Syrian President Vows to Deliver Aid to Quake-Hit Areas

Speaking to the visiting President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, and her accompanying delegation in Damascus on Tuesday, Assad emphasized the need for reconstruction of critical infrastructure such as health and communications, which directly impact the living conditions of ordinary people.

Egger praised the efforts of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and announced that the ICRC would expand its disaster relief operations. Meanwhile, the death toll from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria has risen to over 41,000, with more than 5,800 deaths reported in Syria and 35,418 in Turkey.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said Turkey will not accept more refugees from Syria after the earthquake, stating that claims of a new influx of refugees were untrue. Ankara has instead offered to open two more border gates into Syria through Turkey’s southern province of Kilis to allow humanitarian aid one-way entry.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has welcomed Syria's decision to open two more crossing points on the Turkish border for aid delivery. The move is vital to deliver life-saving supplies such as food, health, nutrition, protection, shelter, and winter supplies to millions of people affected by the disaster. Guterres also noted that the opening of these crossing points would facilitate humanitarian access and accelerate travel between hubs for faster aid delivery.

However, the UN's humanitarian aid office stated that the militants of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), designated as a terrorist group by the international community, are preventing aid consignments from reaching the earthquake-stricken areas in northern Syria. HTS has been involved in violent activities against Syrian people and government forces since 2011, when foreign-backed terrorism began in the Arab country.