Habib Shehada

Satellite images show ongoing demolitions in the north of al-Hajar al-Aswad. A picture taken on 29/9/2023 image shows an increase in the number of demolished buildings compared to 7/9/2022 (Google Earth/SkyFi/Syria Direct) The demolition and looting of homes in areas retaken by Damascus has become a systematic practice.

DAMASCUS — On August 13, the Syrian government’s Citizen Service Center announced that passports scheduled to be issued two days later would be delayed until September 17. It was the second time this batch of passports had been delayed: Initially set to receive the travel documents on July 5, applicants had already waited for more than a month.

DAMASCUS — In 2013, when opposition forces took control of Damascus’ Yarmouk camp and regime forces placed it under siege, 55-year-old Hussam and his family decided to leave. They had somewhere to go: his abandoned family home in Old Damascus. A century old and empty for years, it offered shelter, and the family moved in. The house was in disrepair, but Hussam—who asked to be identified only by his first name—could not afford to rent elsewhere.