorist group in 2013 and has been attacked by the extremist group several…