Syrians stuck in camps after finding homes destroyed

An aerial view shows the Atme camp for displaced Syrians close to the border with Turkey in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, on April 19, 2020. (AFP file photo)
An aerial view shows the Atme camp for displaced Syrians close to the border with Turkey in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, on April 19, 2020. (AFP file photo)
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Updated 12 February 2025
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Syrians stuck in camps after finding homes destroyed

Syrians stuck in camps after finding homes destroyed
  • Before Assad’s overthrow, more than five million people were estimated to live in rebel-held areas in the northwestern Idlib and Aleppo provinces, most of them displaced from elsewhere in Syria

ATME, Syria: Mehdi Al-Shayesh thought he would quickly resettle in his central Syrian home town after Bashar Assad was ousted, but like many others stuck in camps, he found his home uninhabitable.
“We were unbelievably happy when the regime fell,” the 40-year-old said from his small, concrete-block house in Atme displacement camp, one of the largest and most crowded in the Idlib area in the northwest.
But “when we reached our village” in Hama province “we were disappointed,” said the father of four, who has been displaced since 2012.
“Our home used to be like a small paradise... but it was hit by bombing.” Now it “is no longer habitable,” he told AFP.
Assad’s December 8 ouster sparked the hope of returning for millions of displaced across Syria and refugees abroad. However, many now face the reality of finding their homes and basic infrastructure badly damaged or destroyed.
Syria’s transitional authorities are counting on international support, particularly from wealthy Gulf Arab states, to rebuild the country after almost 14 years of devastating war.
Shayesh said he was happy to see relatives in formerly government-held areas after so many years, but he cannot afford to repair his home so has returned to the northwest.
In the icy winter weather, smoke rises from fuel heaters in the sprawling camp near the border with Turkiye. It is home to tens of thousands of people living in close quarters in what were supposed to be temporary structures.

Shayesh expressed the hope that reconstruction efforts would take into account that families may have changed significantly during years of displacement.
“If we go back to the village now... there will be no home for my five brothers” who are now all married, “and no land to build on,” he said, as rain poured outside.
“Just as we held out hope that the regime would fall — and thank God, it did — we hope that supportive countries will help people to rebuild and return,” he added.
Before Assad’s overthrow, more than five million people were estimated to live in rebel-held areas in the northwestern Idlib and Aleppo provinces, most of them displaced from elsewhere in Syria.
David Carden, UN deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis, said that “over 71,000 people have departed camps in northwest Syria over the past two months.”
“But that’s a small fraction compared to the two million who remain and will continue to need life-saving aid,” he told AFP.
“Many camp residents are unable to return as their homes are destroyed or lack electricity, running water or other basic services. Many are also afraid of getting caught in minefields left from former front lines,” he added.
Mariam Aanbari, 30, who has lived in the Atme camp for seven years, said: “We all want to return to our homes, but there are no homes to return to.
“Our homes have been razed to the ground,” added the mother of three who was displaced from Hama province.

Aanbari said her husband’s daily earnings were just enough to buy bread and water.
“It was difficult with Bashar Assad and it’s difficult” now, she told AFP, her six-month-old asleep beside her as she washed dishes in freezing water.
Most people in the camp depend on humanitarian aid in a country where the economy has been battered by the war and a majority of the population lives in poverty.
“I hope people will help us, for the little ones’ sakes,” Aanbari said.
“I hope they will save people from this situation — that someone will come and rebuild our home and we can go back there in safety.”
Motorbikes zip between homes and children play in the cold in the camp where Sabah Al-Jaser, 52, and her husband Mohammed have a small corner shop.
“We were happy because the regime fell. And we’re sad because we went back and our homes have been destroyed,” said Jaser, who was displaced from elsewhere in Idlib province.
“It’s heartbreaking... how things were and how they have become,” said the mother of four, wearing a black abaya.
Still, she said she hoped to go back at the end of this school year.
“We used to dream of returning to our village,” she said, emphasising that the camp was not their home.
“Thank God, we will return,” she said determinedly.
“We will pitch a tent.”

 


Russian says military base in Syria sheltering 8,000 displaced

Russian says military base in Syria sheltering 8,000 displaced
Updated 9 sec ago
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Russian says military base in Syria sheltering 8,000 displaced

Russian says military base in Syria sheltering 8,000 displaced
MOSCOW: Russia is sheltering at its Hmeimim military air base in western Syria more than 8,000 Syrians who fled a wave of sectarian mass killings, Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman said Thursday.
“The Russian air base at Hmeimim has opened its doors to local residents fleeing from the pogroms... Our military have given refuge to more than 8,000 people,” Maria Zakharova told reporters at a regular briefing.

Israeli airstrike targets Palestinian Islamic Jihad headquarters in Damascus

Israeli airstrike targets Palestinian Islamic Jihad headquarters in Damascus
Updated 7 min 3 sec ago
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Israeli airstrike targets Palestinian Islamic Jihad headquarters in Damascus

Israeli airstrike targets Palestinian Islamic Jihad headquarters in Damascus
  • The Syrian monitor says at least one dead in Israel strike

DAMASCUS: Israeli aircraft struck a building in Damascus on Thursday, Syria's state news agency SANA reported. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, confirmed the attack, stating that two missiles hit the building, killing at least one person. The airstrike took place in an area where Palestinian leaders are known to reside.

According to two Syrian security sources, the target of the Israeli strike was a Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization headquarters. One of the sources identified the victim as a Palestinian person. However, the Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack, though an Israeli army radio military correspondent confirmed that an Israeli aircraft had targeted the Islamic Jihad headquarters in Damascus.


Turkiye says forces killed 24 Kurdish militants in Syria, Iraq in a week

Turkiye says forces killed 24 Kurdish militants in Syria, Iraq in a week
Updated 13 March 2025
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Turkiye says forces killed 24 Kurdish militants in Syria, Iraq in a week

Turkiye says forces killed 24 Kurdish militants in Syria, Iraq in a week
  • A defense ministry source said the deal between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Damascus did not change Turkiye’s commitment to counter-terrorism in Syria

ANKARA: Turkish forces killed 24 Kurdish militants in northern Iraq and Syria over the past week, the defense ministry said on Thursday, continuing attacks in the region after a disarmament call from the PKK leader and a separate accord between US-backed Kurds and Damascus.
Speaking at a briefing in Ankara, a defense ministry source said the deal between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Damascus did not change Turkiye’s commitment to counter-terrorism in Syria, and that it still demands that the YPG militia, which spearheads the SDF, disband and disarm.
Turkiye views the SDF, which controls much of northeast Syria, as a terrorist group linked with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state. It has carried out several cross-border offensives against the group.
The PKK’s leader, jailed in Turkiye, called for the group to disarm last month. The group is based in northern Iraq.


Israel releases fifth detainee says Lebanon army

Israel releases fifth detainee says Lebanon army
Updated 6 min 44 sec ago
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Israel releases fifth detainee says Lebanon army

Israel releases fifth detainee says Lebanon army
  • Israel had earlier said it was releasing the five as a goodwill gesture to Lebanon’s recently appointed President Joseph Aoun

BEIRUT: The Lebanese army said it received on Thursday a soldier taken by Israel last weekend, after Israel handed over four other detainees earlier this week.
“The army through the International Committee of the Red Cross received (on Thursday) the soldier who was kidnapped by the Israeli enemy” on Sunday, the army said on X, adding that he had been transported to a hospital for treatment.
On Tuesday, Lebanon received four detainees who had been taken into custody by Israel during its war with Hezbollah, after Israel announced it was releasing them.
“Lebanon received four Lebanese prisoners who were detained by Israeli forces during the last war,” the presidency said at the time, adding the fifth was due to be released the following day.
Israel had earlier said it was releasing the five as a goodwill gesture to Lebanon’s recently appointed President Joseph Aoun.
“In coordination with the United States and as a gesture to Lebanon’s new president, Israel has agreed to release five Lebanese detainees,” the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
The office said the decision came after a meeting held earlier in the day in the Lebanese border town of Naqoura that included representatives of the Israeli army, the United States, France and Lebanon.
In an interview to Lebanese news channel Al-Jadeed, US deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus said the five Lebanese prisoners were a mix of civilians and soldiers.
On November 27, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a US-French mediated truce that has largely halted more than a year of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, including two months of full-blown war in which Israel sent in ground troops.
While the ceasefire continues to hold, Israel has periodically carried out air strikes on Lebanon that it says are to prevent Hezbollah from rearming or returning to the area along its northern border.


Israel attacks on Gaza reproductive centers ‘genocidal’: UN probe

Israel attacks on Gaza reproductive centers ‘genocidal’: UN probe
Updated 13 March 2025
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Israel attacks on Gaza reproductive centers ‘genocidal’: UN probe

Israel attacks on Gaza reproductive centers ‘genocidal’: UN probe
  • The commission found that Israeli authorities have destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza as a group through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive health care
  • The United Nations’ genocide convention defines that crime as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group

GENEVA: A United Nations investigation concluded Thursday that Israel carried out “genocidal” acts in Gaza through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive health care facilities.
The UN Commission of Inquiry said Israel had “intentionally attacked and destroyed” the Palestinian territory’s main fertility center, and had simultaneously imposed a siege and blocked aid including medication for ensuring safe pregnancies, deliveries and neonatal care.
“Israel categorically rejects the unfounded allegations,” its mission in Geneva said in a statement.
The commission found that Israeli authorities “have destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza as a group through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive health care,” it said in a statement.
It said this amounted to “two categories of genocidal acts” during Israel’s offensive in Gaza, launched after the attacks by Hamas militants on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The United Nations’ genocide convention defines that crime as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
Of its five categories, the inquiry said the two implicating Israel were “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction” and “imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.”
“These violations have not only caused severe immediate physical and mental harm and suffering to women and girls, but irreversible long-term effects on the mental health and reproductive and fertility prospects of Palestinians as a group,” the commission’s chair Navi Pillay said in a statement.
The three-person Independent International Commission of Inquiry was established by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2021 to investigate alleged international law violations in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Pillay, a former UN rights chief, served as a judge on the International Criminal Court and presided over the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Israel accused the commission of advancing a “predetermined and biased political agenda... in a shameless attempt to incriminate the Israel Defense Forces.”


The report said maternity hospitals and wards had been systematically destroyed in Gaza, along with the Al-Basma IVF Center, the territory’s main in-vitro fertility clinic.
It said Al-Basma was shelled in December 2023, reportedly destroying around 4,000 embryos at a clinic that served 2,000 to 3,000 patients a month.
The commission found that the Israeli Security Forces intentionally attacked and destroyed the clinic, including all the reproductive material stored for the future conception of Palestinians.
The commission found no credible evidence that the building was used for military purposes.
It concluded that the destruction “was a measure intended to prevent births among Palestinians in Gaza, which is a genocidal act.”
Furthermore, the report said the wider harm to pregnant, lactating and new mothers in Gaza was on an “unprecedented scale,” with an irreversible impact on the reproductive prospects of Gazans.
Such underlying acts “amount to crimes against humanity” and deliberately trying to destroy the Palestinians as a group, the commission concluded.


The report came after the commission conducted public hearings in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday, hearing from victims and witnesses of sexual violence.
It concluded that Israel had targeted civilian women and girls directly, “acts that constitute the crime against humanity of murder and the war crime of wilful killing.”
Women and girls have also died from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth due to the conditions imposed by the Israeli authorities impacting access to reproductive health care, “acts that amount to the crime against humanity of extermination,” it added.
The commission added that forced public stripping and nudity, sexual harassment including threats of rape, as well as sexual assault, comprise part of the Israeli Security Forces’ “standard operating procedures” toward Palestinians.
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