ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Humanitarian aid services have been stretched to the breaking point and the situation remains “dire” in southern Syria after July’s sectarian violence killed more than 1,600 people and displaced nearly 200,000, the United Nations said on Thursday.
“The overall situation is dire. We need to sustain urgent delivery of food, health, shelter, clean water, fuel, restoration of water and electricity infrastructure, education. In some areas, those arriving now outnumber the existing population. Services are overwhelmed,” said Tom Fletcher, emergency relief coordinator for the UN’s humanitarian organization.
Clashes broke out on July 13 between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes in Suwayda. The conflict escalated with the involvement of Israel and Syrian government forces before a US-brokered ceasefire was announced on July 19.
At least 1,677 people were killed, including “452 civilians field-executed” by Syrian government forces, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated in mid-August. The monitor has reported near-daily ceasefire violations.
Humanitarian and health conditions have severely deteriorated in the Druze-majority province, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday. Residents face shortages of food, medicine, and basic services.
Continued insecurity and road closures have hindered the delivery of aid from the UN, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, and other humanitarian organizations.
There is also a large funding shortfall. With 16 million Syrians across the country needing assistance, the UN’s Fletcher said only 14 percent of the 2025 humanitarian appeal for Syria is funded and cuts in aid from Western countries are expected to reduce humanitarian staff in the country by at least 40 percent.
Without more money, “we won’t be able to sustain these vital efforts, let alone expand them to more people who need them,” he warned.
Earlier this month, the UK announced more than $2.2 million in additional support to provide healthcare, medicine, food, and clean water to people displaced by recent violence. “In Southern Syria, though we welcome the ceasefire, we remain concerned by the continued difficulty of humanitarian and commercial access to the region,” said James Kariuki, Britain’s deputy permanent representative to the UN.
The Suwayda unrest followed similar violence in early March, when clashes broke out in the Alawite-majority coastal regions after loyalists of ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad attacked security forces aligned with Syria’s interim leadership.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, called for full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all communities in Syria, in line with principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.
He welcomed the lifting of what he called illegal unilateral measures against the Syrian people, saying they have worsened the humanitarian crisis, blocked reconstruction and hampered economic recovery.
“Removing these measures is essential to enable the safe and dignified return of refugees and internally displaced persons,” Iravani said, adding that sanctions should never be used as instruments of political pressure or interference in Syria’s internal affairs.
In December, a group of rebels spearheaded by the Islamist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) toppled dictator Bashar al-Assad. Their leader Ahmed al-Sharaa was declared interim president as the country navigates a transitional period.
The new authorities in Damascus vowed to uphold the rights of all citizens, but have faced repeated criticism from minorities who accuse them of steering the country into islamic rule.
Populations such as the Alawites, Christians, Druze and Kurds have called for a decentralized governance. The interim authorities have refused and accused the minority groups of trying to divide the country.
“The country remains deeply fragile and the transition remains on a knife-edge,” UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen told the Security Council on Thursday.
