According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the escalation of hostilities in north-west Syria has developed rapidly since Tuesday night. Shelling and airstrikes on front lines in the cities of Idleb and western Aleppo have escalated, leading to clashes and changes of control between warring parties. The renewed fighting has exacerbated the already dire humanitarian situation.
The fighting reportedly involves Syrian government forces, the Russian air force, and non-state armed groups (NSAGs), and is the worst since late September 2024. The "Deterring Aggression" operation, which involves the opposition armed groups Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) and the National Liberation Front (NLF), is reportedly aimed at protecting opposition-held areas and deterring attacks by government and allied forces, whose strikes have increased in recent months.
North-west Syria has seen an intensification of attacks since September 23, with intermittent periods of calm and escalation of incidents. Renewed fighting erupted on Wednesday, resulting in large-scale displacement, dozens of civilian casualties, the suspension of classes at schools and universities in Idlib and the western countryside of Aleppo, and the suspension of humanitarian aid by several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) due to the violence.
Since Wednesday, active hostilities in the western countryside of Aleppo Governorate have displaced thousands of families to Aleppo city, leaving many vulnerable to harsh winter conditions. Many of the displaced arrived barefoot and without belongings, underscoring the severity of their plight.
OCHA reported Friday that at least 14,000 people - about half of them children - have been displaced. Aid agencies are trying to verify the number of people who may have been displaced by the latest violence.
According to ECHO, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid, as many as 45,000 people have been forced to flee from the front lines. In an update on Thursday, ECHO warned that the hostilities could cause new displacement of some 200,000 to 400,000 Syrians.
Since Wednesday, 30 NGOs in Idleb have reported the suspension of humanitarian activities due to the fighting. At least 24 health facilities have suspended services, mostly in areas close to the front lines, while 15 aid agencies providing nutrition services have suspended their activities.
In its latest report on Friday, OCHA said the situation in Aleppo Governorate remained extremely dynamic. As of Friday, intense hostilities continued in areas of Aleppo Governorate, reportedly resulting in some significant territorial changes with implications for civilians as well as humanitarian operations.
On the same day, active hostilities reportedly extended to areas within Aleppo city, affecting civilian residential areas. Aleppo International Airport is now closed, and all flights have been suspended. Movement in and out of Aleppo city is currently only possible via the Khanaser-Atharia road, which is not safe.
OCHA reports that two major hospitals in Aleppo city have announced that they are close to maximum capacity, while most private hospitals are closed due to the ongoing active hostilities. Bab Al-Hawa Hospital in Idlib province, one of the largest health facilities in north-west Syria, has suspended outpatient clinics and non-emergency surgeries, limiting its operations to critical cases.
The UN says the situation remains highly fluid as humanitarian agencies continue to verify figures.
More than 13 years after civil war broke out in the country, Syrians are living through one of the largest and most costly humanitarian crises in the world. Across Syria, 16.7 million people - more than 70 percent of the population - are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, with women and children particularly affected.
An estimated 15.4 million people in the country face acute food insecurity, 1.8 million people urgently need access to safe drinking water, and more than 500,000 children require life-saving treatment for acute malnutrition.
Some 13.6 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes as a result of the war. While 7.2 million women, men and children are internally displaced within their own country, the civil war has led to more than 6.4 million Syrian refugees, mostly in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Germany.
The situation is particularly dire in the north-west of the country, bordering Turkey, with nearly half of Syria's displaced people living in Idleb and Aleppo.
The uptick in hostilities comes at a time when the humanitarian response is facing its worst funding gap since the start of the Syrian crisis. The 2024 Syria Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) is the largest humanitarian funding appeal ever for a single country. With just one month left in the year, the Syria HRP has secured less than 30 percent of the US$4.07 billion needed to help the most vulnerable.
North-west Syria is home to 4.2 million people, 80 percent of whom are internally displaced, having fled the war several times. There, underfunding has led to the suspension of aid and essential services, including water and sanitation support in hundreds of camps and health services in more than 80 health facilities.
The Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, David Carden, has expressed deep concern over the impact of the recent escalation of hostilities in north-west Syria on civilians, particularly children.
Meanwhile, Syria has also been heavily impacted by Israel's war in neighboring Lebanon. Some 562,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria since September 24, with 63 percent of the arrivals being Syrian and 37 percent Lebanese.
In the midnight hours of Wednesday, three border crossings with Lebanon were hit by Israeli airstrikes, causing deaths and injuries, as well as the destruction of connecting bridges and extensive damage to surrounding structures.
One Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) volunteer was killed in an airstrike that hit the Ad Dabousiyah crossing. Several other SARC workers were injured. The attack also killed three civilians, injured more than a dozen others, and damaged a number of SARC ambulances.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, Adam Abdelmoula, together with the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, Ramanathan Balakrishnan, called for the protection of civilians and civilian assets, including humanitarian workers.
“Not only has the attack resulted in the deplorable killing of a humanitarian worker and injuring others, but it has also resulted in three civilian deaths and at least a dozen injuries, including women and children,” they said.
“We have time and again reiterated that civilians and civilian objects are protected under international humanitarian law and must not be caught in line of fire. Nonetheless, we are faced today with unabated impunity.”
The humanitarian coordinators reiterated their call on the international community to take immediate and decisive action to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure as well as humanitarians and humanitarian operations across Syria, in full accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law.
“Impunity must end here and now,” they said.