Today's top news: Syria, Jordan

Wood being loaded onto trucks in north-west Syria

Wood used for construction, maintenance and repair of shelters being uploaded in trucks headed for north-west Syria at the UN Transshipment Hub in Türkiye. 6 December 2022. OCHA/Ammer Al-Najar

Martin Griffiths in Jordan, Syria

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, was in Jordan yesterday where he held talks with Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi. They discussed the continued cooperation to respond to challenges and opportunities in the region.

Mr. Griffiths is in Syria today and is expected to discuss progress and challenges regarding the humanitarian response to the Syria crisis.

Syria

On 23 June, a UN cross-line convoy of 10 trucks carrying 220 tons of humanitarian assistance for 22,000 people crossed from Aleppo to Sarmada in north-west Syria. The convoy delivered aid, including food, wheat flour, mobile storage units, hygiene kits and health items, among other supplies, which were provided by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the UN Refugee Agency and the World Food Programme.

In north-west Syria, more than 4 million people rely aid on to meet their most basic needs. Some 80 per cent of these people are women and children. Our humanitarian colleagues warn of a deteriorating humanitarian situation due to the recent February earthquakes, ongoing hostilities and a deepening economic crisis.

While an important complement, the cross-line operation is not able a substitute for the size or scope of the massive United Nations cross-border operation, which reaches 2.7 million Syrians each month with vital aid, including food and vaccines.

The UN continues to do all it can to scale up crossline assistance to people in need across Syria.

The UN stresses the need for increased access to all communities in Syria requiring humanitarian aid and calls on concerned parties to secure the necessary approvals and security guarantees for more regular cross-line assistance.

North-west Syria has witnessed a sharp increase in hostilities in the last two weeks.

Yesterday, attacks were reported in Idleb Governorate, resulting in the deaths of at least 11 civilians and the injury of more than 30 civilians, including at least two children. The attacks affected residential neighbourhoods, damaging a vacant school and a popular marketplace.

In a statement today, the Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria crisis, David Carden, said that he is concerned about this escalation of hostilities and offered his condolences.

Since the beginning of this year, and excluding the figures from yesterday’s incident, at least 21 civilians have been killed and at least 51 civilians injured, according to monitoring carried out by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.