Quarter of Syrian Refugees in Jordan Food Insecure, Says WFP

Syrian refugee children pose as they play near their families' residence at al-Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, January 30, 2016. (Reuters)
Syrian refugee children pose as they play near their families' residence at al-Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, January 30, 2016. (Reuters)
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Quarter of Syrian Refugees in Jordan Food Insecure, Says WFP

Syrian refugee children pose as they play near their families' residence at al-Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, January 30, 2016. (Reuters)
Syrian refugee children pose as they play near their families' residence at al-Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, January 30, 2016. (Reuters)

A quarter of Syrian refugees in Jordan are food insecure and almost two thirds are on the brink, the World Food Program said Monday.

This month marks 10 years since the start of the civil war in Syria that has seen over five million Syrians flee abroad, mainly to neighboring countries, including Jordan, according to UN figures.

"Food insecurity among refugees is now the highest since the families started coming from Syria 10 years ago," Alberto Correia Mendes, the WFP's Jordan director, told reporters during a virtual press conference.

"A quarter of refugees across Jordan are food insecure and 65 percent are on the edge of food insecurity, a stark increase since the (coronavirus) pandemic started," he added.

"Families are asking their children to eat less, removing them from school, sending them to work or even to beg."

Some 660,000 Syrian refugees are registered with the UN in Jordan, with authorities putting the number at 1.3 million.

The kingdom hosts the second-largest number of refugees per capita in the world.

UN refugee agency representative in Jordan Dominik Bartsch said at the press conference that, "a political solution that will allow the return of refugees to Syria is the ultimate goal".

But, he added, "while they remain in Jordan, we must ensure that sufficient opportunities are available for refugees, alongside Jordanians, so that they can be productive members of society".



Syria Announces Ceasefire after Latest Outbreak of Deadly Sectarian Violence

A man holds a placard reading in Arabic "let us raise our voices against the aggression" during a protest against Israeli airstrikes in southern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 15 July 2025. (EPA)
A man holds a placard reading in Arabic "let us raise our voices against the aggression" during a protest against Israeli airstrikes in southern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 15 July 2025. (EPA)
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Syria Announces Ceasefire after Latest Outbreak of Deadly Sectarian Violence

A man holds a placard reading in Arabic "let us raise our voices against the aggression" during a protest against Israeli airstrikes in southern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 15 July 2025. (EPA)
A man holds a placard reading in Arabic "let us raise our voices against the aggression" during a protest against Israeli airstrikes in southern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 15 July 2025. (EPA)

Syria 's defense minister announced a ceasefire shortly after government forces entered a key city in southern Sweida province on Tuesday, a day after sectarian clashes killed dozens there. Neighboring Israel again launched strikes on Syrian military forces, saying it was protecting the Druze minority.

The latest escalation under Syria’s new leaders began with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between local Bedouin tribes and Druze armed factions in the southern province, a center of the Druze community.

Syrian government forces, sent to restore order on Monday, also clashed with Druze armed groups.

On Tuesday, Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra said an agreement was struck with the city’s "notables and dignitaries" and that government forces would "respond only to the sources of fire and deal with any targeting by outlaw groups."

However, scattered clashes continued after his announcement, as did allegations that security forces had committed violations against civilians.

Syria’s Interior Ministry said Monday that more than 30 people had been killed, but has not updated the figures since. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said Tuesday that 166 people had been killed since Sunday, including five women and two children.

Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said in a statement that he had tasked authorities with "taking immediate legal action against anyone proven to have committed a transgression or abuse, regardless of their rank or position."

Associated Press journalists in Sweida province saw forces at a government checkpoint searching cars and confiscating suspected stolen goods from both civilians and soldiers.

Israeli airstrikes targeted government forces' convoys heading into the provincial capital of Sweida and in other areas of southern Syria.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strikes sought to "prevent the Syrian regime from harming" the Druze religious minority "and to ensure disarmament in the area adjacent to our borders with Syria." In Israel, the Druze are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the armed forces.

Meanwhile, Israeli Cabinet member and Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli called on X for Sharaa to be "eliminated without delay."

A soldier's story Manhal Yasser Al-Gor, of the Interior Ministry forces, was being treated for shrapnel wounds at a local hospital after an Israeli strike hit his convoy.

"We were entering Sweida to secure the civilians and prevent looting. I was on an armored personnel carrier when the Israeli drone hit us," he said, adding that there were "many casualties."

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said Israeli strikes had killed several innocent civilians" as well as soldiers, and called them "a reprehensible example of ongoing aggression and external interference" in Syria's internal matters.

It said the Syrian state is committed to protecting the Druze, "who form an integral part of the national identity and united Syrian social fabric."

Israel has taken an aggressive stance toward Syria’s new leaders since Sharaa's opposition fighters ousted former President Bashar al-Assad in December, saying it doesn't want militants near its borders.

Israeli forces have seized a UN-patrolled buffer zone on Syrian territory along the border with the Golan Heights and launched hundreds of airstrikes on military sites in Syria.

Earlier Tuesday, religious leaders of the Druze community in Syria called for armed factions that have been clashing with government forces to surrender their weapons and cooperate with authorities. One of the main Druze spiritual leaders later released a video statement retracting the call.

Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, who has been opposed to the government in Damascus, said in the video that the initial Druze leaders' statement had been issued after an agreement with the authorities in Damascus but that "they broke the promise and continued the indiscriminate shelling of unarmed civilians."

"We are being subjected to a total war of annihilation," he claimed, without offering evidence.

Some videos on social media showed armed fighters with Druze captives, beating them and, in some cases, forcibly shaving men's moustaches.

The violence drew international concern. The US envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, called the violence "worrisome on all sides" in a post on.

"We are attempting to come to a peaceful, inclusive outcome for Druze, Bedouin tribes, the Syrian government and Israeli forces," he said.