On December 25, 2023, Syrian regime forces used a rocket launcher to fire multiple rockets targeting various civilian facilities in Sarmin city in eastern rural Idlib governorate, including the al-Rifiya ‘Rural’ School and the Mixed High School, where internally displaced persons (IDPs) were sheltering, with one of the rockets landing in front of the medical dispensary in the city center. The attack killed one of the IDPs sheltering in the school, a man identified as Abdullah Mohammad al-Ayyash, from Tal Khanzir village in eastern rural Idlib governorate, and injured five others there, three of them children. The attack alsocaused massive destruction to the interior furnishings in the schools targeted. The area is under the control of armed opposition factions and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that, through this and similar attacks, the Syrian regime has again unequivocally violated UN Security Council resolutions 2139 & 2254, both of which categorically prohibit indiscriminate attacks, as well as violating the rules of international humanitarian law on distinguishing between civilians and fighters. Such attacks aim solely to spread fear and panic among civilians, and to drive them from their lands and homes, and forcibly displace them. It is estimated that 6.5 million people are currently internally displaced in Syria.
The international community must put pressure on the Syrian regime and its allies to compensate the displaced victims, repair the damaged homes and civilian facilities, and support a process of political transition. Pressure should be imposed on all parties to compel them to launch such a transition within a period of no more than six months, so that millions of displaced people can have a safe and stable return to their homes.
