Syria’s War Has Cost $327 Billion

 Aleppo, June, 2016. (AFP / Karam Al-masri)
Aleppo, June, 2016. (AFP / Karam Al-masri)
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Syria’s War Has Cost $327 Billion

 Aleppo, June, 2016. (AFP / Karam Al-masri)
Aleppo, June, 2016. (AFP / Karam Al-masri)

Moscow is in a hurry to discuss the file of Syria’s reconstruction as western and regional powers link their involvement in the reconstruction process to “finding a genius political solution” to the war-torn country.

According to the National Agenda for the Future of Syria (NAFS) initiated by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA) and which is run by Syrian and international experts, the cost of the Syrian war has reached $327.5 billion including $227 billion lost on unemployment and $100 billion on ruin.

According to NAFS, the level of destruction reached 30 percent in the residential sector, while it was near 18 percent in the industrial sector, 9 percent in the electricity and water sectors and 7 percent in the agricultural sector.

Those numbers do not involve the level of destruction in the two cities of Deir Ezzor and Raqqa.

Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister sent a letter to UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura to encourage him on launching “the humanitarian reconstruction” in Syria.

The file of rebuilding Syria was also brought up by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during his visit to Oman.

Observers expect that the issue of Syria’s reconstruction will be tackled during the meetings of the UN General Assembly in New York.

On the other hand, several western countries were still linking their contribution in the reconstruction process to achieving “a genius political solution” based on UNSC Resolution 2254.

Gareth Bayley, Britain's special representative for Syria wrote on his twitter account on Wednesday that the “EU reconstruction aid to Syria will be achieved only when a genuine, comprehensive, and inclusive transition is firmly under way, and not before.”

For its part, Iran seeks to preserve its share in the reconstruction of Syria after signing with Damascus an agreement to repair parts of the country's power grid.

According to SANA, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday during a visit by the regime’s electricity minister to Tehran, including building a power plant in the coastal province of Latakia with a capacity of 540 megawatts.



Israeli Military Orders New Evacuations in Northern Gaza

Relatives of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip mourn their deaths at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Relatives of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip mourn their deaths at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
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Israeli Military Orders New Evacuations in Northern Gaza

Relatives of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip mourn their deaths at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Relatives of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip mourn their deaths at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

The Israeli military on Sunday ordered a mass evacuation of Palestinians in large swaths of northern Gaza, an early target of the war that has been severely damaged by multiple rounds of fighting.

Col. Avichay Adraee, a military spokesperson, posted the order on social media. It includes multiple neighborhoods in eastern and northern Gaza City, as well as Jabaliya refugee camp, The Associated Press said.

The military will expand its escalating attacks to the city’s northern section, calling for people to move southward to the Muwasi area in southern Gaza, Adraee said.

After being all but emptied earlier in the war, hundreds of thousands of people are in northern Gaza following their return during a ceasefire earlier this year.

An Israeli military offensive currently underway aims to move Palestinians to southern Gaza so forces can more freely operate to combat Hamas. Rights groups say their movement would amount to forcible transfer.

A sticking point over how the war ends

The war in Gaza began with Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas in which the group killed 1,200 people and took roughly 250 hostage, about 50 of whom remain captive with less than half believed to be alive.

Israel's retaliatory response has killed more than 56,000 people, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish between militants and civilians in their count but say more than half of the dead are women and children.

The war has set off a humanitarian catastrophe, displaced most of Gaza's population, often multiple times, and obliterated much of the territory's urban landscape.

Talks between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly faltered over one major sticking point, whether the war should end as part of any ceasefire agreement.

Hamas says it is willing to free all the hostages in exchange for a full withdrawal of Israeli troops and an end to the war. Israel rejects that offer, saying it will agree to end the war if Hamas disarms and goes into exile, something the group refuses.