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How Syria’s continuing food insecurity threatens national and regional stability

Special How Syria’s continuing food insecurity threatens national and regional stability
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People queue to get bread distributed by a charity initiative in a neighborhood in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
Special How Syria’s continuing food insecurity threatens national and regional stability
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Syria’s political transition post-Assad has fueled the hunger crisis, leaving millions in urgent need of aid. (AFP file)
Special How Syria’s continuing food insecurity threatens national and regional stability
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Syria’s political transition post-Assad has fueled the hunger crisis, leaving millions in urgent need of aid. (AFP file)
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Updated 02 February 2025

How Syria’s continuing food insecurity threatens national and regional stability

How Syria’s continuing food insecurity threatens national and regional stability
  • With more than half of Syria’s population facing food insecurity, experts call for reform and regional cooperation to prevent further conflict
  • Assad’s fall brought hope, but hunger has worsened for millions as violence, looting, and war damage disrupt food supplies

LONDON: More than half of Syria’s population faces food insecurity as the country grapples with the aftermath of 13 years of civil war, the abrupt collapse of Bashar Assad’s regime, and a surge of returnees.

Inadequate funding for aid organizations during this political transition risks deepening and prolonging the crisis.

A recent report by the Food Security Cluster, a UN-led coordination group, revealed that 14.5 million people in Syria are food insecure, including 9.1 million facing acute food insecurity and 5.4 million at risk of hunger.

The report, published on Jan. 25, emphasized that Syria’s sudden power shift and ongoing political transition have increased pressure on its fragile food systems, reshaping humanitarian needs.

Rola Dashti, executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, described the current phase in Syria as a “critical juncture,” stressing that the country must either move toward reconstruction and reconciliation or risk falling into deeper chaos.

“The stakes for the country, and for the region, could not be higher,” she said in a January statement.

“Food insecurity is rampant, healthcare systems are crumbling, and entire communities have been uprooted. This is one of the world’s most protracted humanitarian crises, and our findings make clear it could get worse if immediate steps are not taken.”




A boy carries freshly-baked bread as people line up outside a bakery in the Syrian capital Damascus on December 21, 2024. (AFP)

On Dec. 8, a coalition of opposition groups led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham seized control of Syria’s capital Damascus, following a sweeping 12-day offensive that toppled Assad.

And although Assad’s ouster provided some relief to Syrians, it also plunged the country into fresh political and economic uncertainty, with the country deeply fractured and up to 1 million refugees expected to return by June, according to UN figures.

Recent clashes have sparked a new wave of displacement, with some 1.1 million people newly displaced, mainly in Idlib, Aleppo, Homs, and Hama.

The surge in violence since late November has been a major driver of food insecurity, according to the Food Security Cluster’s report. Warehouses and public services have been looted, while damage to agricultural infrastructure has disrupted the planting season.




Syria’s political transition post-Assad has fueled the hunger crisis, leaving millions in urgent need of aid. (AFP file)

This lawlessness, especially in northeastern and southern Syria, has created logistical challenges, blocked roads, and restricted aid access, severely disrupting food security.

Some 90 percent of Syrians currently live below the poverty line and some 16.7 million need humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.

Without bold reforms and swift international support, these needs are expected to grow, ESCWA warns.

The Food Security Cluster said $560 million is needed to fund a three-month emergency response providing food assistance and livelihood support during Syria’s political transition and uncertainty.

However, funding for aid remains insufficient. Cindy McCain, director of the World Food Programme, has said that some governments are reluctant to increase support for urgent humanitarian needs in Syria under the country’s new interim rulers.

And although the new leadership in Damascus has pledged a radical overhaul of the struggling economy, including privatization and public sector job cuts, it faces enormous challenges.

Western sanctions and more than a decade of conflict have left Syria’s economy in tatters. The country’s gross domestic product has contracted by 64 percent since the beginning of the war in 2011, according to a recent ESCWA report.

The report, released in late January, noted that Syria’s currency lost nearly two-thirds of its value against the US dollar in 2023 alone, driving consumer inflation to an estimated 40.2 percent in 2024.




Syria’s currency lost nearly two-thirds of its value against the US dollar in 2023 alone, driving consumer inflation to an estimated 40.2 percent in 2024. (AFP)

Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, believes the collapse of the Assad regime is largely tied to the failure of Syria’s economy.

“Government pay for officers in the army was $30 a month, and only $10 for enlisted men, which gives one a sense of the terrible need,” he told Arab News.

“The HTS government has increased those government wages by 400 percent, thanks to the largesse of Qatar, but wages remain extremely low.”

In mid-December, Syria’s interim government announced plans to dramatically increase the salaries of public servants. However, this plan involves laying off a third of the state workforce, Reuters reported.

The first wave of layoffs came just weeks after Assad’s ouster. Ministers in the interim government told Reuters that removing “ghost employees” — those who received salaries for doing little or nothing — was part of a crackdown on waste and corruption.




Syria’s interim government announced plans to dramatically increase the salaries of public servants. but the plan involves laying off a third of the state workforce. (AFP)

Landis says the layoffs are likely to worsen the hunger crisis for certain groups.

“Employees of the old regime are quickly being purged, as new employees whose ambitions and loyalties are better aligned with the new government are recruited by HTS,” he said.

“This means that hunger and insecurity is being redistributed to those Syrians who used to be favored by the Assad regime.”

Residents of Damascus and its hinterlands say that while the capital has seen an influx of foreign goods and a drop in prices since Assad’s departure, purchasing power remains low, especially as public servants and many private sector workers have not been paid in two months.

“We have a saying in Syria: a camel costs only one pound, but we don’t have that pound,” Umm Samir, a 55-year-old housekeeper from Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, Rif Dimashq, told Arab News.

“Prices of food have certainly dropped, and there are no shortages,” she said. “But in our area, many have not brought a pound home for almost two months.”

She added: “For example, a bottle of olive oil cost 100,000 Syrian pounds before Dec. 8; now it’s sold for 75,000. A kilogram of sugar was 20,000; now it’s 9,000.”




Blacksmiths work in a forge in the town of Douma, on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus. (AFP)

The drop in prices is partly due to a strengthening of the Syrian pound against the US dollar. On Friday, the dollar traded at 9,900 Syrian pounds, down from about 15,000 Syrian pounds before Dec. 8.

Syria expert Landis noted that while “food prices went down a bit once HTS took Damascus, because Turkish and foreign goods began to move freely into Syria without tariffs, bread prices went up.”

He added: “Bread is a major part of the Syrian diet, particularly for the 50 percent of Syrians facing food insecurity.”

Damascus residents told Arab News that a bundle of subsidized bread, which once cost 500 Syrian pounds, has seen its price jump to 4,000 Syrian pounds following Assad’s fall from power.




Syrians stand in queue to buy bread in the town of Binnish in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib. (AFP file)

When many cannot afford this essential food item, the influx of Turkish and Western goods — much more expensive than local products — makes little difference. If anything, it serves as a stark reminder of the struggle many families face to meet their basic needs.

Yusra, a 33-year-old computer engineer from Muhajreen, an upscale neighborhood in central Damascus, said that although three members of her household of six are breadwinners, they still could not afford many food items, such as meat, fruit, and sweets.

“It doesn’t matter that we now have Snickers bars, Ulker cookies, or brie cheese in local supermarkets when most people can’t afford basic things like sugar or apples,” she told Arab News.

“In my family, whenever we have an occasion, be it a birthday or Eid, we have to cut corners to buy cake or meat.




Syrians work at a vegetables market in Aleppo, on December 23, 2024. Aleppo's old city. (AFP)

“My brother works for a private marketing company but has not received his salary for January as the business is struggling.”

But the problem goes beyond families’ inability to meet basic needs. WFP chief McCain called Syria’s hunger crisis a national and regional security issue, particularly during this critical transition period.

“What’s at stake here is not just hunger — and hunger is big enough. But it’s about the future of this country and how it moves forward into this next phase,” she told the Associated Press during her first visit to Syria in mid-January.

On the national level, Syria expert Landis warns that if the interim government led by President Ahmad Al-Sharaa fails to implement economic and political reforms, it will likely face growing opposition.




Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, speaks to the media during a meeting with Qatar's Minister of State Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 23, 2024. (REUTERS)

“Syrians are expecting the new government to jump start the economy, get the US and Western governments to lift sanctions, and to unite the country once again, which will mean that Syria’s oil and gas wells will once again be used by the Damascus government and not the Qamishli government,” he said, referring to the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

“It should be remembered that before 2011, oil and gas revenue provided 50 percent of the government budget. If President Al-Sharaa cannot get the economy back on its feet quickly, he is likely to face growing opposition and Syria is likely to remain turbulent and unstable.”




Farmers work to harvest wheat at a field in Raqa, northeastern Syria, on May 23, 2024. (AFP)

Since early December, protests have erupted across the country, with demands ranging from justice for disappeared activists to calls for improved public services and greater representation for various Syrian sects.

On the regional level, “a poor and hungry Syria will continue to pump out refugees,” Landis said. “All of Syria’s neighbors are counting on Syrian stability and economic growth to entice refugees to return home.”

He added: “If Syria stumbles, the reverberations will be felt throughout the region. The country will remain divided among foreign militaries and a battleground that could easily destabilize its neighbors.”




Caption

The UN warns that unless Syria achieves a stable transition, the hunger crisis will worsen, and reliance on aid will persist. The transition must establish inclusive governance, credible transitional justice, and stronger institutions to build public trust, according to ESCWA’s January report.

The report also states that the country’s stability and recovery depend on regional and international support, including sanctions relief and economic cooperation.

Without political and economic reforms in collaboration with regional and international partners, ESCWA believes Syria risks prolonged instability, further fragmentation, and becoming a haven for cross-border crime.


400,000 Syrian refugees to return home from Lebanon this year, UN agency says

400,000 Syrian refugees to return home from Lebanon this year, UN agency says
Updated 16 sec ago

400,000 Syrian refugees to return home from Lebanon this year, UN agency says

400,000 Syrian refugees to return home from Lebanon this year, UN agency says
  • 300,000 have already returned since Assad regime fell in December, and a further 180,000 express desire to go home as part of a UN repatriation program
  • 163 Syrians crossed the border on Thursday and returned to their country as part of the 4th convoy organized by a UN repatriation program

LONDON: The number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon who have returned to their home country is expected to reach 400,000 by the end of this year, the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees said on Thursday.

About 300,000 Syrians have already returned to their country from Lebanon since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, it added.

Lisa Abu Khaled, a spokesperson for the UN agency, said that a further 180,000 refugees have expressed a desire to also return home as part of a UN repatriation program launched in July.

Abu Khaled and officials from the Lebanese General Security and the International Organization for Migration accompanied 163 Syrian refugees, who were part of the fourth convoy organized by the UN program, as they crossed the border north of Tripoli on Thursday and returned to their country.

The Syrians, who were bound for the Idlib and Homs areas, did not have to pay border fees on the Lebanese side, highlighting the country’s commitment to the safe and dignified return of displaced people, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

The Lebanese Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations are assisting Lebanon in its efforts to facilitate the return of refugees. Millions of people were displaced from Syria by the civil war in the country, which began in March 2011. An estimated 2.1 million of them ended up in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs.


Palestinian president meets Israeli peace activists as Gaza deal announced

Palestinian president meets Israeli peace activists as Gaza deal announced
Updated 12 min ago

Palestinian president meets Israeli peace activists as Gaza deal announced

Palestinian president meets Israeli peace activists as Gaza deal announced
  • “I welcome the agreement signed today, the end of the war, and the release of the hostages,” Abbas told dozens of representatives from Israeli peace organizations
  • “Nevertheless, we will remain in our homeland and establish a Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank, and east Jerusalem”

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas met with Israeli activists in Ramallah on Thursday to discuss long-term peace after Israel and Hamas agreed a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.
“I welcome the agreement signed today, the end of the war, and the release of the hostages,” Abbas told dozens of representatives from Israeli peace organizations assembled at the presidential palace in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
“A few months ago, (US President Donald) Trump had a plan to expel the Palestinians, but later he forgot about it,” he added.
“Nevertheless, we will remain in our homeland and establish a Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank, and east Jerusalem,” he said.
Speaking from a podium in the presence of Arab-Israeli Knesset member Ayman Odeh and the Palestinian Authority’s vice president Hussein Al-Sheikh, a jovial Abbas spoke to a friendly audience, sometimes exchanging smiles and jokes with activists.
Two power cuts momentarily left all attendees in the dark, an AFP journalist reported.
Among them was Iddo Ilam, an activist and refusnik who explained why he chose not to serve in the Israeli army, as Abbas gestured to him with two thumbs up.
“We are asking for a different future, peace between Jews and Palestinians,” said Rula Daoud, co-director of Standing Together, an Israeli grassroots movement aiming to bring together Palestinians and Jewish Israeli communities.
Absent from the conversation were the details of the ceasefire agreement struck early Thursday between Israel and Hamas — an adversary of Abbas’s Fatah party.
The deal is expected to free the remaining living hostages still held in Gaza within days, in a major step toward ending the two-year war that has killed tens of thousands and unleashed a dire humanitarian crisis.
The deal would also see Israel release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and allow a surge of aid into Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has all but rejected the option of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) ruling over post-war Gaza.
Nonetheless, its vice president Hussein Al-Sheikh said on X on Thursday that the PA had conducted all preparations to govern the post-war Gaza Strip and oversee its reconstruction.


Israeli forces raid offices of Union of Charitable Societies in Jerusalem

Israeli forces raid offices of Union of Charitable Societies in Jerusalem
Updated 49 min 1 sec ago

Israeli forces raid offices of Union of Charitable Societies in Jerusalem

Israeli forces raid offices of Union of Charitable Societies in Jerusalem
  • Action conducted following order from Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir
  • Forces detained Majdi Al-Zughayer, current president of UCS, and Youssef Qari, former president

LONDON: Israeli forces raided the offices of the Union of Charitable Societies in the Wadi Al-Joz neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday and detained the current and former heads of the union.

Forces and intelligence prevented a social event announced by the union under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority, before detaining Majdi Al-Zughayer, the current president, and Youssef Qari, the former president of the UCS.

The raid was conducted following an order from Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Israeli minister of national security, according to the Palestine News Agency.

The Israeli government has cracked down on several Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem, shutting down some of them and prohibiting meetings of clubs and associations engaged in cultural and sports activities, arguing that they are connected to the PA.

These measures are part of Israel’s policy to limit the activities of institutions in Jerusalem and prevent any national or social actions within the occupied city, WAFA added.

The UCS is a non-governmental charity founded in 1958 during the rule of Jordan and before the occupation of East Jerusalem by Israel. At least 150 Palestinian charitable organizations are members of the UCS and operate across Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jericho, the Jordan Valley, Ramallah, and Al-Bireh.

Israeli authorities stopped the Al-Quds Fund and the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions from operating in the city in April.

In addition, six schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East were closed in September in Jerusalem for the first time in the agency’s history. The closure followed an Israeli ban imposed in May.


Sudan army used chlorine twice in Khartoum area attacks in 2024: report

Sudan army used chlorine twice in Khartoum area attacks in 2024: report
Updated 09 October 2025

Sudan army used chlorine twice in Khartoum area attacks in 2024: report

Sudan army used chlorine twice in Khartoum area attacks in 2024: report
  • HRW said: "The apparent use of a common industrial chemical as a weapon creates a disturbing precedent"
  • Sudan's government has repeatedly denied the US allegations, calling them "baseless" and "political blackmail"

PARIS: The Sudanese army, at war with paramilitaries since April 2023, used chlorine gas in two 2024 attacks north of the capital Khartoum, according to a media report released Thursday.
In June, Washington imposed sanctions on Sudan's army-allied government over the use of chemical weapons but did not specify where or when they were used.
The investigation by France24 shows the army appears to have dropped two chlorine barrels in September 2024 around the al-Jaili oil refinery north of Khartoum.
The RSF controlled the area and Sudan's largest oil facility at the time.
Human Rights Watch said: "The apparent use of a common industrial chemical as a weapon creates a disturbing precedent".
Sudan's government has repeatedly denied the US allegations, calling them "baseless" and "political blackmail".
Last month, it said an internal investigation had revealed "no evidence" of chemical contamination in Khartoum state.
France24 used open source data, footage circulating on social media and the opinions of five experts to confirm the use of chlorine gas.
They verified videos showing an industrial chlorine barrel, evidently dropped from a plane on September 5, 2024 on the Garri military base near al-Jaili, that had released a yellow cloud of gas consistent with chlorine.
The report traces the barrel to an Indian company that had exported it to Port Sudan in August 2024. The company told the French outlet its intended use was "solely for the treatment of drinking water".
France24 also verified reports of a second barrel dropped from an aircraft on September 13, 2024, on the Jaili oil refinery.
The RSF has throughout the war launched drone strikes, but does not have demonstrated combat aircraft capabilities, which the Sudanese army has used extensively.
Since April 2023, the war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.
It has also unleashed countless atrocities on Sudanese civilians, with both sides accused of war crimes including indiscriminate bombing and targeting civilians.
Both sides are under US sanctions, with Washington determining in January the RSF had committed genocide in the western region of Darfur.


Lebanon has arrested 32 people suspected of spying for Israel: judicial official to AFP

Lebanon has arrested 32 people suspected of spying for Israel: judicial official to AFP
Updated 09 October 2025

Lebanon has arrested 32 people suspected of spying for Israel: judicial official to AFP

Lebanon has arrested 32 people suspected of spying for Israel: judicial official to AFP
  • Six were arrested before the ceasefire, said the official

BEIRUT: Lebanon has arrested 32 people in recent months on suspicion of providing Israel with information on Hezbollah that facilitated strikes on the Iran-backed militant group, a judicial official told AFP on Thursday.
More than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah including two months of open war saw Israel pummel the group’s arsenal and commanders, and it has kept up strikes since a November truce.
Requesting anonymity, the official said that “at least 32 people have been arrested on suspicion of collaborating with Israel, six of them before the ceasefire.”