Israeli Airstrikes on Syria Kill 12 Civilians, Including Four Children and Six Women
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Press release: (Download the full report below)
The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) revealed in its latest report, released today, that 89 civilians were killed in Syria in October 2024, including 25 children and 12 women, with four of the victims, one of them a child, dying due to torture. The group also documented the killing of 12 Syrian refugees in the Israeli offensive on Lebanon, including four children and six women.
The 29-page report provides a summary of the civilian deaths that occurred in October 2024, shedding light particularly on victims who died due to torture, as well as documenting the massacres perpetrated by the parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria during this period. The report also outlines the action taken by SNHR in regard to the issue of documenting extrajudicial killings in Syria. The report includes a summary of the attacks carried out against vital facilities during this month as well.
This report draws upon the constant daily monitoring of news and developments by SNHR’s team, and on information supplied by our extensive network of dozens of varied sources, as well as on the analysis of pictures and videos.
The report emphasizes the Syrian regime’s continuing absolute failure to register the deaths of hundreds of thousands of citizens killed since March 2011 in the civil registry’s official records. It explains that the regime uses the issuance of death certificates as an instrument of control, with these certificates not being made available to any of the victims’ families, whether these victims were killed by the Syrian regime or by other parties. The report adds that the vast majority of victims’ families are unable to obtain death certificates from the Syrian regime, for fear of linking their loved ones’ names with the regime, especially in cases of death due to torture, or if the victim was branded as a ‘terrorist’ if they are wanted by the regime’s security services.
The report documents the killing of 89 civilians in October 2024. The Syrian regime was responsible for 12 of these deaths, including three children, , while Russian forces were responsible for another 11, including four children. All armed opposition factions/Syrian National Army (SNA) killed one woman, whereas Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) killed three civilians, including one child, and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) killed one civilian. Lastly, 61 civilians, including 17 children and 11 women, were killed by other parties.
As the report further reveals, Daraa governorate saw the highest number of victims, accounting for 26 percent of all civilian deaths in October, with other parties killing 21 victims in the governorate. Daraa was followed by Idlib governorate with 19 percent of the total, with 16 of all the victims killed in the governorate being killed by Syrian-Russian alliance forces.
On the subject of deaths due to torture, the report documented four deaths due to torture, including of one child, in October 2024. All four victims were killed by regime forces. Moreover, the report notes that two medical personnel were killed by other parties this month.
The report stresses that the airstrikes carried out by fixed-wing Israeli warplanes across extensive civilian areas of Lebanon have killed hundreds of civilians, including at least 101 Syrian refuges, among them 36 children and 19 women, between September 23, 2024, and October 31, 2024.
The report further reveals that SNHR documented 10 attacks on vital civilian facilities in October 2024.
Conclusions
The report additionally notes that the evidence collected by SNHR indicates that some of the attacks documented in the report were deliberately directed against civilians and civilian objects, with indiscriminate bombardment resulting in the destruction of more vital facilities and other buildings. Moreover, the report notes, there are reasonable grounds to believe that these attacks constitute war crimes under international law.
As the report also notes, the use of remote bombing to target densely populated areas reflects a criminal mindset, showing that the Syrian regime is intent on deliberately inflicting the greatest possible number of deaths, in clear contravention of international human rights law and flagrant violation of the Geneva IV Convention, Articles 27, 31, and 32.
The report further notes that no warnings have been given by Syrian regime forces and their allies, including Russian forces, or US-led International Coalition forces before carrying out any of their attacks, as required by international humanitarian law. This has been the case since the beginning of the popular uprising in Syria, which shows an utter disregard for the lives of civilians.
Moreover, the report explains, it is clear from the volume of violations, their repeated nature, and the excessive level of force used, as well as the indiscriminate manner of the bombardment and the coordinated nature of these attacks, that they must be the result of orders from the highest echelons of power, carried out in accordance with deliberate state policy.
All armed opposition factions/SNA, meanwhile, have violated Security Council resolution 2139 through carrying out attacks that constitute violations of international humanitarian law, resulting in civilian deaths and injuries.
Recommendations
The report calls on the UN Security Council to take additional steps following its adoption of resolution 2254 and stresses the importance of referring the Syrian dossier to the International Criminal Court (ICC), in order to hold all those involved in perpetrating crimes against humanity and war crimes accountable.
The report also urges all relevant UN agencies to make far greater efforts to provide humanitarian assistance, including food and medical aid, in areas where fighting has ceased, and in internally displaced persons (IDPs)’ camps, and to follow up on payment with those states that have pledged voluntary contributions.
The report additionally calls for the implementation of the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ norm (R2P) after all political channels have been exhausted, including past agreements and cessation of hostilities statements, stressing the need to resort to Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nation, and to invoke the principle of Responsibility to Protect.
The report further stresses that maps must be created to reveal the locations of landmines and cluster munitions in all Syrian governorates. This, it explains, would facilitate the process of clearing these lethal munitions, and protect civilians from this lethal theat.
The report additionally calls on the Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI) to launch extensive investigations into the cases included in this report and previous reports, and confirms the SNHR’s willingness to cooperate and to provide further evidence and data in any such investigations, as well as calling on the commission to focus on the issue of landmines and cluster munitions in its next reports.
The report also stresses that the Syrian regime must stop the indiscriminate shelling and targeting of residential areas, hospitals, schools, and markets, as well as ending its acts of torture that have caused the deaths of thousands of Syrian citizens in detention centers.
Lastly, the report reiterates SNHR’s appeal to all the parties to the conflict to provide detailed maps of the locations where they have planted landmines, especially those present in civilian locations or areas near residential communities.
The report provides additional recommendations that aim to achieve justice and protect civilians in Syria.