Syria condemned Israel's airstrikes in Gaza which have left 25 Palestinians dead and has called on the international community to act urgently to bring to stop them, a statement on behalf of the Syrian Foreign Ministry said.
Meanwhile, a Turkish newspaper reported that a senior US intelligence official secretly visited Turkey and discussed the current state in Syria with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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"Syria strongly condemns the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and urges the international community to initiate immediate action to put an end to these acts and punish those responsible," the Syrian statement said.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry stressed Damascus' support of the population in Gaza.
Syrian man killed in Homs (Photo: AP)
Earlier on Tuesday, the Arab League chief said the Syrian regime's killing of civilians amounts to crimes against humanity and is calling for an international inquiry.
Nabil Elaraby said that it would not be ethical or moral to allow those behind the killings in the cities of Homs and Idlib to get away with their crime.
Gaza in ruins after Israeli airstrike (Photo: AP)
"There must be an impartial international inquiry into what is happening to uncover those responsible for these crimes to face justice," he said in Cairo.
Al-Arabiya reported that Assad's forces killed 55 people in Idlib including 40 who were executed near a mosque on Tuesday. Another 15 were killed in bombings on Idlib.
Also Tuesday, Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper reported that CIA Director David Patraeus held a secret two-day visit in Ankara and met with Prime Minister Erdogan and other local senior officials. The two discussed the situation in Syria and their joint struggle against the Kurdish rebels.
AP, AFP and Roi Kais contributed to this report
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