Syria’s Suweida province continues to suffer a humanitarian crisis after recent sectarian violence that left hundreds of civilians killed, with hospitals struggling to cope.
Long-standing tensions between the province's Druze majority and mostly Sunni Bedouin tribes culminated in more than a week of ferocious fighting which saw government intervention.
A fragile ceasefire has been held since last weekend after foreign mediation.
The government’s military and security forces have been accused of committing summary executions, and dozens of videos shared online depict gunmen in military attire carrying out gruesome killings.
Despite the government denying that there is a siege on Suweida, the situation remains extremely difficult amid shortages in water and electricity, food, and medicine.
As residents still try to come to terms with the aftermath of the conflict, the fate of many people remains unknown, and bodies litter the streets of Suweida City.
Activists in Suweida say approximately 1,500 people have perished, while the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said at least 904 people had been killed.
The casualties include women and children, medical personnel and media workers.
The Network's head, Fadel Abdulghany, has said the toll is not final, and that his group documented field executions by Syrian troops, Bedouin tribal fighters and Druze factions. The network says it does not count the deaths of non-state combatants.
Another war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, has put the death toll at over 1,300.
Hospitals struggling
The main hospital in Suweida City is overwhelmed with trauma patients and working without adequate power or water.
"Inside of Suweida, it's a grim picture, with the health facilities under immense strain," the World Health Organization's Christina Bethke told reporters in Geneva via video link from Damascus.
"Electricity and water are cut off, and essential medicine supplies are running out."
Many medical staff cannot reach their workplace safely, and the main hospital's morgue was full at one point this week as it dealt with a surge of trauma cases.
Though the WHO has managed to deliver two convoys of aid in the last week, access remains difficult because tensions remain between the groups controlling various parts of Suweida province, it said.
Reports of a siege
Alaa al-Qadi, an activist from Suweida told The New Arab’s sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that necessities such as water, electricity, and fuel are currently unavailable in the city.
Echoing the WHO’s statement, Qadi says the main hospital is operating at a minimal level, while some shops that have opened their doors are selling rationed supplies to residents.
He stresses that people have not seen any aid yet.
Suweida’s residents have no trust in the government security forces nor feel safe in their presence, Qadi adds.
Syrian journalist Osama Abu Dikar told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that Suweida City was still without water or electricity and telecoms services were unstable.
He also said that the governorate is under siege from all directions, adding that the main Damascus-Suweida Road was still blocked by “terrorist gangs.”
From the western side of Suweida, bordering Sunni-majority Daraa, the road is still blocked and there is no way out.
Abu Dikar says only one aid convoy had entered Suweida so far while other convoys are blocked by Syrian government authorities, who in turn claimed last Sunday that forces loyal to Druze Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri had rejected the entry of a government delegation and humanitarian aid.
Damascus has accused Hijri of inciting the violence in Syria’s Druze heartland and "aligning himself with Syria’s enemies to undermine national unity" – in an apparent reference to Israel, which bombed Syria’s capital Damascus last week.
Israel intervened following the clashes under the pretext of "protecting" Syrian Druze.
Abu Dikar also denied that Bedouins fleeing Suweida were forcibly displaced, saying they were given the opportunity to leave if they wanted.
The UN said on Thursday that 145,000 people had fled the province, with convoys carrying hundreds of Bedouin residents to neighbouring Daraa.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Wednesday that a second convoy from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent entered the province on Wednesday, carrying food, wheat flour, fuel, medicine and other health supplies.
The convoy reportedly included 25 trucks loaded with canned goods and food supplies for approximately 17,000 people, flour, 14,000 litres of diesel, as well as medical equipment and body bags.
Government denial
Sources from Syria’s interior ministry denied to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that any siege had been imposed on Suweida City and the rest of the province.
One source said that the deployment of security forces along the administrative borders of the governorate aims to protect the area and prevent a renewal of clashes, in line with the ceasefire agreement.
The source added that security forces are working to secure the entry of humanitarian aid convoys into the city, in addition to securing the exit of convoys carrying departing families, as part of steps aimed at calming the situation and ensuring the safety of civilians.
Agencies contributed to this report.