New aid convoy enters besieged Syrian town

It is the elderly, ladies and youngsters who are suffering the most, in particular from serious
malnourishment... Food is in really short provide. This can't go on," Gasser mentioned. Our teams
now speak to individuals to superior fully grasp the predicament," the ICRC's Syria account tweeted.
A lot more than two dozen folks have reportedly starved to death since December, and Ban warned
that any side employing starvation as a weapon in the conflict would be committing a "war crime".
"All trucks lastly attain #Madaya #Fuaa #Kafraya.
- Lavrov-Kerry meeting set OCHA spokeswoman Linda Tom mentioned help agencies had made several requests to also access
Zabadani but had however to obtain authorisation.
Madaya, the nearby opposition-held town of Zabadani, as nicely as Fuaa and Kafraya, are element of
a landmark UN-brokered truce deal involving rebels and regime fighters reached in September.
A new round of Syrian negotiations is planned for January 25 in Geneva, but there are fears a
diplomatic row amongst Iran and Saudi Arabia, who back opposing sides in the war, could derail the
approach.
"We're going to evaluate the circumstance, treat folks there and examine the severity of their
condition and see what the subsequent step is," WHO spokeswoman Rana Sidani said.
The UN's Workplace for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) mentioned a third
delivery to the towns would take location "in the following days".
The Syrian government and the UN have championed localised ceasefire offers as a way to end
fighting across Syria, exactly where much more than 260,000 people have been killed considering
that 2011.
Madaya (Syria) (AFP) - A convoy carrying meals and other desperately required help entered Syria's
besieged Madaya, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned that making use of starvation as a weapon was a
war crime.
Thursday's delivery to Madaya follows one particular on Monday that was the very first
humanitarian assistance received by the town in almost four months.

View gallery
Convoys of aid from the Syrian Arab Red
Crescent enters the besieged rebel-held Syrian town of Maday ...
In a statement, the ICRC's leading official in Syria, Marianne Gasser, mentioned Madaya's suffering
was "heartbreaking".
"Men and women are desperate. Paris, London and Washington referred to as for an emergency
Safety Council session on Friday to "draw the world's interest to the humanitarian tragedy that is
unfolding in Madaya and in other towns in Syria," according to France's UN ambassador Francois
Delattre.
Delattre stated diplomatic and aid operate in finding supplies into Madaya and other towns had
helped to "produce additional favourable circumstances for a resumption" of peace talks.
"The priority is wheat flour and washing components," Pawel Krzysiek told AFP.
"In the end the true solution to this predicament, to the plight of the people besieged in these towns,
is for the siege to be lifted."

View gallery
A vehicle belonging to Jaish al-Fatah (or
Army of Conquest) drives along convoys from the Syrian Ara ...
The World Overall health Organization mentioned only a single of its nutritionists was capable to
enter the town on Thursday.
White trucks emblazoned with the logo of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent entered Madaya -- where
the UN says suffering is the worst noticed in Syria's nearly 5-year war -- late on Thursday afternoon,
an AFP reporter said.
At the United Nations in New York, Western powers referred to as for the UN Security Council to
meet on Friday in order to expedite deliveries of life-saving supplies to Madaya and two other Syrian
towns.

- 'This can't go on' Kerry would call on Russia to stress its Syrian allies into allowing "humanitarian help to the Syrian
people, specifically in besieged and difficult-to-attain locations," a spokesman stated.
US International NewsPolitics & GovernmentSyrian Arab Red CrescentSyria
"The humanitarian neighborhood stands prepared to deliver there in the course of the coming days
as soon as it is authorized," she told AFP by e-mail.
The town's 40,000 residents have endured a crippling siege by pro-government forces that has
drawn sharp condemnation from the international community.
The UN has called for practically 400 Madaya residents who need immediate healthcare care to be
evacuated.
"We do not want to see this as a one particular-off," the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Syria,
Yacoub El Hillo, told reporters.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

will meet in Zurich with US Secretary of
State John Kerry on January 20 to talk
about peace efforts, Moscow and
Washington said.
"All sides -- like the Syrian government
which has the primary responsibility to
safeguard Syrians -- are committing this
and other atrocious acts prohibited under
international humanitarian law," Ban told
reporters.

View gallery
A convoy of help from the Syrian Arab Red
Crescent enters the besieged rebel-held Syrian town of Mada ...
A spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross mentioned 44 help trucks carrying
meals and other supplies entered Madaya, adding that a separate convoy of 17 trucks to the
northwestern rebel-encircled towns of Fuaa and Kafraya reached their destinations.
New help convoy enters besieged Syrian town - Yahoo News