Independent Int’l Commission of Inquiry: Syria Still Unsafe for Return of Refugees

Members of the regime's army load a cannon on one of the northern fronts (Reuters)
Members of the regime's army load a cannon on one of the northern fronts (Reuters)
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Independent Int’l Commission of Inquiry: Syria Still Unsafe for Return of Refugees

Members of the regime's army load a cannon on one of the northern fronts (Reuters)
Members of the regime's army load a cannon on one of the northern fronts (Reuters)

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria released its twenty-sixth report on Wednesday, with the commission submitting the report to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) on September 22.

The report documents serious violations of fundamental human rights and international humanitarian law across Syria.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) has reviewed the 50-page report, and the following is a summary of the main points the report addressed.

The report addressed the persistent nature of various forms of violations by the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria.

It described the current year 2022 as the worst since the outbreak of the popular uprising in terms of the economic and humanitarian situation, indicating that about 14.6 million people are currently in need of humanitarian assistance.

The report noted that insecurity continues to plague all areas under the Syrian regime’s control, further revealing that the regime security forces and affiliated local and foreign militias who control checkpoints and detention centers abuse their powers, and extort money from citizens.

The report also stressed the continuation of arbitrary arrests, forced disappearances and death due to torture against citizens, including refugees and displaced persons returning to areas controlled by the Syrian regime.

It also touched on other types of violations that are reportedly obstacles to the safe, dignified and sustainable return of refugees, such as the arbitrary use of security clearances imposed by the Syrian regime with the aim of restricting freedoms, which are a prerequisite for obtaining basic property and housing rights.

In this context, the report stressed that the voluntary and safe return of the refugees must be secured and that this must not entail any physical harm or violation of their fundamental human rights.

In regard to the military operations in areas under the control of the other parties to the conflict, the report said that the Syrian regime continued to target civilians in areas of northwestern Syria, with the support of Russia.

It also referred to the observation of Russian warplanes concurrent with raids targeting civilian objects.

“At the same time, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham both intervened in public life and the provision of services, including fuel, exacerbating civilian suffering amidst widespread poverty. In formalizing restrictions that limit civic space, the group continued to arrest journalists, activists and other individuals who criticized its rule, in a discernible pattern previously identified by the Commission,” the report added.

The Commission “has reasonable grounds to believe that elements of the Syrian National Army have arbitrarily deprived persons of their liberty. Some cases have been tantamount to enforced disappearances.”

It added, “Consistent with an established pattern, elements of the Syrian National Army may have committed torture, cruel treatment and outrages upon personal dignity, including through forms of sexual violence, which constitute war crimes.”

“Nearly 58,000 individuals, including some 17,000 women and 37,000 children, remain unlawfully held in the al-Hol and Rawj camps. Humanitarian conditions in the camps have plummeted. There is no regular water supply, insufficient sanitation, lack of adequate nutrition, health care and housing.”

“There are reasonable grounds to believe that the Syrian Democratic Forces are violating the obligation to treat humanely all individuals who do not – or no longer – take part in hostilities… Democratic Forces may have perpetrated acts tantamount to enforced disappearances,” revealed the report.

The Commission called on the parties to the conflict “to respect international humanitarian law, to cease, in particular, all indiscriminate and direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects,” and “to conduct independent, impartial and credible investigations into incidents entailing civilian casualties in which their forces are implicated to ensure that those responsible for violations are held accountable and to ensure non-repetition and to make their findings public.”

The Commission stressed the need to “cease torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including sexual and gender-based violence, in all places of detention, cease all forms of incommunicado detention and other infringements on the due process of law, release those arbitrarily detained and ensure that perpetrators of such violations are held accountable through fair trials.”

It further demanded to cease “all enforced disappearances and take all feasible measures, in line with Security Council resolution 2474 (2019), to locate all those detained and/or disappeared, establish their fate or whereabouts and ensure communication with their families.”

For its part, the SNHR welcomed the report’s outcomes and recommendations.



UN Food Agency Says Its Food Stocks in Gaza Have Run out under Israel’s Blockade

A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
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UN Food Agency Says Its Food Stocks in Gaza Have Run out under Israel’s Blockade

A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)

The World Food Program says its food stocks in the Gaza Strip have run out under Israel’s nearly 8-week-old blockade, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the territory.

The WFP said in a statement that it delivered the last of its stocks to charity kitchens that it supports around Gaza. It said those kitchens are expected to run out of food in the coming days.

Some 80% of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million relies primarily on charity kitchens for food, because other sources have shut down under Israel’s blockade, according to the UN. The WFP has been supporting 47 kitchens that distribute 644,000 hot meals a day, WFP spokesperson Abeer Etefa told the Associated Press.

It was not immediately clear how many kitchens would still be operating in Gaza if those shut down. But Etefa said the WFP-backed kitchens are the major ones in Gaza.

Israel cut off entry of all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to Gaza on March 2 and then resumed its bombardment and ground offensives two weeks later, shattering a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. It says the moves aim to pressure Hamas to release hostages it still holds. Rights groups have called the blockade a “starvation tactic” and a potential war crime.

Israel has said Gaza has enough supplies after a surge of aid entered during the ceasefire and accuses Hamas of diverting aid for its purposes. Humanitarian workers deny there is significant diversion, saying the UN strictly monitors distribution. They say the aid flow during the ceasefire was barely enough to cover the immense needs from throughout the war when only a trickle of supplies got in.

With no new goods entering Gaza, many foods have disappeared from markets, including meat, eggs, fruits, dairy products and many vegetables. Prices for what remains have risen dramatically, becoming unaffordable for much of the population. Most families rely heavily on canned goods.

Malnutrition is already surging. The UN said it identified 3,700 children suffering from acute malnutrition in March, up 80% from the month before. At the same time, because of diminishing supplies, aid groups were only able to provide nutritional supplements to some 22,000 children in March, down 70% from February. The supplements are a crucial tool for averting malnutrition.

Almost all bakeries shut down weeks ago and the WFP stopped distribution of food basics to families for lack of supplies. With stocks of most ingredients depleted, charity kitchens generally can only serve meals of pasta or rice with little added.

World Central Kitchen -- a US charity that is one of the biggest in Gaza that doesn’t rely on the WFP -- said Thursday that its kitchens had run out of proteins. Instead, they make stews from canned vegetables. Because fuel is scarce, it dismantles wooden shipping pallets to burn in its stoves, it said. It also runs the only bakery still functioning in Gaza, producing 87,000 loaves of pita a day.

The WFP said 116,000 tons of food is ready to be brought into Gaza if Israel opens the borders, enough to feed 1 million people for four months.

Israel has leveled much of Gaza with its air and ground campaign, vowing to destroy Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. It has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, whose count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

In the Oct. 7 attack, gunmen killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. They still hold 59 hostages after most were released in ceasefire deals.