IDLIB PROVINCE, Syria: Mohamad Othman remembers going on school trips to ancient archaeological sites in Syria, never imagining one of them would become his home.
Othman and his family have been living in a tent amidst ancient ruins at Sarjableh near the Turkish border since fleeing for their lives some 2-1/2 years ago during a government offensive in northwestern Syria.
Rocks gathered from the site anchor down their tent, one of several dozen that are sheltering families who have fled their homes during the decade-long Syrian war.
Their clothes hang to dry on two lines strung between the tent and an ancient stone portico. Their children clamber over the rocks and balance on walls in this unusual if dangerous playground.
“In the summer, we face scorpions, snakes and dust, and all the pressures of life, and in winter the cold. The situation is desperate. There are no health services,” Othman, 30, said.
He said shelling forced them to flee their village near Maarat Al-Numan, an area close to the frontline between government and rebel forces that has been pummelled in various bouts of conflict during Syria’s decade-long conflict.
A father of four, he struggles to make an income, depending on seasonal work such as olive picking and any other jobs he can pick up. When there is no work, he is forced to go into debt to provide the basics. His children do not go to school.
“When the last bombardment and attack began, we left to come to here,” Othman said. “We did not find a place to take shelter, so we lived here among the ruins.”
The site, an early Christian settlement with ruins dating to the 5th century, has been popular with the displaced because they do not have to pay to stay there, unlike other areas where landowners charge rent.
“Everyone here used to have land that we would farm and we had livelihoods in our villages and did not need anyone. But our fate was to be displaced,” Othman said.
“We did not leave our land by our own free will to come to an area that has been uninhabited for thousands of years.”
There are some 2.8 million displaced people in northwestern Syria, with 1.7 million of them in sites for the internally displaced, the United Nations says.
Not far from Sarjableh, in another corner of the northwestern province of Idlib, the ancient site of Babisqa is also providing shelter for those bombed out of their homes.
In an earlier phase of the war, rebels used the site as a base, operating from ancients caves hewn from the rock where wiring installed by the opposition fighters can still be seen.
Among the 80 or so families living at the site, it is known as ‘Kharrab camp’, or ‘Ruins camp’.
Livestock farmers, they took their sheep and goats with them when they fled into rebel-held areas from territory now under Syrian government control. Today, sheep and goats feed amid the ancient stones, with poultry pecking on the ground.
Some people have used stones from the ruins to build their shelters, some of which are equipped with small solar panels propped up outside. An antennae strapped to the side of one of the homes provides Internet.
Mahmoud Abu Khalifa, a 35-year-old father of seven, stores family possessions and animal feed in an ancient cave hewn out of the rock. He keeps his sheep in a pen amidst the stones.
“Before being displaced, we had agricultural land and farmed crops and lived from them and everything was great and we had these animals,” he said.
Today “the children live in the ruins and mud,” he said. “The situation is very desperate,” he said.
“Our one demand is to return to our villages.”
Life in ruins: Ancient sites shelter Syria’s displaced
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Life in ruins: Ancient sites shelter Syria’s displaced
- Othman and his family have been living in a tent amidst ancient ruins at Sarjableh near the Turkish border
- Their clothes hang to dry on two lines strung between the tent and an ancient stone portico
Gaza could surpass famine thresholds in six weeks, WFP official says
“We are getting closer by the day to a famine situation,” said Gian Caro Cirri, Geneva director of the World Food Programme (WFP).
“There is reasonable evidence that all three famine thresholds — food insecurity, malnutrition and mortality — will be passed in the next six weeks.”
A UN-backed report published in March said that famine was imminent and likely to occur by May in northern Gaza and could spread across the enclave by July. On Tuesday, a US official said the risk of famine in Gaza, especially in the north, was very high.
Cirri was speaking at the launch of a report by the Global Network Against Food Crises, an alliance of humanitarian and development actors including United Nations agencies, the World Bank, the European Union and the United States.
In its report, the network described the 2024 outlook for the Middle East and Africa as extremely concerning due to the Gaza war and restricted humanitarian access, as well as the risk of the conflict spreading elsewhere in the region.
“As for Gaza, the conflict makes it difficult and sometimes impossible to reach affected people,” Cirri said.
“We need to scale up massively our assistance... But under the current conditions, I’m afraid the situation will further deteriorate.”
The United Nations has long complained of obstacles to getting aid in and distributing it throughout Gaza in the six months since Israel began an aerial and ground offensive against Gaza’s ruling Islamist militant group Hamas.
Israel has denied hindering supplies of humanitarian aid and blames aid agencies for inefficiencies in distribution.
Israel’s military campaign has reduced much of the territory of 2.3 million people to a wasteland with a humanitarian disaster unfolding since Oct. 7, when Hamas ignited war by storming into southern Israel.
Cirri said that the only way to steer clear of famine in Gaza was to ensure immediate and daily deliveries of food supplies.
“They’ve been selling off their belongings to buy food. They are most of the time destitute,” he said.
“And clearly some of them are dying of hunger.”
Jordan King, Kuwait Emir stress on importance of reducing regional tensions, avoid escalation
DUBAI: King of Jordan Abdullah II and Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah stressed on the importance of reducing tensions in the Middle East and avoiding military escalation, according to Petra News Agency.
A joint Jordanian-Kuwaiti statement was issued on Wednesday after the Emir’s two day state visit to the Kingdom.
Both leaders discussed ways to enhance a joint Arab action aimed at confronting emerging regional challenges as well as serving common Arab issues.
The leaders affirmed their support for any steps that ensure the security and stability of the region and stressed the importance of giving priority to dialogue and diplomatic solutions in resolving differences and conflicts.
Their Majesties and Highnesses discussed reaching a just solution to the Palestinian issue and implementing the two-state solution.
The discussions also included talks on investment and tourism, as well as ways to increase trade between Jordan and Kuwait.
Iran cuts Syria presence after strikes blamed on Israel: monitor
- Iran withdrew its forces from southern Syria, including both Quneitra and Daraa provinces
- Iran has said repeatedly that it has no combat troops in Syria, only officers to provide military advice and training
BEIRUT: Iran has reduced its military footprint in Syria after a succession of strikes blamed on Israel, a source close to Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah and a war monitor said Wednesday.
Iran has provided military support to Syrian government forces through more than a decade of civil war but a series of strikes targeting its commanders in recent months has prompted a reshaping of its presence, the sources said.
“Iran withdrew its forces from southern Syria,” including both Quneitra and Daraa provinces, which abut the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, the source close to Hezbollah said.
But it still maintains a presence in other parts of the country, the source added.
Recent months have seen a series of strikes on Iranian targets in Syria, widely blamed on Israel, culminating in an April 1 strike that levelled the Iranian consulate in Damascus and killed seven Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals.
That strike prompted Iran to launch a first-ever direct missile and drone attack against Israel on April 13-14 that sent regional tensions spiralling.
But Iran had already begun drawing down its forces after a January 20 strike that killed five Revolutionary Guards in Damascus, including their Syria intelligence chief and his deputy, the source close to Hezbollah said.
Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Iranian forces had withdrawn from Damascus and southern Syria.
Iran-backed Lebanese and Iraqi fighters had taken their place, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Iran has said repeatedly that it has no combat troops in Syria, only officers to provide military advice and training.
But the Observatory says as many as 3,000 Iranian military personnel are present in Syria, supported by tens of thousands of Iran-trained fighters from countries including Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Abdel Rahman said that many of Iran’s advisers had left Syria over the past six months, although some remained in Aleppo province in the north and in Deir Ezzor province in the east.
Jordan King issues decree to hold parliamentary elections - state TV
DUBAI: Jordan’s King Abdullah issued a royal decree on Wednesday announcing that a parliamentary election will be held, state TV said.
Under the constitution, the multi-party election is usually held within four months of the end of a four-year term of parliament. The country’s last election, with over 4.6 million eligible voters, was held in November 2020.
An independent election commission decides the exact date.
Iran, Pakistan urge UN Security Council to take action against Israel
- The joint statement followed a three-day visit to the country by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi
- Muslim neighbors Iran and Pakistan are seeking to mend ties after unprecedented tit-for-tat military strikes this year
ISLAMABAD: Iran and Pakistan called on the United Nations Security Council in a joint statement issued on Wednesday to take action against Israel, saying it had “illegally” targeted neighboring countries and foreign diplomatic facilities.
The joint statement, released by Pakistan’s foreign ministry, followed a three-day visit to the country by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at a time of heightened tensions in the Middle East.
Explosions were heard last Friday over the Iranian city of Isfahan in what sources said was an Israeli attack. However, Tehran played down the incident and said it had no plans for retaliation.
“Recognizing that the irresponsible act of the Israeli regime forces was a major escalation in an already volatile region, both sides called on the UN Security Council to prevent the Israeli regime from its adventurism in the region and its illegal acts attacking its neighbors...,” Iran and Pakistan said in their joint statement.
Muslim neighbors Iran and Pakistan are seeking to mend ties after unprecedented tit-for-tat military strikes this year.
Raisi, who wrapped up his visit and flew on to Sri Lanka on Wednesday, vowed to boost trade between Iran and Pakistan to $10 billion a year.
During his visit to Pakistan, Raisi was quoted by Iran’s official IRNA news agency as saying any further Israeli attack on Iranian territory
could radically change the dynamics and result in there being nothing left of the “Zionist regime.”
On April 13, Tehran launched a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel in what it said was retaliation for Israel’s suspected deadly strike on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus on April 1, but almost all were shot down.
Pakistan has previously called for de-escalation by “all parties.”
Iran and Pakistan vowed during Raisi’s visit to boost trade and energy cooperation, including on a major gas pipeline deal that has faced delays due to geopolitical issues and international sanctions.
