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Simultaneous Attacks on Regime Bases in Southwestern Syria

UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen on Thursday voiced his growing concern at increased hostilities in the south of the country and warned of shortages faced by civilians. (File/AFP)
UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen on Thursday voiced his growing concern at increased hostilities in the south of the country and warned of shortages faced by civilians. (File/AFP)
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Simultaneous Attacks on Regime Bases in Southwestern Syria

UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen on Thursday voiced his growing concern at increased hostilities in the south of the country and warned of shortages faced by civilians. (File/AFP)
UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen on Thursday voiced his growing concern at increased hostilities in the south of the country and warned of shortages faced by civilians. (File/AFP)

Militants in the countryside of Daraa in southern Syria launched simultaneous attacks on the Syrian regime forces, in conjunction with a visit by a Russian fact-finding delegation.

Meanwhile, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen expressed growing concern over the developments in the region.

His comments came following the meeting of the Humanitarian Task Force of the International Support Group for Syria in Geneva on Thursday.

“Increased hostilities, which have included heavy shelling and intensified ground clashes, have resulted in civilian casualties, as well as damage to civilian infrastructures,” Pedersen’s office said in a statement.

“Thousands of civilians have been forced to flee Daraa Al-Balad. Civilians are suffering with acute shortages of fuel, cooking gas, water, and bread. Medical assistance is in short supply to treat the injured […]. The situation is alarming,” it added.

In a statement issued on July 31, the UN special envoy renewed his call for an immediate cessation of violence and for all parties to adhere to the principle of protecting civilians and civilian property in accordance with the provisions of international humanitarian law.

He also stressed the need to allow immediate, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all affected areas and communities, including Daraa al-Balad.

Regarding field developments, local fighters launched sporadic attacks at dawn on Thursday on sites and positions belonging to the Syrian regime forces in the western and northern countryside of Daraa.

Clashes also took place in the city of Sheikh Miskeen, and the Yarmouk Basin area, west of Daraa. Gunmen launched an attack on the cultural center in Jassim city in the northern countryside of Daraa, amid a continued escalation by the Fourth Division on the city of Daraa al-Balad and its outskirts, where a girl was seriously injured as a result of the bombing of residential neighborhoods.

Strikes were held across the areas of Daraa governorate, during which residents expressed rejection of the siege imposed on civilians in the city of Daraa al-Balad and Al-Sad Road by the forces of the Fourth Division.

Local sources said that Russian military police forces toured a number of villages in the eastern countryside of Daraa, and inspected the regime’s military checkpoints, which were recently attacked by local fighters.

All the negotiations that took place between the Central Negotiating Committee in Daraa al-Balad and the Security Committee of the Syrian regime in Daraa over the past few days have failed, despite the Russian participation and promises of peaceful solutions and the cessation of military operations.

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‘Tragic’ Humanitarian Situation in Syria Worries Security Council

UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen briefs the Security Council in December 2024 (AFP) 
UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen briefs the Security Council in December 2024 (AFP) 
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‘Tragic’ Humanitarian Situation in Syria Worries Security Council

UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen briefs the Security Council in December 2024 (AFP) 
UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen briefs the Security Council in December 2024 (AFP) 

UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said on Thursday the situation in the Arab country remains deeply fragile and the transition remains on a knife-edge, despite the decline in violence in the Sweida governorate.

Speaking via a video link at a Security Council meeting in New York, Pedersen said in the absence of more tangible and binding measures, including to build confidence, the ceasefire risks remain fragile.

He said Israeli ground operations in southwest Syria have continued. “Such actions are unacceptable. We must insist on full respect for Syria’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity, underscored by adherence to the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement.”

Pedersen also showed that Israel’s airstrikes have subsided following the latest ceasefire.

In Sweida, he said, the ceasefire agreed on 19 July has come under strain, but—so far—has prevented a slide back into open conflict. He welcomed the efforts of the US, Jordan and the Syrian authorities in forming a trilateral working group to support the end of hostilities.

But the envoy said he was concerned that a month of relative military calm belies a worsening political climate, with escalatory and zero-sum rhetoric hardening among many.

Hundreds of people were killed in southern Syria's Sweida province following intense fighting between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes before a ceasefire was reached.

Also, Pedersen welcomed a ministerial level meeting between Syria and Israel in Paris this week. “There is clear scope to address the issues diplomatically and without further confrontation,” he said.

The envoy said his briefing comes as Syrians mark the somber anniversary of the Ghouta chemical weapons attack of 2013 -- a painful reminder of the suffering endured by Syrian civilians, and of the grave abuses and violations of international law that must never be repeated.

He urged the Security Council to redouble its efforts toward accountability, protection of civilians, and renewed commitment to helping Syria emerge from a dark past towards a brighter future.

Pedersen then mentioned the publication of the decree that establishes a framework for holding indirect elections for two-thirds of the members of the interim People’s Assembly in Syria.

“Success in this process demands measures that ensure transparency and openness, and where all major Syrian groups – not just trusted individuals – are included as electors and candidates, with the equal and visible participation of women,” he said.

At the briefing, Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said amid the precarious military and political situation, 16 million Syrians across the country need humanitarian aid.

Additionally, he said, over 185,000 people have been displaced across Sweida, Daraa, Rural Damascus and beyond.

“The overall situation is dire. We need to sustain urgent delivery of food, health, shelter, clean water, fuel, restoration of water and electricity infrastructure, education. In some areas, those arriving now outnumber the existing population. Services are overwhelmed,” said Fletcher.

He noted that teams from the UN humanitarian aid coordination office (OCHA) have visited Sweida and other towns, delivering aid and assessing needs.

OCHA has also provided emergency food packages, flour and essential household items to tens of thousands of people.

However, insecurity and road closures have disrupted the supply of aid from the UN, NGO partners and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.

“We need better humanitarian and commercial access. And most of all, we need safety,” Fletcher stressed, particularly referring to attacks on aid convoys, health facilities, medics and ambulances.