https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2018\/feb\/21\/syrian-death-toll-rises-as-bombing-of-rebel-enclave-continues<\/p>\n
Aid agencies, including the Red Cross and World Food Programme, are calling for an urgent
\nceasefire to allow them to reach the besieged Syrian enclave of eastern Ghouta, as rockets and
\nbarrel bombs dropped by pro-regime forces killed dozens more people on the fourth day of an
\nintense assault.
\nThe calls were echoed by the UN secretary-general, Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, who demanded an
\nimmediate suspension of \u201call war activities\u201d in the rebel-held Damascus suburb, which he
\ndescribed as a \u201chell on earth\u201d.
\nThe UN\u2019s high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra\u2019ad Al Hussein, also called for an
\nimmediate halt to hostilities, warning that \u201ccivilians were being slaughtered in droves\u201d.<\/p>\n
Terrified residents in the area, where 400,000 people are trapped on the outskirts of Damascus,
\nwere sheltering in caves, dugouts and basements, as a hail of explosives hit homes, roads and
\nhospitals amid what aid officials warned was an unfolding \u201chumanitarian catastrophe\u201d.
\nIn its statement, the International Committee of the Red Cross said medical personnel in eastern
\nGhouta were unable to cope with the high number of wounded, adding that \u201cwounded victims
\nare dying only because they cannot be treated in time\u201d.
\nThe call for a pause in the fighting to allow food and medical aid to reach eastern Ghouta came as
\nsome international agencies, who work with local partners in the densely populated agricultural
\narea on the outskirts of Damascus, announced they were suspending their programmes because
\nof the risk.
\nThe halting of aid efforts in an area that has seen one small convoy of aid enter since November
\ncomes as acute malnutrition levels among children in the enclave have quadrupled in less than a
\nyear to the highest levels seen in Syria\u2019s seven-year war.
\n\u201cJust a cup of water or a piece of bread may cost a man his life because he is under attack from
\nmissiles,\u201d said Dr Fayez Orabi, one of the doctors in eastern Ghouta. \u201cThey cannot get out of their
\nshelters.\u201d
\nThe attacks have killed over 250 civilians, including at least two dozen on Wednesday morning,
\nthe UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. More than 1,200 others have been
\ninjured, a toll people on the ground say has been exacerbated by attacks on hospitals, clinics and
\nambulances.
\nThere has been widespread condemnation from the United Nations and politicians around the
\nworld, but without any action to halt or lessen the bombardment. \u201cIt is a miserable situation, the
\nwhole world just watching us,\u201d said Orabi.
\nPhotographs and videos sent from inside the enclave showed bloody, fractured bodies and the
\naftermath of the strikes. In one a weeping father seizes his son\u2019s tiny body from the bed of a truck
\ntaking it to burial, for one last embrace.
\nThe surge in killing in Ghouta came amid reports of an impending regime incursion into the area,
\nas forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad look to regain control of a a rebel stronghold that was
\nonce the capital\u2019s breadbasket.
\n\u201cThe offensive has not started yet. This is preliminary bombing,\u201d a commander in the coalition
\nfighting on behalf of Assad\u2019s government told Reuters.
\nAid officials interviewed by the Guardian in Damascus and elsewhere described the situation in
\neastern Ghouta as a \u201chell on earth\u201d in particular for the estimated 200,000 children trapped in an
\narea, with some 67 children reportedly among the fatalities recorded in the last few days.
\nEven before the current intensification of the government\u2019s bombardment, experts were warning
\nthat food prices in the besieged area had made it impossible for many residents to afford a meal
\nwith a basic portion of bread costing a staggering 85 times as much as in Damascus 10 miles away,
\nand with a cylinder of cooking gas \u2013 available for $44 (\u00a331) in the capital \u2013 selling for up to $300 in
\neastern Ghouta.<\/p>\n
Among agencies announcing that the violence had made continued work impossible was Care,
\nwhose Syria country director, Wouter Schaap, warned of a \u201chumanitarian catastrophe\u201d if a
\nceasefire was not agreed.
\n\u201cThe situation in eastern Ghouta is more critical than ever. Despite their resilience for years,
\npeople are giving up hope for survival.
\n\u201cUnlike previous airstrikes, destruction has reached every area this time. There is no place for
\npeople to go \u2013 no shelter, no safety,\u201d said \u2018Hanaa\u2019, who works in eastern Ghouta with a local
\norganisation supported by Care.
\nThe UNRWA, the UN agency that supports Palestinian refugees in Syria, said it was also
\nsuspending food aid and schooling after two of its students were killed in a mortar attack in a
\nmove it said would affect 27,000 children.
\nJuliette Touma of Unicef also painted a bleak picture. \u201cWhat we know that is that needs are dire in
\neastern Ghouta. It is impossible to compare suffering with suffering [in Syria] but it is truly
\nhorrific. It is a hell hole. A killing field for children. They are being killed every day.\u201d
\nJakob Kern, the World Food Programmes\u2019s chief in Damascus, added: \u201cSince it intensified it is no
\nlonger a question for civilians of basic needs. It is about survival. It\u2019s a question of, do I live
\nthrough this day.
\n\u201cTwo two weeks ago we managed to deliver enough food for 7,000 people in the first convoy in
\nthree months. Less than 2% of the people who needed it got aid. We have asked and asked just
\nabout everyone for a pause but realistically we need a month\u2019s halt in the fighting to deliver a
\nmonth of rations.\u201d
\nHe added: \u201cWhen we surveyed a year ago, malnutrition was at 3% and it is almost 12% and that
\ntells you a lot.
\n\u201cAnd it is not just food but medical resources. If you are wounded, you won\u2019t be treated. If you get
\nsick from something you or I could survive with antibiotics, the risk is that you will die.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2018\/feb\/21\/syrian-death-toll-rises-as-bombing-of-rebel-enclave-continues Aid agencies, including the Red Cross and World Food Programme, are calling for an urgent ceasefire to allow them to reach the besieged Syrian enclave of eastern Ghouta, as rockets and barrel bombs dropped by pro-regime forces killed dozens more people on the fourth day of an intense assault. The calls were echoed by the UN secretary-general, Ant\u00f3nio Guterres,… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1407"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1408,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1407\/revisions\/1408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}