Local news networks said that military operations by the Assad regime and its allies did not stop across Syria as dozens of civilians were killed and injured in relentless aerial bombardment of residential areas in the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta.
Baladi News Network quoted its correspondent in eastern Ghouta as saying that Russian jets carried out multiple airstrikes on the town of Douma in the early morning hours of Monday. The airstrikes killed at least 10 civilians from one family and injuring two others.
The Syrian Negotiations Commission expressed hope that UN Security Council resolution 2401 demanding a ceasefire in Syria would be implemented, especially as the Assad regime and its allies have a track record of violating all previous resolutions on Syria.
The Commission said in a statement that it “does not rule out that the Assad regime will violate the ceasefire as it did many times in the past as long as it feels secure from punishment and accountability.” It warned of the consequences of failure to enforce the UN resolution, stressing that “every minute of delay means the loss of more lives of children and women in Syria.”
The Commission pointed out that the majority of the victims of the bombings are civilians. “It is a disgrace to humanity that Syrian remains a battlefield for competition between the major stakeholders who obstruct the process of political solution. We are aware that peoples of the world do not accept that blood of the Syrian people continues to be shed.”
“We hope that UN Security Council resolution 2401 will have the necessary implementation mechanisms and tools,” the Commission added. It also expressed hope that it will represent “a quick step to enforce UN resolution 2254 through a comprehensive cease-fire, the lifting of the sieges, and the introduction of humanitarian assistance.”
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday said that he expected resolution 2401 to be “immediately implemented and sustained, particularly to ensure the immediate, safe, unimpeded and sustained delivery of humanitarian aid and services, the evacuation of the critically sick and the wounded, and the alleviation of the suffering of the Syrian people.”
Germany and France called on Russia to put “maximum pressure” on the Assad regime to ensure “immediate” implementation of UN resolution 2401.
In a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macaron stressed the vital importance of a immediate and comprehensive implementation of UN Security Council resolution 2401, according to a statement issued by the German Chancellor’s Office.
UN Security Council resolution 2401 calls for 30-day ceasefire across Syria and the lifting of the sieges imposed by the Assad regime and its allied militias on eastern Ghouta and the rest of besieged areas in Syria.
The adoption of resolution 2401, which was proposed by Kuwait and Sweden, came after more than 500 civilians, including about 100 children, were killed in a week of heavy bombardment by the Assad regime and Russian air forces of the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta. Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
