An escalation against civilians in Idlib countryside ... Will it pave the way for a massive attack by the Syrian regime forces?

Dozens of civilians were killed and wounded in new raids on Idlib countryside (northwestern Syria), while the Syrian regime media talks about an imminent large-scale military operation in the area, which is the last major stronghold of the Syrian opposition.

On Thursday, several cities and towns in the southern and eastern countryside of Idlib were subjected to a series of raids carried out by Syrian regime and Russian aircraft, which killed 16 civilians - including five children - and wounded 45 others, according to a toll provided by the Idlib civil defense.

The civil defense, known in the Syrian opposition areas of the White Helmets, said that three children, two women and a man were killed in the city of Muammar Al-Numan by bombing by high-explosive missiles launched by the Syrian regime forces stationed in the southern countryside.

And the Civil Defense posted on its official page on Facebook, videos showing its members to assist the injured and extinguish fires that broke out in commercial stores in Ma`rat al-Numan due to the missile shelling.

The same source stated that a man, woman and two children were killed in Russian raids on the town of Mardikh in the eastern countryside, and a man and his wife were killed in a raid by the Syrian regime in the village of Deir Sunbul, while Russian raids killed and wounded in the city of Saraqib, and another civilian was killed in the village of Khan Al-Sabil.

At least 23 civilians - including children and women - were killed last Tuesday in intense bombing by the Syrian regime and Russia on separate areas in Idlib.

Activists called for a demonstration today, Friday, in the Bab al-Hawa area on the border with Turkey, to condemn the ongoing escalation in Idlib.

The shelling in Idlib escalated, while the Syrian newspaper Al-Watan reported on a military operation being prepared by the Syrian regime against the armed opposition in Idlib countryside.

Syrian activists on social media reported that on Thursday, the Syrian opposition repulsed attempts to advance regime forces in Idlib's eastern countryside.

Activists said that the opposition gunmen bombed the sites and mechanisms of the attacking forces, killing and wounding dozens of its members and forcing them to retreat, pointing to simultaneous clashes in two axes west of Aleppo.

The Syrian regime forces launched a massive offensive at the end of last April, with the support of Russia and foreign armed groups, during which they took control of strategic areas north of Hama and southern Idlib, and the operations resulted in the deaths of about two thousand civilians and the displacement of 400 thousand others.

Introducing aid
On the other hand, Ursula Muller, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations for Humanitarian Affairs, called on the UN Security Council to renew the resolution that permits the entry of aid into Syria across the border without prior permission from the Syrian government.

Muller said that the United Nations needs to maintain the current four border crossings, to deliver humanitarian aid to four million Syrians. Germany, Belgium and Kuwait have submitted a draft resolution that has been discussed for several weeks.

The project provides for the addition of another crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border to four other crossings from which aid was entering, namely Bab Al-Hawa and Bab Al-Salama between Syria and Turkey, the Al-Yarbia crossing between Iraq and Syria, and the Ramtha crossing between Jordan and Syria.

Ten Security Council members announced their support for the renewal of the mechanism to provide aid to those in need in Syria, and warned of catastrophic consequences of the failure to renew the mechanism.

Last Monday, Russia and China presented a counter-draft resolution calling for the closure of the Al-Yarubia and Ramtha crossings, and the maintenance of the Bab Al-Hawa and Bab Al-Salama crossings, without adding a third crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border.

The Russian-Chinese draft resolution calls for renewing the process of delivering aid to Syria for a period of only six months. The Security Council discussed on Wednesday the two competing draft resolutions during a closed session.