HIGHLIGHTS
• SARG and GoRF reach local agreements with AOGs to evacuate AOG-controlled areas in Homs, Idlib, and Rif Damascus
• SARG completes military offensive in Eastern Ghouta following the displacement of 158,000 people since March 9
• Relief agencies continue to assist an estimated 44,000 Eastern Ghouta IDPs sheltering in Rif Damascus collective centers
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
• As of May 7, Syrian Arab Republic Government (SARG) airstrikes, ground clashes, and shelling continued in Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)-held southern areas of the capital city of Damascus, including the unofficial Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, international media report. As of late April, an estimated 3,500 Palestinian refugees had fled the Yarmouk camp due to the conflict, according to international media. Those remaining in the camp are sheltering in basements with limited access to food, medicine, and safe drinking water, as the UN has been unable to access the camp since 2015.
• In April, the SARG and the Government of the Russian Federation (GoRF) reached local agreements with multiple armed opposition groups (AOGs) controlling territories in Homs, Idlib, and Rif Damascus governorates, international media report. The agreements have resulted in the evacuations of opposition fighters, their family members, and additional civilians from these locations to opposition-controlled areas in Aleppo and Idlib governorates. As of May 7, evacuations were ongoing in multiple locations and relief agencies were assisting newly displaced populations in Aleppo and Idlib.
• Nearly 2.1 million people were residing in UN-identified besieged and hard-to-reach (HTR) areas of Syria as of April 26, representing a decrease of approximately 12 percent since February. The April figure includes a 97 percent decrease in the population in besieged locations, from nearly 414,000 people to approximately 11,100 people, largely due to the recapturing of Rif Damascus’ Eastern Ghouta region by the SARG, the UN reports. Since March 9, approximately 158,000 people have fled Eastern Ghouta, according to the UN.