Syria War Deaths Reach 387,000 in Slowest Annual Increase, Says Monitor

People visit a cemetery in the al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo. (Reuters file photo)
People visit a cemetery in the al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo. (Reuters file photo)
TT
20

Syria War Deaths Reach 387,000 in Slowest Annual Increase, Says Monitor

People visit a cemetery in the al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo. (Reuters file photo)
People visit a cemetery in the al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo. (Reuters file photo)

The overall death toll for Syria's war has crept up to 387,000 following the least deadly of 10 years of conflict, a monitor said Wednesday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria, said the new figure included almost 117,000 civilians, among them more than 22,000 children.

The Observatory's previous tally was issued in January and stood at more than 380,000.

The fighting, which erupted in 2011 after the brutal repression of anti-government protests, has largely abated this year as a ceasefire held in northwestern Syria and attention turned to containing the coronavirus pandemic.

The latest toll included more than 130,500 pro-government fighters, among them foreigners.

More than half of those were Syrian soldiers, while 1,703 were from the Lebanese Hezbollah party whose members have been fighting in Syria since 2013.

The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 57,000 non-extremist opposition fighters.

It has also killed more than 67,500 extremists, mainly from the ISIS group and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group dominated by ex-members of Syria's former al-Qaeda affiliate.

More than 12,500 Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces fighters have been killed in battles against ISIS and Turkish forces.

The Observatory's toll does not include some 88,000 people it says died of torture in government-run prisons, nor thousands who were abducted during the conflict and are still missing.

After turning the tide of the war with Russian and Iranian support since 2015, the Syrian government now controls around two-thirds of the country.

Among the regions still beyond its reach are the last opposition enclave of Idlib in the northwest, Turkish-held areas along the northern border, and northeastern parts of the country held by US-backed Kurdish forces.

The war has forced more than half the country's pre-war population to flee their homes.

Some 6.7 million Syrians remained displaced inside the country, while 5.5 million are registered as refugees abroad, according to the United Nations.



Palestinian Central Council Demands that Hamas Cede Control of Gaza

Officials are seen at the meeting in Ramallah. (EPA)
Officials are seen at the meeting in Ramallah. (EPA)
TT
20

Palestinian Central Council Demands that Hamas Cede Control of Gaza

Officials are seen at the meeting in Ramallah. (EPA)
Officials are seen at the meeting in Ramallah. (EPA)

The Palestinian Central Committee called on Hamas on Friday to cede control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority.

The council held its 32nd meeting in Ramallah that created the position of vice president in a first since 1964.

In a closing statement, the council stressed that decisions of war and peace and negotiations cannot be held by a faction or party, but these affairs are national concerns, reported the Palestinian official news agency (WAFA).

Moreover, it said that “peaceful popular resistance is the only way to achieve national goals.”

It underlined the need to unify Palestinian territories and their political, administrative and judicial systems.

Priority now, however, lies in “ending the Israeli aggression and genocide against our people in Gaza... and in rejecting the displacement of the Palestinians and attempt to annex their territories,” it added.

“Our people are committed to just and permanent peace based on the relevant international resolutions,” continued the council.

It tasked the executive committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization to follow up on every regional and international effort to that end.

It also tasked the committee with launching a national dialogue that would reach national consensus that would establish the PLO as the sole legal representative of the Palestinian people.

The dialogue must prioritize a political solution that calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The council also stressed the Palestinian refugees’ right to return to their homeland from where they were forcibly displaced in 1948, which is in line with United Nations General Assembly resolution 194.

For its part, Hamas slammed the council decision to establish the position of vice president, saying it only deepens the Palestinian division and promotes unilateral decision-making.

It described the council meeting as “disappointing” and that it “had not met its aspirations to achieve real unity that is needed to confront the ongoing genocide in Gaza and Israeli escalation in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”

Hamas noted that main factions boycotted the meeting in rejection of attempts to monopolize decisions and the “coup against the spirit of national partnership.”

Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine boycotted the meeting.

Hamas called for the “rebuilding” of the PLO and holding comprehensive elections, saying they were the “only means to restore unity.”