UN Urges Extension of Cross-border Syria Aid Mechanism

A UN convoy arrived at camp in Syria's Idlib - File/ The AP
A UN convoy arrived at camp in Syria's Idlib - File/ The AP
TT
20

UN Urges Extension of Cross-border Syria Aid Mechanism

A UN convoy arrived at camp in Syria's Idlib - File/ The AP
A UN convoy arrived at camp in Syria's Idlib - File/ The AP

A UN official visiting Syria's Idlib on Tuesday urged a 12-month extension of a cross-border aid mechanism to the opposition-held, quake-hit region, just days before the current six-month period expires.

"There is no substitute in size and scope to the UN cross-border resolution if we want to meet the needs of the most vulnerable people in northwest Syria," said David Carden, the United Nations deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis, AFP reported.

"It's a joint message that you're hearing from the UN, the NGOs and the communities themselves in northwest Syria about the need for a 12-month renewal of the cross-border resolution," he told a press conference at a World Food Program (WFP) warehouse in Sarmada.

The mechanism, which is renewed by a vote of the Security Council, allows vital UN assistance to reach people in opposition-held northwest Syria without navigating areas controlled by government forces.

It was last renewed in January and is set to expire on July 10.

Carden said a 12-month extension of the resolution would "ensure that aid will continue to flow during the desperate winter months. It will ensure that early recovery programmes can be implemented."

The UN largely delivers the relief via neighboring Türkiye through the Bab al-Hawa crossing, which is controlled on the Syrian side by militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

After a February 6 earthquake devastated parts of Türkiye and Syria, Damascus agreed to open two more crossings from Türkiye- Bab al-Salama and Al-Rai -- for three months, and in May extended that access for another three-month period.

"There are 4.1 million people in need in northwest Syria," Carden said, adding that "the needs are immense. They've got more severe since the earthquake."

"The United Nations and its partners have been reaching 2.7 million people with aid every month," he added, noting that "about 75 to 80 percent of the trucks that cross the border through Bab al-Hawa into Idlib contain food."

Syria's war has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions since erupting in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests.

The number of UN-approved crossings has shrunk from four in 2014 after years of pressure from regime allies China and Russia at the UN Security Council.

For years, Moscow has pressured international organizations to pass exclusively through regions under the control of Damascus to distribute aid throughout the country -- going as far as vetoing cross-border extensions that exceeded six months.



UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
TT
20

UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says Israeli forces raided four of its schools in east Jerusalem, ordering their closure.

Israel has severed all ties with the agency, known as UNRWA, and bars it from operating in its territory. It says the agency allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, allegations denied by UN officials.

UNRWA said police entered a training center by force on Tuesday, firing tear gas and sound grenades and ordering its evacuation. It said 350 students and 30 staff were present during the raid on the Qalandiya Training Center.

It said police and city officials ordered the closure of three other schools in east Jerusalem, two of which proceeded with the school day.

Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne said police did not enter the UN buildings and that Jerusalem municipal authorities carried out the closures. He said police were deployed to protect the city workers, using “riot dispersal” means in one case where a crowd threw stones at them outside a UN facility.

Roland Friedrich, UNRWA director for the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, said the raids were an “unacceptable violation of United Nations privileges and immunities,” and a “denial of the right to education for children and trainees.”