On February 27, 2023, Syrian regime forces artillery fired shells at the southwestern neighborhood in al-Nayrab village in the eastern suburbs of Idlib governorate. One of the shells landed next to al-Nayrab New School, wounding one girl and partially destroying the school’s perimeter fence.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights notes that the school had already been put out of commission due to its close proximity to the dividing lines between the territories of Syrian regime forces and those of armed opposition factions and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights notes that, through this attack, the Syrian regime once again categorically violated UN Security Council resolutions 2139 and 2254 which prohibit any further indiscriminate attacks, as well as violating the rules of international humanitarian law which stress the distinction between civilians and combatants.
Attacks of this nature spread terror and panic among civilians, leading them to flee their lands and homes in an attempt to reach safety, and forcibly displacing them, with the number of internally displaced persons within Syria currently standing at approximately 6.5 million Syrian citizens in total.
The international community should put pressure on the Syrian regime and its allies to force them to compensate the displaced victims, rehabilitate homes and vital centers, support the political transition process, and press all parties to pursue the implementation of a political transition according to a strict timetable which must not exceed six months, thus enabling millions of refugees and IDPs to safely return home.
