UN official warns of spiralling violence in Syria as Israel increases air attacks
The UN’s deputy special envoy for Syria, Najat Rochdi, has warned the country is being battered by regional conflicts and increasing attacks within the country will likely make this year its most violent since 2020.
Speaking at the UN Security Council on Thursday, Rochdi urged all countries and parties with influence “to prevent Syria being further swept into a broader conflagration” and warned that “once again, Israeli air strikes on Syria have increased significantly, both in frequency and scope”.
Rochdi pointed to the attack near Palmyra city on Wednesday that killed dozens, and which she said was “likely the deadliest Israeli strike in Syria to date”.
Israeli strikes on residential areas in the capital Damascus as well as on bridges, roads and border crossings have further hindered civilians fleeing the war in Lebanon and disrupted essential imports and exports, she said.
Edem Wosornu, the UN humanitarian office’s operations director, said that since late September, 540,000 people have arrived in Syria from Lebanon – amid Israel’s attack on the country – and an estimated two-thirds of them are Syrians.
Record number of aid workers killed this year – most in Gaza: OCHA
There have been 281 aid workers killed this year, according to the Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD), a USAID-funded project of the international research group Humanitarian Outcomes.
The count, the highest since the project began tracking victims 27 years ago, was cited by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
“The war in Gaza is driving up the numbers, with more than 320 humanitarian personnel killed since 7 October 2023,” the OCHA statement said. “Many were killed in the line of duty while providing humanitarian assistance. Most were staff members of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).”
Humanitarians “are working courageously and selflessly in places like Gaza, Sudan, Lebanon, Ukraine and so on. They show the best humanity has to offer, and they are getting killed in return – in record numbers,” said Jens Laerke, spokesman for OCHA.
“These numbers will send shockwaves around the humanitarian community, especially on the front lines of the response,” he said.
