Syria: Briefing and Consultations
Tomorrow morning (28 July), the Security Council will hold its monthly meeting on the political and humanitarian situations in Syria. UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen and Director of the Operations and Advocacy Division at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Edem Wosornu will brief. Closed consultations are scheduled to follow the open briefing.
The meeting is expected to focus largely on the violence that started on 13 July between Bedouin tribal fighters and Druze militias in Suweida governorate, which has only subsided in recent days. The recent escalation of violence resulted in the intervention of Syrian interim government forces, who said that they were trying to stop the fighting, as well as in Israeli airstrikes against those forces and in Damascus. Israel stated that it was protecting Druze minorities and is trying to ensure the demilitarisation of the area adjacent to Israel’s border with Syria. On 18 July, US Ambassador to Turkïye Tom Barrack announced via X (formerly Twitter) that Israel and Syria reached a ceasefire agreement “embraced by Türkiye, Jordan and its neighbors”. The Syrian government announced a truce in Suweida on 19 July, and while occasional skirmishes were reported between 20 and 22 July, major fighting has not been reported since then.
Tomorrow’s meeting will mark the second time that the Council has discussed the fighting in Suweida since its outbreak on 13 July. In an emergency briefing on 17 July, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations (DPPA-DPO) Mohamed Khaled Khiari reported hundreds of casualties among security forces, Druze fighters, and civilians, including women and children. He also referenced alarming reports of extrajudicial killings, mass displacement, and damage to critical infrastructure, including water, electricity, and telecommunications networks. (For more information, see our 17 July What’s in Blue story.)
At tomorrow’s meeting, Pedersen is likely to emphasise the need to protect civilians, to avoid the recurrence of violence, and to conduct prompt and transparent investigations in order to hold accountable all those who committed acts of violence in Suweida. More broadly, he may underscore the importance of dialogue and mutual understanding between the Syrian interim authorities and various communities throughout the country, noting that this is a way for the state to exercise its authority in all of Syria. He may call for inclusive dialogue between the Syrian interim authorities and actors in Suweida that focuses on allowing people considerable autonomy over their own affairs while also ensuring that state institutions are respected.
He may reiterate his criticism of Israel for its strikes in Syria. In this regard, Pedersen may note the importance of all parties respecting Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Some Council members may echo these concerns, as most members believe that Israel’s military activities in Syria foster tensions and instability in the country. In contrast, the US has predominantly seen Israel’s actions as defensive in nature or tied to ensuring its national security.
During tomorrow’s meeting, there is likely to be discussion of the findings of the fact-finding committee established by the interim government to investigate the mass killings in Latakia and Tartous in early March. On 22 July, the committee announced that more than 1,426 people, most of whom were civilians, were killed in the violence, which pitted Alawite fighters loyal to former President Bashar al-Assad against the caretaker authorities and their affiliates. According to the committee, 265 people were responsible for attacking government security forces, while 298 people were suspected of committing crimes against Alawites. The Syrian court system is expected to conduct additional investigations of these individuals, whose names have not been disclosed. Another 31 people accused of committing violations against civilians have been arrested.
Some Council members may request that the full report of the fact-finding committee be made public, rather than just an overview of its findings. In addition, some may question why the interim government’s security forces were unable to quell the violence for several days.
Wosornu is likely to update members on the humanitarian situation in Suweida as well as the response to the crisis in the area. OCHA has reported severe shortages of water, flour, fuel, electricity, and telecommunications services in the governorate. She may note that two convoys of humanitarian aid have recently reached Suweida. The first, which arrived on 20 July, carried fuel, water, food and medical supplies from UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP), and other humanitarian partners. The second, which reached Suweida on 23 July, came from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and included fuel, food, wheat flour, medicines and health supplies. Wosornu might also describe OCHA’s efforts to work with humanitarian partners to provide additional assistance in Suweida, as well as to people displaced to neighbouring Daraa and Rural Damascus governorates.
In her briefing, Wosornu may appeal to member states to contribute to the 2025 Humanitarian Response Priorities for Syria. On 24 July, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, Adam Abdelmoula, launched an extension of this appeal, requesting $3.19 billion to provide assistance to 10.3 million people in need through the remainder of 2025. The press release announcing the extension noted that it comes “amid critical funding shortfalls”, while observing that only 36.6 percent of the Syria Humanitarian Response plan had been funded in 2024.
Wosornu may also discuss the humanitarian response to the large-scale wildfires that started on 3 July in the Latakia governorate and raged for ten days before being contained by firefighters. On 10 July, Abdelmoula announced a $625,000 allocation from the Syria Humanitarian Fund to support the emergency response and deliver assistance to thousands of people impacted by the fires, which displaced hundreds and damaged farmland, infrastructure, and livelihoods in the region.
At tomorrow’s meeting, Council members may underscore points upon which there appears to be broad agreement. They may highlight the need for the Syrian authorities to advance an inclusive, Syrian-owned and Syrian-led political process based on the key principles of resolution 2254 of 18 December 2015, which focused on a political solution to the Syrian crisis. They may emphasise that the interim government must pursue efforts to promote transitional justice and to prevent further violence against minorities. Council members may also underscore the importance of international support to rebuild Syria and its crippled economy, including by easing sanctions.
