Syria’s War Killed Over 3,700 in 2021

A displaced person living in a cave in an archaeological area in Idlib, northwest Syria (Reuters)
A displaced person living in a cave in an archaeological area in Idlib, northwest Syria (Reuters)
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Syria’s War Killed Over 3,700 in 2021

A displaced person living in a cave in an archaeological area in Idlib, northwest Syria (Reuters)
A displaced person living in a cave in an archaeological area in Idlib, northwest Syria (Reuters)

The Syrian war killed 3,746 people in 2021, a monitor said Wednesday, significantly fewer than in 2020, which had already seen the decade-old war's lowest death toll.

According to figures compiled by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 1,505 of them were civilians and among those 360 were children.

Land mines and explosive objects constitute an issue in the war, as the Landmine Monitor said in November that Syria had overtaken Afghanistan as the country with the highest number of recorded casualties from landmines and other explosive remnants of the war.

The 2021 death toll shows a significant decrease compared to the year before, during which the Observatory recorded the deaths of more than 6,800 people.

The Syrian conflict in 2019 killed more than 10,000 people, while the year 2014 recorded the death of 70,000 people, the highest annual toll of the war.

According to SOHR figures, 600 members of the regime forces and more than 300 fighters from groups loyal to them have died this year.

The Observatory also recorded the deaths of about 600 ISIS terrorists and other extremist factions, compared to 158 from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and about 370 fighters of the opposition and Islamic factions.

The total death toll decreased during 2020 and 2021 due to the decline in the intensity of battles in several areas, especially in the Idlib governorate.

Although a ceasefire was announced in March 2020 in the region, it has been subjected to numerous violations.

Since 2011, the conflict in Syria has killed nearly half a million people and driven more than half of the population to flee within or outside Syria.

Meanwhile, a man succumbed to his injuries in al-Qamishly hospitals due to Turkish bombardment on Zarkan town in the northwestern countryside of al-Hasakah, bringing the death toll to four civilians, including a girl and a woman.

Furthermore, SOHR documented the death of three Turkish-backed “National Army” members after bombardment by SDF on their position near Turkish posts in “Peace Spring” areas in the Hasakah countryside.



G7 Leaders Endorse Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire and Insist Israel Follow International Law

 From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
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G7 Leaders Endorse Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire and Insist Israel Follow International Law

 From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)

Foreign ministers from the world’s industrialized countries said Tuesday they strongly supported an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and insisted that Israel comply with international law in its ongoing military operations in the region.

At the end of their two-day summit, the ministers didn’t refer directly to the International Criminal Court and its recent arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over crimes against humanity.

Italy had put the ICC warrants on the official meeting agenda, even though the G7 was split on the issue. The US, Israel’s closest ally, isn’t a signatory to the court and has called the warrants “outrageous.”

However, the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said all the other G7 countries were signatories and therefore obliged to respect the warrants.

In the end, the final statement adopted by the ministers said Israel, in exercising its right to defend itself, “must fully comply with its obligations under international law in all circumstances, including international humanitarian law.”

And it said all G7 members — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – “reiterate our commitment to international humanitarian law and will comply with our respective obligations.” It stressed that “there can be no equivalence between the terrorist group Hamas and the State of Israel.”

The ICC warrants say there's reason to believe Netanyahu used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza — charges Israeli officials deny.