Since 2011, when the Syrian Civil War started, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes into Syria, trying to target the Syrian Army and the militant group Hezbollah. Hezbollah has been classified as a terrorist organization for years now by the US State Department and has executed attacks on several different countries over the years. They had killed many Americans, Greeks, Argentinians, Lebanese, and Bulgarians, going back to 1983 when they bombed a US embassy in Lebanon. During the civil war, the group allied with the Syrian government and has since then been the victim of Israel’s intense bombing campaigns. In October of 2023, the Damascus airport was bombed and became inoperable up until November 26, 2023. Just hours after the airport started allowing flights to go out, the airport was hit with another bomb.
Damascus Airport after the bombing. (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/17/israeli-airstrike-on-damascus-airport-kills-five-syrian-troops-reports)
Israel rarely ever gives comments on these strikes, but their main idea is they won’t let Iran expand their presence in Syria. As of 2023, 15.3 million Syrian citizens need dire help with the ongoing economic, water, and public health crises. A lot of Syrians suffer from Cholera due to a lack of clean water and food. According to the CDC, Cholera is a diarrheal illness that causes the infected to have profuse diarrhea, thirst, vomiting, low blood pressure, and rapid heart rate (Center for Disease Control). If the person goes untreated, the effects can be life-threatening, including kidney failure. Amongst this, hostilities have grown over the past few years with a “Total disregard for civilian lives” with increasing civilian casualties. On February 6, 2023, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Northern Syria, followed by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake nine hours later.
The earthquake killed and injured thousands of people, displacing many civilians in Turkey and Syria from their homes. Bashar al-Assad is the current president of Syria, who has caused significant amounts of corruption by gassing, torturing, and bombing the people of Syria. There have been cases of civilians being suspected of protesting who end up being tortured and killed. The president has no regard for basically civilian life, and if someone is found trying to resist the government, he wants them, Dad. He doesn’t want his power over Syria being threatened and has involvements with Hamas and Hezbollah and goes to the extreme to keep his Authoritarian-like leadership conserved. He controls over 70% of Syria and is backed by Iran and Russia. Although the other 30% is owned by opposing forces, Bashar al-Assad’s power continues to consume the majority of Syria. 90% of civilians in Syria live below the poverty line, with Lira (the currency in Syria) depreciating by 75% over the past couple of years. The earthquakes didn’t help with the poverty either, as it has left over 5 million people homeless. As Syria continues to decline, it’s believed that we need to recognize what is going on there and acknowledge that Syria is going through a literal humanitarian crisis; all we can do here in America is focus on bringing awareness to the horrible events going over there. Many believe president Bashar al-Assad should be held accountable for the atrocities he has committed in Syria.
A neighborhood in Syria. (https://www.arabnews.com/node/2238371/middle-east)
