How Does the Lebanon Disaster Impact Syria?

An aerial view of ruined structures at the port, damaged by an explosion a day earlier, on August 5, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. (Getty Images)
An aerial view of ruined structures at the port, damaged by an explosion a day earlier, on August 5, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. (Getty Images)
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How Does the Lebanon Disaster Impact Syria?

An aerial view of ruined structures at the port, damaged by an explosion a day earlier, on August 5, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. (Getty Images)
An aerial view of ruined structures at the port, damaged by an explosion a day earlier, on August 5, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. (Getty Images)

The impact of the Beirut blast on Damascus will not be limited to direct losses, such as victims and material damage to Syrians living in Lebanon, but it will reach the political, economic and military spheres.

As the debris and dust began to settle over the scene of massive devastation at Beirut port and the surrounding areas, Lebanese officials again began to bring up the issue of Syrian refugees in Lebanon whose numbers exceed 1 million. Many have again called on them to return to their homes, holding them responsible for Lebanon’s crises or using them as negotiations pawns with western countries. Some officials have threatened to allow them to migrate to Europe should the situation in Lebanon deteriorate further. All this while they have neglected to mention that Syrian workers had immediately headed to the blast site soon after the explosion to help in rescuing the wounded and removing the rubble.

Some Lebanese officials have even linked the ammonium nitrate, which was stored at the port and that caused the blast, to Syria. They claimed that it was being stored there ahead of transporting it to armed factions in Syria. Others said they were going to be transported to regime forces and their allies to be used in their military operations. Both claims have a common factor: The stockpile was being kept in the Lebanese port to be used in the nine-year Syrian conflict - a war that every Lebanese side has exploited to further their own interests.

In both Damascus and Beirut, some parties believe that the blast may open doors that have been shut. They said the explosion would force sides that are advocating Damascus’ economic and political isolation to open new paths with the regime from the humanitarian angle. The first signs of such a move came to light when the Syrian presidency announced that President Bashar Assad had contacted his Lebanese counterpart Michel Aoun to stress Syria’s support for “fraternal Lebanon and its resistant people. We are confident that you can overcome the impact of this tragic development and embark on reconstruction as soon as possible.”

After this message of compassion, it was clear that there are hopes that the Lebanese catastrophe could be exploited to reach a breakthrough with European and western powers over sanctions imposed on Damascus and the diplomatic and political isolation is its facing.

There is also another opportunity to be exploited: With Beirut port out of service, the search is now on for an alternative that would be used for Syria and Lebanon’s reconstruction. Syria’s Latakia port could be one possibility. How? It is the only crossing on the Turkish border that is used to deliver humanitarian aid to northern Syria. Beirut port was used to deliver relief to Damascus. With it now out of the picture, other crossings that can handle large shipments are being considered. The United Nations had declared soon after the Beirut blast that the development will negatively affect aid to Syria.

Some parties are pushing for Latakia to serve as the alternative. The port is located near a Russian military base that is being eyed by an Iranian company. There is no doubt that Moscow will push for a Syrian port to act as an alternative in an attempt to reach a breakthrough in the wall of Syria’s isolation.

Such a move will complicate western efforts that want to support Lebanon in wake of the catastrophe, while also avoiding the normalization of relations between Beirut and Damascus. New tensions over this file are on the horizon between regional and international forces.

As for military repercussions, calls for calm in the fighting in Syria may arise in wake of the Beirut blast. On the other hand, some sides may take advantage of countries’ preoccupation with Lebanon to settle scores in Syria. However, this all depends on just how much the blast affected Hezbollah. Some parties are attempting to use the disaster to apply more pressure on the party. The movement was already under pressure from the stifling Lebanese economic crisis and the response to Israel’s assassination of one of its members in Damascus. Now it is coming under more pressure.

In all likelihood the party will now be preoccupied in the near and not so distant future with the Beirut blast and the upcoming international tribunal indictment over the assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Some parties believe that these developments may prompt Hezbollah to reassess its calculations in Syria. Others believe that Russian pressure on the party will come into play in compliance with American and Israeli demands to have it withdraw its members from the Golan Heights, Daraa and Sweida in southern Syria.

Furthermore, some western analysts believe that Israel may exploit the new equation in Lebanon to increase its attacks against Iranian positions in Syria to avoid any strategic entrenchment on its northern front as the November 3 American elections draw near. All of this could lead matters to spiral out of control of the hands of major players who can contain the developments in Syria and Lebanon.



Doctors and Moms Say Babies in Gaza May Die without More Formula, Blame Israel’s Blockade

 Seham Fawzy Khodeir watches her son, Hisham, who is just days old and was born prematurely, lying in an incubator at the neonatal intensive care unit of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (AP)
Seham Fawzy Khodeir watches her son, Hisham, who is just days old and was born prematurely, lying in an incubator at the neonatal intensive care unit of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (AP)
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Doctors and Moms Say Babies in Gaza May Die without More Formula, Blame Israel’s Blockade

 Seham Fawzy Khodeir watches her son, Hisham, who is just days old and was born prematurely, lying in an incubator at the neonatal intensive care unit of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (AP)
Seham Fawzy Khodeir watches her son, Hisham, who is just days old and was born prematurely, lying in an incubator at the neonatal intensive care unit of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (AP)

Seham Fawzy Khodeir watches as her son lies inside a dilapidated incubator and listens to his faint cry, mixed with the muted sound of the equipment.

The mother of six is increasingly concerned about the survival of Hisham al-Lahham, who was just days old, breathing with the help of equipment and being fed through a tube in his tiny nose.

Most alarming is that the medical-grade formula he needs to survive is running out.

"There is no milk," the 24-year-old mother told The Associated Press. He needs it to "to get better, to live and to see life."

Hisham is among 580 premature babies at risk of death from starvation across the war-battered Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Khodeir and others blame Israel’s blockade for the plight of their children. Doctors say that although some formula has been delivered, the situation is dire. Their desperation comes as the war in Gaza has been overshadowed by the Israel-Iran war.

"These babies have no time ... and no voice," said Dr. Ahmed al-Farah, head of the pediatrics and obstetrics department at Nasser Hospital, the main medical facility still partially functional in southern Gaza.

'An avoidable disaster'

Khodeir's son is one of 10 babies in incubators at Nasser's neonatal intensive care unit. Last week, al-Farah rang the alarm, saying the hospital’s stock of medical-grade formula was "completely depleted."

He said the tiny babies who relied on it would face "an avoidable disaster" in two to three days.

His pleas were answered, in part, by the delivery of 20 boxes of formula sent over the weekend by a US aid group, Rahma Worldwide. The new delivery is enough to cover the needs for the 10 infants for up to two weeks, al-Farah said.

Al-Farah, however, expressed concern about future deliveries, saying that it wasn’t guaranteed that more formula would be allowed into Gaza.

"This is not enough at all," he said. "It solved the problem temporarily, but what we need is a permeant solution: Lift the siege."

Meanwhile, fortified formula required for newborns is already out of stock at Al-Rantisi Hospital in Gaza City, its director, Dr. Jamil Suliman, said.

"Many mothers are unable to breastfeed due to severe malnutrition," he said, warning of a looming crisis.

Infants are among the hardest hit by Israel’s blockade, which started on March 2 with the complete ban of any food, water, shelter or medication.

Under mounting international pressure and repeated warnings of famine from the United Nations, Israel began allowing what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called "minimal" aid, starting May 19.

Since then, more than 1,000 tons of baby food, including formula, have entered Gaza, according to COGAT, the Israeli defense agency in charge of aid coordination in the Palestinian territory.

"Food for babies is certainly entering (the Gaza Strip), as the organizations are requesting it, we are approving it, and there is no withholding of food for babies," a COGAT spokesperson said.

But Gaza’s health officials say that for these babies, that aid hasn't included enough critical medicine, formula, medical equipment, and spare parts to keep the existing equipment operational.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said in a report Monday that fortified infant formula was nearly depleted from local markets, with several types already completely out of stock.

"Any limited quantities available in some pharmacies are being sold at skyrocketing prices, far beyond the purchasing power of most families," it said.

COGAT said the baby food is being distributed mostly through international organizations — not via the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed private contractor that has drawn criticism from other groups. Palestinian witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces have opened fire on crowds heading to GHF sites. The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots.

Israel has defended its blockade

Israel has said the blockade aims to pressure Hamas into releasing the 50 hostages it still holds from its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that sparked the war. Fewer than half are still believed to be alive.

Israel has accused Hamas of siphoning aid, without providing evidence. The United Nations says there's been no significant diversion of aid.

Gunmen killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage on Oct. 7. Most of the hostages have been released by ceasefire agreements.

The war has unleashed unrelenting destruction, with more than 56,000 Palestinians killed and more than 131,00 wounded in Israel's offensive, according to Gaza health officials. The officials don't distinguish between combatants and civilians but say more than half the casualties are women and children.

The war and the blockade have sparked a humanitarian crisis, creating shortages of the most basic necessities and pushing Gaza’s health care system to the brink of collapse.

Seventeen of the enclave's 36 hospitals remain partially functioning, providing health care to more than 2 million people amid bombings, rising malnutrition rates and dwindling medical supplies.

"Starvation is increasing," said Jonathan Whittall, head of the UN's humanitarian affairs office for the occupied Palestinian territories. More than 110 children have been admitted for treatment for malnutrition every day since the start of this year, he said.

"Our warehouses stand empty while Israel restricts shipments to minimal quantities of mainly medical supplies and food," Whittall added.

A crisis at Gaza's hospitals

Human Rights Watch said in a recent report that all medical facilities in Gaza are operating in unsanitary and overcrowded conditions and have serious shortages of essential health care goods, including medicine and vaccines.

"Since the start of the hostilities in Gaza, women and girls are going through pregnancy lacking basic health care, sanitation, water, and food," said Belkis Wille, associate crisis, conflict and arms director at Human Rights Watch. "They and their newborns are at constant risk of preventable death."

The Health Ministry has repeatedly warned that medical supplies and fuel were running out at hospitals, which use fuel-powered generators amid crippling power outages.

Whittall said hospitals were forced to ration the little fuel they have "to prevent a complete shutdown of more life-saving services."

"Unless the total blockade on fuel entering Gaza is lifted, we will face more senseless and preventable death," he said.

Nasser Hospital was forced to cut off electricity for some departments, despite the nonstop flow of patients, as part of a plan to save fuel, said Ismail Abu-Nimer, head of engineering and maintenance.

Supplies have been running out amid the influx of wounded people, many coming from areas close to aid distribution centers, said Dr. Mohammad Saqer, Nasser's director of nursing.

"The situation here is terrifying, immoral, and inhumane," he said.