Highlights - Rising prices of fuel and basic food items impacting upon health and nutritional status of Syrians in several governorates - Children and youth continue to suffer disproportionately on frontlines - Five inter-agency convoys reach over 50,000 people in hard-to-reach and besieged areas of Damascus, Rural Damascus and Homs - Seven cross-border consignments delivered from Turkey with aid for 631,150 people in northern Syria - Heightened fighting displaces thousands in ArRaqqa and Ghouta - Resumed airstrikes on Dar’a prompting displacement
Situation Overview
The reporting period was characterised by evolving security and conflict dynamics which have had largely negative implications for the protection of civilian populations and humanitarian access within locations across the country.
Despite reaffirmation of a commitment to the country-wide cessation of hostilities agreement in Aleppo, and a brief reduction in fighting witnessed in Aleppo city, civilians continued to be exposed to both indiscriminate attacks and deprivation as parties to the conflict blocked access routes to Aleppo city and between cities and residential areas throughout northern governorates. Consequently, prices for fuel, essential food items and water surged in several locations as supply was threatened and production became non-viable, with implications for both food and water security of affected populations.
Cross-line assistance deliveries were carried out through five inter-agency convoys to besieged and hard to reach areas in Damascus and Rural Damascus. In parallel millions of people in accessible areas continued to receive assistance through the regular programming and cross-border assistance from Turkey and Jordan. Humanitarian access to ISIL-held areas of Deir-ez-Zor and Ar-Raqqa remained circumscribed due to ISIL’s restrictive policy vis-à-vis humanitarian actors as well as insecurity, though alternative modalities for aid delivery have continued to be employed in coordination with local actors. The continued closure of the Nusaybin border crossing and the absence of viable alternatives prevented hundreds of thousands of people in need in Al-Hasakeh from receiving assistance, leading the United Nations to initiate planning for a costly air-bridge as a last resort.
Heightened fighting in Ar-Raqqa, Rural Damascus and Dar’a were reported to have contributed to displacement of thousands of households while also threatening populations’ access to markets, water supply and agricultural lands sustaining local communities.