A boy, identified as Mohammad Zakariya Ismail, died on August 2, 2023, of wounds sustained in Syrian regime shelling on August 1 when regime artillery forces fired multiple shells at his home village of Ma’ar Ballit in Jabal al-Zawiya in southern rural Idlib. One of the shells landed on Mohammad’s family’s house, leaving him with the critical injuries that caused his death.
The area is under the joint 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, Syrian regime forces have 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 support a process of political transition. Pressure should be applied 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 safely and stably return to their homes.
