SWEIDA: An aid convoy entered the city of Sweida in southern Syria via the main highway from Damascus on Thursday, for the first time since a major outbreak of sectarian violence last month shook the country’s fragile recovery from nearly 14 years of civil war.
Clashes broke out in mid-July between government forces and local Bedouin tribesmen on one side, and fighters from the country’s Druze minority on the other. Hundreds were killed and tens of thousands displaced, and allegations have surfaced of government fighters executing Druze civilians and looting and burning houses.
Though the fighting has largely calmed down, government forces have surrounded the southern city. The Druze have said that little aid is going in, calling it a siege.
Sweida’s provincial government said in a statement Thursday that a convoy had arrived in the city via the main highway, carrying UN aid intended “to meet the residents’ basic needs.” State-run Al-Ikhbariya TV said the convoy included 18 trucks carrying food baskets, cleaning supplies and solar-powered lamps.
The main highway had been closed since the fighting, with the aid convoys that did go in taking a circuitous route by way of Daraa province, which is south of Sweida.
UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria Adam Abdelmoula in a statement last week after visiting Sweida said that the health system was “under severe strain,” with hospitals and clinics “facing acute shortages of essential medications, including insulin, dialysis supplies, and cancer treatments.”
The statement added that prices for basic goods had soared, with families waiting in long lines for fuel and other essentials.
“Humanitarian assistance alone cannot resolve these challenges,” it said. “Restoring safe and reliable flows of commercial goods is critical to stabilizing the situation and preventing further deterioration.”
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Main highway from Damascus to Sweida reopens to aid convoys weeks after violence
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Main highway from Damascus to Sweida reopens to aid convoys weeks after violence
- An aid convoy has entered the city of Sweida in southern Syria via the main highway from Damascus for the first since a major outbreak of sectarian violence last month that shook the country
- Though the fighting has largely calmed down, government forces have surrounded the southern city. The Druze have said that little aid is going in, calling it a siege
Lebanon says two dead in Israeli strikes
- Lebanon’s health ministry: An ‘Israeli enemy strike on a vehicle on the Jadra-Siblin road in the Shouf district killed one person and wounded five others’
- one person was killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in Odaisseh near the border with Israel
BEIRUT: Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Tuesday killed two people, one of them near Beirut, the Lebanese health ministry reported, with Israel saying it had targeted Hezbollah operatives.
Despite a November 2024 ceasefire that was supposed to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon and has also maintained troops in five southern areas it deems strategic.
Lebanon’s health ministry said an “Israeli enemy strike on a vehicle on the Jadra-Siblin road in the Shouf district killed one person and wounded five others.”
The area is around 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of the capital.
An AFP photographer saw a damaged goods truck with emergency workers and army personnel deployed at the scene.
Earlier, the ministry said one person was killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in Odaisseh near the border with Israel.
In separate statements, the Israeli army said it targeted two Hezbollah members, without providing further details.
On Sunday, Israeli strikes killed three people in separate parts of Lebanon according to the health ministry, with Israel saying it killed Hezbollah members.
Around 340 people have been killed by Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the ceasefire agreement went into force, according to an AFP tally of health ministry reports.
Israel usually says the strikes target Hezbollah members and infrastructure, and aim to stop the group from rearming.
Tuesday’s attacks come as the ceasefire monitoring committee, which includes France and the United States, is set to meet later this week.
According to the ceasefire, Hezbollah was required to pull its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border with Israel, and have its military infrastructure in the vacated area dismantled.
Under a government-approved plan, Lebanon’s army is to disarm Hezbollah south of the Litani by the end of the year, before tackling the rest of the country.
Despite a November 2024 ceasefire that was supposed to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon and has also maintained troops in five southern areas it deems strategic.
Lebanon’s health ministry said an “Israeli enemy strike on a vehicle on the Jadra-Siblin road in the Shouf district killed one person and wounded five others.”
The area is around 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of the capital.
An AFP photographer saw a damaged goods truck with emergency workers and army personnel deployed at the scene.
Earlier, the ministry said one person was killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in Odaisseh near the border with Israel.
In separate statements, the Israeli army said it targeted two Hezbollah members, without providing further details.
On Sunday, Israeli strikes killed three people in separate parts of Lebanon according to the health ministry, with Israel saying it killed Hezbollah members.
Around 340 people have been killed by Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the ceasefire agreement went into force, according to an AFP tally of health ministry reports.
Israel usually says the strikes target Hezbollah members and infrastructure, and aim to stop the group from rearming.
Tuesday’s attacks come as the ceasefire monitoring committee, which includes France and the United States, is set to meet later this week.
According to the ceasefire, Hezbollah was required to pull its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border with Israel, and have its military infrastructure in the vacated area dismantled.
Under a government-approved plan, Lebanon’s army is to disarm Hezbollah south of the Litani by the end of the year, before tackling the rest of the country.
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