BEIRUT: Amnesty International on Friday called on the United Nations to keep delivering crucial aid to quake-stricken Syrians via two crossings in rebel-held areas even if authorization from Damascus expires.
On February 6, a devastating earthquake hit Turkiye and Syria, killing more than 55,000 people across both countries.
The UN chief said on February 13 that Syrian President Bashar Assad had agreed to open the Bab Al-Salama and Al-Rai crossings from Turkiye to allow aid to enter for an initial period of three months.
Damascus has yet to announce an extension of the authorization.
The UN “must continue to deliver aid” through those two crossings after May 13 “regardless of whether the government renews” its consent, Amnesty said in a statement.
Before the disaster, almost all crucial humanitarian aid for the more than four million people living in rebel-controlled areas of north and northwest Syria was being delivered from Turkiye through one conduit — the Bab Al-Hawa crossing.
The number of UN-approved crossings into Syria had shrunk from four in 2014, after years of pressure from regime allies China and Russia at the UN Security Council.
Three days after the quake, the first UN aid convoy crossed into north and northwest Syria and carried tents and other supplies that had been expected before the disaster, sparking fierce criticism from local humanitarian groups and activists.
“The lives of more than four million people are at stake and international law is clear that their rights must be paramount,” Amnesty’s Sherine Tadros said in the statement.
“The UN should take a clear stand against the cruel political machinations that have hampered its humanitarian operations in northern Syria for several years,” Tadros added.
Turkish-backed rebels operate the Bab Al-Salama and Al-Rai crossings in the northern Aleppo province, while the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham controls Bab Al-Hawa in the Idlib region.
The UN estimated earlier this week that Syria needs almost $15 billion to recover following the quake, and put total damages and losses for the country at almost $9 billion.
UN must keep moving quake aid to Syria after deadline: Amnesty
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UN must keep moving quake aid to Syria after deadline: Amnesty
- Three days after the quake, the first UN aid convoy crossed into north and northwest Syria and carried tents and other supplies that had been expected before the disaster
- "The lives of more than four million people are at stake and international law is clear that their rights must be paramount," said Amnesty's Sherine Tadros
Gaza access: Foreign press group welcomes Israel court deadline
- The Foreign Press Association, which represents hundreds of foreign journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories, filed a petition to the Supreme Court last year, seeking immediate access for international journalists to the Gaza Strip
JERUSALEM: The Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem on Sunday welcomed the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to set Jan. 4 as the deadline for Israel to respond to its petition seeking media access to Gaza.
Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, sparked by the attack on Israel, Israeli authorities have prevented foreign journalists from independently entering the devastated territory.
Israel has instead allowed, on a case-by-case basis, a handful of reporters to accompany its troops into the blockaded Palestinian territory.
The Foreign Press Association, which represents hundreds of foreign journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories, filed a petition to the Supreme Court last year, seeking immediate access for international journalists to the Gaza Strip.
On Oct. 23, the court held its first hearing in the case and gave Israeli authorities one month to develop a plan to grant access.
Since then, the court has granted several extensions to the Israeli authorities to develop their plan, but on Saturday, it set Jan. 4 as the final deadline.
“If the respondents (Israeli authorities) do not inform us of their position by that date, a decision on the request for a conditional order will be made on the basis of the material in the case file,” the court said.
The FPA welcomed the court’s latest directive.
“After two years of the state’s delay tactics, we are pleased that the court’s patience has finally run out,” the association said in a statement.
“We renew our call for the state of Israel to immediately grant journalists free and unfettered access to the Gaza Strip.
“And should the government continue to obstruct press freedoms, we hope that the Supreme Court will recognize and uphold those freedoms,” it added.
An AFP journalist serves on the FPA board.
Meanwhile, US Senator Lindsey Graham accused Hamas of rearming during a visit to Israel on Sunday, and charged that the Palestinian group was also consolidating power in Gaza.
“My impression is that Hamas is not disarming, they are rearming,” Graham said in a video statement issued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
“It’s my impression that they are trying to consolidate power (and) not give it up in Gaza.”
Graham’s remarks came a day after mediators the US, Qatar, Egypt, and Turkiye urged both sides in the Gaza war to uphold the ceasefire.
Hamas has called on the mediators and Washington to stop Israeli “violations” of the ceasefire.
On Friday, six people, including two children, were killed in an Israeli bombing of a school serving as a shelter for displaced people, according to the civil defense agency in Gaza.
