Aid Organization: Syria Facing Worst Hunger Crisis to Date

A Syrian child sits outside a tent at a refugee camp in Syria's Idlib province. AFP file photo
A Syrian child sits outside a tent at a refugee camp in Syria's Idlib province. AFP file photo
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Aid Organization: Syria Facing Worst Hunger Crisis to Date

A Syrian child sits outside a tent at a refugee camp in Syria's Idlib province. AFP file photo
A Syrian child sits outside a tent at a refugee camp in Syria's Idlib province. AFP file photo

After 10 years of civil war, Syria is suffering from its worst hunger crisis to date, according to the German aid organization Welthungerhilfe.

An "alarming record" of 12 million people do not have enough to eat - almost 60 per cent of the population - the non-government group's Syria coordinator Konstantin Witschel told dpa.

The humanitarian situation in general deteriorated over the past year with refugees particularly affected.

"The situation in camps is terrible," Witschel said, after visiting the northern Syrian city of Azaz.

He said nearly all supplies in refugee camps were lacking and the winter temperatures and heavy rain were further affecting people's conditions.

"During our visit, we met 30 children who only wore sweaters and sandals in six or seven degrees Celsius," he said.

The decline in the Syrian lira had tripled food prices, Witschel added.



Israeli Military Says it Struck Hamas Member in Southern Syria

FILE PHOTO: A cat stands next to a damaged telephone booth in Hamidiyeh district in the central city of Homs July 1, 2012. REUTERS/Yazen Homsy/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A cat stands next to a damaged telephone booth in Hamidiyeh district in the central city of Homs July 1, 2012. REUTERS/Yazen Homsy/File Photo
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Israeli Military Says it Struck Hamas Member in Southern Syria

FILE PHOTO: A cat stands next to a damaged telephone booth in Hamidiyeh district in the central city of Homs July 1, 2012. REUTERS/Yazen Homsy/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A cat stands next to a damaged telephone booth in Hamidiyeh district in the central city of Homs July 1, 2012. REUTERS/Yazen Homsy/File Photo

The Israeli military said on Sunday that it struck a Hamas member in southern Syria's Mazraat Beit Jin, days after Israel carried out its first airstrikes in the country in nearly a month.

Hamas did not immediately comment on the strike.

Israel said on Tuesday it hit weapons belonging to the government in retaliation for the firing of two projectiles towards Israel for the first time under the country's new leadership. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz held Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa accountable.

Damascus in response said reports of the shelling were unverified, reiterating that Syria does not pose a threat to any regional party.

A little known group named "Martyr Muhammad Deif Brigades," an apparent reference to Hamas' military leader who was killed in an Israeli strike in 2024, reportedly claimed responsibility for the shelling. Reuters, however, could not independently verify the claim.

Israel and Syria have recently engaged in direct talks to calm tensions, marking a significant development in ties between states that have been on opposite sides of conflict in the Middle East for decade.