Current World Issues

Gaza vows to respond to Israeli air strikes Palestinian armed groups have vowed to respond to Israel's attack on a tunnel in a southern town of the Gaza Strip  late on Monday  that left at least seven people dead and nine others wounded. "We will exercise our right to respond - this is our duty," Daoud Shehab, a leader in the Islamic Jihad movement, told Al Jazeera, adding that it is the legitimate right of the resistance groups to respond.  Palestinian media said that the tunnel in Khan Younis had been hit by the Israeli air force. "Reports said Israel fired five missiles at the tunnel that was being dug east of Khan Younis and which Israel claims was leading to its territory," Palestinian news agency Wafa said. Israeli officials said that the tunnel near the border wall, which was in the process of being built, was blown up after being monitored for some time. The ministry of health in Gaza officially identified five of those killed as members of t...

ISIL accused of killing scores of Qaryatayn civilians ISIL has been accused of executing scores of people in a town it briefly held in central Syria before it was seized by Syrian government forces, according to a monitoring group and local activists. Al-Qaryatayn town, which was captured by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in early October, was retaken by troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday.  According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 128 people were killed by ISIL fighters in the three weeks before their withdrawal from the town in Homs province on Friday.The civilians were killed on accusations of collaborating with the Syrian government, activists said. Mohammed al-Homsi, a member of the Palmyra Coordination Committee, told Al Jazeera that a list containing the names of at least 90 people who were confirmed dead would be released soon. "It is taking u...

Portugal and Spain wildfires: Dozens dead and injured A spate of wildfires in central and north Portugal which started at the weekend has killed at least 31 people, civil defence authorities say. Dozens of the 145 fires still raging are considered serious, a spokeswoman said. To the north, fires which broke out across the border in Spain's Galicia region claimed at least three lives. Thousands of firefighters are battling the flames, which erupted after a hot dry summer. Conditions were worsened by Hurricane Ophelia, as it approached Europe's western coast, bringing strong winds to fan and spread the flames. More than 50 people have also been injured in Portugal; 15 are reported to be in a serious condition. Local media say several people are still missing there, including a month-old baby. In Spain, two of the victims were found in a burned-out car by the side of the road. Rain is forecast for the affected regions late on Monday. A state of emergency has be...