BEIRUT: Human Rights Watch on Tuesday called on the Syrian Arab Republic’s new authorities to ensure accountability for the mass killings of hundreds of civilians in recent days in the coastal heartland of the Alawite minority.
Violence broke out Thursday as security forces clashed with gunmen loyal to former president Bashar Assad, who is Alawite, in areas along the Mediterranean coast.
Since then, war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces and allied groups had killed at least 1,093 civilians, the vast majority Alawites.
“Syria’s new leaders promised to break with the horrors of the past, but grave abuses on a staggering scale are being reported against predominantly Alawite Syrians in the coastal region and elsewhere in Syria,” said HRW’s deputy regional director Adam Coogle.
“Government action to protect civilians and prosecute perpetrators of indiscriminate shootings, summary executions, and other grave crimes must be swift and unequivocal,” he said in a statement decrying the “coastal killing spree.”
The New York-based rights group said it was “not able to verify the number of civilians killed or displaced, but obituaries circulating on Facebook indicate hundreds were killed, including entire families.”
The wave of violence is the worst since forces led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) launched a lightning offensive that toppled Assad on December 8, capping a 13-year civil war.
Syria’s interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, who led HTS, has vowed to “hold accountable, firmly and without leniency, anyone who was involved in the bloodshed of civilians.”
The defense ministry announced on Monday the end of the “military operation” seeking to root out “regime remnants” in the coastal areas.
But according to the Britain-based Observatory, another 120 civilians have been killed since then, the majority of them in Latakia and Tartus provinces on the coast — where much of the earlier violence since last week had occurred.
Authorities have announced the arrest of at least two fighters seen in videos killing civilians, the official news agency SANA reported.
HRW said that “accountability for atrocities must include all parties,” including groups like HTS and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army that “now constitute Syria’s new security forces.”
“These groups have a well-documented history of human rights abuses and violations of international law,” it added.
HTS, which has its roots in the Syrian branch of jihadist network Al-Qaeda, is still proscribed as a terrorist organization by several governments including the United States.
Since toppling Assad and taking power, Sharaa has vowed to protect Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities.
In its statement, HRW called on the authorities to “fully cooperate with and ensure unhindered access to independent monitors.”
Syria’s presidency had announced that an “independent committee” was formed to investigate the killings.
The panel is due to hold its first press conference later Tuesday.
HRW says Syria must protect civilians after ‘killing spree’
https://arab.news/2xtnw
HRW says Syria must protect civilians after ‘killing spree’
- “Grave abuses on a staggering scale are being reported against predominantly Alawite Syrians,” said HRW’s deputy regional director Adam Coogle
- “Government action to protect civilians and prosecute perpetrators of indiscriminate shootings, summary executions, and other grave crimes must be swift and unequivocal”
Macron calls on Israel, Iran and Hezbollah to prevent Lebanon being embroiled in conflict
- French president insists Hezbollah must disarm and hostilities stop at moment of ‘great danger’
- Announces military vehicles for Lebanese military, and aid for those displaced by fighting
LONDON: Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called on Israel and Iran not to embroil Lebanon in the conflict sweeping the Middle East.
The French president made his plea as panic swept through Beirut after Israel ordered residents to evacuate the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital and three villages in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa region.
Macron said he had drawn up a plan to end hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah, which included providing military aid to the Lebanese army.
“Everything must be done to prevent this country, so close to France, from once again being drawn into war,” Macron said.
“At this moment of great danger, I call on the Israeli prime minister not to expand the war to Lebanon.
“I call on Iranian leaders not to further draw Lebanon into a war that is not its own.”
Earlier on Thursday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun asked Macron to “intervene with Israel to prevent Beirut's southern suburbs from being targeted.”
He also urged the French president to help bring about a “ceasefire as soon as possible,” according to a statement from the Lebanese presidency.
The US and Israeli attack on Iran has led to a resumption of fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli forces.
Israel bombed what it claims are Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s suburbs and southern Lebanon, killing more than 100 people and displacing at least 80,000. Hezbollah launched rockets across the border in response.
The evacuation order for vast areas of southern Beirut has raised fears that Israel is preparing for a devastating attack on the Hezbollah stronghold that would further drag Lebanon into the conflict.
Macron said he had spoken to President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Lebanese leaders “to establish a plan to bring an end to the military operations currently being carried out by Hezbollah and Israel on either side of the border.
“Hezbollah must immediately cease its fire toward Israel, he said. “Israel must refrain from any ground intervention or large-scale operation on Lebanese territory.
“The Lebanese authorities have given me their commitment to take control of the positions held by Hezbollah and to fully assume responsibility for security across the entire national territory.”
France will provide the Lebanese Armed Forces with armored vehicles and “operational and logistical support,” Macron said.
Several tons of medicine, shelters and other assistance are being sent from France to help with the tens of thousands of people fleeing southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese military has worked to remove Hezbollah's weapons in the south of the country as part of a ceasefire between the group and Israel agreed in November 2024.
As Israel and Hezbollah resumed outright hostilities this week, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam took further measures against the group, banning its military activities and demanding the group hand over all its weapons.
Macron also insisted the group must disarm to “respect the national interest, show that it is not a militia taking orders from abroad, and allow the Lebanese to come together to preserve their country.”
