The city of Muadamiyat al-Sham in eastern Ghouta has been besieged again, after regime forces closed access to the city for the seventh day in a row in retaliation for a botched regime media stunt.
The Fourth Brigade closed the only crossing, preventing entry and exit of all persons – in exception for employees and students – to and from the city. Transportation means have also been prevented from entering the city, which further complicated students’ journeys to school and university, now they are forced to walk more than two kilometers on foot to reach the as-Someriyah area.
The Fourth Brigade denied any food and fuel supplies into the city, forcing most commercial shops to remain almost empty seven days after the siege. People were forced to use plastic materials in heating, after logging all the trees in Muadamiyat al-Sham forest.
Civilians trapped in Muadamiyat al-Sham number around 50,000 people – including children, women and elders – after regime forces recently reopened the roads to the city, promising to improve the lives and circumstances of residents. However, the regime only partially allowed the entry of food supplies, where supplies could not cover more than 15 percent of residents for more than two days. Medical supplies were not allowed at all.
The move comes after the Fourth Brigade, represented by Brigadier-General Ghassan Bilal, held a meeting with some of the notables of the city, requesting they allow TV presenter Kenana Hawijah to enter and interview people. Bilal offered to provide residents electricity and water to the city, after being cut off for more than three consecutive years, if they allowed the regime’s media staff to enter.
When the regime's media staff entered the city, residents of Muadamiyat al-Sham received them with demonstrations, carrying flags of the Syrian revolution, chanting for Douma and demanding the release of detainees.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
