Daraa Sees New Wave of Displacement After Sudden Bombardment on its Western Countryside

 Activists said that more than 25 rockets and shells fell on residential neighborhoods and the popular market in the city. (Photo: AFP)
Activists said that more than 25 rockets and shells fell on residential neighborhoods and the popular market in the city. (Photo: AFP)
TT

Daraa Sees New Wave of Displacement After Sudden Bombardment on its Western Countryside

 Activists said that more than 25 rockets and shells fell on residential neighborhoods and the popular market in the city. (Photo: AFP)
Activists said that more than 25 rockets and shells fell on residential neighborhoods and the popular market in the city. (Photo: AFP)

Twenty-two persons will be displaced from Southern Syria to the North under the supervision of the Fifth Division and the Russian military police, after the city of Tafas in the western countryside of Daraa was targeted early on Thursday with rockets and missiles by the forces of the Fourth Division, which are stationed in a building adjacent to the city and Tal al-Jumuh.

Buses arrived at the old customs in Daraa al-Balad on Thursday afternoon to transport wanted persons and families wishing to be displaced, with the insistence of Muhammad al-Masalma, nicknamed “Hafu” and Moaied Harfoush not to leave the area.

The two men had pledged before the city’s clans to leave the region and accept displacement, which paved the way for an agreement with the Russian side and the Security Committee. But they suddenly went back on their decision, which led to the resumption of military actions.

Activists said that more than 25 rockets and shells fell on residential neighborhoods and the popular market in the city in the early hours of the morning, causing three deaths and 10 injuries among civilians.

Shells also fell in the vicinity of a school in the city of Tafas, while students were attending summer courses. A state of panic and terror prevailed over the educational facility, which closed immediately.

Meanwhile, a number of Syrian regime forces were killed or wounded on Thursday morning in an attack on a military vehicle carrying food for the soldiers on the road between Sheikh Miskeen and Nawa in the western countryside of Daraa.

Syrian regime forces raided some houses in the city of Sheikh Miskeen and arrested around ten people on charges of committing acts against the Syrian state.

Activists expected that military actions would move to the areas of the western countryside of Daraa, especially Tafas, Muzayrib and Yaduda, especially with the arrival of military reinforcements over the past few days.



Members of UN Security Council Call for Surge in Assistance to Gaza

 Palestinian man Moein Abu Odeh searches for clothes through the rubble of a house destroyed in the Israeli military offensive, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 18, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinian man Moein Abu Odeh searches for clothes through the rubble of a house destroyed in the Israeli military offensive, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 18, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

Members of UN Security Council Call for Surge in Assistance to Gaza

 Palestinian man Moein Abu Odeh searches for clothes through the rubble of a house destroyed in the Israeli military offensive, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 18, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinian man Moein Abu Odeh searches for clothes through the rubble of a house destroyed in the Israeli military offensive, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 18, 2024. (Reuters)

Members of the United Nations Security Council called on Monday for a surge in assistance to reach people in need in Gaza, warning that the situation in the Palestinian enclave was getting worse.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said there needs to be a "huge, huge rise in aid" to Gaza, where most of the population of 2.3 million people has been displaced and the enclave's health officials say more than 43,922 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive.

"The situation is devastating, and frankly, beyond comprehension, and it's getting worse, not better. Winter's here. Famine is imminent, and 400 days into this war, it is totally unacceptable that it's harder than ever to get aid into Gaza," Lammy said.

Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel in October last year, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council that Washington was closely watching Israel's actions to improve the situation for Palestinians and engaging with the Israeli government every day.

"Israel must also urgently take additional steps to alleviate the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza," she said.

President Joe Biden's administration concluded this month that Israel was not currently impeding assistance to Gaza and therefore not violating US law, even as Washington acknowledged the humanitarian situation remained dire in the Palestinian enclave.

The assessment came after the US in an Oct. 13 letter gave Israel a list of steps to take within 30 days to address the worsening situation in Gaza, warning that failure to do so may have possible consequences on US military aid to Israel.

Thomas-Greenfield said Israel was working to implement 12 of the 15 steps.

"We need to see all steps fully implemented and sustained, and we need to see concrete improvement in the humanitarian situation on the ground," she said, including Israel allowing commercial trucks to move into Gaza alongside humanitarian assistance, addressing persistent lawlessness and implementing pauses in fighting in large areas of Gaza to allow assistance to reach those in need.

Tor Wennesland, the UN coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said humanitarian agencies face a challenging and dangerous operational environment in Gaza and access restrictions that hinder their work.

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza, as winter begins, is catastrophic, particularly developments in the north of Gaza with a large-scale and near-total displacement of the population and widespread destruction and clearing of land, amidst what looks like a disturbing disregard for international humanitarian law," Wennesland said.

"The current conditions are among the worst we’ve seen during the entire war and are not set to improve," he said.