WHO warns of 'humanitarian catastrophe' in Syria if no cross-border aid renewal

An aerial view shows tents at a camp for internally displaced people in northern Idlib, Syria, June 10, 2021. Picture taken with a drone June 10, 2021. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

(Changes quote in headline and first paragraph to read "catastrophe", not "disaster")

GENEVA (Reuters) - Failure to renew a cross-border aid operation into Syria which expires next month could result in a new "humanitarian catastrophe" for the country's rebel-held region in the northwest, a World Health Organization spokesman said on Friday.

Christian Lindmeier told a Geneva news briefing that a failure of the U.N. Security Council to renew the mandate for another year on July 10 would make it impossible to deliver vaccines to the region, including COVID-19 vaccines.

(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Stephanie Nebehay and Alison Williams)