The death toll from recent violence between Damascus-affiliated security forces and affiliated armed groups, and members of Syria’s Druze community has reached 56, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Thursday.

Palestine's envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, accused Israel of using the blockade on the Gaza Strip as “a weapon of war,” in an interview with Rudaw. His remarks come as the siege has crossed its 60 day mark, sparking warnings of food insecurity and malnutrition in the Palestinian enclave.