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UN: World after Earthquake Was Slow to Send Aid to Syria

Brazilian Paulo Pinheiro, Chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, talks to the media during a press conference, before presenting the last report by the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic on the human rights situation in Syria at the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, March 13, 2023. (AP)
Brazilian Paulo Pinheiro, Chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, talks to the media during a press conference, before presenting the last report by the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic on the human rights situation in Syria at the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, March 13, 2023. (AP)
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UN: World after Earthquake Was Slow to Send Aid to Syria

Brazilian Paulo Pinheiro, Chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, talks to the media during a press conference, before presenting the last report by the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic on the human rights situation in Syria at the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, March 13, 2023. (AP)
Brazilian Paulo Pinheiro, Chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, talks to the media during a press conference, before presenting the last report by the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic on the human rights situation in Syria at the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, March 13, 2023. (AP)

The international community and the Syrian government did not act quickly last month to help people in need in the opposition-held northwest after a deadly earthquake hit Türkiye and Syria, a UN commission said Monday.

The Feb. 6 magnitude 7.8 earthquake and strong aftershocks that ravaged southern Türkiye and northwestern Syria killed more than 50,000 people, including over 6,000 in Syria.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said there should be an investigation into why it took a week to open border crossings for aid to flow. It added that war-torn Syria “now needs a comprehensive ceasefire that is fully respected” for civilians, including aid workers, to be safe.

It took a week for the UN and Syria’s President Bashar Assad’s government to agree on opening two more border crossings into the opposition-held region bordering Türkiye as many people were still under the rubble.

“Since the earthquake, we have seen many acts to help victims by the Syrians themselves,” commission member Paulo Pinheiro said during a news conference in Geneva.

He added that “we also witnessed a complete failure by the government and the international community including United Nations to rapidly direct urgent lifesaving aid for northwest Syria."

“Many days were lost without any aid to survivors of the earthquake,” Pinheiro said. “Actors didn’t rapidly direct urgent lifesaving aid to northwest Syria which became the epicenter of neglect.”

A week after the earthquake, the UN announced that Syrian President Bashir Assad agreed to open for three months two new crossing points from Türkiye to the country’s opposition-held northwest to deliver desperately needed aid and equipment to help earthquake victims.

Before that, the UN had only been allowed to deliver aid to the northwest Idlib area through a single crossing at Bab Al-Hawa, at Syrian ally Russia’s insistence.

“They failed to deliver international emergency support including rescue teams and equipment in the vital first week after the earthquake,” Pinheiro said, adding that “Syrians, for good reasons, felt abandoned and neglected by those who (are) supposed to protect them in their most desperate time.”

“Many voices are rightly calling ... for an investigation and accountability to understand how this failure, this disaster happened beyond the earthquake,” Pinheiro said.

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Main Points of the Gaza Ceasefire Proposal

Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City January 13, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City January 13, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
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Main Points of the Gaza Ceasefire Proposal

Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City January 13, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City January 13, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Qatari mediators have sent Israel and Hamas a draft proposal for an agreement to halt the fighting in the Gaza Strip and exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners as a first step towards an end to the 15-month-old war. A week before US President-elect Donald Trump takes over from President Joe Biden, officials said a breakthrough had been achieved in talks in Doha and agreement could be near.

However, many details about the implementation of a ceasefire remain to be agreed, and officials on all sides have said that a deal has not yet been reached.

Here are the main points from the draft, according to an Israeli official and a Palestinian official. Hamas has not provided any details, according to Reuters.

HOSTAGE RETURN

In the first stage, 33 hostages would be set free. These include children, women including female soldiers, men above 50, wounded and sick. Israel believes most are alive but has had no official confirmation from Hamas.

- The first stage would last for several weeks, although the Israeli official said the precise duration had not been settled. The Palestinian official said it would last 60 days.

If it proceeds as planned, on the 16th day from the deal taking effect, negotiations would start on a second stage, with the aim of securing the return of the remaining living hostages - male soldiers and younger civilian males - and the return of the bodies of dead hostages.

- In return for the hostages, Israel will free from its jails a significant number of Palestinian prisoners, including some serving long sentences for deadly attacks, although exactly how many will depend on how many hostages are still alive. The Israeli official said the number would be "many hundreds", while the Palestinian official said it would be more than 1,000.

- Where the prisoners would be sent has not yet been agreed but anyone convicted of murder or deadly attacks would not be released to the West Bank.

- Anyone who took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel would not be released.

TROOP WITHDRAWAL

Israel will not fully withdraw its troops until all the hostages have been returned but there will be a phased pull back, with Israeli forces remaining in the border perimeter to defend Israeli border towns and villages.

- There would be security arrangements at the Philadelphi corridor bordering Egypt, along the southern edge of Gaza, with Israel withdrawing from parts of it after the first few days of the deal.

- Unarmed North Gaza residents would be allowed back, with a mechanism to ensure no weapons are moved there. Israeli troops will withdraw from the Netzarim corridor in central Gaza.

- The Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza will start to work gradually, allowing the passage of those who are sick and humanitarian cases out of the enclave for treatment.

INCREASED AID

There would be a significant increase of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, where international bodies including the UN say the population is facing a severe humanitarian crisis.

Israel allows aid into the enclave but there have been disputes over the amount allowed in as well as the amount that reaches people in need, with looting by criminal gangs an increasing problem.

FUTURE GOVERNANCE OF GAZA

Who will run Gaza after the war is one of the unknowns of the negotiations. It appears that the current round of talks left the issue out of the proposal because of its complexity and the likelihood it would hold up a limited deal.

Israel has said it will not end the war leaving Hamas in power. It has also rejected administration of Gaza by the Palestinian Authority, the Western-backed body set up under the Oslo interim peace accords three decades ago that exercises limited sovereignty in the occupied West Bank.

It has also said from the beginning of its military campaign in Gaza that it will retain security control over the enclave after the fighting ends.

The international community has said Gaza must be run by Palestinians, but efforts to find alternatives to the main factions among civil society or clan leaders have proved largely fruitless. However, there have been discussions over a provisional administration that would run Gaza until a reformed Palestinian Authority is able to take charge.