DAMASCUS: The Syrian government has agreed to extend by another three months the use of two border crossings with Turkiye into the rebel-held northwest that were opened for aid delivery after a deadly earthquake in February, Syrian and UN officials said Saturday.
Syrian President Bashar Assad had agreed to open the border crossings at Bab Al-Salameh and Al-Rai for three months to allow aid to flow into Idlib province a week after the Feb. 6, earthquake that hit southern Turkiye and northern Syria.
The earthquake has killed more than 50,000 people, including over 6,000 in Syria, according to the United Nations. The quake also displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
Following a request by the UN and ensuing discussions, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad conveyed to UN Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths the decision by Syria’s government to allow the UN to continue using the two border crossing points for an additional three months, said Eri Kaneko, spokesperson for the UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Syria’s ambassador to the UN Bassam Sabbagh tweeted that the period has been extended for another three months based on Syria’s determination to enhance “stability and improve the living and humanitarian” conditions of all Syrians. He added the move also aims to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need in all of Syria.
Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib is home to some 4 million people, many of whom had been earlier displaced during the country’s 12-year civil war, which has killed nearly half a million people.
David Carden, the UN’s Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria crisis, said during a visit to Idlib earlier this month that since the earthquake some 2,000 trucks have crossed the border from Turkiye, providing assistance such as shelter, food, medical supplies and other services.
Carden added that the earthquake damaged or destroyed the homes of about 855,000 people.
In 2014, the Security Council authorized four border crossings to deliver aid to northwest Syria — two from Turkiye, one from Jordan and one from Iraq. In January 2020, Syria’s close ally Russia used its veto threat to reduce the number of crossing to the two from Turkiye. The following July, China and Russia used their veto power to reduce the number to just a single crossing.
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Syria extends opening of 2 border crossings with Turkiye for quake aid
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Syria extends opening of 2 border crossings with Turkiye for quake aid
- Syrian President Bashar Assad had agreed to open the border crossings at Bab al-Salameh and al-Rai for three months
- Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad conveyed to UN Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths the decision
Israel expands Lebanon strikes, killing 11
- Israel expanded its air strikes in Lebanon on Wednesday, targeting the area around the presidential palace near Beirut and other areas south of the capital
BEIRUT: Israel expanded its air strikes in Lebanon on Wednesday, targeting the area around the presidential palace near Beirut and other areas south of the capital as well as strongholds of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, killing at least 11 people.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on Monday when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes over the weekend.
An air strike hit a hotel in Hazmieh on Wednesday, the first reported Israeli attack on the predominantly Christian area in Beirut’s suburbs near the presidential palace and several embassies.
Some rooms were gutted in the strike, while wounded people received treatment in the lobby, AFP images showed.
People also fled through debris carrying suitcases past the Comfort Hotel’s sign, which had fallen broken to the ground. It was not possible to determine who was targeted in the attack.
The southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, were targeted again on Wednesday morning, following an evacuation order from Israel’s military.
Smoke rose over the densely populated area, where some residents fled when the violence erupted.
In Aramoun and Saadiyat south of Beirut — two towns outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds — the health ministry said Israeli strikes killed six people and wounded eight others. It cautioned that this was a “preliminary toll.”
AFP footage from Aramoun showed damaged cars and rescue workers carrying a wounded person on a stretcher.
Strikes also targeted a four-story building in the city of Baalbek, in Lebanon’s east far from the border where Hezbollah also has a strong presence.
Five people were killed, 15 were wounded and three remain missing, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported.
One side of the building collapsed. AFP correspondents saw rescue workers searching through the rubble for survivors.
- Ground incursion -
The Israeli military called on people to “immediately” leave 13 towns and villages in southern Lebanon on Wednesday morning ahead of strikes against Hezbollah, the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.
A similar evacuation warning had earlier been issued for 16 other southern towns and villages.
Hezbollah carried out a series of strikes against Israel on Tuesday, claiming to have targeted sites including the northern Haifa naval base in retaliation for Israeli strikes in southern Beirut.
Since Monday, Israeli strikes have killed at least 50 people and wounded 335 in Lebanon, the health ministry said before the overnight strikes.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said three paramedics were killed and six injured “while recovering people injured by explosions” in Lebanon’s southern Tyre district.
“Warring parties must abide by international humanitarian law and protect health workers, facilities and patients,” he said on X.
Lebanese authorities on Monday recorded the displacement of more than 58,000 people from areas targeted by strikes.
The Israeli military has said it will continue to strike Hezbollah until the Lebanese group disarms.
Israeli forces also launched a ground incursion on Tuesday, advancing into a border area in southern Lebanon, a Lebanese army source told AFP.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on Monday when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes over the weekend.
An air strike hit a hotel in Hazmieh on Wednesday, the first reported Israeli attack on the predominantly Christian area in Beirut’s suburbs near the presidential palace and several embassies.
Some rooms were gutted in the strike, while wounded people received treatment in the lobby, AFP images showed.
People also fled through debris carrying suitcases past the Comfort Hotel’s sign, which had fallen broken to the ground. It was not possible to determine who was targeted in the attack.
The southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, were targeted again on Wednesday morning, following an evacuation order from Israel’s military.
Smoke rose over the densely populated area, where some residents fled when the violence erupted.
In Aramoun and Saadiyat south of Beirut — two towns outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds — the health ministry said Israeli strikes killed six people and wounded eight others. It cautioned that this was a “preliminary toll.”
AFP footage from Aramoun showed damaged cars and rescue workers carrying a wounded person on a stretcher.
Strikes also targeted a four-story building in the city of Baalbek, in Lebanon’s east far from the border where Hezbollah also has a strong presence.
Five people were killed, 15 were wounded and three remain missing, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported.
One side of the building collapsed. AFP correspondents saw rescue workers searching through the rubble for survivors.
- Ground incursion -
The Israeli military called on people to “immediately” leave 13 towns and villages in southern Lebanon on Wednesday morning ahead of strikes against Hezbollah, the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.
A similar evacuation warning had earlier been issued for 16 other southern towns and villages.
Hezbollah carried out a series of strikes against Israel on Tuesday, claiming to have targeted sites including the northern Haifa naval base in retaliation for Israeli strikes in southern Beirut.
Since Monday, Israeli strikes have killed at least 50 people and wounded 335 in Lebanon, the health ministry said before the overnight strikes.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said three paramedics were killed and six injured “while recovering people injured by explosions” in Lebanon’s southern Tyre district.
“Warring parties must abide by international humanitarian law and protect health workers, facilities and patients,” he said on X.
Lebanese authorities on Monday recorded the displacement of more than 58,000 people from areas targeted by strikes.
The Israeli military has said it will continue to strike Hezbollah until the Lebanese group disarms.
Israeli forces also launched a ground incursion on Tuesday, advancing into a border area in southern Lebanon, a Lebanese army source told AFP.
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