People from the Christian community demonstrated in several Syrian cities, demanding protection, after unidentified people set a Christmas tree on fire in Suqaylabiyah town on Monday, media reports said.
Several visuals of the burning tree have now gone viral on social media.
The tree was placed on the main square in the Christian-majority town of Suqaylabiyah.
It is still not clear who set the tree on fire.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the main Islamist faction which led the uprising that toppled President Bashar al-Assad — who has fled to Moscow — and his two-decade-old regime, said foreign fighters had been detained over the incident, BBC reported.
The incident occurred just days after rebels took control of several Syria cities, including Damascus.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has vowed to protect the rights of ethnic minorities in Syria.
During Assad’s tenure, Christians were allowed to celebrate their religious practices.
The new regime, led by HTS, has also declared Wednesday (December 25) and Thursday (December 26) as public holidays.
Residents of the Syrian capital Damascus told CNN that HTS has not imposed any limitations on celebrations or prayers this year, but Christians still fear that non-HTS rogue-armed elements could attack them.
George, a 24-year-old Catholic resident of Damascus, who chose to give only his first name to speak freely, told CNN: “Hayat Tahrir Al Sham have not announced anything on stopping our celebrations… but there are Christians who don’t want to go out to celebrate because they fear that they might get attacked from rogue armed individuals.”
“It will make a big difference if there are announcements on better security for Christmas. Until now there isn’t proper security that is 100% organized,” George told the American news channel.
As a Muslim-majority nation, Syria is composed of several minority ethnic and religious groups, including Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Christians and Druze, among others.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in Syria continues to escalate, with millions struggling to access basic resources as fuel shortages and damaged infrastructure hinder relief efforts, the UN reported on Monday.
In parallel, the International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism for Syria (IIIM) concluded a historic visit to Damascus, emphasising the urgency of preserving evidence related to the most serious international crimes before it is irretrievably lost.
Fuel shortages, disrupted roads
Essential services, including hospitals and health centres, are severely impacted, particularly in Aleppo governorate, where six public hospitals and 60 primary health centres are operating only partially, due to fuel shortages, UN spokesperson Stéphanie Tremblay told reporters at the regular press briefing.
Damaged bridges connecting Damascus to other key regions have also disrupted supply chains.
“Despite the challenges, we and our partners continue to support the response as security permits. We are distributing food assistance, including bread, ready-to-eat rations, hot meals and food baskets,” Tremblay said.
She also noted that in northwest Syria, humanitarian partners have started supporting farmers, including with cash grants.
