Worse than ‘Years of War’: Syria Hospital Treats Quake Survivors

Civil defense workers and residents search through the rubble of collapsed buildings in the town of Harem near the Turkish border, Idlib province, Syria, Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. (AP)
Civil defense workers and residents search through the rubble of collapsed buildings in the town of Harem near the Turkish border, Idlib province, Syria, Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. (AP)
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Worse than ‘Years of War’: Syria Hospital Treats Quake Survivors

Civil defense workers and residents search through the rubble of collapsed buildings in the town of Harem near the Turkish border, Idlib province, Syria, Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. (AP)
Civil defense workers and residents search through the rubble of collapsed buildings in the town of Harem near the Turkish border, Idlib province, Syria, Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. (AP)

At a hospital in Syria, Osama Abdel Hamid was holding back tears as he recalled on Monday the powerful earthquake that toppled his home and killed his neighbors, along with hundreds of his compatriots.

"We were fast asleep when we felt a huge earthquake," Abdel Hamid told AFP at Al-Rahma hospital in the northwestern Idlib province, where he was being treated for a head injury.

The 7.8-magnitude pre-dawn quake, whose epicenter was near the Turkish city of Gaziantep, wiped out entire sections of cities in Türkiye and war-ravaged Syria. Officials have put the combined death toll at more than 1,900.

When it shook the Abdel Hamid family's home in the village of Azmarin, near Syria's border with Türkiye, "I woke up my wife and children and we ran towards the exit door," the man said.

"We opened the door, and suddenly the entire building collapsed."

Within moments, Abdel Hamid found himself under the rubble of the four-storey building.

All of his neighbors died, but the family made it out alive.

"The walls collapsed over us, but my son was able to get out," Abdel Hamid said. "He started screaming and people gathered around, knowing there were survivors, and they pulled us out from under the rubble."

They were taken to the hospital in Darkush, a town several kilometers (miles) to the south along the Turkish border.

The facility soon had to take in patients far beyond its capacity and received at least 30 dead bodies.

An AFP photographer saw multiple ambulances arriving at Al-Rahma one after the other, carrying casualties including many children.

"The situation is bad," said Majid Ibrahim, general surgeon at the hospital, where by the late morning some 150 people injured in the quake had arrived.

"A lot of people are still under the debris of the buildings," he told AFP.

"We need urgent help for the area, especially medical help."

Many 'still trapped'

At least 810 people were killed across the war-torn country, the Syrian government and rescue workers said.

The health ministry, said at least 430 people were killed and 1,315 injured in government-controlled areas.

The White Helmets rescue group said at least 380 were killed and more than 1,000 injured in opposition-held areas.

It had cautioned earlier on Monday "the toll may increase as many families are still trapped."

In one crowded hospital room, injured people were lying on beds, some with bandages on their heads and others treated for fractures and bruises.

On one of the beds, a boy whose head was covered in a bandage was sleeping next to another patient.

And in another room, a young girl was crying as she received an injection, her hand in a cast.

Mohammad Barakat, 24, was being treated for a broken leg.

"I took my children and got out of the house," recalled the father of four, lying in bed with wounds covering parts of his face.

"My house is an old one, and construction is very old," he told AFP.

"So I got scared it might collapse on us. The walls of the neighboring houses began collapsing when we were out in the street."

'Judgement day'

The earthquake hit near Gaziantep in southeastern Türkiye at 04:17 am (0117 GMT) at a depth of about 17.9 kilometers (11 miles), the US Geological Survey said.

Tremors were also felt in Lebanon and Cyprus, AFP correspondents said.

In the town of Sarmada, in the countryside of Idlib province, a block of buildings had been levelled. The remains of solar panels and water tanks as well as mattresses and blankets were scattered above the ruins.

An AFP photographer saw rescue workers start to clear the rubble and remove big pieces of concrete in the hope of finding survivors.

Anas Habbash said he "ran down the stairs like crazy", carrying his son and ushering his pregnant wife outside of the apartment building in the northern city of Aleppo.

"Once we got to the street, we saw dozens of families in shock and fear," the 37-year-old told AFP.

Some knelt down to pray and other started crying "as if it were judgement day".

"I haven't had that feeling all through the years of the war" in Syria since 2011, Habbash said.

"This was much more difficult than shells and bullets."



Is Hezbollah Capable of Fighting Israel Again?

A poster of slain Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Tehran, Iran. (Reuters)
A poster of slain Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Tehran, Iran. (Reuters)
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Is Hezbollah Capable of Fighting Israel Again?

A poster of slain Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Tehran, Iran. (Reuters)
A poster of slain Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Tehran, Iran. (Reuters)

Hezbollah has once again threatened to take up the fight against Israel amid the conflict between Iran and Israel.

The Lebanese people have been warily observing the conflict between the arch foes, worried that Hezbollah may yet again drag them into another war with Israel, this time to defend its main backer Iran.

Hezbollah had launched a “support war” against Israel and in solidarity with Hamas in wake of the Palestinian movement’s October 7, 2023 attack. Israel subsequently launched an all-out war against Hezbollah in 2024, decimating its weapons arsenal and eliminating its top command.

Since a ceasefire took hold in November, efforts have been underway to disarm Hezbollah.

On Monday, deputy Chairman of Hezbollah's Political Council Mahmoud Qamati declared that the party was “prepared to fight the Israeli enemy should it despair in the Lebanese state’s ability to fulfill its vows and commitments in confronting the aggression.”

Ministerial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat his statement was “a message, but whose direction we don’t know.”

“What matters now is that the party is still committing to the government’s decision to stay out of the conflict. Hezbollah had also declared that it will not launch a new support war,” they noted.

Qamati added: “The resistance (Hezbollah) will not abandon its national duty if the state proves itself incapable or unwilling to deter the ongoing Israeli attacks. Hezbollah still believes the confrontation with Israel to be a national and sovereign issue.”

His statements contradict those made by Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah, as well as sources from the party.

Last week, Fadlallah said: “Iran has proven throughout history that it can defend itself when attacked. It is not asking anyone to defend it. It is waging the fight itself, and it knows how to protect its people and how to wage a confrontation.”

“There are no such things as Iran’s proxies, rather there are resistance movements,” he charged.

Dr. Kassem Kassir, a political analyst close to Hezbollah, said Qamati was talking about Israel’s occupation of Lebanese territories and means to confront it, not supporting Iran.

“His remarks are in preparation for any scenario that may emerge,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Imad Salamey, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the Lebanese American University, dismissed Hezbollah’s comments about taking up the fight as “nothing more than a desperate attempt to make itself seem relevant, when in reality it is on the brink of total collapse.”

“Hezbollah has lost the overwhelming majority of its military capabilities: its weapons arsenal has been destroyed by Israeli strikes, its supply routes from Israel are no more and its field commanders have been systematically assassinated,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“As for Iranian support, in all likelihood its must have dropped dramatically as a result of internal and external pressure on Tehran, including the Israeli attacks, leaving Hezbollah in unprecedented isolation,” he stressed.

“The fact is that Hezbollah can no longer pose a real threat to Israel. With its popular support waning, the party is likely resorting to internal threats, specifically within its Shiite fold, to suppress any attempt at defection or mutiny,” he explained.

“The threats we have been hearing are nothing more than a form of propaganda aimed at hiding Hezbollah’s reality and reshaping its image that cannot be backed up with any tangible support,” Salamey said.

Head of Lebanese Forces Media and Communications Department Charles Jabbour echoed these comments, saying Qamati’s remarks are nothing more than “words aimed at compensating for Hezbollah’s inability to wage a support war for Iran.”

“Those who supported Hamas were better off supporting the side that established it and supplied it with funds and weapons,” he said, referring to Hezbollah’s main backer Iran.

“All of these threats are aimed at Hezbollah’s supporters to give them the impression that they are still capable of fighting. The reality is that they can no longer do anything but hand over their weapons,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Meanwhile, the Kataeb party praised the Lebanese state’s firm stance in keeping Lebanon neutral from the regional conflict.

The developments demand that Hezbollah take a “clear and immediate decision to meet calls to lay down its weapons and hand them over to the army and disengage itself completely from any foreign powers,” it said.

“It must return to the fold of the state that remains the only protector of all Lebanese people,” it added.