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UN Warns of Record Rates of Hunger in Syria

Workers carry a sack of hay to load it into a truck at a field in Qamishli countryside, in northeastern Syria June 30, 2022. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
Workers carry a sack of hay to load it into a truck at a field in Qamishli countryside, in northeastern Syria June 30, 2022. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
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UN Warns of Record Rates of Hunger in Syria

Workers carry a sack of hay to load it into a truck at a field in Qamishli countryside, in northeastern Syria June 30, 2022. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
Workers carry a sack of hay to load it into a truck at a field in Qamishli countryside, in northeastern Syria June 30, 2022. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman

The World Food Programme warned on Friday that hunger rates in Syria have soared to record highs after more than a decade of devastating conflict.

A brutal war that triggered years of economic crisis and damaged vital infrastructure has put 2.9 million at risk of sliding into hunger, while another 12 million do not know where their next meal is coming from, the UN agency said.

"Hunger soars to 12-year high in Syria," as 70 percent of the population might soon be "unable to put food on the table for their families," the statement said.

"Syria now has the sixth highest number of food insecure people in the world," the WFP added, with food prices increasing nearly 12-fold in three years.

Child and maternal malnutrition are also "increasing at a speed never seen before," in more than a decade of war,” Agence France Presse quoted the statement as saying.

If the international community does not step up to help Syrians, it risks facing "another wave of mass migration," said WFP executive director David Beasley during a visit to Syria this week.

"Is that what the international community wants?" he asked, urging donor countries to redouble efforts to "avert this looming catastrophe".

The UN estimates 90 percent of the 18 million people in Syria are living in poverty, with the economy hit by conflict, drought, cholera and the Covid pandemic as well as the fallout from the financial crash in Lebanon.

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Israeli Defense Chief Says Temporary Truce with Hamas is Possible

FILE -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 28, 2023. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 28, 2023. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)
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Israeli Defense Chief Says Temporary Truce with Hamas is Possible

FILE -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 28, 2023. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 28, 2023. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Israel’s defense minister says the window is closing on an opportunity to reach a temporary cease-fire deal with Hamas that he believes could also bring calm to the country’s volatile northern border with Lebanon.
Speaking to reporters, Yoav Gallant said that conditions are ripe for at least a six-week pause in fighting that would include the release of many of the hostages held in Gaza. However, he would not commit to a permanent end to the fighting, as Hamas has demanded, raising questions about the feasibility of a deal.
“Israel should achieve an agreement that will bring about a pause for six weeks and bring back hostages,” he said. After that period, he said, “we maintain the right to operate and achieve our goals — including the destruction of Hamas.”
The United States, along with mediators Egypt and Qatar, has been working for months to broker a cease-fire to end the devastating war between Israel and Hamas. A main area of disagreement has been Hamas’ demand for an end to the nearly year-old war and a full withdrawal of all Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has raised a new sticking point in recent weeks, saying that Israel must remain stationed in a strategic corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt indefinitely.
Gallant has been quoted in Israeli media as saying that Israel could withdraw from the corridor for six weeks — to allow hostages to go free without risking Israel’s security. The two men reportedly got into a heated shouting match at a recent Cabinet meeting where ministers overwhelmingly sided with Netanyahu.
During Monday’s meeting with foreign journalists, Gallant was asked about his relationship with the prime minister.
“As defense minister, my first priority is the state of Israel and those who protect her, and then everything else,” The Associated Press quoted him as saying.
The current US-led proposal calls for a three-phase plan, beginning with a six-week pause in fighting during which Hamas would release some of the roughly 70 hostages who are still believed to be alive and held by the militants.
In exchange, Israel would free dozens of Palestinian prisoners, withdraw troops from Palestinian population centers, allow displaced Gazans to return to their original place of residence and facilitate the influx of large amounts of badly needed humanitarian aid.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Monday that Hamas had sought changes to the evolving proposal, calling it the “main obstacle” to a deal. Hamas rejected Kirby's allegations as “baseless” and again accused the US of hindering an agreement by siding with Israel.
Gallant cast doubt on Hamas' intentions and was skeptical about whether the deal’s second phase — which is to include the release of the remaining hostages and a complete halt to the fighting — could be implemented.
He said repeatedly that Israel remains committed to its “war goals” — bringing home all hostages, destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, and making sure the group can never threaten Israel again.
With Hamas repeatedly regrouping in areas of Gaza that Israeli troops have left, and with no plan for an alternative postwar government, it remains unclear when or if these goals can be fully achieved.
Gallant accused Hamas of intransigence in the talks and called for more international pressure on the militant group. Still, he said that after inflicting heavy damage recently on Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, there is an opportunity for at least the first phase of the deal.
He said he believed a truce with Hamas could also lower tensions with Hezbollah and allow displaced Israelis to return to their homes in northern Israel, near the Lebanese border.