Extending the period of entry of humanitarian aid into northwestern Syria

ARK News… The Syria Response Coordination Team, on Friday, January 12, 2024, announced that it had reached a new agreement to extend the entry of cross-border aid into northwestern Syria.

The team said in a statement followed by the Welat TV website that a new agreement had been reached between the United Nations and various parties, including the Syrian regime, to extend the entry of humanitarian aid through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey for an additional six months.

Adding that the period begins on January 13, 2024 and ends on July 13, 2024 inclusive, with “the Bab al-Salama and al-Ra’i crossings remaining for an additional month under the fourth mandate until February 13, 2024.”

According to the statement, the number of international trucks provided to northwestern Syria during the time period of the previous mandate in the region amounted to 1,259 trucks, as 892 trucks entered from the Bab al-Hawa crossing, 362 from Bab al-Salama, and 5 trucks through the al-Rai crossing.

The “Response Coordinators” indicated that despite the urgent need for UN humanitarian aid to continue to enter across borders without restrictions, the latest understandings have only been reached for more than six months.

Emphasizing "the necessity of bringing humanitarian aid across the border without stopping, while ensuring its continuity permanently, in conjunction with the increase in the deficit in the humanitarian response, and the increase in the number of people in need of aid, especially with the onset of winter and the great difficulties facing civilians in securing their basic needs in the region."

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