NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A major rescue operation continued Tuesday off the southern coast of Cyprus after a migrant boat sank in international waters, with no additional survivors or bodies found since the initial recovery, official said.
Authorities Monday said seven bodies had been recovered and two people rescued some 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Cyprus. Officials said the boat was believed to be carrying at least 20 Syrians.
The island republic's Joint Rescue Coordination Center confirmed an ongoing operation involving military helicopters, rescue vessels and drones, assisted by a helicopter from a British base on Cyprus.
“As time passes and no other people are found, hope naturally and dramatically diminishes,” Defense Minister Vasilis Palmas told a press briefing late Monday.
The rescue effort is taking place amid rising irregular border crossings in the eastern Mediterranean, according to the European Union border protection agency Frontex, despite a broader decline across the bloc.
Cypriot officials said they continue to monitor increased maritime movement from Lebanon and Syria amid ongoing regional instability.
Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis said the first survivor had been spotted during a routine patrol. After that, he said, “the response was immediate, which is why we managed to save the second person very quickly.”
Follow the AP's coverage of migration here.
Cyprus' defense minister Vasilis Palmas, left, and minister of Justice and Public Order Marios Hartsiotis talk to the media at a coordination center in Larnaca, Cyprus, on Monday, March 17, 2025 after a migrant shipwreck off Cyprus' coast leaves 7 dead and 2 survivors. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An international United Nations staffer was killed and five others were wounded in a strike Wednesday on a U.N. guesthouse in the Gaza Strip.
Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of the U.N. Office for Project Services, declined to say who carried out the strike in the central city of Deir al-Balah but said the explosive ordnance was “dropped or fired” and the blast was not accidental or related to demining activity.
He did not provide the nationalities of those killed and wounded. The U.N. body, known as UNOPS, carries our infrastructure and development projects around the world.
The Israeli military, which has carried out a heavy wave of airstrikes since early Tuesday, denied earlier reports that it had targeted the U.N. compound.
But Moreira da Silva said strikes had hit near the compound on Monday and struck it directly on Tuesday and again on Wednesday, when the staffer was killed. He said the agency had contacted the Israeli military after the first strike and confirmed that it was aware of the facility's location.
“Israel knew this was a U.N. premise, that people were living, staying and working there," he said.
There have been no reports of rocket fire or other Palestinian militant attacks since Israel unleashed the airstrikes overnight and into Tuesday, ending a ceasefire that took hold in January. The Israeli bombardment continued into Wednesday, though at a lower intensity.
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 436 people, including 183 children and 94 women, have been killed since Israel launched the strikes early Tuesday. It said another 678 people have been wounded.
The military says it only strikes militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas. Gaza's Health Ministry records do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Frankel reported from Jerusalem and Magdy from Cairo.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Israelis march on a highway toward Jerusalem to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
An injured United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) worker is taken into the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital after an explosion in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Wednesday March 19, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
An injured United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) worker is taken into the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital after an explosion in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Wednesday March 19, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
An injured United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) worker is taken into the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital after an explosion in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Wednesday March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The body of United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) worker is taken into the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital after an explosion in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Wednesday March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The body of United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) worker is taken into the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital after an explosion in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Wednesday March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
An injured United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) worker is taken into the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital after an explosion in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Wednesday March 19, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
An injured United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) worker is treated at the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital after an explosion in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Wednesday March 19, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
An injured United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) worker is taken into the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital after an explosion in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Wednesday March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
