IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – After a search that lasted for more than a week, during which his family was living under olive trees in northwest Syria, Ahmed Khattab, a displaced person from the town of Baluon, managed to find a house for rent in the city of al-Dana, north of Idlib, at a high price.
The military escalation comes within the de-escalation zone between the Syrian government forces and the pro-Turkey opposition groups, despite the ceasefire agreement, which has entered its second year.
The military escalation in the area led to the displacement of residents from several villages and towns in the Zawiya Mountain area, like Baluon, Faylun, Mashon, Mantef, Abyin, Kafrlata and other villages in the southern countryside of Idlib towards the border areas.
The displaced families face difficulties, most notably the overcrowding of habitable places in the border areas which are home to hundreds of thousands of displaced people, forcing families to sleep under olive trees.
The recently displaced are also unable to find housing in cities due to the high rents and their inability to pay for them.
High rents
Khattab was forced to pay $375 USD (about 1,100,000 Syrian pounds) for only three months of rent, as the owner of the house stipulated that he pay the rent for that period in advance.
He is currently unemployed, and unable to harvest his crops from fruitful trees due to the escalation of mutual shelling in his town in the southern countryside of Idlib.
Rent in the old city of Idlib ranges between $50 and $100, while prices in other neighborhoods exceed $250 per month, according to renters in the city.
Rent prices for homes in the border towns and cities in the north range between $50 and $200 dollars per month.
This is happening at a time when job opportunities are decreasing and the level of income is declining, amid Russian threats to close the UN-approved Bab al-Hawa border crossing.
On Monday, the Syrian government forces targeted the sites of armed opposition groups in the villages and towns of Zawiya Mountain.
Eyewitnesses told North Press at the time that government forces bombed residential neighborhoods in the town of al-Bara, south of Idlib, with heavy artillery and rockets from their positions in the surrounding checkpoints.
A civilian was seriously wounded as a result of the bombing, according to the source.
Continuous displacement
On Wednesday, Syrian government forces bombed the towns of al-Bara, al-Fatira, Kafr Oweid, Sufuhn and the outskirts of Kansafra in Zawiya Mountain, south of Idlib, reporting no causalities.
The bombing coincided with intense flight of Russian reconnaissance planes and warplanes over Idlib and the countryside of Hama, Aleppo, and Latakia, with no airstrikes recorded.
The mutual shelling has so far killed more than 30 civilians and wounded more than 70 others, according to the Idlib Civil Defense (White Helmets).
North Press was unable to obtain information from independent sources confirming these figures.
Sa’ad al-Omar, a resident of the town of Mantef in Zawiya Mountain, left his home with his family of nine after midnight as a result of the intense and sudden missile attack on the town.
“We don’t know how we managed to get out under the bombardment. That night was one of the worst days of my life,” he told North Press.
Al-Omar arrived at IDP camps in the Deir Hassan area at dawn, after a journey he described as “tragic,” but his suffering did not end here, as the difficulty of securing a small tent in which to shelter his children was the greatest tragedy.
He was forced to live with the family of one of his relatives in a tent for more than three days, until he was able to buy a used tent for $75 and set it up in the vicinity of one of the many camps in that area.
He pointed out that most of the population who used to live in the Zawiya Mountain area were from the middle class and depended on agriculture as a main source of livelihood.
He added that at such times, the population begins harvesting cherries, mahlab, apricots, and washna, in addition to figs, which are about to be harvested.