A humanitarian aid convoy has reached Syria’s Druze-majority Suwayda province, as the United Nations warns that the humanitarian situation remains critical after last week’s deadly clashes displaced thousands and left essential services in ruins. The Syrian Red Crescent convoy, consisting of 27 trucks carrying 200 tonnes of flour, 2,000 shelter kits, 1,000 food baskets, and medical and other food supplies, entered Suwayda on Monday.
The clashes in Suwayda province, which began on July 13 and ended with a ceasefire a week later, initially involved Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes, who have been fighting for decades. Later, government forces joined the fighting on the side of the Bedouin armed groups. According to the UN’s humanitarian agency, OCHA, the humanitarian situation in Suwayda province “remains critical amid ongoing instability and intermittent hostilities.”
“Humanitarian access, due to roadblocks, insecurity, and other impediments… remains constrained, hampering the ability of humanitarians to assess need thoroughly and to provide critical life-saving assistance on a large scale,” OCHA said in a statement. The violence resulted in power and water outages, as well as shortages of food, medicine, and fuel.
Local news outlet Suwayda24 reported that “the humanitarian needs in Suwayda are dire,” saying many more aid convoys were needed for the province. It said demonstrations demanding more humanitarian aid were held in several locations on Monday. Suwayda24 also published a warning from local civil and humanitarian groups of a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Suwayda, adding that the province “is under a suffocating, escalating siege imposed by the authorities” that has led to a severe lack of basic supplies.
The Syrian government has deployed forces in parts of the province, but goods are unable to enter due to the ongoing closure of the Suwayda-Damascus highway, as government-affiliated armed groups are obstructing traffic. However, Suwayda’s provincial Governor Mustafa al-Bakkur said that aid convoys were entering Suwayda province normally and that “the roads are unobstructed for the entry of relief organisations to the province.”
The clashes killed more than 250 people and threatened to unravel Syria’s post-war transition. The violence also displaced 128,571 people, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration. Israel intervened and launched air attacks on Syria’s Ministry of Defence buildings in the heart of Damascus. Israeli forces also hit Syrian government forces in Suwayda province, claiming it was protecting the Druze, whom it calls its “brothers.”
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin stressed the importance of Syria’s territorial integrity in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Putin also said that political stability in the country must be achieved through respect for “all ethnic and religious groups’ interests,” a Kremlin statement said. A senior Turkish official also called for sustained de-escalation and an end to Israeli military attacks in Syria, stressing the need to support Damascus’s efforts to stabilise the war-torn country.