The Whole of Syria Flash Update No. 4 - Recent Developments in Syria (As of 10 December 2024)

Highlights

• Hostilities continue to affect many parts of Syria since the collapse of the Assad government on 8 December. Approximately 100,000 individuals have been displaced to north-east Syria to date.
• Displacement remains highly fluid across the country, with the humanitarian community raising concerns about the risks of explosive ordnance as people continue to move. Partners have identified 52 minefields over the past ten days.
• Hospitals across Syria are overwhelmed by the high number of trauma and other injury cases. Health partners reported significant psychological distress among civilians, with signs of trauma particularly pronounced in children.
• Food shortages have been reported in major cities, including Deir ez-Zor, Damascus, and Hama. The price of bread alone in Idleb and Aleppo has increased by 900 per cent between 27 November and 9 December.
• Despite the challenges and volatile environment, the UN and partners are continuing activities as the security situation permits.

Situation Overview

The security and humanitarian situation in Syria continues to be volatile and dynamic days following the collapse of the Assad government on 8 December.

Airstrikes and other hostilities continue to be reported in Damascus, Rural Damascus, Dar’a, and As-Sweida. Some looting of aid warehouses, including those of UN agencies and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), has been reported as of 9 December but remains to be confirmed. A curfew has been announced in Damascus and its countryside, Latakia, and Tartous from 17:00 to 5:00 local time. While vital public services are gradually resuming, movement restrictions, including curfews, are hindering the flow of goods and services.

North-west Syria has witnessed a period of relative calm, with no hostilities reported from 8 to 9 December. In the early morning of 10 December, shelling was reported in residential areas in Jarablus, eastern Aleppo, without civilian casualties. Meanwhile, access and delivery of services continue to be challenging in parts of north-east Syria, notably Ar-Raqqa and Tabqa, and in Mahmoudli Camp. While a curfew has been imposed from 8 pm to 8 am local time, local authorities have exempted NGOs, except in Deir ez-Zor.

Civilians have paid a heavy price following two weeks of hostilities, with hundreds killed and injured, including a significant proportion of women and children. In north-west Syria alone, at least 75 civilians, including 28 children and 11 women, have been killed by hostilities from 26 November to 8 December, according to data verified by local health authorities. At least 282 others have been injured, including 106 children and 56 women.