Yesterday, US special envoy on Syria, James Jeffrey, announced that Syrian and Russian planes carried out 200 air strikes in Idlib governorate during the past three days, causing the displacement of 700,000 people, in conjunction with the announcement of the killing of 10 civilians in air strikes targeting the city of Jericho South of the governorate, where the Syrian forces continue to advance on the ground.

In detail, the American special envoy on Syria, in a press statement, said that about 700,000 displaced people in northwestern Syria are "moving towards the Turkish borders, which will spark an international crisis."

Geoffrey’s statements coincided with the announcement of the killing of 10 civilians in air strikes targeting the city of Jericho, south of Idlib, in northwestern Syria, as regime forces continue to advance on the ground, and are gradually approaching their goal of recovering the entire international strategic route.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights accused Moscow of carrying out the raids.

Since December, areas outside of Damascus’s control in and around Idlib governorate - where three million people, nearly half of whom are internally displaced - live in a military escalation of Syrian forces and their ally Russia.

The escalation is concentrated in the southern countryside of Idlib and western Aleppo, where part of the international road that links the city of Aleppo with the capital, Damascus, passes.

After weeks of bombing and battles, on Wednesday, the Syrian forces took control of Ma`rat al-Numan, the second largest city of Idlib governorate, located on the international road.

The military operation did not stop, as Russian and Syrian warplanes continue to bomb the southern Idlib countryside and Aleppo western, in support of the Syrian forces on the ground, according to the observatory.

Russian raids, according to the same source, targeting an area that includes residential buildings, an oven and a hospital, killed 10 civilians in the city of Jericho, south of Idlib, and the shelling led to the hospital leaving the service.

The Jericho bombing comes hours after the 11 civilians killed in the bombing in southern Idlib, including 10 who were also killed in "Russian" raids, according to the observatory, on the village of Kafrlatah.

In Jericho, a reporter saw a doctor crying from the hospital, filled with dust from the raid. Walls in the hospital collapsed, their stones were strewn alongside medical equipment and medicines that were damaged and fell to the ground.

Besides the hospital, the reporter saw three buildings that were completely destroyed, as residents were searching for victims under the rubble, amid the screams of women and children.

In a hospital near Jericho, doctors were used to treat the wounded, including more than five children, and one of them drowned in tears while dressing a wound to his head, while another was placed on an oxygen machine.

Damascus reiterates its intention to restore the entire Idlib area and adjacent parts to it in Hama, Aleppo and Lattakia. Most of these areas are under the control of the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra), and other less influential opposition factions are also deployed.

The Syrian forces are seeking, through their recent attacks in Idlib, to gradually restore the international route "M5", which links the city of Aleppo with the capital, Damascus, and cross the most prominent Syrian cities from Hama and Homs, up to the southern border with Jordan.

In Idlib, the international road passes through three main cities, namely: Khan Sheikhoun, which was controlled by the Syrian forces during the summer of 2019, and Ma`rat al-Numan, and then the city of Saraqib in the north, which is still out of its control.

According to the Observatory and observers, the Syrian forces have set Saraqib in their sights. The importance of Saraqib does not lie in that it is located on the M5 road only, but because it is the meeting point of this road with the other M4 international road, which links the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib with Latakia in the west.

The escalation since December has pushed 388,000 people to flee the area, especially Ma`rat al-Numan, toward safer areas to the north, according to the United Nations. Of these, 38,000 have fled since mid-January from western Aleppo.

Russia denies bombing a hospital and oven in Idlib

The Russian Ministry of Defense denied reports that it had carried out raids on a hospital in Idlib, Syria.

The ministry said in a statement that "Russian aircraft do not carry out any missions in the region," referring to the city of Idlib.

The statement added that "foreign media reports that talk about an alleged bombing by Russian warplanes, yesterday morning, of a hospital and bakery near the city of Jericho (at the southern outskirts of Idlib) are inflammatory."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had mentioned that Russian warplanes "launched a massacre" in the vicinity of an oven and a hospital in the city of Jericho at midnight Wednesday - Thursday, and 10 civilians were killed.

Moscow - agencies

Orient TV stops broadcasting 24 hours in protest

Syrian Orient TV announced that it had suspended its broadcast for 24 hours, "in protest at the continuous bombardment in Syria."

The channel officials said in a statement yesterday that this step comes "in protest at the international silence over the bombing operations that displaced at least 400,000 civilians in northern Syria this January."

The Orient TV anchor appeared during the news bulletin, at 2:00 pm Damascus time, and said, "There is no longer anything to say in light of these operations. The television administration decided to stop broadcasting for 24 hours, to send a protest message to everyone, including the Syrians.

Channel cameras showed a group of its media, broadcasters and editors standing in silence, holding up banners, while other banners denounced the international silence.

The silent vigil of "Orient" media was followed by the suspension of the channel's broadcast and the appearance of a black screen. Damascus - d

The strikes targeted the city of Jericho, south of Idlib, where the bombing resulted in damage to buildings and the exit of a hospital from service.