On the tenth anniversary of the onset of the Syrian conflict, we—members of The Lancet–American University of Beirut Commission on Syria—recognise the devastating impacts of this unresolved conflict, which we will detail in a forthcoming report of this Commission, and call on all parties to end the ongoing suffering of the people of Syria.

The conflict in Syria has caused one of the largest humanitarian crises since World War 2, with extensive deaths, displacement, and destruction along with multidimensional health effects. More than 585 000 people have died in this conflict.¹ Child life expectancy in Syria has dropped by a shocking 13 years.² More than half of Syria's pre-conflict population remains displaced, including 6·2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs)³ and 6·7 million refugees,⁴ both the highest numbers for any country. There is widespread destruction within Syria; by 2017 in three Syrian cities alone, over 1·2 million housing units were damaged and more than 400 000 were destroyed.⁵ This extensive damage is largely due to heavy use of explosive weapons, particularly in urban settings, resulting in high contamination with explosive remnants of war.⁶