The United Nations humanitarian adviser on Syria, Jan Egeland, stressed the urgent need for “a workable and respected system of notification” to prevent the targeting of humanitarian facilities in Syria. He denounced air raids on five hospitals and two humanitarian warehouses in Idlib province.
Speaking at a news conference in Geneva on Thursday, Egeland said that the facilities that were targeted by the airstrikes over the last week used to serve half a million people.
Egeland pointed out that the most worrying development in recent days and weeks is that “there is an escalating series of attacks against civilians and against humanitarian colleagues and humanitarian lifelines, including hospitals, ambulances and health workers in Idleb.” He conceded that some aid agencies were reluctant to share their GPS coordinates with the warring sides.
France on Thursday condemned bombings by Assad forces and their allies against civilian populations and hospitals in Idlib and Hama province, calling on Russia to abide by commitments it had made to de-escalate violence in the area.
“These acts violate international humanitarian law,” foreign affairs ministry spokeswoman Agnes Romatet-Espagne said in a statement.
“France calls on Russia and the allies of the Damascus regime to respect the commitments made in Astana and to prevent these air strikes from continuing,” she added.
The Syrian Coalition called on the United Nations to assume its responsibilities to protect humanitarian facilities in Syria, calling for a halt to attacks on civilians and vital health centers.
The Coalition underscored that the deliberate targeting of humanitarian facilities reveals the true nature of the terrorist regime and its allies who target civilians with the aim of killing and displacing them. It said that the destruction of vital civilian facilities and hospitals is but another tactic the Assad regime and its backers use to uproot the Syrian people from their land. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Agencies)
