A military escalation and a humanitarian crisis... What is happening in Daraa Governorate, southern Syria?
Three years after an exceptional settlement under Russian auspices in Daraa in southern Syria, the province has been witnessing a military escalation between the Syrian forces and the opposition armed groups for some time, accompanied by a siege that worsens the humanitarian situation.
What has changed today, and what is happening in the governorate of Daraa, specifically the city, the center of the governorate, and what awaits it?
What is the property of a shield?
The Daraa governorate, which borders Jordan and Israel, was the cradle of the protests that erupted in 2011 against the Syrian government, and the spark for the protests that soon engulfed most of the Syrian territory.
As the protests developed into a bloody conflict, opposition factions took control of the governorate.
In 2018, after the Syrian forces took control of prominent opposition strongholds such as Aleppo (north) and Eastern Ghouta (near Damascus), they attempted to advance towards Daraa.
However, unlike the rest of the opposition strongholds that witnessed military operations and tight sieges that ended with agreements that evacuated the opposition fighters to the north of the country, a settlement took place in Daraa, sponsored by Moscow, that put an end to the military operations, but stipulated that the opposition fighters surrender their heavy weapons with the ability to keep light weapons and stay in their villages and their cities.
The Syrian forces were not deployed in all parts of the province.
The opponents are mainly located in the western and southern countryside.
The city of Daraa is divided between Daraa al-Balad in the south, where fighters are present, and Daraa al-Mahatta, where government forces are deployed.
The political peculiarity of Daraa being adjacent to Jordan, which seeks to spare its territory the consequences of the conflict, and the occupied Golan by Israel, which fears the spread of Iranian groups fighting near its sites, played a role in completing the settlement with the guarantee of Russia.
- What on earth?
During three years, despite the settlement agreement, security chaos dominated the scene in Daraa, with bombings and shootings against the Syrian forces, assassinations of loyalists or former opponents, or even civilians working for government institutions, at a time when weapons spread everywhere.
Several demonstrations against the government took place in the province, the most recent of which was protests in Daraa al-Balad against the presidential elections in May.
The protesters raised slogans similar to those chanted ten years ago, and the Daraa al-Balad Committee refused to place ballot boxes in its neighborhoods.
Since 2018, the governorate has witnessed clashes from time to time between the Syrian forces and opposition fighters.
At the end of July, confrontations erupted in separate areas of the province, including the city of Daraa, which are considered the "most violent" in three years, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which documented the killing of 32 people, including 12 civilians, 11 local fighters and nine members of the Syrian forces.
The confrontations lasted for two days, and government forces advanced in farms surrounding the southern neighborhoods of Daraa, before the confrontations subsided with the start of Russian-sponsored negotiations aimed at reaching an agreement to evacuate dozens of fighters from Daraa al-Balad.
Opposition activist Omar al-Hariri from Daraa says that despite the decline in military action, "the government forces move almost daily, especially at night, with the aim of exhausting fighters who only have light weapons."
The regime forces have not yet resorted to the air force.
- Why now and what are the possibilities?
Residents and activists believe that one of the reasons for the military escalation is Damascus's pursuit of "revenge" against Daraa, whose residents are still demonstrating against it.
Hariri said, "There are many people wanted by the government in Daraa, pointing out that one of the government's conditions is that people with certain names leave the province and send them to the north."
For its part, Russia is seeking to deploy the “Fifth Corps” in Daraa al-Balad, a faction in the Syrian army backed by Russia that includes former opposition fighters mainly from Daraa.
But what awaits Daraa?
It seems that her family is forced to make a difficult decision.
Hariri says, "We are faced with two options: the deployment of the Fifth Corps and Russia's restraint of the Syrian forces, or the latter suddenly making a massive incursion."
What about the humanitarian situation?
About 24,000 people out of the 55,000 residing in Daraa al-Balad fled from it, and the majority of them sought refuge in other areas in the same city or its surroundings, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Over the past weeks, the Syrian forces gradually tightened the screws on Daraa al-Balad.
According to the United Nations, residents can no longer only cross one road on foot, which exposes them to "strict security checks."
"Sometimes only women and children are allowed to cross the road, and sometimes they close it completely," explains Abu al-Tayeb, a resident of Daraa al-Balad and a media activist.
He points out that the flour was completely cut off from Daraa al-Balad, and that “the authorities cut off the water from the main tank” amid a power outage.
"We manage our affairs with simple capabilities," he says.
In Geneva, the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen on Thursday expressed his growing concern about developments in southern Syria.
He said that the "high pace of hostilities" caused thousands of civilians to flee, noting that the population was suffering from "a severe shortage of fuel, cooking gas, water and bread.
There is a lack of medical aid needed to treat the wounded,” he said, describing the situation as “dangerous.”
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