“We would like to thank all parties who played a role in reuniting families who have spent months anxiously waiting for their relatives,” said Stephan Sakalian, head of the ICRC delegation in Syria.
“The ICRC hopes that this operation will pave the way towards possible further releases and dialogue between all parties on other humanitarian concerns, including on the fate and whereabouts of people gone missing in relation to the hostilities in southern Syria since July 2025,” he added.
The ICRC carried out the operation at the request of – and in close coordination with – the parties, acting in its role as a neutral intermediary. Prior to the release, ICRC teams conducted interviews with each detainee to confirm their consent to the transfer and assess their medical condition.
Throughout the operation, the ICRC has prioritized the safe and dignified transfer of detainees. Specialized staff, including medical personnel, were present to provide immediate care and assistance where necessary. Two ambulance teams from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent accompanied the buses to ensure emergency response capacity.
Since the outbreak of hostilities in southern Syria in July 2025, the ICRC has engaged closely with all relevant parties and affected communities to respond to urgent humanitarian needs. This included visits to places of detention in both Sweida and Damascus to monitor the situation of the detainees and enable them to exchange news with their families.
Note to editors:
The ICRC will not be providing any footage of released detainees during the operation. This is out of respect for the dignity of those released and the condition they may be in, as well as issues linked to their safety. We strongly recommend that media outlets do the same.
About the ICRC
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a neutral, impartial, and independent organization with an exclusively humanitarian mandate that stems from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It helps people around the world affected by armed conflict and other situations of violence, doing everything it can to protect their lives and dignity and to relieve their suffering, often alongside its Red Cross and Red Crescent partners.
For more information, please contact:
Suhair Zakkout, ICRC Damascus, +963930336718, szakkout@icrc.org
