(4 Sep 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hama, Syria – 23 August 2025
1. Aerial of the Orontes River ++MUTE++
2. Various of Orontes River showing declining levels of water and trash gathered on the river banks
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Damascus, Syria – 17 July 2025
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Marianne Ward, World Food Programme, Syria Country Director:
++STARTS ON SHOT 1, PARTIALLY OVERLAID BY SHOT 2++
“In fact the drought has really impacted negatively the agriculture, we estimate that 75% of the wheat crop has been lost and that could’ve fed 16 million people for a year. So it’s really quite a serious food security situation in the country right now.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Damascus, Syria – 10 July 2025
4. Various of workers working in wheat field
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mansour Mahmoud al-Khatib, farmer:
++STARTS ON SHOT 4++
"We had very little yield, and the weather was hot this winter. The land misses the water. This season is weak; you could call it half a season.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hama, Syria – 23 August 2025
6. Various aerials of the Orontes River ++MUTE++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Damascus, Syria – 9 July 2025
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Jalal al-Hamoud, U.N. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) Food Security Officer:
++STARTS ON SHOT 6++
"It’s important to point out that the primary factor behind the weak agricultural output this season is drought. However, we can’t overlook the destruction the long-standing crisis left behind in agricultural infrastructure and irrigation systems. All these conditions have worsened the impact of drought this season, leading to the sharp decline in production that we’ve witnessed."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Qaraoun Lake, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon – 6 August 2025
8. Various aerials of partially dried up water reservoir ++MUTE++
9. Pan right from dry earth to partially low level reservoir
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Beirut, Lebanon – 4 August 2025
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sami Alawieh, head of the Litani River National Authority:
++STARTS ON SHOT 8, PARTIALLY OVERLAID BY SHOT 9++
"We are witnessing a continuous decline in the inflow of water into the lake over the years as a result of climate change. A factor that must not be overlooked. Climate change has gradually reduced the amount of water reaching Lake Qaraoun. Consequently, we are facing the serious threat of water scarcity and the impacts of climate change in the Upper Litani Basin."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Qaraoun Lake, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon – 6 August 2025
11. Various aerials of reservoir ++MUTE++
STORYLINE:
The worst drought in decades is gripping much of the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, drying out rivers and lakes, shriveling crops and leading to days-long tap water cutoffs in major cities.
The situation is particularly dire in Syria, where experts say rainfall has been declining for decades and the fledgling government is trying to stitch the country back together following a 14-year civil war that left millions impoverished and reliant on foreign aid.
Small-farmer Mansour Mahmoud al-Khatib said that during the war, he couldn’t reach his fields in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab on some days because militants from the Lebanese Hezbollah militia allied with then-President Bashar Assad blocked roads.
That problem vanished when Hezbollah withdrew after Assad fell in a December rebel offensive, but the drought has devastated his farm, drying up the wells that irrigate it.
"The land is missing the water," al-Khatib told The Associated Press earlier this summer as he watched workers feed the wheat he did manage to harvest.
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