Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

 

5,800 People Killed in Syria Earthquake, Late Aid Cargos Started to Arrive by Air and Land

February 15, 2023

 

A Syrian woman in Aleppo salvaging a stove and a gas canister, after the earthquake, February 10, 2023	Some crushed buildings in Harem, Syria, in the aftermath of the February 6, 2023 earthquake

Syrian buildings destroyed by earthquake of February 6, 2023

 

Syria to allow quake aid through 2 more border gates: UN

BY AGENCIES

 ISTANBUL 

Daily Sabah, FEB 14, 2023

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced that Syria's President Bashar Assad has agreed to open two more border crossings to authorize humanitarian aid for earthquake survivors affected by the recent disaster in Türkiye and northwest Syria.

"Opening these crossing points — along with facilitating humanitarian access, accelerating visa approvals and easing travel between hubs — will allow more aid to go in, faster," said Guterres.

The U.N. Security Council held a closed-door meeting on Monday to discuss the humanitarian situation in Syria in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes.

U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths arrived in Aleppo on Monday, according to state news agency SANA, amid heavy criticism of delays in earthquake aid.

Griffiths admitted the U.N.'s failure on Sunday. "[The Syrian people] rightly feel abandoned. Looking for international help that hasn't arrived," Griffiths said in a tweet.

Griffiths said on Sunday that he expects the final death toll from the earthquakes in both Türkiye and Syria to exceed 50,000.

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First Saudi aid plane lands in Syria’s govt-held areas - state media

A Saudi aid plane is seen, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, at Aleppo airport, Syria February 14, 2023. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi

BEIRUT, Feb 14, 2023 (Reuters) -

A Saudi aid plane landed at a Syrian airport held by the government of President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday in the first such shipment from the kingdom that has backed the armed opposition to Assad during the country's 11-year civil war.

Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya reported that the plane carrying 35 tons of food and medical aid and shelter arrived at Aleppo International airport as part of a Saudi humanitarian operation to help Syrians affected by last week's deadly earthquake.

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It said the operation was carried out on the orders of Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

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"The directives given to us from the leadership in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is to help the brotherly Syrian people affected (by the earthquake) across Syria," a member of the Saudi delegation told Syrian television.

The person, who was not identified, said that Tuesday's plane was the first of several set to arrive over the next days.

Before Tuesday, Saudi Arabia had sent aid only to the country's opposition-held northwest, including a convoy of 12 trucks that arrived in the devastated city of Jandaris on Monday, according to Saudi state-owned Al-Hadath.

The overall death toll from last week's earthquake in Turkey and Syria has topped 37,000, more than 5,714 of them in Syria according to a Reuters tally of reports from Syrian state media and a U.N. agency.

First Saudi aid plane lands in Syria’s govt-held areas - state media | Reuters

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UN Delegation Meets Interim Government at Headquarters North of Aleppo

Syria Observer, Thursday February 16th, 2023

by SHAAM NETWORK (Opposition website)  

The Prime Minister provided a detailed presentation on the aftermath of the earthquake disaster and the government's response, according to Shaam Network.

The President of the Syrian Interim Government, Abdul Rahman Mustafa, held a meeting with a United Nations delegation led by Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator David Carden. The meeting took place at the government headquarters in Kafr Jannah, which is located north of Aleppo. The delegation had arrived through the Bab al-Salama border crossing with Turkey.

During a recent meeting, the Prime Minister provided a detailed presentation on the aftermath of the earthquake disaster and the government’s response from the first moments of its occurrence up until today. Despite the opening of the Bab al-Salama and al-Rahi crossings to receive aid, the United Nations has been slow to provide support to the affected region. Mustafa emphasized the importance of solidarity between all parties, including the UN, relevant institutions, other humanitarian organizations, local councils, and the government team, in order to organize relief efforts as effectively as possible.

Carden expressed his appreciation for the efforts made by the emergency and aid committees within the government. He also praised their role in opening the crossings, facilitating the entry of aid, and ensuring that it reaches the affected areas as quickly as possible. 

Eight days after the devastating earthquake, the first aid convoy from the United Nations entered Syria through the Bab al-Salama border crossing with Turkey. This was accompanied by the arrival of a high-level UN delegation, which entered the northwestern regions of Syria via the same border crossing on Wednesday. The delegation had previously entered the country through the Bab al-Hawa crossing and held meetings in the Idleb countryside the day before.

The management of the Bab al-Salama crossing said that the convoy, consisting of 11 trucks, includes relief and medical materials for Syrians affected by the earthquake. This marks the first time since the summer of 2020 that the United Nations has used the Bab al-Salama crossing to deliver aid. The crossing was excluded from the mechanism for delivering aid across the border due to Russian pressure on the UN Security Council, limiting aid delivery to the Bab al-Hawa crossing.

UN Delegation Meets Interim Government at Headquarters North of Aleppo - The Syrian Observer

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More than 120 cargo planes of aid arrived in Syrian airports, land aid caravans continue crossing Syrian borders

Al-Watan (Syria), February 16, 2023

أكثر من 120 طائرة مساعدات حطت في المطارات السورية والقوافل تواصل عبور الحدود … غوتيريش أكد استمرار دعم سورية.. والصحة العالمية: الزلزال خلف معاناة لا توصف

| الوطن  ، الخميس, 16-02-2023

على الوتيرة ذاتها، استمر وصول المساعدات المحملة بالمواد الإغاثية والطبية لمتضرري الزلزال في سورية، حيث وصلت، حتى ساعة إعداد هذا التقرير، 15 طائرة أمس حملت أكثر من 350 طناً من المساعدات الإنسانية والإغاثية والطبية، بينها 7 طائرات إماراتية واثنتان من ليبيا وواحدة سعودية وأخرى أردنية، ليكون عدد أجمالي الطائرات التي وصلت إلى المطارات السورية قد تجاوز 120 طائرة وذلك بالتزامن مع وصول المزيد من القوافل البرية من دول الجوار، بينها قافلة من الصهاريج العراقية محملة بالوقود. وجرى مساء أمس اتصال هاتفي بين وزير الخارجية والمغتربين فيصل المقداد والأمين العام للأمم المتحدة أنطونيو غوتيريش، قدّم خلاله غوتيريش تعازيه لسورية ولأسر ضحايا الزلزال المدمّر الذي ضرب المنطقة. وجدد غوتيريش ترحيبه بقرار الحكومة السورية إدخال المساعدات الأممية عبر معبرين حدوديين مع تركيا إلى محافظة إدلب ولمدّة 3 أشهر، مؤكداً أن الأمم المتحدة ستبذل كل ما يمكن من جهود لإدخال المساعدات إلى كل المناطق المتضررة في سورية استجابةً لتداعيات الزلزال.

ووضع غوتيريش المقداد بصورة الجهود المبذولة في هذا الصدد والنداء الذي أطلقه لجمع المساعدات لسورية، وحشد التمويل اللازم لدعم السوريين المتضررين من الزلزال. بدوره عبر المقداد عن تقديره للجهود الشخصية للأمين العام للأمم المتحدة لحشد الدعم لسورية ودعم جهود الدولة السورية في الاستجابة لتداعيات الزلزال، مؤكداً حرص الحكومة السورية على مساعدة كل السوريين المتضررين من الزلزال على كامل التراب السوري. وشرح المقداد الإجراءات التي اتخذتها الحكومة السورية لمواجهة نتائج هذه الكارثة الإنسانية، مشيراً إلى أن الزلزال كانت تداعياته الكارثية أكثر دماراً لأنه أتى بعد اثني عشر عاماً من تداعيات الحرب الإرهابية وأنشطة الإرهابيين التخريبية، كما جاء في ظل إعاقة الإجراءات القسرية أحادية الجانب لترميم القدرات الوطنية في السنوات الماضية وللقيام بأعمال الاستجابة ولإيصال الدعم للسوريين بعد الزلزال. وأكد المقداد على أهمية دور الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة في إبراز هذه الأوضاع الإنسانية الصعبة التي تواجهها سورية، ومطالبة الدول الغربية برفع الإجراءات القسرية اللاشرعية.

واتفق الجانبان على الاستمرار بالتواصل والتنسيق لتذليل كل العقبات والاستمرار في دعم السوريين المتضررين. اتصال المقداد وغوتيريش كان سبقه تصريحات للمدير العام لمنظمة الصحة العالمية تيدروس أدهانوم غيبريسوس، أكد فيها من جنيف أن الزلزال في سورية خلف دماراً كبيراً ومعاناة لا توصف لمناطق بأكملها مؤكداً أن المنظمة ملتزمة بتقديم الدعم للسوريين كافة اليوم ومستقبلاً. وأشار غيبريسوس إلى أن القطاع الصحي في سورية عاجز عن مواجهة حالة طوارئ كهذه جراء الحرب مشيراً إلى أن المنظمة أطلقت نداء للجهات المانحة لتقديم 43 مليون دولار للاستجابة في سورية وتركيا. في الأثناء حطت في المطارات السورية أمس 7 طائرات إماراتية وطائرة سعودية، هي الثانية خلال يومين، كما وصلت طائرة من بيلاروس إلى حلب وواحدة من الأردن وواحدة من الصين وأخرى من اليابان وأيضاً من تونس وطائرتا مساعدات من ليبيا. وعبر الحدود الجنوبية دخلت قافلة مساعدات إلى مركز نصيب الحدودي قادمة من الأردن تضم سبع شاحنات على متنها مواد إغاثية للمتضررين، كما دخل من العراق 23 صهريجاً محملاً بالوقود عبر معبر البوكمال، ووصلت إلى معبر العريضة الحدودي بمحافظة طرطوس قافلة مساعدات إغاثية مقدمة من جمعية كشافة الرسالة الإسلامية في لبنان.

وبعد توقيع بروتوكول استلام المساعدات المرسلة لمتضرري الزلزال من الحكومة الصينية إلى الحكومة السورية في مطار دمشق الدولي، أوضح سفير الصين بدمشق شي هونغوي في تصريح للصحفيين، أن الطائرة تحمل على متنها 80 طناً من المساعدات، وتتضمن أجهزة تنفس ومعدات لإنتاج الأكسجين ومواد إغاثية، مؤكداً أن حكومة بلاده ملتزمة بتقديم المزيد من المساعدات الغذائية والطبية لدعم جهود الحكومة السورية لتجاوز كارثة الزلزال. وتسلمت منظمة «الهلال الأحمر العربي السوري» أمس شحنة مساعدات إنسانية مقدمة من الحكومة اليابانية، وصلت إلى مطار دمشق الدولي عبر طائرة مستأجرة من دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة، وتتضمن أكثر من 18 طناً من المساعدات الإغاثية. وفي رده على سؤال «الوطن» قدم رئيس منظمة «الهلال الأحمر العربي السوري» خالد حبوباتي الشكر للحكومة اليابانية والشعب الياباني على إرساله هذه المساعدات، وكشف أن طائرة قادمة من أوروبا ستحط مباشرة في دمشق، وقال: «ستصل طائرة محملة بالمساعدات الإنسانية من كوبنهاغن في الدانمارك، وستحط مباشرة في مطار دمشق الدولي ومن المتوقع وصولها خلال أيام، وستكون أول طائرة أوروبية تحط في مطار دمشق الدولي».

أكثر من 120 طائرة مساعدات حطت في المطارات السورية والقوافل تواصل عبور الحدود ... غوتيريش أكد استمرار دعم سورية.. والصحة العالمية: الزلزال خلف معاناة لا توصف - صحيفة الوطن (alwatan.sy)

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People left to fend for themselves after quake in war-torn NW Syria

BY REUTERS

 HAREM, SYRIA 

Daily Sabah, FEB 15, 2023

Parts of the provinces of Idlib and adjacent Aleppo held by Türkiye-backed oppositions suffered the bulk of the quake's casualties in Syria: over 4,000 of the entire Syrian death toll of more than 5,800

After more than a decade of bombardment, dwindling international support, and a crippling economic crisis, Syria's opposition-held northwest was already barely hanging on when calamity struck.

Instead of bombs from the sky, the earth rumbled from below early on the morning of Feb. 6 – sending multi-story cinderblock houses tumbling onto the heads of residents.

The earthquake left more than 35,000 people dead in Türkiye, where international help could easily flow in. But the complex politics of humanitarian assistance in Syria's opposition-held northwest left many war-weary citizens there fending for themselves.

Walid Ibrahim lost more than two dozen of his family members – among them his brother, his cousin, and all their children. He only managed to remove their bodies from under the rubble two days after the quake.

"We were removing rock after rock and finding nothing underneath. People were under the concrete screaming, 'Get us out! Get us out!' But we'd come up with empty hands," he said.

"Your hands alone aren't enough."

Parts of the provinces of Idlib and adjacent Aleppo held by Türkiye-backed oppositions suffered the bulk of the quake's casualties in Syria: over 4,000 of the entire Syrian death toll of more than 5,800, according to the United Nations and government authorities.

Four Syrian towns in a stretch bordering Türkiye were among the hardest hit: Salqin, Harem, Jindayris and Atareb.

On an organized press tour Tuesday, Reuters saw around 20 men and boys trying to salvage what they could from pulverized homes in Harem and its outskirts, without protective gear or uniforms.

Only some wore work gloves, covered in the grey-white dust of smashed cinderblocks. Even their eyelashes, cracked lips and beards were coated in the chalky substance.

One man prayed among the rubble as a lone excavator cleared debris. Children chased each other around mounds of ruins and twisted rebar.

A woman carrying a baby watches as search and rescue operations continue days after a deadly earthquake hit Türkiye and Syria, in the town of Jindayris, in the opposition-held part of Aleppo province, Syria, Feb. 10, 2023. (AFP Photo)

'Hardest week'

The frontlines had become relatively quiet over a decade into the conflict – which erupted in 2011 with protests against leader Bashar Assad that ended up carving the country into competing cantons.

Raed Saleh, who heads the 'White Helmets' rescue force operating in opposition-held areas, is more accustomed to rescuing victims of bombardment.

He said rescuers had been allowed to go home to see their families for the first time on Tuesday, after round-the-clock operations for the last eight days that required every volunteer and every piece of equipment.

"It was the hardest week of our lives," he said.

"What happened to us – it's the first time it's happened around the world. There was an earthquake and the international community and the U.N. don't help," he said.

Saleh and others in the northwest said more lives could have been saved in Syria if the outside world had acted faster.

The earthquake hit Turkish cities where major humanitarian organizations running aid operations in Syria are based and the single border crossing from Türkiye was closed for days.

Dozens of U.N. aid trucks later brought food and medicine through that crossing, authorized by a 2014 Security Council resolution that allowed aid into Syria without Assad's approval.

On Tuesday, a second border crossing for aid delivery was opened after Assad gave his assent, marking a shift for Damascus which has long opposed cross-border aid deliveries to the opposition enclave.

But the move was met with skepticism and even anger by many residents of Idlib, where a bulk of the 4 million residents hail from other bombed-out provinces.

"If Assad wanted to help these poor people, then he wouldn't have displaced them to begin with," said Joumaa Ramadan, a day laborer.

A resident rests on a salvaged mattress, as search and rescue operations continue days after a deadly earthquake, Jindayris, in the opposition-held part of Aleppo province, Syria, Feb. 10, 2023. (AFP Photo)

The trucks included none of the heavy equipment and machines that rescuers say they need to remove rubble faster – and that could have helped with reconstruction.

Syria's economic crisis may also hinder rebuilding, with 77% of households already unable to secure their basic needs, according to a U.N. assessment.

Those in Idlib have no choice but to rebuild, with Türkiye, which hosts 3.6 million Syrians, no longer accepting others, while many fear crossing the frontline into areas controlled by Assad's forces. But resources are scarce.

"The situation is really tragic," said Abdulrahman Mohammad, a displaced Syrian from the neighboring Aleppo province.

"Anyone who is working as a laborer and renting a house... If you need $10 a day in expenses and you can barely get that - how are you supposed to rebuild?" he said.

Hospitals used all of their reserves of medical equipment to treat the quake victims, said Abdulrazzaq Zaqzouq, a local representative for the Syrian-American Medical Society.

Health Minister Hussein Bazar, of the self-declared Salvation Government in northwest Syria, said that the displacement of tens of thousands could lead to a "massive" surge in the cholera outbreak already ravaging the water-stressed zone, as well as a spike in other diseases.

"This is not about a tent or a bite of food. That's not the essential thing for people," he said.

"People want to feel that they're seen as human beings who deserve to live in dignity in this area."

People left to fend for themselves after quake in war-torn NW Syria | Daily Sabah

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Türkiye quakes 'worst event' in century, UN aid chief says

BY ANADOLU AGENCY

 KAHRAMANMARAŞ, TÜRKIYE 

Daily Sabah, FEB 11, 2023

The United Nations aid chief called the two major earthquakes that devastated Türkiye's southeast and Syria's northwest the "worst event" to hit the region in a century.

"What happened here on Monday, the epicenter of the earthquake, was the worst event in 100 years in this region," Martin Griffiths, the U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, told a news briefing in Kahramanmaraş, the epicenter of the quakes.

Noting that more than 100 countries have sent first responders to help Türkiye, Griffiths explained: "We're going to need more than that ... I am here to make sure that these people (quake victims) also are not forgotten."

The U.N. official added that the U.N. and all the nations it represents stand in solidarity at the time of this great tragedy.

Pointing to the importance of the first 24 hours after the quake, he praised Türkiye's response to the catastrophe as "extraordinary."

"We have a clear plan tomorrow, the next day, to give an appeal for a three-month operation to help the people of Türkiye with humanitarian assistance, and we will do some similar for the people of Syria," he also said.

Meanwhile, Griffths also said a recovery phase is approaching in Türkiye's 10 earthquake-devastated provinces, which will rely on humanitarian assistance.

"We're coming to the end of the rescue phase. And after the rescue phase comes to the recovery phase. Typically that relies on humanitarian assistance. It relies on the beginning of planning for rebuilding houses and apartments and buildings," he said.

"And so that's the phase where my community, the humanitarian community, comes into play, and that's why we're going to do an appeal tomorrow or the next day to raise money to provide funding for agencies to come and help the people who've been affected," he added.

On the housing situation, he said the Turkish government will be in the lead in rebuilding destroyed houses, while the U.N. will be directing humanitarian assistance "for the emergency phase, for the period when they may have to live in temporary accommodation."

He stressed that the second phase after the natural disasters could be more concerning in Türkiye and in affected Syria as victims will need help with their livelihoods, food, and medicine.

"We're apprehensive, as you know, about the second phase of a natural disaster of this size is often a medical one, where we have huge worries here and in Syria, of the health problems which have been going on treated," he said. "So agencies, the World Health Organization, and others come in to help give the people what they deserve."

Coming aid to be used 'rightly' in Türkiye

As several countries have already sent field hospitals to Türkiye, Griffiths said he is sure that the Turkish government will coordinate which aid should be placed and where, so the assistance can be successful.

"I'm sure that the aid that comes into Türkiye will be used in the right way and sent to the right places, but it's going to be a huge operation. We're just seeing the beginning of it," he said.

He added that the U.N. Humanitarian Office has agencies that can set up mobile clinics, which he called "incredibly important" at this stage.

Appeal for Syria to be launched within days

Stating that he would be able to see the situation in Syria himself in the following days, Griffiths said, "it's reasonable to assume" that in northwest Syria, where people had already been suffering from the effects of the civil war since 2011, they must be suffering even more today.

"It's also going to be very important to get aid to those people," he said, adding that the U.N. also works in Syria, delivering assistance thereby convoys coming daily from the Bab al-Hawa border gate in Cilvegozu, Türkiye towards Idlib, Syria.

He underlined that U.N. exists as a channel for every government to send aid to Syria.

"That's why we will also be launching an appeal for Syria in the next couple of days for three months," he stated.

Over 21,800 people were killed and over 80,000 others injured by two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Monday, according to the latest official figures. However, hope remains as more survivors emerge from quake rubble on day six of rescue efforts.

In neighboring Syria, the death toll has climbed above 3,300, with more than 5,200 people wounded, according to compiled figures.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes on Monday affected more than 13 million people across 10 provinces, also including Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Şanlıurfa.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, felt the strong tremors that struck Türkiye in less than 10 hours.

Türkiye quakes 'worst event' in century, UN aid chief says | Daily Sabah

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