The siege of Eastern Ghouta was a siege that was laid by Syrian Government forces in April 2013,^[1] to the area in eastern Ghouta held by anti-government forces since November 2012, during the Syrian civil war. The cities and villages under siege were Douma, Mesraba, Arbin, Hamouria, Saqba, Modira, Eftreis, Jisrin, as well as suburbs of Damascus Beit Sawa, Harasta, Zamalka, Ein Tarma, Hizzah and Kafr Batna.^[31] By 2016, around 400,000 people were trapped in an area just over 100 square kilometres in size,^[23] thus with a population density around 4,000 inhabitants/km².

Quick Facts Date, Location ...

Siege of Eastern Ghouta
Part of the Rif Dimashq Governorate campaign, and the Syrian civil war
Aerial bombardment of Eastern Ghouta by the Syrian Air Force on 8 February 2018
Date 7 April 2013[1] – 14 April 2018[2][3][4] (5 years and 1 week) Location Eastern Ghouta, Rif Dimashq Governorate, Syria Result Syrian Army and allies victory Series of evacuation deals for rebel fighters Douma chemical attack[5] 2018 missile strikes against Syria Reopening of Damascus-Homs highway Territorial changes Syrian Army captures the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta pocket[6][7]
Belligerents
Jaysh al-Islam [8] Al-Rahman Legion [1] Ahrar al-Sham [1] Tahrir al-Sham [1] Free Syrian Army   Jaysh al-Ummah  (2014–15)	Syrian Arab Republic Syrian Armed Forces  Iran  Russia (since 2015) Allied militias: Hezbollah Palestinian Syrian militias LAAG Arab Nationalist Guard[9] Liwa Fatemiyoun[10] Lions of Hussein[11]	Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (2013 – July 2014)[12] Ansar al-Sharia (Allegedly, by al-Nusra)[13]
Commanders and leaders
Zahran Alloush † Essam al-Buwaydhani  Abdul al-Nasr Shamir	Colonel Ghayath Dalla Suheil al-Hassan	Unknown
Units involved
Jaysh al-Islam Military Council of Damascus and its Suburbs Al-Rahman Legion Al-Bara Brigade Glory Brigades Abu Musa al-Shari Brigade Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union (Eastern Ghouta branch) Al-Habib al-Mustafa Brigade 101st Battalion Ahrar al-Sham Fajr al-Umma Brigade (independent group prior to 2017) Free Syrian Army 1st Brigade of Damascus	Syrian Army Republican Guard[14] Tiger Forces[14] 14th Special Forces Division[14] 1st Corps 7th Mechanized Division[15] 9th Armoured Division[14] 2nd Corps 4th Armoured Division[14] 42nd Armored Brigade[16] 10th Mechanized Division[17] 62nd Mechanized Brigade[17] National Defence Forces Syrian Air Force Palestinian Syrian militias Liwa al-Quds[18] PLA[9] PFLP-GC[19] FPM[20] PPSF-Majid[21] As-Sa'iqa[21] Fatah al-Intifada[21] Russian Armed Forces Aerospace Forces[22]	Unknown
Strength
10,000 (in 2016)[23] 20,000 (in 2018)[24][25]	15,000 (in 2018)[15]	Unknown
Casualties and losses
10,000+ killed (2012–18)[26]	10,000+ killed (2012–18)[26]	Unknown
20,000 killed civilians (March 2011 to February 2018, per SNHR)[27] ~30,000 killed overall (Eastern Ghouta hospital sources, 2017)[28] 105,000[29]–140,000[30] displaced (2018)

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United Nations Security Council Resolution 2401, adopted on February 28, 2018, called for a nationwide ceasefire in Syria for 30 days, including Eastern Ghouta, but the Syrian Army continued the offensive. In March 2018, the Syrian Army split the enclave into three parts, reaching an agreement with the rebels to withdraw to the north, to Idlib. This action displaced 105,000 people from the area. Douma was the only city left by the end of that month that was not under Syrian government control.

On April 8, 2018, on the anniversary of the 2017 sarin gas Khan Shaykhun chemical attack, an agreement had been reached to evacuate remaining fighters and civilians from the last rebel-controlled pocket of Douma following the chemical weapons attack that reportedly killed 70 people, and injured 500 who displayed symptoms of "toxic gas" exposure.^[32][33][34] The Syrian Government denied responsibility, together with its allies involved in the war: Russia and Iran. More than 50,000 people, including fighters from the Jaish al-Islam and their families, have been evacuated out of the city as part of the deal, to northern Syria.^[8] Around 200 hostages loyal to the Syrian Government have reportedly been released by the rebels. Russian military police were deployed to Douma to enforce the agreement.^[35]

Thousands of people were killed during this 5-year siege period. Numerous allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity^[30] were made during the siege, among others from the United Nations Human Rights Council, including the use of prohibited weapons, attacks on civilians, attacks against protected objects (schools, hospitals), starvation as a method of warfare and denial of medical evacuation.

Prior to the Syrian civil war, the total population of Eastern Ghouta, a collection of farms and cities near Damascus, was around 1.5 million people.^[1] During the civil unrest that began in Syria in March 2011, some of the eastern Ghouta residents took part in the protests against the Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad and joined the Syrian rebels and expelled Syrian government forces by November 2012.^[36] In February 2013, Syrian rebels captured parts of the ring road on the edge of Damascus and entered the Jobar district of the capital city.^[37] Backed by Iran and Hezbollah, the Syrian Arab Army counterattacked and in April 2013 began a siege of Eastern Ghouta, which is just 15 km or a half hour's drive outside the capital Damascus.^[38] Cut off from the rest of the country, the population of Eastern Ghouta resorted to incineration of plastics to generate electricity. In early 2015, when the Syrian government cut off water supplies to Duma, the population adapted yet again and dug over 600 underground wells, using manual pumps to supply water.^[1]

In mid-2017, the main rebel faction in the area was Jaysh al-Islam, based in Douma (with an estimated 10–15,000 fighters in the region in early 2018^[39]). The second largest was Faylaq al-Rahman, an official affiliate of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), controlling much of central and western parts of Ghouta, including the Jobar and Ain Terma districts. Ahrar al-Sham (based in Harasta) and Tahrir al-Sham (HTS – controlling smaller districts such as Arbin, al-Ashari and Beit Nayim, with an estimated strength in the area of 500 in February 2018^[40]) had a far smaller presence.^[41]

In August 2013, the area was subjected to a chemical attack that killed hundreds of people,^[42] after which an agreement was made to ban chemical weapons in Syria. From 14 to 30 November 2017, the Russian-Syrian forces conducted more than 400 airstrikes in the area, hitting markets, schools and houses, and during some of those airstrikes allegedly using banned cluster munition.^[43]

Despite efforts at turning Ghouta into a de-escalation zone, reports of bombs allegedly containing weaponised chlorine were registered again in early 2018.^[44] By January 2018, the area had only a single doctor per 3,600 people.^[45] Inter-rebel fighting in 2016 and once again in 2017 deteriorated the situation even further, showing a lack of unity among the rebel groups.

After a series of offensive operations launched by Syrian rebels against positions of the Syrian Arab Army in Harasta, a northeastern suburb of Damascus, and other locations in Ghouta, the Syrian Arab Army launched an operation to capture the rebel-held part of Ghouta in February 2018. The escalation of hostilities led to a United Nations Security Council meeting held on 24 February 2018, voting unanimously in favor of a 30-day cease-fire in Syria, and demanded immediate lifting of the siege of eastern Ghouta.^[46] In March 2018 the government offensive continued, being supported by the Russia both diplomatically and militarily.^[47][48] On 11 March, the Syrian government took control over several areas and split the enclave into three pockets.^[49] These pockets included Duma and its northeastern outskirts, eastern Harasta, and Zamalka and surrounding area.^[50]

In mid-late March after a series of negotiations, a deal was finally reached between the Syrian government and rebels that controlled parts of Eastern Ghouta. The deal involved a transfer of remaining rebel fighters from the areas of eastern Harasta, Zamalka and surrounding areas to the province of Idlib. 105,000 people were displaced by this evacuation from the area.^[29] By the end of March, Douma was the last pocket controlled by the rebels, the Jaish al-Islam fighters.^[51]

For at least 10 days, there were minimal attacks on the rebel pocket of Douma as talks with the Jaish al-Islam continued. It was reported later that the Jaish al-Islam shelled residential areas in Damascus, causing casualties and material damage. By 6 April, talks had "faltered" between the two sides and the SAA renewed their offensive in response to the attack. The Jaish al-Islam denied responsibility.^[52][53] The rebel group had also reportedly refused to release detainees loyal to the Syrian government it was holding in Douma.^[54] The shelling on 8 April 2018, which left several civilians dead, drew allegations of chemical weapons use in Douma, though the UN could not verify the claim initially.^[55]

In February 2018, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, a UK-based non-governmental organization, founded in June 2011, published a report alleging that 12,783 civilians were killed in and around Eastern Ghouta from March 2011 to February 2018, including 1,463 children and 1,127 women.^[27]

According to local hospital sources, which were cited in the French newspaper Le Monde, approximately 18,000 people were killed in the enclave by October 2017.^[28]

Médecins Sans Frontières claimed that 70 percent of the enclave's population lived underground by November 2017 to escape bombardments. It also registered that, on average, 71 people were being killed daily since the 18 February 2018 offensive. It registered 1,005 people killed and 4,829 wounded in two weeks alone, between 18 February and 3 March 2018.^[56]

• White Helmets looking for survivors in Arbin
• Aerial bombardments of East Ghouta in February 2018
• Ruins in Arbin on 27 February 2018
• A family in Ghouta on 28 February 2018
• Streets of Arbin in 2018