The United Nations warned today that the situation in Syria could get out of control, noting that the increasing humanitarian needs exceed the ability of the international organization to respond.
The United Nations special envoy to Syria Geir Pederson said that finding a solution in Syria requires more comprehensive and positive international diplomacy.
This came in the statement of the UN envoy during a session of the UN Security Council - via a television circuit - regarding the humanitarian and political developments of the crisis in Syria.
Pederson told council members, "Today I want to send a warning to everyone; we must give priority to searching for a settlement, despite the relative calm, by Syrian standards, and we mentioned this month that the situation could get out of control."
He pointed to a massive escalation in northwestern Syria, including strikes targeting a hospital supported by the United Nations in western Aleppo, and another on the Turkish-Syrian border, where cross-border aid operations are taking place, in addition to another bombing of residential areas west of the city of Aleppo.
Pederson considered that a comprehensive ceasefire is necessary, in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2254, and that a cooperative approach should be adopted to eliminate terrorist groups.
Resolution 2254, issued on December 18, 2015, calls on all parties to immediately cease launching attacks against civilian targets, and urges member states of the Security Council to support efforts to achieve a ceasefire.
The UN envoy appealed to council members to extend the mechanism for cross-border humanitarian aid, which expires on July 11.
The United Nations said its cross-border operations reach about 2.4 million people a month (Reuters)
Exceed our capabilities
For his part, Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Humanitarian Affairs, said - at the same session - that the increasing humanitarian needs in Syria exceed our ability to respond.
"Every month, cross-border operations reach about 2.4 million people, who depend on them for food, medicine, shelter and other vital supplies, and the failure to extend the mandate (for the UN Cross-border aid mechanism to Syria) will cut this lifeline," the UN official added. .
Lowcock added that millions of people in northwestern Syria are still under pressure at the border in an active war zone, and are dependent on aid delivered across the border from Turkey.
"Our data shows that these people are worse off now than they were 9 months ago," he said.
Lowcock also informed the members of the Security Council that the rate of spread of the new Corona virus (Covid-19) is accelerating, as the number of new cases registered last March reached twice the number recorded in last February (without mentioning them).
He confirmed that hospitals in Damascus - including intensive care units - are now full.
In northern Syria, new cases have been confirmed in displacement camps, including al-Hol and al-Roj, both of which lack the resources to treat patients infected with the virus.