A surge in sectarian violence in southern Syria and Israeli airstrikes reaching central Damascus have pushed the war‑scarred country into a volatile juncture, a senior UN official said on Thursday, warning that renewed violence could shatter prospects for peace and fuel wider regional instability.

DAMASCUS -- The death toll from this week's deadly clashes in southern Syria's Sweida province has risen to nearly 600, as tensions continued Thursday amid an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Sweida, state-run media and a war monitor reported.

By bna Cairo bureau. Several Arab countries have strongly condemned the recent Israeli airstrikes on Syrian territory, which targeted key sites linked to Syria’s Interior and Defence Ministries, resulting in the deaths of Syrian military personnel and internal security forces.

Over 58,000 people have died in Gaza since Israel launched its military operation in October 2023. Recent airstrikes and aid-related violence continue to claim civilian lives amid growing water shortages and humanitarian collapse.

Ten people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza on Sunday, including six children who were waiting to fill water containers near a refugee camp, emergency service workers said.

Israeli airstrikes have resulted in the deaths of at least 28 Palestinians, including children, in Gaza. This violence follows a Hamas-led attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people. Efforts for a ceasefire,