Three Arrested Over Tadamon Massacre in Damascus

The suspected location of the Tadamon massacre in Damascus, Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The suspected location of the Tadamon massacre in Damascus, Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Three Arrested Over Tadamon Massacre in Damascus

The suspected location of the Tadamon massacre in Damascus, Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The suspected location of the Tadamon massacre in Damascus, Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Damascus Security Chief Lt. Col. Abdul Rahman Al-Dabbagh announced on Monday the arrest of a key figure involved in the 2013 massacre in the Tadamon district of Damascus, along with two other individuals who participated in the killings.

Al-Dabbagh stated that the suspects confessed to their involvement in a series of atrocities in the area, where more than 500 men and women were executed.

“After monitoring and investigation, we were able to apprehend one of the key criminals responsible for the 12-year-old Tadamon massacre in Damascus,” Al-Dabbagh said, according to the official news agency SANA.

“Following initial interrogations, we identified several other individuals involved in the massacre and arrested two of them,” he added.

Al-Dabbagh further stated that the three detainees confessed to their participation in the atrocities in Tadamon, where more than 500 men and women were executed without trial or charge.

“We are now coordinating with the relevant authorities to locate the sites of these massacres,” confirmed Al-Dabbagh.

“We assure the people of Syria that these criminals will not escape justice, and we will work to bring them before the courts to face a fair trial,” he said.

Al-Dabbagh did not disclose the identities of the three detainees. However, SANA later reported that one of them is named “Monzer Ahmad al-Jazairi” and that he has been referred to the relevant authorities for further investigation.

In a report published on April 27, 2022, The Guardian revealed details of a massacre carried out by Bashar al-Assad’s forces on April 16, 2013 in the Tadamon district.

The attack resulted in the deaths of around 41 people, who were subsequently buried in a mass grave.



Medical Charity Condemns Israel's Use of Hunger as 'Weapon of War' in Gaza

A Palestinian boy at a garbage dump in central Gaza City, 12 May 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
A Palestinian boy at a garbage dump in central Gaza City, 12 May 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
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Medical Charity Condemns Israel's Use of Hunger as 'Weapon of War' in Gaza

A Palestinian boy at a garbage dump in central Gaza City, 12 May 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
A Palestinian boy at a garbage dump in central Gaza City, 12 May 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

A months-long Israeli blockade is worsening acute malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, medical charity Medecins du Monde warned on Tuesday, accusing Israel of using hunger as "a weapon of war".

Israel halted all aid from entering the war-ravaged Palestinian territory on March 2, days before resuming its offensive triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.

The United Nations and aid agencies have repeatedly warned of a growing humanitarian catastrophe for the roughly 2.4 million people in Gaza, amid dwindling supplies of everything from fuel and medicine to food and clean water.

Aid reaches Gaza mainly through Israeli-controlled entry points, though the flow has fluctuated -- even before the March shutdown.

After more than a year and a half of war, acute malnutrition in Gaza has "reached levels comparable to those seen in countries facing prolonged humanitarian crises spanning several decades," AFP quoted Medecins du Monde as saying.

MDM said data from six health centers it runs in the Palestinian territory highlighted "the human responsibility for hunger in Gaza".

"Acute malnutrition rates among pregnant and breastfeeding women and children depend on the Israeli authorities' decisions to allow or block humanitarian aid," it said.

The medical charity said the peaks in acute malnutrition it observed in 2024 "coincided with the sharpest decline in the monthly number of trucks delivering aid to Gaza".

MDM said it saw a peak in child acute malnutrition of 17 percent in November, during a significant reduction of humanitarian aid.

Aid access is limited to Israeli-controlled crossings, with the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt closed since the Israeli army took control of the city in spring 2024.

Israeli authorities have closed the crossing points since March 2, saying they want to force Hamas to release hostages.

The security cabinet in early May approved the "possibility of humanitarian distribution, if necessary" in Gaza, but insisted there was "currently enough food".

The UN's World Food Program in late April said it had depleted all its food stocks in the territory.

"We are not witnessing a humanitarian crisis but a crisis of humanity and moral bankruptcy with the use of hunger as a weapon of war," said Jean-Francois Corty, president of MDM.

"The failure of other countries with the power to pressure the Israeli authorities to lift this deadly siege is unacceptable and could be seen as complicity under international law," he added.

In April, one in five pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly one in four children MDM observed were suffering or were at high risk of acute malnutrition, the charity said.

The MDM report also detailed the domino effect of dwindling food reserves, as well as the destruction of agricultural facilities and sanitation systems, on the malnutrition crisis.

The organization said it could not officially declare famine underway due to a lack of comprehensive data covering the entire Palestinian territory.

The UN- and NGO-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warned Monday that Gaza was at "critical risk of famine", with 22 percent of the population facing an imminent humanitarian "catastrophe".