I. Background and Methodology
This report documents the civilian deaths documented by the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) as having been perpetrated by the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria during the month of November 2024, in addition to listing the attacks on vital civilian facilities in the same period. The report sheds light particularly on deaths due to torture, victims among medical personnel, and massacres by the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria. The report also includes a summary of the most notable incidents that took place during this month. Full details of every incident are archived on the SNHR database.
The fatalities recorded in this report are limited to civilian deaths that have been documented in the last month. Some of these deaths may have taken place months or years ago, in which case we list the date on which the death was officially documented, as well as the estimated date of death. For more information, please read SNHR’s methodology on documenting victims.
This report chronicles civilian deaths according to the parties actively engaged in the Syrian conflict. In this context, accurately ascribing responsibility sometimes requires more time and investigation than usual, especially in the case of joint attacks. We also face additional challenges in assigning responsibility for ground-based attacks, especially those in which the bombardment originates from an area adjacent to the one targeted, which is controlled by a different party to the perpetrator. In such cases, SNHR tries to thoroughly investigate each incident, in order to conclusively identify the party responsible for the bombardment. In the event this proved to be impossible, these incidents are categorized as having been perpetrated by other parties until such time as we have gathered sufficient evidence to conclusively assign responsibility.
While we at the SNHR are keen to accurately ascribe responsibility for incidents to the relevant parties, we exclude two types of attacks from the process of assigning responsibility, namely anti-personnel landmines, and remote explosions, including suicide or forced suicide attacks. We discussed this issue previously in detailed reports.
As for anonymous victims who have not yet been identified or regarding whom we have so far been unable to find any identifying information, these cases are catalogued in a separate archive until any information confirming these victims’ identity is received.
This report draws upon the SNHR team’s constant daily monitoring of news and developments in Syria, and on information supplied by our extensive and varied countrywide network, which has been built up over the course of our work since 2011. SNHR also provides a special form that can be completed by victims’ relatives with victims’ names and personal information so that our Victims Documentation Department can follow up on the information provided, verify its accuracy, and then add it to the database.
All the attacks included in this report targeted civilian areas where we documented no military presence or armories before or during the attacks. Also, the perpetrators of these attacks failed to issue any warnings to civilians prior to any of the attacks as required by international humanitarian law.
The information included in this report only represents the bare minimum of the actual severity and magnitude of the violations documented. Also, it doesn’t include any analysis of the profound social, economic, and psychological ramifications of these events on those affected.