Why coronavirus is a ticking bomb in war-ravaged northern Syria

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Updated 01 August 2020
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Why coronavirus is a ticking bomb in war-ravaged northern Syria

  • People in Idlib and northeastern Syria see themselves as sitting ducks if infections begin to spread
  • Region is particularly vulnerable owing to dire humanitarian conditions and risk of further conflict

ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan: As the coronavirus pandemic cuts a wide and deadly swathe through the Middle East and Asia, people in war-torn areas are pretty much sitting ducks, waiting to contract the infection.

Nowhere are crisis-ravaged communities more exposed to the deadly virus than in large expanses of Syria, especially in the country’s northwest and northeast.

Northern Syria is particularly vulnerable owing to dire humanitarian conditions and the risk of further conflict, analysts told Arab News.

The northwestern governorate of Idlib and the mostly Kurdish-controlled northeast, the two remaining areas outside the Syrian regime’s control, now face an invisible enemy.

Syria confirmed its first case on March 23, after insisting for weeks that the virus had not reached the country.

The regime had been waging an aggressive military campaign to retake territory in Idlib. For the past several weeks fighting has abated, especially after Turkey, which backs several rebel groups, reached a cease-fire deal with Russia, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s main military backer.

The hundreds of thousands displaced by the fighting have sought shelter in already overcrowded displacement camps, where conditions make it impossible for residents to practice social distancing or self-isolation.

Out of Idlib’s 2 million-plus population, at least 900,000 were displaced by the latest round of fighting between the regime and rebels.

“About a million people are displaced, living in tents along the Turkish border,” said Mustafa Gurbuz, a non-resident fellow at the Arab Center in Washington DC. “Social distancing is a luxury. There’s nothing called home, water shortage is pervasive, hygiene is impossible, and people are already suffering from poor health.” 

Under the circumstances, if a COVID-19 contagion infects only a few people, it could spread very quickly.

“Only a few cases could result in an explosive outbreak. If the fragile cease-fire derails, a renewed conflict may cause more displacement, which could lead to further spread of COVID-19,” Gurbuz said, referring to the March truce that brought the fighting in Idlib to a halt.

The UN has called for a cease-fire across all of Syria so that efforts can be focused on preventing a major outbreak, which could affect the lives of millions of people living in deplorable and unsanitary conditions across the country.

Aron Lund, a fellow with The Century Foundation, said Idlib is too disorganized and poorly equipped to handle an epidemic.

“There’s no coherent government, just a gaggle of militias half-heartedly strung together by a system of councils,” he said, adding that Idlib sorely lacks staff, medical facilities and medicine to cope with the likely effects of any significant outbreak.

Hundreds of thousands of people live cheek by jowl with each other in tent camps and decrepit buildings.

“Old people, who are most at risk of dying or falling very ill from the virus, are mixed up with children and have no way of isolating themselves for protection,” Lund said.




A policeman wearing a mask as a means of protection against the cononavirus Covid-19, directs the traffic at an intersection in the northeastern Syrian Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli. (AFP)

Furthermore, many people in Idlib have no access to clean or hot water, or necessities such as soap that can help prevent the spread of the virus.

To compound the crisis, the regime’s Russian-backed air campaign in Idlib saw repeated bombing of hospitals and health facilities, which has crippled the local health infrastructure and rendered it incapable of handling any outbreak.

When it comes to a COVID-19 outbreak, Idlib’s fears and vulnerabilities are mirrored by those of northeast Syria, most of which is controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The news of the first death here — in a hospital in the city of Qamishli, which is under the regime’s authority — drew a strong reaction from the Kurdish Red Crescent and the SDF-backed Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES) on Friday.

The Red Crescent lamented the “high risk of a large spread of the virus” due to the announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) of “the positive result after 15 days of the case.”

Joshua Landis, director of Middle East studies at the University of Oklahoma, describes the area as “a ticking time bomb for the coronavirus.”

For instance, on March 29 Turkey and its armed proxies, which occupy part of northeast Syria since launching an invasion last October, cut off water supplies to the area by shutting down the Allouk water station, on which 460,000 people depend.

If these supplies are indefinitely withheld, hundreds of thousands of local inhabitants could fall prey to coronavirus for much the same reason that makes many civilians in northwest Syria vulnerable.

“Tensions are extremely high as six armies are in a standoff: The Turkish Army, the Syrian Army, the SDF, the US Army, along with Russian and Iranian forces stationed in the region, not to mention the many proxy militias, which have their own agendas,” Landis said. “This makes getting aid to the region or coordinating policy impossible.”

The medical infrastructure in northeast Syria, which was at best primitive even before the uprising began in 2011, has been devastated by years of conflict.

The SDF began to enforce a lockdown on March 23 in an attempt to contain any spread of the virus.

However, it sorely lacks testing kits for detecting COVID-19 cases and determining which individuals or areas might have the virus and need to be strictly quarantined.

The US-led anti-Daesh coalition has partially addressed the issue through the supply of $1.2 million worth of medical supplies to help the NES, but that is unlikely to be even nearly enough.




Members of the Syrian Civil Defence (White Helmets) disinfect a mosque in the city of al-Bab in the north of Aleppo province on March 24, 2020, as part of protective measures against COVID-19 coronavirus disease. (AFP)

In December, Russia and China used their veto power to prevent the UN Security Council from renewing permission for the delivery of aid to northern Syria from neighboring countries, in a move denounced as “callous” by Amnesty International, the human-rights advocacy group.

As a result, up to 400,000 medical items that would otherwise have been delivered to northeast Syria were left stuck in trucks in neighboring Iraq.

The Syrian regime, likely as part of a bid to pressure the SDF, has also prevented the flow of aid through Damascus.

The WHO says it has provided Syria with at least 1,200 testing kits, but the NES says Damascus has failed to provide protective equipment and artificial respirators.

This leaves the NES in a bind and more vulnerable to any outbreak given its heavy reliance on aid from the UN and NGOs, especially for the region’s displaced-persons camps and overcrowded prisons.

In the absence of a resumption of the flow of UN aid or unhindered passage of medical supplies through Damascus to NGOs, the meager resources of the NES are bound to become overwhelmed quickly in the event of an outbreak.

A coronavirus contagion in northeast Syria could also pose a very severe security threat to the region and possibly beyond.

“Some 10,000 Daesh fighters, along with close to 70,000 Daesh family members, are held in tight quarters, where social distancing is impossible,” said Landis.

At the very least, the situation in northern Syria is a big cause for concern as the pandemic causes havoc throughout the Middle East.

What is certain is that the pain and suffering of the war-weary people of Idlib and northeast Syria are unlikely to end anytime soon.


Palestinian official says Israeli forces killed West Bank teen with US citizenship

Updated 07 April 2025
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Palestinian official says Israeli forces killed West Bank teen with US citizenship

  • Settler violence in the West Bank, including incursions into occupied territory and raids on Bedouin villages and encampments, has intensified since the Gaza war began in October 2023

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: A Palestinian official told AFP that Israeli forces shot dead a teenager holding US citizenship in the occupied West Bank Sunday, while the Israeli military said it had killed a “terrorist” who threw rocks at cars.
Omar Muhammad Saadeh Rabee, a 14-year-old “who was killed in Turmus Ayya, held US citizenship,” the town’s mayor, Lafi Shalabi, told AFP.
The Israeli military said that during “counter-terrorism activity” in Turmus Ayya, “soldiers identified three terrorists who hurled rocks toward the highway, thus endangering civilians driving.”
“The soldiers opened fire toward the terrorists who were endangering civilians, eliminating one terrorist and hitting two additional terrorists,” a military statement added.
The Palestinian health ministry said one person was in critical condition and another suffered minor injuries in the same incident.
Shalabi said one of the wounded also had US citizenship. And Turmus Ayya, northest of the main West Bank city of Ramallah, is known for having many dual US-Palestinian citizens.
The Palestine Red Crescent said its teams had taken the body of the deceased boy to a hospital. It also reported the injuries of two boys shot in the lower abdomen and thigh respectively, during “clashes” in Turmus Ayya.
One of the two, 14-year-old Abdul Rahman Shehadeh, told AFP he was shot by a soldier while collecting fruit near the town.
The second, who was shot in the abdomen, was identified as 14-year-old Ayoub Asaad by his father Ahed Asaad. He confirmed that the boy had a US passport.
Ahed Assad said that an ambulance that took his wounded son to hospital was stopped by soldiers.
“We were stopped at a military checkpoint at the village entrance, and a soldier told me that he was the one who shot the three boys,” he told AFP.
The Palestinian Authority’s foreign affairs ministry denounced the Israeli forces’ “use of live fire against three children.”
“Israel’s continued impunity as an illegal occupying power encourages it to commit further crimes,” it added.
Violence has soared in the West Bank since the Gaza war started on October 7, 2023.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 918 Palestinians, including militants, in the West Bank since then, according to Palestinian health ministry figures.
Palestinian attacks and clashes during military raids have killed at least 33 Israelis, including soldiers, over the same period, according to official figures.
Israel has occupied the West Bank, home to about three million Palestinians, since 1967.
 

 


Hamas fires rockets at Israeli cities, Israel issues evacuation orders in Gaza

Updated 07 April 2025
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Hamas fires rockets at Israeli cities, Israel issues evacuation orders in Gaza

  • Israel’s Channel 12 television said at least 12 lightly injured people have been treated as a result of the rocket firing from Gaza, quoting officials at the Bazilai Hospital in Ashkelon

JERUSALEM/CAIRO: Palestinian militant group Hamas said it fired a barrage of rockets at cities in Israel’s south on Sunday in response to Israeli “massacres” of civilians in Gaza.
Israel’s military said about 10 projectiles were fired, but most were successfully intercepted. Israel’s Channel 12 reported a direct hit in the southern city of Ashkelon.
Israeli emergency services said they were treating one person for shrapnel injuries, and teams were en route to locations of fallen rockets. Smashed car windows and debris lay strewn on a city street, videos disseminated by Israeli emergency services showed.
Meanwhile, Gaza local health authorities said Israeli military strikes killed at least 39 people across the Gaza Strip on Sunday.
Shortly after the rocket firing, the Israeli military posted on X a new evacuation order, instructing residents of several districts in Deir Al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip to leave their areas, citing earlier rocket firing.
“This is a final warning before the attack,” the military warning statement said.
Later, it said it struck the rocket launcher from which projectiles were launched earlier from the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on a flight to Washington for a meeting with US President Donald Trump, was briefed on the rocket attack by his Defense Minister, Israel Katz.
A statement issued by his office said Netanyahu instructed that a “vigorous” response be carried out and approved the continuation of intensive activity by the Israeli military against Hamas.
Israel’s Channel 12 television said at least 12 lightly injured people have been treated as a result of the rocket firing from Gaza, quoting officials at the Bazilai Hospital in Ashkelon.
The first phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into force on January 19 after 15 months of war and involved a halt to fighting, the release of some of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, and the freeing of some Palestinian prisoners.
However, Israel said on March 19 that its forces resumed ground operations in the central and southern Gaza Strip. Both parties blamed one another for a stalemate in the ceasefire talks.
More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli offensive in Gaza, Palestinian officials say. Israel began its offensive after thousands of Hamas-led gunmen attacked communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

 


Syria’s president to visit Turkiye and UAE next week

Updated 07 April 2025
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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 07 April 2025
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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
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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.