“Civil Society Spotlight” is a series aiming at highlighting and contextualising the voices of Syrian civil society organizations, activists, journalists, and people who advocate for positive solutions, human rights, democratic values, and social justice.
Context
Syrian men and women have endured a new ordeal, this time affecting the residents of Aleppo—particularly those in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Al-Ashrafiya. This adds to the chain of ongoing tragedies spanning more than a decade. The city witnessed a military escalation that began on 6 January with the deaths of at least four people and others wounded due to the outbreak of clashes within the city. Meanwhile, the Syrian Transitional Government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) traded accusations over who was responsible for the eruption of these security tensions.
These clashes escalated into a large-scale offensive. The Transitional Government deployed tanks, heavy artillery, and drones, amidst accusations that Turkey provided logistical support and used drones in the attack. The escalation was accompanied by massive waves of displacement, affecting more than 140,000 people.
In the following days, the Sheikh Maqsoud and Al-Ashrafiya neighborhoods were subjected to violent shelling, before the confrontations ended with a ceasefire agreement, reached on 11 January through international mediation. By 12 January, the Transitional Government announced its full control over the Sheikh Maqsoud and Al-Ashrafiya neighborhoods. The clashes resulted in the deaths of 82 people, including civilians and military personnel, in addition to dozens of missing persons, according to reports from local activists.
Multiple warnings: above all, diminishing prospects of peace
Civil organizations, activists, and human rights defenders responded extensively and at multiple levels to the events that spanned a week. Some expressed their full solidarity with civilians, emphasizing the need for immediate action to protect them, while simultaneously warning against the undermining of social cohesion, the diminishing prospects for peace, and the risks of escalating societal polarization and hate speech. Others condemned the targeting of medical points by government forces, demanding urgent relief and immediate intervention to stop the targeting and siege of hospitals, where many civilians had sought refuge for protection.
Since the first day of military clashes in Aleppo's neighborhoods, dozens of organizations have issued both joint and individual statements. On 7 January 2026, approximately 68 civil organizations working across various humanitarian, human rights, relief, and developmental fields—as well as those dedicated to women's rights throughout Syria—issued a joint statement. They expressed deep concern over the renewed violence in the city: civilians are once again bearing the brunt of hostilities and the political stalemate between the country's multiple factions, which subjects their lives, dignity, and fundamental rights to immense threats. This renewed violence undermines social cohesion and squanders the chances of establishing a safe, free, and inclusive Syria for all citizens.
The organizations demanded that both the Syrian Transitional Government and the Syrian Democratic Forces immediately cease any military or security operations that violate international humanitarian law, particularly in densely populated areas, stressing that civilian protection is a non-negotiable legal obligation. They specifically urged the Damascus government to halt any current or future military operations in populated areas, affirming its duty to ensure the protection of all citizens. Furthermore, they called for an urgent humanitarian response for the displaced and warned against the escalation of hate speech and polarization: dialogue and peaceful negotiation are the only paths to building a safe Syria for everyone.
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Additionally, on 10 January approximately 47 Syrian civil organizations active in North and East Syria - specializing in cultural, social, developmental, and legal rights, as well as documentation and rehabilitation - issued a joint statement. They held the Syrian Transitional Government fully responsible for the direct and continuous targeting of Khaled Fajr Hospital, the only facility providing medical services in Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood. They also condemned the total siege imposed on the hospital, which trapped dozens of civilians - including women, children, and the elderly - alongside the wounded and injured, in critical humanitarian conditions. The statement emphasized that targeting and besieging the hospital constitutes a war crime and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, which mandates absolute protection for medical facilities.
For its part, the Syria NGO Forum (SNGOF) called on all parties to the conflict in Aleppo to immediately de-escalate on 8 January. In a statement from the forum - a coordination platform representing 178 national and international NGOs, networks, and observers providing humanitarian aid, early recovery, and development across Syria - the escalations in Aleppo resulted in the deaths of at least 12 civilians and wounded many more. It also led to the displacement of nearly 139,000 people, including more than 1,100 who fled to overcrowded shelters lacking heating amidst ongoing snowstorms.
On the same day, 12 Syrian organizations dedicated to human rights and justice, focusing on non-violence and peaceful resistance, issued a statement expressing their grave concern over the military escalation. They called for an urgent return to the political negotiation process, emphasizing that the escalation violates previous agreements for civilian protection and threatens the lives of more than 250,000 residents.
Similarly, the Humanitarian and Development Cooperation (HDC) organization expressed its deep concern on 7 January regarding the ongoing security tensions. These developments represent a worrying turning point that increases the likelihood of escalating patterns of violations, including killings, injuries, and forced displacement. The organization stressed the necessity of launching independent investigations into these violations and ensuring legal accountability.
The Syrian Women’s Political Movement maintained that the solution must be political and achieved through dialogue, while ensuring the protection of civilians and ending forced displacement. They also called for holding any party that targets civilians accountable, involving all political forces and Syrian women in decision-making, ending hate speech, and building national trust.
Individual positions: not a true transition process
A group of activists, politicians, and public figures expressed positions calling for de-escalation. Several activists—including journalist and activist Hanadi Zahlout, writer Mowaffaq Nyrabia, legal expert Joudia Abdullah Noufal, journalist Mays Qat, and civil activist Muna Al-Freij—issued an open statement for signature. They affirmed their rejection and condemnation of any security or military solution that spills Syrian blood and leads to their displacement, emphasizing that negotiation and dialogue are the only ways to address crises within Syria. The statement called on the government to address the crises in Sweida, northeastern Syria, and the Syrian Coast through serious dialogue and comprehensive national reconciliation.
Jalal Al-Hamad, director of the Justice for Life organization, wrote on Facebook that the events in Aleppo confirm that the conflict in Syria is not yet over. He noted that the country still needs an authority whose mission is to facilitate the transition process, rather than merely seizing power. He pointed out that while the transitional authority in Damascus has recently accepted some American and Israeli demands, it views the acceptance of any popular demand as a sign of weakness.
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Human rights defender Rima Flihan observed that the Transitional Government faces no issue engaging in external negotiation tracks, yet it tends to expedite military solutions when facing domestic crises, rather than adopting dialogue and building national consensus.
On the other hand, the military escalation in Aleppo has doubled the suffering of displaced persons, previously uprooted from other areas such as the city of Afrin - which was taken over by Turkey and armed Syrian factions in 2018 following the Operation Olive Branch military offensive against the SDF. With the renewal of violence in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Al-Ashrafiya, these individuals face a new wave of hardship.
In this context, civil activist Naz Hami, who hails from Afrin, wrote that although her family reached Afrin safely, they are deprived of their home, which was confiscated years ago by armed factions that are now identified as part of the Syrian Army. She considered her family’s situation not an isolated case, but an example of the suffering of thousands of families from Afrin. These facts reflect a structural injustice based on discrimination and identity, she states, embodying the price Kurds pay in a political and security context that lacks a true state.
Similarly, journalist Roj Mousa, also from Afrin, wrote that his family is living through its third displacement - a scene that summarizes the tragedy of thousands of Syrian families. His brother has been displaced since childhood yet clings to his dream of continuing his education; his mother is locking the door to her home for the tenth time; and his father remains silent, battling illness amidst the repeated loss of homes and safety. What his family is enduring is not an exception, but the norm: the suffering of displaced families, while others remain trapped under shelling in Sheikh Maqsoud and Al-Ashrafiya, without protection or a voice that reaches the world, asserting that "the pain is even greater than this”.
Multiple violations
Following the agreement between the two sides and the entry of the Transitional Government forces into the Sheikh Maqsoud and Al-Ashrafiya neighborhoods, images and video clips (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) surfaced documenting violations against Kurdish fighters and civilians, including women and children. Among these violations, which sparked widespread outcry and angry reactions, was a video showing the body of a female Kurdish fighter being thrown from a floor of a building while being subjected to insulting and violent verbal abuse.
In response, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) issued a statement on 12 January, characterizing the footage as a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, which mandates respect for the deceased and prohibits the mutilation or degrading treatment of bodies, regardless of the status of the deceased. The SNHR emphasized that any allegations regarding her involvement in killing civilians do not justify this violation, as human dignity remains inviolable after death. The network recommended that the Syrian Transitional Government launch an immediate and independent investigation, preserve evidence, hear witness testimonies, suspend the involved individual, refer to the judiciary immediately, and issue clear military orders prohibiting any conduct that violates the dignity of the dead.
The Syrian Feminist Lobby also condemned, on 12 January, the gross violations against civilians in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Al-Ashrafiya and other areas of Aleppo. These violations included forced displacement, the targeting of civilians, medical facilities, and journalists, as well as the desecration of bodies - actions the Lobby classified as war crimes that violate international humanitarian law. Any targeting based on ethnic or sectarian identity deepens divisions and threatens civil peace.
For his part, Bassam Al-Ahmad, human rights defender and director of Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ), called on the Syrian government to allow international organizations and investigative teams to enter Aleppo without restrictions or intimidation of witnesses to verify that no violations are occurring. He asserted that any investigation conducted by the Damascus government or its affiliated entities cannot be considered neutral or independent.
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Meanwhile, Rim Turkmani, Research Director of the Syria Conflict Research Programme at the London School of Economics (LSE), wrote that the desecration of bodies constitutes a heinous war crime, regardless of whether the deceased were enemy fighters or not—as has been witnessed in Aleppo and Afrin in recent years. No armed faction currently holds a moral advantage, she asserted, and it is essential to adopt a rigorous moral stance that rejects these practices regardless of which party commits them.
On another note, activists circulated a video clip captured during coverage by a television channel, showing individuals believed to belong to the Syrian Civil Defense. Among them was a member carrying a sidearm and firing in the conflict zone in Aleppo. This sparked a wave of criticism, given his status as a civilian paramedic who enjoys legal protection and is not considered a combatant party.
Commenting on this, Mohammad Al-Abdullah, a human rights expert and Director of the Syria Justice and Accountability Center (SJAC), explained that international humanitarian law—particularly the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions—grants special protection to medical and civil defense personnel. It prohibits targeting them or involving them in hostilities. He emphasized that this protection is forfeited only in the event of direct participation in military operations or by causing military harm to the enemy. Carrying sidearms by medical teams or civil defense crews might be permissible exclusively for self-defense or the protection of medical facilities; however, it does not justify its use in combat actions or long-range attacks.
Al-Abdullah stressed that the legal assessment of the incident depends on the nature and context of the act, the objective of using the weapon, and whether it constituted direct participation in combat. Such an act could amount to a war crime if it is proven that civilians were intentionally put at risk. He asserted that the Ministry of Emergency and Disasters of the Transitional Government and the Civil Defense team must launch an investigation to determine the legal status of that humanitarian worker.
Division within civil groups
Notably, every event or wave of violence in Syria following the fall of Assad has been met with a sharp divergence in positions. This leads to a divided Syrian public and sometimes extends into the very heart of civil society working groups. A clear disparity emerged in the evaluation of statements issued by civil entities; some viewed them as selectively biased toward one party of the conflict, leading to internal disputes that, in some cases, resulted in formal resignations.
Lina Wafai, a member of the Syrian Women’s Political Movement, stated that every new war further fragments Syrian men and women and exacerbates divisions even within the same working groups, amid escalating debates and hate speech. Wafai expresses an increasing sense of fear for civilians and for Syria, accompanied by a profound feeling of disappointment and futility.
Similarly, a statement issued by the Syrian Journalists Association (SJA) on 9 January met with significant internal opposition. The statement condemned shelling attributed to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Aleppo, which resulted in the injury of four journalists. Critics within the association viewed the statement as politically biased and selective in its characterization of violations. Consequently, on 11 January, 20 journalists announced their resignation from the SJA, asserting that it had deviated from its professional principles and was no longer an independent umbrella protecting press freedom and media independence. They pointed to political bias in the association’s rhetoric and a breach of its internal regulations, specifically citing its failure to address hate speech and incitement.
To clarify these developments, Syria Untold contacted the SJA, which stated that it was not motivated by political alignment. Rather, it was based on documented facts of violations targeting journalists during their work. The association emphasized that its standard is the nature of the violation, not the identity of the perpetrator, noting that it had previously condemned violations committed by various parties - including the current government - in its most recent statement.
The association characterized the resignations as being driven by individual rather than professional motives. It affirmed that the SJA does not represent any specific ethnic or political component but rather defends the journalists and the victims, treating the profession as a non-politicized value. It concluded by rejecting the transformation of the association into an arena for political conflict.
List of key civil society organizations and activists mentioned in this article:
Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR)
Jalal Al-Hamad (Director of Justice for Life, JFL)
Bassam Al-Ahmad (Director of Syrians for Truth and Justice, STJ)
Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ)
Rim Turkmani (Research Director of the Syria Conflict Research Programme at the London School of Economics, LSE / University of London)
Sawsan Rashid (Civil activist)
Roj Mousa (Journalist)
Lina Wafai (Member of the Syrian Women’s Political Movement)
Syrian Women’s Political Movement (SWPM).
Syrian Journalists Association (SJA)
Rima Flihan (Human Rights Defender)
Mohammad Al-Abdallah (Human Rights Expert and Director of the Syria Justice and Accountability Center, SJAC)
Syria Justice and Accountability Center (SJAC)
Hanadi Zahlout (Journalist and activist)
Mowaffaq Nyrabia (Writer)
Joudia Abdullah Noufal (Human Rights Defender)
Mays Qat (Journalist)
Muna Al-Freij (Civil Activist)
