UN Official Calls For Syria Support Ahead of Donor Conference

Children seen at Al-Hol camp - AAWSAT
Children seen at Al-Hol camp - AAWSAT
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UN Official Calls For Syria Support Ahead of Donor Conference

Children seen at Al-Hol camp - AAWSAT
Children seen at Al-Hol camp - AAWSAT

A UN humanitarian official visiting northwest Syria on Tuesday urged the international community to fund crucial aid programs in the war-torn country ahead of an upcoming pledging conference in Brussels.

The Idlib region, Syria's last main bastion of armed opposition, hosts about three million people, many of whom are displaced from other parts of the country.

Existing financing "is clearly not enough to meet the needs of the most vulnerable people", said David Carden, UN deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis, from Murin in Idlib province.

Aid groups have warned of donor fatigue after 13 years of war in Syria, with the international community now focused on conflicts elsewhere.

Syria's humanitarian response plan for 2024 requires more than $4 billion but is only six percent funded, Carden told AFP.

Insufficient resources are also impacting the UN's ability to truck aid across the border from Turkey and support those who need it in the county's northwest.

Ahead of the Brussels conference later this month, Carden said that "we need continued support for the Syria program".

We need to do everything we can to ensure that the people in Syria can get back on their feet and start reliving their lives," he said.

"After 13 years of conflict people are tired of handouts."

Janne Suvanto of the World Food Program, who was part of the delegation visiting Idlib, said "the food security situation in northwest Syria is very bad".

"There are over 600,000 people who are severely food insecure," he told AFP.

About 90 percent of Syrians live in poverty, according to the United Nations.

Civil war erupted in Syria after President Bashar al-Assad crushed peaceful anti-government protests in 2011.

The conflict has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions after spiralling into a devastating war involving foreign armies, militias and militants.



US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.