Swiss Parliament rejects proposal to lift Syria sanctions
The Swiss Parliament turns down two proposals to lift sanctions against Syria affecting its civilians.
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People walk past collapsed buildings following a devastating earthquake in the town of Jinderis, Aleppo province, Syria, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023 (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council, the lower house of the Swiss parliament, announced on Tuesday its rejection of a proposal calling on the government to lift sanctions against Syria affecting its civilians.
"The proposal instructing the Federal Council to not renew sanctions [against Syria] harming civilians and lift those sanctions adopted by Switzerland was turned down in an 18-to-5 vote with one abstention," the statement read.
Another proposal urging the country's government to assess the impact these sanctions directly have on civilians in Syria was also rejected, the committee added.
The US Treasury Department announced on February 10 a temporary lifting of some Syria-related sanctions following calls from the Syrian state and the international community in the aftermath of the 7.8-magnitude that struck Syria and Turkey.
UN World Food Programme Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Corinne Fleischer said that some sanctions imposed on Syria must be lifted so that the humanitarian community could deliver medicines and fertilizers to the country.
It is worth noting that the death toll from the devastating earthquake that struck northern Syria has risen on Tuesday to more than 5,801, and the number of injured has reached 7,396 so far.
Preliminary statistics of the damage indicate that the earthquake led to the complete destruction of about 103 buildings, while 247 others are about to fall.
Meanwhile, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Saturday arrived in Syria to tour some hospitals of the city along with the Syrian Health Minister and Aleppo Governor, the report said.
Regarding the destruction Ghebreyesus witnessed, he posted a video in a tweet, saying has "never seen" such level of damage in his life before and described the scene as "Skeletons of houses."
The video, filmed from inside a car while Ghebreyesus was touring the affected areas, showed great damage to residential buildings and streets.
Simultaneously, Al Mayadeen correspondent reported that clashes broke out between the National Front factions and Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham in Idlib countryside due to a dispute over seizing aid for those affected by the earthquake.
Our correspondent pointed out that a UN delegation entered the Bab al-Hawa crossing, north of Idlib, towards the areas affected by the earthquake, pointing out that "the foreign militants present in Idlib countryside prevented the opening of the Saraqeb crossing for aid to reach the earthquake-affected people."
