The UN Security Council is set to vote on a draft resolution asking for a one-month ceasefire in the region of eastern Ghouta to allow aid agencies to deliver much needed help in the form of food and medical assistance as well as evacuating those with vital medical conditions.
The passing of the resolution is sure to encounter difficulties as Russia, who is an ally of the Assad regime responsible for the fierce attacks, has the power to veto any resolutions as a member of the P5.
The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has described the situation in eastern Ghouta as a “hell on earth”. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that over three hundred people have been killed since Sunday in what is being described as one of the fiercest air assaults on eastern Ghouta since the beginning of the Syrian conflict seven years ago.
It is believed that there are around 400,000 trapped civilians in the opposition-held region, without food or medical supplies. They are hiding out in basements, caves and other “places of safety” hoping to survive the horrors of the attack from the Syrian government forces.
> Naomi Round
