At least 77 people have been killed in the besieged Syrian enclave of eastern Ghouta on Monday – the deadliest day for civilians there since the UN security council demanded an immediate ceasefire and Russia’s president ordered a daily five-hour truce in the area.
A further 12 people were killed on Sunday but their bodies were only recovered on Monday, doctors said.
The intense violence continued despite the arrival of a humanitarian convoy in the enclave, two weeks into a renewed regime offensive that has killed more than 700 civilians.
Q&A Why is the regime targeting eastern Ghouta?
Eastern Ghouta is the last rebel-held enclave bordering the Syrian capital, Damascus. Since 2013, forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have imposed a suffocating and deadly siege on the area. Yet several insurgent factions have retained control.
This month, Syria’s army launched one of the most intense bombardments of the war, saying their assault was necessary to end rebel mortar strikes on the capital. Residents accuse Russia of also bombing Ghouta, a mixture of dense suburbs and fields that once served as the breadbasket for Damascus.
The convoy of 46 trucks – a joint effort by the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the United Nations – was allowed to deliver food for about 27,000 of the 400,000 people trapped in the enclave.
It was the first aid delivery to the reach eastern Ghouta in weeks, but humanitarian officials said the Syrian military had refused to allow it to bring in critically needed medical supplies.
Ongoing shelling in the area forced the convoy to leave before all the food aid was unloaded.
Pawel Krzysiek, the head of communications for the ICRC in Syria said the situation for civilians trapped inside eastern Ghouta was “very precarious.”
Quick guide What is the UN security council and why is it paralysed over Syria?
The security council is the UN’s most powerful body, the only one with the authority to issue legally binding resolutions that can be backed up by sanctions, blue-helmeted peacekeepers or by force of arms.
There are five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the UK and the US – and 10 temporary members at any one time, elected by the general assembly for two-year terms.
For a resolution to be passed, nine of the 15 council members must vote for it, but permanent members have a veto. Russia has repeatedly blocked resolutions targeting its ally, Syria. China has also vetoed resolutions on Syria.
One possible remedy is to expand the security council and its permanent membership, but the existing members have mixed feelings. The UK and France say they are in favour, the US and Russia are more tepid and China is against it.
Another possible remedy involves reining in the use of the veto. France and others argue an immediate fix would be for permanent members to waive their veto rights in cases of mass atrocities, but Russia is adamant in its opposition.
Krzysiek told the Guardian that thousands of civilians had been sheltering in freezing basements for more than two weeks, without water or proper sanitation.
“It took more than 15 days for their children to see the sunlight. There is no possibility to really go outside because the shelling gets so intense,” he said.
“They also fear to eat in front of other people because pretty much everyone there is hungry. So they are very often forced to go back to their places that are more exposed to eat their food.”
“The people are tired and angry, desperate, exhausted, hopeless. They want it to stop. They want to be able to live with dignity, eat normal food, not spend their days in the basement,” he said.
A desperate shortage of supplies meant that the wounded have been dying from treatable injuries and illnesses, aid organisations said.
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World Health Organisation official Tarik Jašarević told the Guardian that Syrian authorities who inspected the convoy refused to allow in supplies of trauma, surgical and dialysis equipment.
“WHO has long spoken out against the removal or rejection of lifesaving treatments and medical items from aid convoys by national authorities. The health supplies provided by WHO in these convoys are selected after extensive consultations with health partners working in these areas and are desperately needed to save lives and reduce suffering.”
Doctors on the ground said 712 people had been killed and more than 5,600 wounded since 19 February.
The airstrikes and artillery bombardment have been coupled with a ground offensive by the regime of Bashar al-Assad and his allied Shia militias, whose advances are aimed at splitting eastern Ghouta in half and cutting off rebel fighters.
The World Food Programme’s country director in Syria said aid efforts were still paralysed in many places.
“A humanitarian crisis is unfolding in eastern Ghouta where raging violence has paralysed our response and our ability to reach families who desperately need help,” said Jakob Kern.
He said he hoped a second convoy could reach eastern Ghouta on Thursday with food rations for some extra 70,000 people.
“The longer eastern Ghouta is deprived of the necessities of life, the more people will die. We appeal to all parties to allow the ongoing and safe delivery of aid to all people in need, no matter where they are.”
Some of the heaviest fighting on Sunday was concentrated in the area of Beit Sawa, on the eastern edge of the densely populated centre of eastern Ghouta, where civilians fled clashes between regime forces and Jaysh al-Islam, one of three main rebel groups.
At a press conference on Sunday evening, Assad vowed to continue what he described as a battle against terrorism in the enclave.
Monday’s roll call of the dead included one doctor. Denying access to medical aid and targeting hospitals in eastern Ghouta has been condemned as a deliberate policy of the Assad regime.
Abdulkarim Ekzayez, a senior fellow at the Centre on Global Health Security, wrote on the Chatham House website last month that targeting healthcare facilities had been used in the past as a tactic to force the displacement of civilians.
- This article was amended on 14 March to clarify a quotation
