Quake Halts UN Cross-Border Aid to Syria, Unclear When Will Resume

Syrian rescuers gather above the rubble of a collapsed building, on February 7, 2023, in the town of Jandaris, in the opposition-held part of Aleppo province, as a search operation continues following a deadly earthquake. (AFP)
Syrian rescuers gather above the rubble of a collapsed building, on February 7, 2023, in the town of Jandaris, in the opposition-held part of Aleppo province, as a search operation continues following a deadly earthquake. (AFP)
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Quake Halts UN Cross-Border Aid to Syria, Unclear When Will Resume

Syrian rescuers gather above the rubble of a collapsed building, on February 7, 2023, in the town of Jandaris, in the opposition-held part of Aleppo province, as a search operation continues following a deadly earthquake. (AFP)
Syrian rescuers gather above the rubble of a collapsed building, on February 7, 2023, in the town of Jandaris, in the opposition-held part of Aleppo province, as a search operation continues following a deadly earthquake. (AFP)

The flow of critical UN aid from Türkiye to northwest Syria has temporarily halted due to damage to roads and other logistical issues related to the deadly earthquake that struck the two countries on Monday, a UN spokesperson said.

Even before the quake struck in the early hours of Monday, the United Nations estimated that more than 4 million people in northwest Syria, many displaced by the war and living in camps, depended on cross-border aid.

Those needs have now increased, a top UN aid official said, making the hundreds of trucks worth of food, medical and other assistance that enter Syria via Türkiye each month all the more vital.

"Some roads are broken, some are inaccessible. There are logistical issues that need to be worked through," Madevi Sun-Suon, spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA), told Reuters.

"We don't have a clear picture of when it will resume," she said.

With a confirmed death toll in Syria already topping 1,600, rescue workers from across the frozen front lines of the country's 12-year civil war have said that hundreds more people likely remain under the rubble.

Sun-Suon said aid workers were also struggling with limited access to water and power as well as looking for their own colleagues and loved ones.

Aid already positioned within the northwest will likely be rapidly depleted, aid officials said.

"We have heard there are some supplies in the system for the next 3 - 5 days however our concern is that these will be exhausted rapidly," Kieren Barnes, country director for Mercy Corps Syria, told Reuters.

"We will need to significantly increase resources for northwest Syria and ensure supply lines are clear for us to respond."

Meanwhile, Syria's Red Crescent said it was ready to deliver relief aid to all the country's regions, including opposition-held areas and urged the United Nation, which has long coordinated the aid and relief operations in opposition-held areas, to facilitate that.



Lebanon: Three People Killed in Israeli Strike on Vehicle in the South

Debris is removed at the damaged site in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Beirut southern suburbs, Lebanon, April 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Debris is removed at the damaged site in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Beirut southern suburbs, Lebanon, April 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Lebanon: Three People Killed in Israeli Strike on Vehicle in the South

Debris is removed at the damaged site in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Beirut southern suburbs, Lebanon, April 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Debris is removed at the damaged site in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Beirut southern suburbs, Lebanon, April 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Three people were killed in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon, a local TV station said on Thursday.
The strike targeted a vehicle between the towns of Mays al-Jabal and Blida in south Lebanon, said the station. No further details were provided.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that Israeli warplanes conducted overflights over the Hermel district and other villages in the northern Bekaa valley.
Earlier on Thursday, an Israeli drone flew at very low altitude over Beirut and the southern suburbs of the capital.

Despite a November 27 ceasefire that sought to halt more than a year of conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, Israel has continued to conduct near-daily strikes in Lebanon.

The Israeli military has said it was behind other attacks that it said killed Hezbollah members.

Hezbollah, significantly weakened by the war, insists it is adhering to the November ceasefire, even as Israeli attacks persist.