Syria Approves U.N. $2.9 Billion Humanitarian Aid Plan

Syria said on Wednesday it approved a U.N. $2.9 Billion Humanitarian aid plan to deliver aid to millions of people in the country this year, Reuters reports

The U.N. is requesting $2.9 billion in 2015 to fund humanitarian aid operations for Syria, where fighting has led to what Assistant Secretary-General for aid Kang Kyung described as “one of the worst displacement of people the world has seen in decades.”

The U.N. only received about half the money requested to help Syrians in need, “leaving hundreds of thousands” of civilians without aid during the harsh winter months, said Kang. During a U.N. Security Council meeting on the humanitarian situation in Syria, Syrian diplomat Haydar Ali Ahmad said the government wanted to ensure that “assistance reaches all those citizens in all parts of Syria without discrimination.”

However, he went on to add that the only way to end the conflict was to help Damascus fight terrorism.

“What is required today is cooperation and coordination with the Syrian government in combating terrorism, particularly to end the humanitarian crisis in Syria,” Ahmad said.

Residents of the Islamic State’s de facto capital of Raqqa and the city of Deir Ezzor didn’t receive food deliveries in December because the U.N. has no agreement with armed groups there, deputy humanitarian chief Kyung-wha Kang said.

“Syria’s representative said that U.N. aid is “reaching terrorist organizations’ and that without Syrian government protection, the U.N. wouldn’t be able to deliver aid to anyone,” AP reports.

Kang went on to say that despite U.N. pressure to get aid to those in need, and continued pressure on the Syrian government to allow easier access for U.N. agencies and humanitarian groups, there had been no progress in addressing constraints.

7.6 million people have been displaced within Syria, and 3.8 million Syrian refugees are abroad, with a vast majority in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey.

Massive Destruction in Kobani After Kurds Oust Islamic State Militants

The battle for Kobani has led to massive destruction inside the border town, AFP reports.

The YPG said on Monday that Kobani had been completely liberated from the Islamic State. “About 90 percent of the town has been retaken and ISIL, whether on order or the fact that they are just breaking ranks, are withdrawing from the town,” said a senior U.S. State Department official on Tuesday.

Kobani has been the focus of intense U.S.-led airstrikes against the Islamic State since September when the group seized control over nearly half of Kobani and forced nearly 200,000 to flee to neighboring Turkey.

According to AFP, “thousands of Kurds flocked to the Turkish border after the IS defeat, but the border remained closed on Wednesday. “Deputy foreign minister for the Kobani regional government Idris Nassan said Tuesday the authorities were urging people not to return to their homes yet.

“There is massive destruction. At least 50 percent of the city is destroyed. We are asking them to wait and not come immediately because we don’t have basic necessities for them. There is no food, no medicine. We don’t have electricity or water.”

Israeli Jets Strike Back After Syria’s Golan Attack

“Israeli air force jets struck Syrian army artillery positions near the Israel-occupied Golan Heights on Wednesday, the military said, in retaliation for rockets launched in the area the previous day,” Reuters reports.

Tensions have escalated in the border region in the 10 days since a suspected airstrike on a convoy in the Syrian portion of the Golan Heights that was attributed to Israel. The attack killed an Iranian general and five Hezbollah fighters, including the son of the group’s slain military commander, Imad Mughniyeh.

On Tuesday, at least two rockets fired from Syria struck the Israeli-controlled section of the Golan Heights.

“We will not tolerate any firing towards Israeli territory or violation of our sovereignty and we will respond forcefully and with determination,” Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said in a statement.

“That rare, direct confrontation between Israel and its enemies on Syrian soil immediately raised the stakes along the decades-old cease-fire line between Israel and Syria. It put the Israeli army on high alert in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights,” the New York Times reports.

Israel has conducted several airstrikes on Syria since 2011, mostly destroying weaponry believed to be destined for Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.

Photo Courtesy of AP Images

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