The UN Security Council is scheduled to hold on Friday an urgent meeting to discuss the surge of fighting in several areas of northwest Syria.
Belgium, Germany and Kuwait requested the urgent meeting as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has expressed concern over the volatile situation.
Diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that UN Humanitarian Affairs Chief Mark Lowcock would brief the Council on the situation in Syria, including the Neirab camp for Palestinian refugees close to the city of Aleppo, where, according to UN humanitarian aid agency UNRWA, at least 10 civilians were killed and 30 wounded by a rocket strike.
"As families gathered to break their fasts for the Ramadan Iftar meal, several rockets hit the densely populated Neirab camp for Palestine refugees in Aleppo," the agency said.
The diplomatic sources said that the US has requested an additional briefing by the United Nations Department of Political and Peace building Affairs (DPPA).
Since late April, Syrian forces and their Russian allies have stepped up attacks on the opposition-controlled Idlib province, raising alarm that a full scale offensive is imminent to seize the territory.
Guterres’ spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said Thursday that aerial attacks on population centers and civilian infrastructure resulted in hundreds of civilian dead and injured and over 180,000 newly displaced persons.
For her part, UN Senior Humanitarian Advisor Najat Rochdi said: “The recent uptick in violence has caused death and destruction with reports of more than 180,000 people fled their homes towards areas they consider safer, away from the violence.”
