Sky News obtains first accounts of what happened inside Syrian cities shaken by bloody violence
No checkpoint is the same, some want paperwork, others wave you through after a brief look inside – but from Damascus to Latakia, there are a lot of checkpoints, and in one way or another, you are checked every time.
It wasn’t like this just a month or two ago, but it is now after the most violent few days the country has seen since Bashar al Assad was forced from power in December last year.
We drove through cities like Jableh, on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, almost unrecognisable now.
The bustling streets, markets and shops are silent, apart from the sirens of passing General Security convoys – their armed soldiers packed on the back of pick-up trucks.
The debris of battle is everywhere, buildings are burnt out and peppered with bullet holes, glass from smashed shopfront windows spills across the pavement and spent machine gun casings litter the streets.
Cities like Jableh, on Syria’s Mediterranean Coast, are almost unrecognisable now
The debris of battle is everywhere after pro-Assad militia attacked the city
After three months of relatively peaceful times, things have dramatically changed here, all because of the events of 6, 7 and 8 March.
A Thursday, Friday, and Saturday that could determine Syria’s future.
Driving out of Jableh and over a bridge, we pass through another checkpoint, then through a deserted village, home to a community of Syrian Alawites. Shops and homes are destroyed, soldiers guard the roads in and out.
We are on our way to the Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria.
It’s also now home to as many as 10,000 Alawites who are now camping in and around the base.
The Hmeimim air base is home to the Russian military in Syria
The site is also now home to as many as 10,000 Alawites camping in and around the area
They are seeking shelter and protection, watched on by Russian soldiers who remain inside.
Some of the thousands are in tents or under makeshift cover, others are sleeping rough or in their cars.
Thousands of people are in tents or under makeshift cover
One of many children displaced after her family were attacked by pro-Assad militia
Some are sleeping rough or in their cars
I first visited the airbase last December – then it consisted of a small cluster of shops and restaurants, established over years to service the Russian personnel.
Now the shops are shuttered and the restaurants cleared of tables to allow the families to sleep.
As I approached the gates of the base, I was surrounded by people pushing against each other, trying to get to me to tell me stories of being burnt out of their houses, or of family members killed in front of their eyes.
Crowds gather around Sky’s Stuart Ramsay to describe how their relatives were killed by pro-Assad forces
A young woman pulled me aside. “We need help, international help,” she whispered.
“We need international peacekeepers; my house was on fire.”
In the crowd, I met Adiba Shehaidi. She’s sleeping rough outside the base after escaping her village, Ain al Arous.
“They attacked us, just like that, slaughtered us, our friends, our neighbours, our children, our relatives – our in-laws, all of them, were slaughtered. They stormed the houses, shooting…” she recounted her story of escape.
“What can we say? To the world, what can we say? What was our crime?” she cried.
People in mourning after killings
Grieving relatives have described how their families were slaughtered
We were told that whole families had been killed with some buried in mass graves.
Not far away from the base, in the village of Al Sanobar – we found one. A mass grave consisting of two trenches, dug under the cover of darkness by villagers. They buried 80 people here.
Sticks had been placed in the earth to signal a body buried beneath. We are told a family of 17 are in one of the graves.
A mass grave in the village of Al-Sanobar
Sticks have been placed in the earth to show where a body is buried
Further into the village, we came across a group of men digging more graves. They told us they had found the bodies of their families, friends, and neighbours littered on the streets and in houses.
So far, they have buried 223 people, all from this one village.
Latakia, on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, is where pro-Assad fighters are accused of killing Alawite civilians
On trucks, the bodies wrapped in blankets and plastic were brought to their final resting place near their homes. Under a blistering sun a simple ceremony is held, then side by side they are buried.
These families have been devastated – their anguish obvious.
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Convoys of government security forces are now constantly patrolling all the areas where the killings took place, and they are trying to encourage the Alawites to return to their villages, saying it is now safe.
Convoys of government security forces are patrolling all the areas where the killings took place
The head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate, told me what happened here was unacceptable and must not happen again.
He explained how Assad loyalists had attacked and killed soldiers, police officers, and civilians – filming it and posting it on social media. This, he said, led to “undisciplined groups” arriving to this part of Syria, acting “outside of the Ministry of Defence’s command”.
The head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate, tells Sky’s Stuart Ramsay that Assad loyalists were to blame for the killings
Kunefate: What happened was unacceptable and must not happen again
“Among these groups were some with a questionable intent, many arrived with no clear instructions, simply coming to break the siege on the Ministry of Defence personnel and police,” Mr Kunefate told me.
“This resulted in chaos and a breakdown of discipline among the fighting groups that entered the coastal region.”
The scene of some of the worst fighting happened in the city of Jableh when the pro-Assad militia attacked. Much of the centre of town has been badly damaged in the fighting, and it is tense.
Security convoys patrol cities like Jableh, badly damaged during fighting with pro-Assad forces.
General Security convoys constantly patrol the city, home to Sunni civilians who were murdered like their Alawite neighbours.
Imad Bitar’s father Talal died after his car was fired upon by Assad fighters.
I met him in their family home where he told me he wants peace but believes it will only happen when Assad’s fighters are captured.
Sunni civilians in the city of Jableh were also murdered by pro-Assad fighters, including Imad Bitar’s father Talal
“We must find a way to live together, our only demand now is for the remaining factions to leave Syria and for those responsible for the regime’s crimes to face a formal trial. It’s not about sectarian divisions, it’s about justice.”
This has been a difficult time for the new government trying to unite Syria.
The massacres of Alawites at the hands of militia puts President Ahmed al Sharaa’s unity project in jeopardy.
But if there is a positive from that dreadful weekend, it is that the government acknowledges the mistakes and is promising to bring those responsible to justice.
The World with Yalda Hakim at 9pm on Sky News will feature a series of special reports on Syria from our chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay and special correspondent Alex Crawford.
Watch their latest report inside Al-Hol camp, where thousands of families affiliated to the former Islamic State group are being held by Kurdish forces in northeast Syria.
Hamas has said it is ready to cooperate with a request to deliver food to Israeli hostages in Gaza, if Israel agrees to permanently open a humanitarian corridor into the enclave.
The militant group’s statement comes amid international outcry over two videos it released of Israeli hostage Evyatar David, who it has held captive since 7 October 2023.
The now 24-year-old looks skeletal, with his shoulder blades protruding from his back.
The footage sparked huge criticism, with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas labelling the videos “appalling” and saying they “expose the barbarity of Hamas”.
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Video released of Israeli hostage
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had asked the Red Cross to give humanitarian assistance to the hostages.
Hamas’s military spokesperson Abu Obeidah said it is “ready to engage positively and respond to any request from the Red Cross to bring food and medicine to enemy captives” if certain conditions are met.
These are that Israel must permanently open a humanitarian corridor and halt airstrikes during the distribution of aid, he said.
Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday that six more people had died of starvation or malnutrition in the enclave in the past 24 hours.
This raises the number of those who have died from what multiple international agencies warn may be an unfolding famine to 175 since the war began, the ministry said. This includes 93 children, it added.
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Baby Zainab starved to death in Gaza
No aid entered Gaza between 2 March and 19 May due an Israeli blockade and deliveries of supplies including food, medicine and fuel have been limited since then.
Israeli authorities have previously said there is “no famine caused by Israel” – and that its military is “working to facilitate and ease the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip”.
Meanwhile, Palestinian health authorities also said at least 80 people in Gaza were killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes on Sunday.
These included people trying to reach aid distribution, Palestinian medics said.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has repeatedly said it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians” and has previously blamed Hamas militants for fomenting chaos and endangering civilians.
Read more:
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Hamas killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in its attack on 7 October 2023 and abducted 251 others. Of those, they still hold around 50, with 20 believed to be alive, after most of the others were released in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between militants and civilians in its count.
We’ve seen this many times before.
Highly anticipated talks and meetings with America, Israel’s closest ally and the one country with the power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change course, then nothing changes.
We need to give Steve Witkoff time to report his assessments back to the White House before we can give a complete verdict on this visit but what we’ve seen and heard so far has offered little hope.
The pressure on Donald Trump to stop the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is mounting after a small but vocal contingent of his base expressed outrage.
Even one of his biggest supporters in Congress, Marjorie Taylor Green, has referred to it as a genocide.
It was little coincidence Mr Witkoff was dispatched to the region for the first time in three months to speak to people on both sides and “learn the truth” to quote US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who accompanied him to an aid site in Gaza.
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Gaza nurse: ‘We’re rationing care’
The pair spent five hours in Gaza speaking to people at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation centre and it’s understood saw nothing of the large crowd of Palestinians gathering a mile away waiting for food.
Their sanitised tour of Gaza did not include a visit to a hospital where medics are receiving casualties by the dozen from deadly incidents at aid sites, and where they’re treating children for malnutrition and hunger.
A critical trauma nurse at Nasser hospital told us a 13-year-old boy was among the people shot while Mr Witkoff was in the enclave.
An American paediatrician at the same hospital who had publicly extended an invitation to meet with Mr Witkoff heard nothing from the US delegation.
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Dr Tom Adamkiewicz described people “being shot like rabbits” and “a new level of barbarity that I don’t think the world has seen”.
The US delegation was defensive of the controversial GHF aid distribution that was launched by America and Israel in May, hailing its delivery of a million meals a day.
But if their new system of feeding Gaza is truly working, why are we seeing images of starved children and hearing deaths every day of people in search of food?
The backdrop of this trip is very different to the last time Mr Witkoff was here.
In May, life was a struggle for Palestinians in Gaza, people were dying in Israeli bombings but, for the most part, people weren’t dying due to a lack of food or getting killed trying to reach aid.
Mr Netanyahu’s easing of humanitarian conditions a week ago, allowing foreign aid to drop from the sky, was an indirect admission of failure by the GHF.
Yet, for now, the US is standing by this highly criticised way of delivering aid.
A UN source tells me more aid is getting through than it was a week ago – around 30 lorries are due to enter today compared to around five that were getting in each day before.
Still nowhere near enough and it’s a complex process of clearances and coordination with the IDF through areas of conflict.
Lorries are regularly refused entry without explanation.
Then there was Mr Witkoff’s meeting with hostage families a day later where we began to get a sense of America’s new plan for Gaza.
The US issued no public statement but family members shared conversations they’d had with Mr Trump’s envoy: bring all the hostages home in one deal, disarm Hamas and end the war. Easier to propose than to put into practice.
Within hours of those comments being reported in the Israeli media, Hamas released a video of hostage Evyatar David looking emaciated in an underground tunnel in Gaza.
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Video released of Israeli hostage
Now 24 years old, he was kidnapped from the Nova festival on 7 October and is one of 20 hostages understood to be still alive. The release of the video was timed for maximum impact.
Hamas also poured water on any hopes of a deal in a statement, refusing to disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established.
Hamas has perhaps become more emboldened in this demand after key Israeli allies, including the UK, announced plans for formal recognition in the last week.
It’s hard to see a way forward. The current Israeli government has, in effect, abandoned the idea of a two-state solution.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
The Trump administration’s recent boycott of international conferences on the matter suggests America is taking a similar line, breaking with its long-standing position.
Arab nations could now be key in what happens next.
In an unprecedented move, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt joined a resolution calling for Hamas to disarm and surrender control of Gaza following a UN conference earlier this week.
This is hugely significant – highly influential powers in its own backyard have not applied this sort of pressure before.
For all the US delegation’s good intentions, it’s still political deadlock. Israeli hostages and Palestinians in Gaza left to starve and suffer the consequences.
Tens of thousands of Sydney residents marched across the city’s iconic Harbour Bridge to support Palestinians in Gaza and call for an end to the war.
The decision to centre the protest on such an iconic landmark was controversial. The bridge is considered a symbol of unity in the city.
However, the Israel-Hamas war has been deeply divisive in Australia and increased tension between the country’s Jewish and Muslim communities.
Protesters walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Pic: AAP/Dean Lewins/Reuters
On Sunday there were pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney.
In Sydney organisers hoped 50,000 people would attend, despite heavy rain.
In the end, the bridge and the central business district were so packed – and the weather so bad – that police and organisers called the march off mid-way, fearing there would be a crush in the crowd.
Protest in Sydney. Pic: @emafranklin via Storyful
Police said the crowd numbers in the Sydney Harbour Bridge march were “far greater” than expected, creating the risk of a crowd crush.
“It was perilous,” said senior officer Peter McKenna, adding his force was “very lucky the crowd was well-behaved”.
The final figures for the number of people who attended haven’t been released. But it was an impressive turnout in the tens of thousands.
Some of those attending the march, called by its organisers the March for Humanity, carried pots and pans as symbols of the hunger in the besieged enclave of Gaza.
Julian Assange joined protesters. Pic: AAP/Dean Lewins/Reuters
There was also a surprise guest, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
He has largely kept a low profile since his release from a British prison last year. He didn’t speak to the crowd, but he was among those leading the march.
However, the demonstration almost didn’t happen after New South Wales police tried to stop it from taking place on the Harbour Bridge.
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On Saturday, the country’s Supreme Court ruled it could go ahead.
Despite the rain, there were families with children and seniors as well. It was a true cross-section of Australian society.
One of the protesters, Sarah, drove up from the Blue Mountains outside Sydney to attend.
She said, “enough is enough” and the Australian government should take “stronger action”.
Pro-Palestine protesters on Sydney Harbour Bridge
Read more:
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Gaza nurse: ‘We’re rationing care’ – watch
Sarah also said Australians want people to know they care about what’s happening in the world.
Australia has not joined France, the UK and Canada is announcing plans to recognise a Palestinian state in September.
The government here says recognition is a matter of “when not if”. But it has not committed to any timeline.
Public pressure is growing on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to take a stronger stand against the war. So far, he has largely resisted that pressure.
But the government’s language towards Israel is becoming more critical.
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