Israeli Airstrikes Worsen Syria’s Deepening Humanitarian Crisis

Georgios Gerapetritis, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, addresses the Security Council meeting on the situation in Syria.

Over the past week, the humanitarian situation in Syria has significantly deteriorated, with tensions between the Druze religious minority and the Syrian military reaching new peaks. On July 16, Israel launched a series of powerful airstrikes on Syria’s capital, Damascus, in defense of Syria’s Druze population, further spurring regional instability and exacerbating the dire scale of needs.

Since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, the security situation for Druze Syrians has been particularly volatile, with hostilities escalating between late April and early May. Clashes between the Druze communities and the Syrian military resulted in numerous extrajudicial killings of Druze civilians.

From July 11 to 16, violent altercations between the Druze and Bedouin communities erupted in Suwayda and spread to neighboring cities, prompting the Syrian transitional government to deploy its military to restore order. According to figures from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), clashes between the Syrian military and the two minority groups resulted in over 200 deaths.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that residents in Suwayda have witnessed a litany of human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, burning of civilian infrastructure, looting, abductions, and incitement to violence.

OCHA spokesperson Eri Kaneko informed IPS that prior to Israel’s bombardment of Syria, roughly 300,000 civilians were in dire need of humanitarian assistance—approximately two-thirds of the nation’s population. Due to heightened insecurity, OCHA and its partners have been unable to assess the severity of the situation on the ground or deliver humanitarian aid.

On July 17, Israel launched further airstrikes on Damascus, as well as the Suwayda and Dara’a governorates, with one strike targeting Syria’s Defense Ministry Headquarters and the vicinity of the Presidential Palace. According to Syria’s Ministry of Health, the attack caused at least 3 civilian deaths and 34 injuries, as well as significant damage to surrounding civilian infrastructure.

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres condemned Israel’s “escalatory” airstrikes and called for an immediate de-escalation of hostilities. He emphasised that Syria’s sovereignty must be respected, and that there must be an orderly political transition to ensure lasting peace.

According to OCHA, nearly 2,000 families have been displaced from Suwayda following Israel’s bombardment, with most migrating to the Salkhad district. These communities face overwhelming shortages of basic services such as food, water, and healthcare.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), only 57 percent of hospitals and 37 percent of primary healthcare centres are fully functional. UN deputy relief chief Joyce Msuya added that millions of Syrians urgently require medical assistance, with injuries from unexploded ordnance, cholera, and food insecurity running rampant.

UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric noted that aid workers have faced worsening access constraints due to insecurity and road closures. On July 17, WHO announced it had dispatched 35 trauma and emergency surgery kits to assist in roughly 1,750 medical interventions. However, most of these supplies have been blocked from reaching Syrian healthcare facilities.

“Syria simply cannot withstand another wave of instability,” said UN Deputy Special Envoy to Syria Najat Rochdi. “The risks of further escalation in the region are not hypothetical – they are immediate, severe, and risk unraveling the fragile progress toward peace and recovery in Syria.”

In a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter), Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack in the “harshest terms”, citing its impact on civilians’ access to public services and violations of international humanitarian law.

“This flagrant assault, part of a deliberate policy pursued by the Israeli entity to inflame tensions, spread chaos, and undermine security and stability in Syria, constitutes a blatant violation of the United Nations Charter and international humanitarian law,” the Foreign Ministry added. Syria retains its right to defend itself.

Following Israel’s strikes on Damascus, the Israeli government warned it would escalate attacks if Syrian militants did not retreat from Suwayda, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. “We are acting to prevent the Syrian regime from harming the Druze and to ensure the demilitarisation of the area adjacent to our border with Syria,” said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz in a statement shared on X.

Shortly after the attacks, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed reporters that the fighting parties had agreed on a ceasefire, with Syrian militants beginning to retreat from Suwayda. Despite Rubio’s belief that hostilities were headed “towards a real de-escalation,” humanitarian experts expressed concern over the broader implications of Israel’s intervention in Syria and the wider Middle East.

“Israel’s strikes on Damascus targets reverberated around the region,” said Mona Yacoubian and Will Todman of the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS).

“Many Middle Eastern states fear that ongoing U.S. support for Israel is allowing it to establish itself as the regional hegemon, with an ability to conduct strikes across the region with impunity. These fears have pushed Arab Gulf states to maintain ties with Iran to hedge against Israel’s influence.”