“We resorted to eating grass,” Abu Muhammad Odeh’s voice trembled as he recalled the Yarmouk siege to L24. The camp, once bustling with life, became a scene of devastation when, in 2013, the Assad regime imposed a suffocating blockade, cutting off all supplies. As the days turned into months, starvation took hold. “Some resorted to eating cats and dogs,” he continued his words reflecting a dire reality few can imagine. Yarmouk’s streets, filled with skeletal figures – children and the elderly alike – became a symbol of the Assad regime’s cruel policies of siege warfare.
Yet, as tragic as Yarmouk’s story is, it is not unique. Separated by years and hundreds of miles, spanning time and space across different political and geographical boundaries, Gaza faces a similar reality. Under Israel’s relentless attacks and encirclement, the Gazans are reduced to living in what many describe as an “open-air prison,” deprived of food, water, and medical supplies. What happened in Yarmouk could just as easily be a day in Gaza.
Terror in the Name of Security
The horrors and terrors inflicted in both Gaza and Yarmouk stem from a familiar and politically charged pretext: terrorism. According to the Watson Institute, more than two decades of counter-terrorism have directly killed nearly a million while causing the deaths of many more due to the detriments of war.
In Gaza, Israel has long framed its military actions as necessary responses to Hamas, labeling the resistance group terrorists to justify the severity and extremes of its operations. Similarly, the Assad regime weaponized the presence of ISIS to justify its brutal siege of Yarmouk Camp, despite facilitating the extremist group’s entry into the area, according to Odeh. “ISIS was stationed nearby, and the regime let them into the camp to showcase that Damascus was ‘threatened by them,’” Odeh explained.
Hollow Slogans
Assad’s crimes against Palestinians predate the recent conflict. Their plight began under Hafez al-Assad and continues under his son, Bashar. While the regime has long claimed solidarity with the Palestinian cause, this has often been a facade for political gain. Odeh described how Palestinians in Syria experienced persecution for decades.
After the Nakba, he told L24, in 1948 and the June 1967 setback, Palestinians sought refuge in Syria, only to encounter a regime that viewed them as tools for political maneuvering. “The oppressive hand of Hafez al-Assad extended to Palestinian refugee camps outside Syria,” Odeh explained. One of the most brutal examples of this was the Tel al-Zaatar massacre in Lebanon, where Syrian forces besieged the Palestinian refugee camp and killed over 3,000 people in August 1976. “This regime is a regime that trades on the Palestinian cause and has committed massacres against the Palestinian people over seven decades,” Odeh added.
Beyond physical violence, the Assad regime has systematically worked to undermine Palestinian unity by combating factions and sowing seeds of discord among them. Palestinians in Syria were subjected to arbitrary detention for mere affiliation with factions not aligned with the regime. They had many reasons to reject them as Fadel Abdul Ghani, Director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) informed L24, “A large number of Palestinians in Syria joined the popular movement because this regime has harmed Palestinians and the Palestinian cause.”
The Assad regime’s exploitation of the Palestinian cause for political gain while using them to shore up regional legitimacy and systematically oppressing Palestinian communities – is a central aspect of its long-standing relationship with Palestinian refugees. “The regime,” says Ghani, “plays on the Palestinian issue, using empty slogans.”
The regime’s cynical manipulation of the Palestinian cause allowed it to posture as a defender of Palestinian rights on the international stage, while in reality, it perpetuated policies of divestment against Palestinian communities, both within Syria and beyond.
Wiped Off the Map
The endgame for both Gaza and Yarmouk appears not just to be suppression, but the extermination of the population. In Yarmouk, once home to nearly 1.2 million people, 160,000 Palestinian refugees, today, only a few thousand remain. Years of bombings and forced displacement have rendered the camp nearly uninhabitable. The Assad regime’s bombings in 2018 destroyed much of what was left. Odeh described how the regime “attacked all Palestinian camps in Syria,” not just Yarmouk, wiping out entire communities.
Gaza, too, faces a similar fate. The Israeli military’s operations have repeatedly leveled entire neighborhoods, displacing tens of thousands. The most recent conflict saw thousands of families forced from their homes, their neighborhoods turned into rubble. As Shamsi explained, “These crimes against Palestinians, including starvation and collective punishment carried out by Israel, are not mere coincidence but a diagnosis of a state policy implemented by senior Israeli officials,” and have made it impossible for Palestinians in Gaza to live with any semblance of security or normalcy.
Armies of Thieves
In both regions, the systematic destruction has allowed for the looting and theft of land and property. In Yarmouk, many residents who fled during the height of the violence have been prevented from returning. Laws enacted by the Assad regime effectively legalized the expropriation of their homes, profiting from their absence. Ammar al-Qudsi, a resident of Yarmouk told MEE of Assad’s “dirty plans” to steal the land and homes of Yarmouk as, “[serving] the goals of the Israeli occupation to separate the Palestinians and obliterate our identity.”
In Gaza, isolation and constant military assaults have left the economy in tatters. Israel controls the movement of goods, severely limiting the rebuilding efforts. For both Gaza and Yarmouk, the looting of land and wealth is not just a byproduct of war; it is a calculated strategy to displace and weaken Palestinian communities.
Shared Suffering
Life in both Gaza and Yarmouk has been systematically made unlivable. In Yarmouk, the Assad regime’s siege forced Palestinians to the brink of death. Ghani described the siege as “a form of humiliation similar to what other Syrian neighborhoods experienced, subjected to the same tactics.” Palestinian refugees in Syria, already vulnerable due to their statelessness, found themselves trapped in a cycle of violence and deprivation.
The situation in Gaza is equally dire. Israel has not only crippled the economy but also denied Palestinians access to basic human rights, such as freedom of movement and medical care. Shamsi pointed out that “less than 20% of planned relief missions” have been allowed to enter Gaza, creating a humanitarian catastrophe.
Beyond Borders
Yarmouk and Gaza are not isolated cases of ethnic cleansing; they are emblematic of a greater systematic crisis. Odeh observes, “What the Zionists did in Gaza resembles what this failed Assad regime did in Yarmouk.” Both areas have been targeted under the pretext of fighting terrorism, but the real objective has been the displacement and erasure of Palestinian communities.
