Yesterday, Syrian forces continued their military operations in northwestern Syria, despite a massive displacement threatening an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe after the flight of nearly 900,000 people in difficult humanitarian conditions and a severe cold.

In the details, the Syrian forces took control of large areas south of Idlib and western Aleppo, and were able to achieve a long-awaited goal by controlling the entire international route M5, which connects the city of Aleppo to Damascus, and crosses several main cities from Hama and Homs, all the way to the southern border with Jordan.

And the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham and the factions control only 52% of Idlib Governorate and parts of the three adjacent provinces, Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia.

Two days ago, government forces achieved another goal by recovering all the areas surrounding the city of Aleppo, the second most prominent city in Syria, and by this they were able to remove the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham and the factions from them to ensure their security from the missiles that had long targeted them.

Meanwhile, the United Nations and several humanitarian organizations have warned of the repercussions of the catastrophic situation, especially on children in a region that mainly houses three million people, about half of whom are internally displaced.

"There is no longer any safe haven," said the head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, yesterday. As government forces continue to attack and push people towards smaller and smaller enclaves, I fear that more people will be killed. ”

Bachelet added that nearly 300 civilians were killed in attacks in northwestern Syria this year, noting that 93% of them were victims of strikes carried out by the Syrian government and its ally Russia.

Bachelet condemned in a statement expressing "dismay at the scale of the humanitarian crisis" direct strikes or near camps for the displaced, and medical and educational facilities, including hospitals.

In December, Syrian forces, with Russian support, began a large-scale offensive in and around Idlib, and operations were concentrated first on the southern Idlib countryside and then on the neighboring western Aleppo countryside.

The escalation has since prompted nearly 900,000 people, the majority of them women and children, to flee, according to the United Nations.

"In the past four days, only 43,000 people have fled from western Aleppo," David Swanson, a spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told AFP.

The suffering of the displaced increases with a sharp drop in temperature. The majority of them took refuge mainly in densely populated areas in the camps near the Turkish border in northern Idlib.

"They are traumatized and forced to sleep in the open amid the frosts, because (refugee) camps are tightening them," said Marc Luckock, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. Mothers shove plastic to warm their babies, and babies and children die from the cold. ”

He pointed out that the violence in northwestern Syria does not differentiate "between health or residential facilities or schools, mosques and markets", as all of them were affected by fire from shelling and battles.

Lockoc described the crisis in northwestern Syria as "reaching new levels that cause terror", and called on the Security Council to settle its differences and put the interest of "humanity" first.

In a statement on the United Nations website, the UN official expressed his hope that "the members of the Security Council and those with influence over the warring parties transcend their differences, giving priority to the collective interest for humanity rather than individual interests."

"The biggest humanitarian story of terror in the twenty-first century cannot be avoided unless members of the Security Council make the humanitarian situation in Syria a priority for them," he said. He added that the only solution is a ceasefire agreement.

This wave of displacement is the largest since the conflict began in Syria in March 2011, and it is the largest since World War II.

Seven children, including an infant less than seven months old, died as a result of low temperatures and “appalling” humanitarian conditions in the camps, according to Save the Children.

"We fear that the death toll will rise as a result of the completely inhumane conditions in which women and children find themselves in sub-zero temperatures, without a roof over their heads or clothes," said Sonia Kush of the organization.

According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the escalation has resulted in "the displacement of more than 500,000 children."

"We walked for three days, and we now live in tents after all our possessions have been drowned in rain water and mud," the organization said in a statement about a displaced woman who was known as Nadia. He is buried. ”

"It is by no means justifiable that the prevailing situation ... Children and families are caught between violence, extreme cold, food shortages and miserable living conditions at the same time," said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Four.

• The United Nations: The crisis in northwestern Syria has reached alarming new levels.

• “UNICEF”: Children in northwestern Syria are trapped between violence, freezing cold and food shortage.