COVID-19 & Conflict in the Middle East

Endnotes

---

1. “Conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen lead to millions of displaced migrants in the Middle East since 2005,” Pew Research Center, October 18, 2016, https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2016/10/18/conflicts-in-syria-iraq-a….

2. Summary of the 2018 National Defense Strategy of the United States of America, Arlington: Department of Defense, 2018, https://dod.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/2018-National-Defense-….

3. Hamza Alheraki @herakihamza, Twitter post, July 9, 2020, https://twitter.com/HerakiHamza/status/1281362233184878592.

4. Darren Conway. 2020. “Syria: Inside a Refugee Camp Where COVID is Spreading.” BBC News, October 27, 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-54697587.

5. “Coronavirus: Idlib’s First COVID-19 Case Raises Fears for Syria Camps,” BBC News, July 10, 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53358569.

6. Kyle Thetford, “Factbox: The Syrian Regime’s Push in Idlib Province,” Atlantic Council, March 2, 2020, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/factbox-the-syrian-reg….

7. Office of the Secretary of Defense, “Justification for FY 2021 Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO)

Counter-Islamic State of Iraq And Syria (ISIS) Train and Equip Fund (CTEF),” Department of Defense, February 2020, https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/fy2021/f….

8. Office of the Spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State, “UPDATE: The United States Is Leading the Humanitarian and Health Assistance Response to COVID-19,” Department of State, August 21, 2020, https://www.state.gov/update-the-united-states-continues-to-lead-the-gl….

9. “Coalition provides COVID-19 Equipment in NE Syria,” U.S. Central Command, April 4, 2020, https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/NEWS-ARTICLES/News-Article-View/Article/2….

10. Operation Inherent Resolve: Lead Inspector General Report to the United States Congress, Washington DC: Department of Defense, Department of State, and U.S. Agency for International Development, May 13, 2020, https://media.defense.gov/2020/May/13/2002298979/-1/-1/1/LIG_OIR_Q2_MAR….

11. Bassem Mroue, “Islamic State Prisoners Agree to End Riot in Syria Jail,” ABC News, May 3, 2020, https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/islamic-state-prisoners-….

12. Eric Schmitt, “ISIS Prisoners Threaten U.S. Mission in Northeastern Syria,” The New York Times, May 25, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/25/world/middleeast/isis-prisoners-syri…; Elizabeth McLaughlin, “’Risk of a Mass Breakout’ at ISIS Prison Camps in Syria: Report,” ABC News, May 14, 2020, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/risk-mass-breakout-isis-prison-camps-sy….

13. Aymen Jawad Al-Tamimi, “Islamic State Editorial on the Coronavirus Pandemic,” Aymen Jawad Al-Tamimi, March 19, 2020, http://www.aymennjawad.org/2020/03/islamic-state-editorial-on-the-coron….

14. Dara Conduit, “Monday Briefing: The UN Security Council must act now to save northwest Syria,” Middle East Institute, July 6, 2020, https://www.mei.edu/blog/monday-briefing-un-security-council-must-act-n….

15. H.J. Mai, “Why European Countries Are Reluctant to Repatriate Citizens Who Are ISIS Fighters,” NPR News, December 10, 2019, https://www.npr.org/2019/12/10/783369673/europe-remains-reluctant-to-re….

16. “UN Security Council Urges Immediate End to Fighting in Yemen,” Voice of America News, January 30, 2020, https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/un-security-council-urges-immediate….

17. “‘Significant Progress’ Made Toward Lasting Ceasefire in Yemen, UN Special Envoy Tells Security Council,” UN News, May 14, 2020, https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/1064102.

18. “End of Fighting in Yemen ‘Within Close Reach’, Despite Rising COVID-19 Cases, Special Envoy Tells Security Council,” UN News, May 14, 2020, https://www.un.org/press/en/2020/sc14186.doc.htm.

19. Sarah El Sirgany and Sam Kiley, “Coronavirus Death Rates in Yemen’s Aden Could Exceed its Wartime Fatalities,” CNN, June 12, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/12/middleeast/yemen-coronavirus-deaths-intl….

20. COVID-19 Impact on Yemen–Update, Geneva: ACAPS, April 8, 2020, https://www.acaps.org/sites/acaps/files/products/files/20200409_acaps_r….

21. Surdarsan Raghavan, “U.S. Aid Cuts Are Deepening Yemen’s Misery. Now Comes the Coronavirus,” The Washington Post, April 23, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/us-aid-cuts-are-deepen…; Edith M. Lederer, “UN Urges $2.4 Billion to Help Yemen Cope With War and Virus,” ABC News, May 29, 2020, https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/urges-24-billion-yemen-cope-war-vir….

22. Bryant Harris, “Intel: After US Funding Cuts, WHO Likely to End Most Yemen Health Services,” Al-Monitor, April 27, 2020, https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/04/yemen-trump-coronavi….

23. Sudarsan Raghavan, “U.S. Aid Cuts Are Deepening Yemen’s Misery,” April 23, 2020.

24. Humeyra Pamuk, “U.S. Announces $225 Million in Emergency Aid to Yemen,” Reuters, May 6, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-yemen-aid/u-s-ann….

25. Gerald Feierstein, “On the way out the door, Pompeo leaves a Yemen poison pill for the new administration,” January 11, 2021, https://www.mei.edu/blog/monday-briefing-way-out-door-pompeo-leaves-yem….

26. Amjad Tadros, “As War and COVID-19 Ravage Yemen, $1.35 Billion in International Aid Isn’t Nearly Enough. Here’s Why,” CBS News, June 17, 2020, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/yemen-war-and-coronavirus-international-ai….

27. Imad K. Harb, “Saudi Arabia Is Planning to End the War in Yemen,” Al Jazeera, April 12, 2020, https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/4/12/saudi-arabia-is-preparing-….

28. “’Alarming’ Military Build-up Underway in Libya, as COVID-19 Heightens Insecurity,” May 19, 2020, UN News, https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/1064422.

29. Ibid.

30. “Libya: Humanitarian Crisis Worsening Amid Deepening Conflict and COVID-19 Threat,” UN High Commissioner on Refugees, April 3, 2020, https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/briefing/2020/4/5e86f2cc4/libya-humani…; “Coronavirus Cases Surge in Libya After Repatriations,” Reuters, June 9, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-libya/coronavirus-ca….

31. “Libya talks make progress towards new temporary government, UN says,” Reuters, January 17, 2021, https://www.reuters.com/article/libya-security-un/libya-talks-make-prog….

32. Patrick Wintour, “UN to bring in monitors to observe Libya’s widely flouted ceasefire,” The Guardian, January 1, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/01/un-to-bring-in-monitors-t….

33. Sara Creta, “Libyan Doctors Battle on Two Dangerous Fronts: COVID-19 and War,” The New Humanitarian, June 10, 2020, https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2020/06/10/Libya-war-co….

34. “Libya-Tunisia border crossings reopen,” AA, November 14, 2020, https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/libya-tunisia-border-crossings-reopen/2…

35. “Libya Health Sector: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Preparedness and Response Plan for Libya,” WHO, IOM, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNFPA, UN Habitat, IMC, HI, TDH, MSF-Holland, MSFFrance, Emergenza Sorrissi-Naduk, IRC, PUI, April 12, 2020, https://reliefweb.int/report/libya/libya-health-sector-coronavirus-dise….

36. “The United States Commits Over $12 Million in Support to Libya’s COVID-19 Response,” U.S. Embassy in Libya, May 15, 2020, https://ly.usembassy.gov/the-united-states-commits-over-12-million-in-s….

37. Integrated Country Strategy, Tunis: U.S. Embassy in Libya, April 14, 2018, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Libya.pdf.

38. Ryan Browne, “ISIS Seeks to Exploit Pandemic to Mount Resurgence in Iraq and Syria,” CNN, May 8, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/07/politics/isis-coronavirus-iraq-syria/ind….

39. Charles Lister, “ISIS’s Dramatic Escalation in Iraq and Syria,” Middle East Institute, May 4, 2020, https://www.mei.edu/blog/isiss-dramatic-escalation-syria-and-iraq.

40. Mohamed Mokhtar Qandil, “Terrorism and Coronavirus: Hyperbole, Idealism, and Ignore,” The Washington Institute for Near East Studies, April 28, 2020, https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/terrorism-and-coron…

41. Charles Lister, “ISIS’s Dramatic Escalation in Iraq and Syria,” May 4, 2020.

42. “ISIS Ambushes Syrian Army Vehicle Carrying Several Soldiers in Daraa,” AMN News, October 23, 2019, https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/isis-ambushes-syrian-army-vehicle-….

43. Katie Benner and Adam Goldman, “F.B.I Finds Links Between Pensacola Gunman and Al Qaeda,” The New York Times, May 18, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/justice-department-al-qa….

44. “Older Adults,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, December 13, 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/older-….

45. Nadwa al-Dawsari, Foe Not Friend: Yemeni Tribes and Al-Qaeda in the Arabia Peninsula, Washington DC: Project on Middle East Democracy, February 2018, https://pomed.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Dawsari_FINAL_180201.pdf.

46. Ibid.

47. Office of the Spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State, “State-USAID-DoD Stabilization Assistance Review (SAR),” Department of State, June 19, 2018, https://www.state.gov/state-usaid-dod-stabilization-assistance-review-s….

48. Tom Daschle and Bill Frist, The Case for Strategic Health Diplomacy: A Study of PEPFAR, Washington DC: The Bipartisan Policy Center, November 15, https://bipartisanpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/BPC_Strategic-H…; Rohini Jonnalagadda Haar and Leonard S. Rubenstein, Health in Postconflict and Fragile States, Washington DC: United States Institute of Peace, January 2012, https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR_301.pdf.

49. Ibid.

50. “Vanessa Kerry, MD, MSc,” Harvard Medical School Blavatnik Institute for Global Health and Social Medicine, https://ghsm.hms.harvard.edu/faculty-staff/vanessa-kerry.

51. “If You Are Immunocompromised, Protect Yourself From COVID-19,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 14, 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/immuno….

52. Claire D. Bourke, James A. Berkley, and Andrew J. Prendergrast, “Immune Dysfunction as a Cause and Consequences of Malnutrition,” Trends Immunol 37, no. 6 (June 2016): 386-398, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4889773/.

53. The Many Victims of War: Indirect Conflict Deaths, Geneva: The Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development, http://www.genevadeclaration.org/fileadmin/docs/GBAV/GBAV08-CH2.pdf.

54. Stephen M. Walt, “The Death of American Competence,” Foreign Policy, March 23, 2020, https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/23/death-american-competence-reputati….