On Friday, the Syrian government agreed to deliver humanitarian aid to areas outside its control in the north of the country, about five days after the devastating earthquake, according to the official Syrian Media Agency (SANA).
And the Council of Ministers announced in a statement after an extraordinary session that “the supervision of the International Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent over the distribution of this aid with the help of United Nations organizations will ensure that it reaches those who deserve it,” according to Agence France-Presse.
State media reported that the government also announced the areas most affected by Monday’s devastating earthquake, namely Latakia, Hama, Aleppo and Idlib, and that it would establish a fund to rehabilitate those areas.
Hope rescue teams follow in finding more survivors in Turkey
Demands for an immediate cease-fire
Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Syria to facilitate the delivery of aid to the victims of the earthquake that devastated part of the country at the beginning of the week.
The commission said in a tweet that Volker Türk “calls for an immediate ceasefire in Syria and full respect for human rights and the obligations of humanitarian law, with the aim of delivering aid to everyone.”
The great earthquake.. Humanitarian aid
The first international aid convoy
Earlier Thursday, the first aid convoy from the United Nations arrived in areas outside the control of Damascus in northern Syria, amid calls not to “politicize” relief operations, against the background of the conflict between the government and the opposition factions that control this area. However, the working conditions of the volunteers complicate the task of searching for survivors under the rubble, especially in light of the low temperatures below zero.
The death count continues in Turkey and Syria… and billions of dollars in losses
“The first aid convoy from the United Nations entered today, four days after the earthquake,” said Mazen Alloush, the media official at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, the only one open between the two affected countries. An AFP correspondent at the crossing saw a convoy of only six trucks crossing into Syria, mainly containing tent supplies and cleaning tools.
Rescue workers in northern Syria and southern Turkey continue searching for survivors under the rubble, 4 days after the devastating earthquake that struck the region, with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale, which, according to the latest toll, killed about 23,19,000 people, including 4,000 on the Syrian side.