UN humanitarian office warns of acute needs after violence, drought and wildfires in Syria’s As‑Suwayda

Edem Basudno, speaking for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told the Security Council that recent violence and climatic shocks in Syria have sharply increased humanitarian needs, particularly in the southern governorate of As‑Suwayda.

"Recent weeks have indeed provided a stark reminder that Syria is not just one of the world's largest humanitarian crises, but also subject to violence and climatic shocks that compound the country's needs," Basudno said in her briefing.

Basudno said the fighting in As‑Suwayda has displaced an estimated 175,000 people, "both within the area and to surrounding governorates," and described the figure as representing "a third of the population in a governorate, where two thirds of people are already in need of humanitarian assistance." She reported that women, children and medical personnel are among hundreds of people killed, and that the World Health Organization had confirmed the deaths of two doctors and…