Attachments
The Northeast Syria NGO Forum is deeply concerned by renewed escalations across Northeast Syria. Between October 23 and 24, 35 strikes were recorded across Northeast Syria marking the highest number of strikes to be reported over 24 hours. At the time of publication, escalations are still ongoing, with a total of 63 strikes. Reportedly, 17 civilians died and 60 have been injured in this escalation period. 10 critical infrastructure sites are currently either severely damaged or out of service. On October 24, 2024, the majority of humanitarian partners operating in affected areas delivering essential services — such as health, protection, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) — reported suspending their movements due to the escalation in hostilities. This disruption not only impedes access to critical support but also heightens vulnerabilities among affected communities, who are increasingly cut off from life-saving assistance. These most recent strikes follow a series of intense escalations in late 2023 and early 2024, as documented by the NES Forum from October 2023 through January 2024. During that period, the surge in hostilities severely damaged the civilian infrastructure essential to the population of Northeast Syria, that are yet to be repaired to their original capacity. Repeated attacks targeted critical facilities, including electricity transfer stations, gas and fuel plants, medical facilities, agricultural lands, silos, and major access routes, with serious impacts on access to water, power, heating, health, and food security, among other basic needs. The compounded impact of these ongoing strikes threatens to deepen the humanitarian crisis and further erode the resilience of affected communities. The damage to energy infrastructure caused by this latest round of airstrikes will further degrade civilians’ access to water and electricity. In total, access to electricity for 1.05 million inhabitants in 1,322 communities, 1,937 schools and 12 medical facilities is now severely challenged across Northeast Syria. Since the early hours of October 24, a primary electricity generating station, and two substations have been rendered inoperable. In Kobani, a strike on the city’s main power station has resulted in a complete power outage, affecting access to electricity for 106,551 residents in the Kobani Sub-District, as well as 13 water stations and boreholes. Critically, the Sweidiyeh gas-powered electricity facility is once again out of service. As the sole distributor of gas in Northeast Syria, Sweidiyeh’s shutdown threatens a shortage of cooking gas and could drive gas cylinder prices even higher, with rates already reported to have doubled on the black market in different areas of Northeast Syria, since October 24. Additionally, the Amuda substation has reportedly gone offline after sustaining multiple strikes. This outage affects electricity access for 87,306 people in Amuda and Darbasiyah Sub-Districts, 50 communal water sources, and the vital Alouk Water Station. The loss of these facilities severely restricts access to essential resources, including clean water and fuel, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation in the region. These renewed escalations in conflict activity are set to further complicate communities’ and services’ access to electricity as well as to drastically increase the over-reliance on generators. Fuel prices will also be affected by the recent developments. The damage sustained in two refinery’ sites (Awda Stations in Qahtaniyah Sub-District and Sweidiyeh Station in Derik Sub-District) and in four pumping stations (Awda, Zarbi and Saeeda Stations in Qahtaniyah Sub-District, Babasi Station in Jawadiyah Sub-District) will severely impact the production and distribution of fuel used for electricity, generators, transport, heating and cooking. According to previous escalations, shortages in fuel, increases in prices and decreases in quality can be expected to affect services operationality, civilians’ lives and humanitarian operations. Health facilities will suffer further from this compounded crisis, whereby they will face severe limitations in access to electricity, both from the power stations being out of service and the increase in fuel prices to operate their generators. This will severely affect the quality of care, as power blackouts will lead to interruption of the cold chain (i.e., vaccines, medications) and key medical equipment (i.e., x-ray machines). Heating and cooking fuels are critical for winter survival, with cold weather fast approaching. Without fuel, host communities and Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in camps and collective centres will suffer under winter’s near-freezing conditions, which may lead to preventable deaths. Humanitarian organisations themselves will also face increasing challenges to provide much-needed support to communities due to limited availability and the high costs of fuel. Damage to both power stations as well as oil facilities and fields will also have a devastating impact on Northeast Syria’s population’s access to water. 63 water stations and boreholes in Kobani, Darbasiyah and Amuda Sub-Districts were reliant on the sub-stations struck on October 24. Water shortages, in particular, pose a significant risk, as they directly affect the availability of essential WASH services. The absence of these services remains one of the primary drivers of disease outbreaks, which have long plagued the population in Northeast Syria. It comes at a time when Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD), suspected to be cholera cases, have been rising throughout Northeast Syria since August, from Deir ez-Zor Governorate to Raqqa Governorate and finally reaching Hasakeh Governorate. Due to the extremely limited cholera testing capacity in Northeast Syria, confirming cases has been a challenge, with only 130 cases confirmed. This is especially alarming in displacement camps, where the newly displaced are expected to seek shelter. In camps like Al Hol, the situation is deteriorating rapidly, with at least 26 cases of suspected cholera recently reported. Overcrowded conditions and inadequate WASH services significantly increase the risk of further disease outbreaks, underscoring the urgent need for a cessation of hostilities and for access to water and sanitation services to be quickly restored. The recent escalation of hostilities comes at a critical time, as aid agencies across Northeast Syria are already grappling with a new influx of forcibly displaced people fleeing the worsening escalation of hostilities in Lebanon. On October 20, the United Nations (UN) estimated that more than 27,610 individuals are believed to have arrived in Northeast Syria. It is expected to further strain the humanitarian response in Northeast Syria, compounding existing challenges in health, protection, and food security. The situation is particularly dire given the severe shortages of water and electricity caused by the ongoing attacks over the past year with four escalations impacting directly infrastructure critical for the survival of the civilian population. The damages sustained cannot be addressed by the humanitarian response, both due to limited resources as well as political red-lines to support large-scale infrastructural repairs. Humanitarian actors are not in a position to respond to the needs created as a result of the infrastructure damage as they are already struggling to respond to the long-standing needs of the population, following significant funding cuts over the past years. Critical cuts in humanitarian funding are bringing to a halt vital services, adding to the difficulties early recovery programming and localisation efforts face. Further compounding the Northeast Syrian humanitarian response are historical limitations on accessing UN funding in Northeast Syria, all current UN emergency funding appeals for the Lebanon displacement crisis remain inaccessible to Northeast Syria cross-border registered actors. The NES Forum calls on all parties to the conflict to immediately cease all hostilities in Northeast Syria, and for the international community to acknowledge the contraventions of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) occurring in Northeast Syria. Halting the violence is essential to enable a coordinated and effective humanitarian response, without which efforts to prevent further suffering and loss of life will remain gravely hindered. IHL and International Human Rights Law (IHRL) must be respected to protect civilian lives, properties and infrastructures, especially concerning the use of explosive weapons in highly populated areas. Attacks on civilians and civilian objects constitute a breach of Customary IHL, invoking the obligation of other states to bring such violations to an end. The humanitarian response cannot sustain the level of damages increasing with each escalation of hostilities. These attacks must be stopped, critical infrastructure repaired and civilian lives protected. Investments made into Northeast Syria and the humanitarian response are being repeatedly undermined and the safety of both civilians and humanitarian actors is increasingly at risk.