The abandoned catastrophe: After eight years, Syria’s unrelenting war rages on

Short Url
Updated 04 December 2020
Follow

The abandoned catastrophe: After eight years, Syria’s unrelenting war rages on

  • Eight years on, the carnage sweeping across the country is unrelenting and doesn’t seem to be subsiding any time soon

LONDON: With the media’s attention diverted toward turmoil and conflicts in other parts of the Middle East, it may seem as if the war in Syria has ended, but it certainly has not. It has been almost eight years since the war erupted, and even though 2018 has seen major events unfold on the military and security levels, much has remained unchanged for Syrians. 

The carnage was unrelenting this year. The death toll reached 36,135 between January and November, of which 5,773 were civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The highest monthly civilian death toll was in March (1,460) followed by February (1,391).

There was a plethora of events on the military and security levels. On Jan. 20, Turkey began a major military operation against Kurdish fighters in Syria’s northern enclave of Afrin, which led to widespread human rights violations. 

By March, Turkish-led forces had captured Afrin, and according to Reuters, more than 200,000 people had fled. In a resettlement scheme, Turkey moved allied Arab fighters and refugees from southern Syria into empty homes that belonged to displaced locals. 

Another major event was the full recapture of the Damascus countryside by Syrian regime troops, and the departure of Daesh militants and their families from the suburbs, making the capital more secure. 

On April 15, the regime announced that all rebel forces had left Eastern Ghouta after a searing two-month offensive. And on May 21, it declared the full recapture of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp and Al-Hajar Al-Aswad district, which is adjacent to the camp. 

On April 14, the US, UK and France launched more than 100 missiles targeting three alleged regime chemical weapons facilities. US President Donald Trump said the move was in response to a regime chemical attack against Douma, which was the last rebel-held town in Eastern Ghouta. 

Russia, China and Iran condemned the strikes. Russian President Vladimir Putin called them “an act of aggression” that had a “destructive influence on the entire system of international relations.”

The Trump administration announced on Dec. 19 that with Daesh defeated, US troops are withdrawing from Syria. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the decision could result in “genuine, real prospects for a political settlement” in Syria. 

Armand V. Cucciniello III, an adviser to the US military and a former American diplomat, told Arab News: “Trump’s decision to pull American troops out was based on the fact that unless Western powers are going to intervene in Syria full-force and overthrow (President Bashar) Assad — whereby we’d likely see a repetition of what has happened in Iraq — the degradation of ISIS (Daesh) this year is enough of a reason to withdraw.”

Cucciniello III added: “The Middle East needs to be stabilized by local forces. The US can’t play policeman forever — or it can, but it will be bogged down forever. Iran wants to see to it that the US and its allies play whack-a-mole forever, keeping them entrenched.”   

This year has also seen the return of many refugees and displaced people to their homes in Syria. More than 5,000 refugees have gone home from Lebanon since January as part of a deal between Damascus and Beirut, which wants the 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon to leave. And more than 2,000 refugees have returned from Jordan to Syria after the reopening of the Nasib crossing in October. 

But in August, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it could not yet facilitate repatriations because conditions were not safe. Cucciniello III said: “We’ll have to wait and see if the actors remaining in Syria after an American pullout can stabilize the country enough whereby IDPs (internally displaced persons) and refugees feel safe enough to return home.”

Dr. Humam Al-Jazaeri, a Syrian economist and financial advisor, told Arab News: “Hope for returning displaced people and refugees will be attached intimately to the international community’s approach to the Syrian crisis. There’s a growing need to invest in local economic capability and community empowerment.”

He added: “The Syrian economy represents a high potential ‘test bed’ for post-crisis development initiatives. Reintegrating displaced people back to their areas and regions can be facilitated at low cost. The cost of a refugee living in Europe much exceeds the cost of a returning refugee reintegrating through reactivated farming practices or other professional activities.”

He said: “This is unlike other war-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Somalia or even Iraq, where local conditions place structural obstructing forces against reintegration.” But “under the current unilateral sanctions imposed on the Syrian economy, institutions and individuals, it’s both difficult and expensive to do business in and with Syria.”

Though there have been many changes on the military and security levels, the economy has not improved, and nor have people’s livelihoods and lives significantly. “With no more mortar shells fired randomly by rebel groups at the city of Aleppo, the security situation has significantly improved, but crimes like killing and theft continue to threaten the security of civilians,” Nariman S., an Aleppo-based pharmacist, told Arab News. 

“Prices of basic needs continue to rise in a manner that’s not proportionate to per-capita income. Unemployment rates haven’t changed much since the start of the war. Job opportunities are very limited and don’t provide security, with many companies laying off employees and reducing headcounts.” 

Despite that, services, such as water and power, have improved in Aleppo by 20 percent and goods have become available, she said. 

The security situation may have significantly improved in Damascus, but job security, infrastructure, livelihoods and prices of basic needs remain a challenge for most people. “When the exchange price of the US dollar was on the rise, shops claimed they raised their prices for this reason, but now it has dropped and the prices continue to rise every month,” Eyad, a Damascus-based accountant, told Arab News. 

Um Jamal, a Palestinian-Syrian mother of three who works as a cleaner, was told that people could return to Yarmouk camp and that the regime would give them financial compensation to rebuild their homes, but when she learned the truth she was overwhelmed. 

“Our building was turned into ashes and its location is still full of rubble,” she told Arab News. “When I asked the district’s officials about compensation, they said none was available and we ought to clean up the rubble at our own expense. This would cost my family… an amount we don’t have as we struggle to make ends meet every month.” 

Despite everything, people are positive about the prospects for peace and prosperity in 2019. “For the first time in seven years, people in Damascus will be able to celebrate New Year’s Eve without worrying about being bombarded by rebels,” said Syrian-Canadian analyst Camille Otrakji.

“If the US completes its recently announced full troop withdrawal, it would be another significant step toward the inevitable reunification of Syrian territory. Reuniting the people, though, remains a formidable challenge for Syria and for many other nations,” he added.

“The US and its allies are tightening their sanctions on Syria in hopes of obstructing any serious efforts to rebuild the country. The objective of the harsh sanctions is to pressure Syria’s leadership into accepting political reforms that will somehow transform Syria into a Jeffersonian democracy.”

Otrakji said 2019 will be defined by uncertainty, and in 2018, “regional alliances have been confusing to those who are used to the old Cold War between a clearly defined Western camp and an Eastern camp.”

He added: “Today, one finds Turkey remaining in NATO but acting more as a Russian partner. America’s closest Arab ally Saudi Arabia is publicly protesting American and Canadian intervention in its internal affairs, while expressing admiration for Russia’s non-interventionist foreign policy. Iran is protecting the Syrian government while coordinating closely with the latter’s top enemy, (Turkish) President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan.” 

Cucciniello III said: “Either ISIS will re-emerge and expand or, more broadly, jihadi forces will reinvent themselves into something else in 2019. The balance of power will likely tilt toward Tehran.”

He added: “But this is part of the paradox in which the US and its allies find themselves: ‘Can we ever get out of this mess?’ No success in Iraq, Afghanistan or Syria has ever been good enough to leave on a good note. So do we continue to stay in perpetuity, or pull out and let things play out more locally?”

Al-Jazaeri said: “Syria’s economy will rely heavily on Syrian private financing for at least the next five years, before other serious sources of financing start to take shape. It’s important for the government to seriously consider gradual but steady deregulation in all sectors, most importantly in the banking and financial sector. There’s no risk today of the money being siphoned out of the country. Instead, there’s potential for Syrians’ money to flow in.”


Syria’s president to visit Turkiye and UAE next week

Updated 5 sec ago
Follow

Syria’s president to visit Turkiye and UAE next week

  • Sharaa and other members of the new Syrian leadership have been working to strengthen ties with both Arab and Western leaders following the fall of Bashar Assad in a lightning offensive in December, led by Sharaa’s group, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham

BEIRUT: Syria’s President Ahmed Al-Sharaa will make his first visit to the United Arab Emirates and is also scheduled to visit Turkiye next week, the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday, as he continues to garner support for the new administration.
Sharaa, who previously visited Turkiye in February, will make the UAE his second Gulf destination after traveling to
Saudi Arabia that same month on his first foreign trip since assuming the presidency in January.
He and other members of the new Syrian leadership have been working to strengthen ties with both Arab and Western leaders following the fall of Bashar Assad in a lightning offensive in December, led by Sharaa’s Sunni Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham.
Sharaa and his officials have also called for a full lifting of sanctions on Syria.
Syria is in desperate need of sanctions relief to kick start an economy collapsed by nearly 14 years of war, during which the United States, the UK and Europe placed tough sanctions on people, businesses and whole sectors of Syria’s economy in a bid to squeeze now-ousted leader Assad.

 


Moroccans protest Israel’s offensive in Gaza and take aim at Trump

Updated 10 min 10 sec ago
Follow

Moroccans protest Israel’s offensive in Gaza and take aim at Trump

  • Moroccan authorities tolerate most protests, but have arrested some activists who have rallied in front of businesses or foreign embassies or implicated the monarchy in their complaints
  • More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed as part of Israel’s offensive, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say whether those killed are civilians or combatants

RABAT, Morocco: Tens of thousands of Moroccans on Sunday protested Israel’s latest offensive in Gaza, putting fury toward US President Donald Trump near the center of their grievances.
In the largest protest Morocco has seen in months, demonstrators denounced Israel, the United States and their own government. Some stepped on Israeli flags, held banners showing slain Hamas leaders and waved posters juxtaposing Trump alongside displaced Palestinians fleeing their homes.
Organizers condemned Israel’s ongoing military operation in Gaza. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed since Israel renewed air and ground strikes last month, aimed at pressuring Hamas to release remaining hostages.

Women lift a banner during a national march in support of Palestinians and against Morocco's normalisation of ties with Israel, in the capital Rabat on April 6, 2025. (AFP)

Such protests have erupted across the Middle East and North Africa, where leaders typically worry about demonstrations undermining domestic stability. Pro-Palestinian rallies were also staged this weekend in the capitals of Tunisia and Yemen as well as in Morocco’s most populous city Casablanca.
In countries that have historically aligned with the US, anti-Trump backlash has emerged as a theme. Demonstrators in Rabat on Sunday condemned his proposal to displace millions of Palestinians to make way for the redevelopment of Gaza. as well as the US efforts to pursue pro-Palestinian activists.
Still, many Moroccans said they saw Trump’s policies as mostly consistent with his predecessor, Joe Biden’s.
“(Trump) has made the war worse,” said Mohammed Toussi, who traveled from Casablanca with his family to protest.
“Biden hid some things but Trump has shown it all,” he added, likening their positions but not their messaging.
Protesters, Toussi said, remain angry about Morocco’s 2020 decision to normalize ties with Israel.
Abdelhak El Arabi, an adviser to Morocco’s former Islamist prime minister, said the reasons Moroccans were protesting had grown throughout the war. He predicted popular anger would continue until the war ends.
“It’s not a war, Gaza is getting erased from the earth,” the 62-year-old Tamesna resident said.
Demonstrations have included a range of groups, including the Islamist association al Adl Wal Ihsan. Moroccan authorities tolerate most protests, but have arrested some activists who have rallied in front of businesses or foreign embassies or implicated the monarchy in their complaints.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Most have since been released in ceasefire agreements and other deals. More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed as part of Israel’s offensive, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say whether those killed are civilians or combatants. The war has left most of Gaza in ruins, and at its height displaced around 90 percent of the population.

 


Sudan activists sound alarm on ‘catastrophic’ situation in besieged Darfur city

Updated 06 April 2025
Follow

Sudan activists sound alarm on ‘catastrophic’ situation in besieged Darfur city

  • According to UN estimates, around two million people face extreme food insecurity in North Darfur state, with 320,000 already suffering famine conditions

KHARTOUM: Civilians trapped in Sudan’s El-Fasher city are facing “catastrophic” conditions, activists warned on Sunday, with their situation rapidly deteriorating amid a months-long paramilitary siege.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have taken most of the vast Darfur region in their war against the regular army since April 2023, but El-Fasher in North Darfur remains the only regional state capital the RSF has not conquered.
A local advocacy group, the Darfur General Coordination of Camps for the Displaced and Refugees, said in a statement that residents “bear the brunt of artillery shelling” and live “with the sounds of aircraft and their terrifying and deadly missiles, in addition to the daily suffering of hunger, disease and drought.”
Life in El-Fasher and other areas of Darfur “has come to a complete standstill,” the group said, with no food at markets and a “complete halt” in humanitarian aid.
There was a sharp rise in prices of basic commodities and “a severe shortage in cash,” it added, warning of an “unprecedented and catastrophic deterioration” in already dire conditions in and around El-Fasher.
The RSF-aligned armed group Sudan Liberation Army called on Saturday for civilians in El-Fasher and the nearby displacement camps of Abu Shouk and Zamzan to leave, warning of an “escalation of military operations.”
Another RSF ally, the Gathering of Sudan Liberation Forces, said it was ready to “provide safe corridors” for residents to leave and head to “liberated areas” under paramilitary control.
In late March, the RSF announced its fighters had seized Al-Malha, which lies at the foot of a mountainous region 200 kilometers (124 miles) northeast of El-Fasher.
Al-Malha is one of the northernmost towns in the vast desert region between Sudan and Libya, where the RSF’s critical resupply lines have come under increasing attack in recent months by army-allied groups.
The war has created what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst hunger and displacement crises. More than 12 million people have been uprooted, tens of thousands killed and a UN-backed assessment declared famine in parts of the country.
According to UN estimates, around two million people face extreme food insecurity in North Darfur state, with 320,000 already suffering famine conditions.
Zamzam is one of three displacement camps around El-Fasher hit by famine, which a UN-backed assessment says is expected to spread to five more areas including the state capital itself by May.


Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 32, mostly women and children

Updated 06 April 2025
Follow

Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 32, mostly women and children

  • The latest Israeli strikes overnight into Sunday hit a tent and a house in the southern city of Khan Younis, killing five men, five women and five children, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip killed at least 32 people, including over a dozen women and children, local health officials said Sunday, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu headed to the United States to meet with President Donald Trump about the war.
Israel last month ended its ceasefire with Hamas and renewed its air and ground offensive, carrying out waves of strikes and seizing territory to pressure the militant group to accept a new deal for a truce and release of remaining hostages. It has also blocked the import of food, fuel and humanitarian aid for over a month to the coastal territory heavily reliant on outside assistance.
“Stocks are getting low and the situation is becoming desperate,” the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said on social media.
The latest Israeli strikes overnight into Sunday hit a tent and a house in the southern city of Khan Younis, killing five men, five women and five children, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies.
A female journalist was among those killed. “My daughter is innocent. She had no involvement, she loved journalism and adored it,” said her mother, Amal Kaskeen.
The body of one child, under 2 years old, took up just one end of an emergency stretcher.
“Trump wants to end the Gaza issue. He is in a hurry, and that is clear from this morning,” said Mohammad Abdel-Hadi, cousin of a woman killed.
Israeli shelling killed at least four people in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The bodies of seven people, including a child and three women, arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, according to an Associated Press journalist there.
And a strike in Gaza City hit people waiting outside a bakery and killed at least six, including three children, according to the civil defense, which operates under the Hamas-run government.
Israel’s military said about 10 projectiles were fired from Gaza and most were intercepted, in the largest barrage from the territory since Israel resumed the war. Hamas’ military arm claimed responsibility. Israeli police said some fragments fell in Ashkelon city. There were no reports of injuries.
Netanyahu visits Trump amid anti-war protests
Dozens of Palestinians took to the streets in Jabaliya for a new round of anti-war protests. Footage circulating on social media showed people marching and chanting against Hamas. Such protests, while rare, have occurred in recent weeks.
There is also anger inside Israel over the war’s resumption and its effects on remaining hostages in Gaza. Families of hostages along with some of those recently freed from Gaza and their supporters on Saturday urged Trump to help ensure the fighting ends.
Netanyahu on Monday will meet with Trump for the second time since Trump began his latest term in January. The prime minister said they would discuss the war and the new 17 percent tariff imposed on Israel, part of a sweeping global decision by the new US administration.
“There is a very large queue of leaders who want to do this with respect to their economies. I think it reflects the special personal connection and the special connection between the United States and Israel, which is so vital at this time,” Netanyahu said while wrapping up a visit to Hungary.
The US, a mediator in ceasefire efforts along with Egypt and Qatar, expressed support for Israel’s resumption of the war last month.
The toll of war
Hundreds of Palestinians since then have been killed, among them 15 medics whose bodies were recovered only a week later. Israel’s military this weekend backtracked on its account of what happened in the incident, captured in part on video, that caused anger by Red Cross and Red Crescent and UN officials.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. Fifty-nine hostages are still held in Gaza — 24 believed to be alive — after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel’s offensive has killed at least 50,695 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants but says more than half were women and children. It says another 115,338 people have been wounded. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.


UNICEF forced to shut down malnutrition centers in Gaza amid worsening humanitarian crisis

Updated 06 April 2025
Follow

UNICEF forced to shut down malnutrition centers in Gaza amid worsening humanitarian crisis

  • The closures are directly linked to Israel’s renewed military actions and the increasingly volatile security situation
  • UNICEF is awaiting findings from a special body tasked with assessing the scale of food insecurity in Gaza, official says

GAZA: The UN Children’s Fund has closed 21 malnutrition treatment centers in the Gaza Strip, citing ongoing Israeli military operations and recent evacuation orders in the areas where these centers were operating.

Kazem Abu Khalaf, a spokesperson for the organization, said on Sunday that the closures were directly linked to Israel’s renewed military actions and the increasingly volatile security situation, Palestinian WAFA news agency reported.

Abu Khalaf added that UNICEF was currently awaiting findings from a special body tasked with assessing the scale of food insecurity in Gaza, with the aim of presenting a comprehensive picture of the deteriorating conditions.

The closures come as Gaza faces an unprecedented humanitarian emergency, exacerbated by Israel’s continued blockade of aid into the enclave.

According to UNICEF, Israeli authorities have blocked all crossings into Gaza for 35 consecutive days, preventing the entry of food, medical supplies, and nutritional supplements.

On Saturday, UNICEF issued a stark warning, stating that more than one million children in Gaza have been cut off from life-saving humanitarian assistance for over a month.

The organization condemned the blockade, calling it a violation of international humanitarian law with devastating consequences for children and other vulnerable groups.

UNICEF confirmed it has thousands of aid parcels ready for immediate delivery but has been unable to gain access. It also revealed that food supplies for infants in Gaza have been entirely depleted, while the remaining stock of ready-to-use infant milk is only sufficient to feed 400 children for one month.

The crisis in Gaza has intensified since the resumption of hostilities in March, which ended a temporary ceasefire which came into force earlier this year.

Israel’s war with Hamas, which started in October 2023, has left much of Gaza’s infrastructure in ruins and displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Aid agencies have repeatedly warned of the risk of famine and a collapse of basic health services unless humanitarian access is urgently restored.