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As Idlib fighting intensifies, Syrians abroad suffer mentally

As the Russian-backed Syrian regime steps up the offensive against the country’s last rebel stronghold, displaced Syrians with relatives in Idlib are suffering mentally — not to mention the monumental health issues faced by the Idlib residents themselves.
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Reneem Hezabar, a financial consultant with Middle East Consulting Solutions in Gaziantep, Turkey, expects a phone call any day now with the news that her father has been killed. He is one of the few doctors working in her native city of Idlib in northwest Syria, and the Russian-Syrian alliance has been bombing hospitals in the province, the last stronghold of Syria’s revolution, since the latest offensive began April 28.

The Syrian American Medical Society, one of the few remaining medical relief organizations working on the ground in Syria, said there have been 25 attacks on health facilities, “each of which represents an egregious violation of international humanitarian law.” The Syrian government said it is only targeting the extremist militant group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which, since January, has strengthened its control across the province and in northern Hama, holding most of the region today. The regime has been using a cocktail of arms, including incendiary weapons, cluster munitions and barrel bombs.

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