U.S. condemns Russia’s stance on Syria as ‘unbelievable’

The U.S. has criticized Russia’s ‘delaying tactics’ on implementing a ceasefire in the besieged Syrian enclave of east Ghouta, as at least 30 people were killed in the latest government airstrikes.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley expressed her dismay over the delay on Twitter: ‘Unbelievable that Russia is stalling a vote on a ceasefire allowing humanitarian access in Syria,’ she said.

‘How many more people will die before the Security Council agrees to take up this vote? Let’s do this tonight. The Syrian people can’t wait.’     

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley (right) was strongly critical of Russia’s approach to moves to implement a ceasefire in east Ghouta

The rebel-held enclave of east Ghouta has again been subjected to a sustained bombardment throughout Friday and into Saturday  

The rebel-held enclave of east Ghouta has again been subjected to a sustained bombardment throughout Friday and into Saturday  

People were left to survey the extensive damage after government forces carried out airstrikes over the de-escalation zone in Douma town of east Ghouta

People were left to survey the extensive damage after government forces carried out airstrikes over the de-escalation zone in Douma town of east Ghouta

Smoke rises after government forces carried out airstrikes over the de-escalation zone in Douma town of east Ghouta in Damascus

Smoke rises after government forces carried out airstrikes over the de-escalation zone in Douma town of east Ghouta in Damascus

Smoke billows following a regime air strike on the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, late on Friday

Smoke billows following a regime air strike on the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, late on Friday

The Kafr Batna area of East Ghouta has been singled out for attack in the latest bombardments

The Kafr Batna area of East Ghouta has been singled out for attack in the latest bombardments

Local people and fire fighters arrive to extinguish a blaze fire after President Assad's forces  carried out an airstrike over the de-escalation zone in Douma town of East Ghouta

Local people and fire fighters arrive to extinguish a blaze fire after President Assad’s forces  carried out an airstrike over the de-escalation zone in Douma town of East Ghouta

Uwais, a two-year-old Syrian boy suffering from a broken pelvis, rests in bed in the rebel-held area of Haza, in the besieged enclave of East Ghouta

Uwais, a two-year-old Syrian boy suffering from a broken pelvis, rests in bed in the rebel-held area of Haza, in the besieged enclave of East Ghouta

Wounded Syrian children await treatment at a makeshift hospital in the main East Ghouta town of Douma after fresh air strikes on the rebel enclave on Friday

Wounded Syrian children await treatment at a makeshift hospital in the main East Ghouta town of Douma after fresh air strikes on the rebel enclave on Friday

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently described the situation on the ground in East Ghouta as 'hell on earth'

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently described the situation on the ground in East Ghouta as ‘hell on earth’

Smoke billows following a regime air strike on the rebel-held town of Haza, in the besieged East Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus

Smoke billows following a regime air strike on the rebel-held town of Haza, in the besieged East Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus

On Friday the vote on a UN-backed ceasefire was again delayed by at least 24 hours. The vote – which has already been delayed several times since Thursday – is now due to take place later on Saturday but is being held up because of differences with Russia over the wording of the draft. 

Moscow says that it wants to include a 30-day calming period  to allow for aid deliveries and medical evacuations but critics say that at the main ally of President Bashar al-Assad, it is in fact suing for more time. 

At least 462 people have been killed since the bombing intensified last week, including at least 99 children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. 

UN Security Council members had been discussing a cessation of hostilities for the last month to allow aid to be brought in and the injured to be taken out.

But negotiations have been bogged down over a number of issues, including when the ceasefire should begin.

The Security Council members were unable to agree on the precise language that could gain Russia’s support. As a permanent member of the council, Moscow has veto power, and has used it at least 10 times to protect the government of President Assad.

A child looks on, as staff clean stretchers at a hospital in the besieged town of Douma, East Ghouta

A child looks on, as staff clean stretchers at a hospital in the besieged town of Douma, East Ghouta

Damage in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of  the Medical Surgery Hospital in the Baghdad Street of Damascus, Syria. According to media reports, a shell smashed into the ICU and caused severe damage- it was alleged to have been fired by terrorist groups entrenched in east Ghouta

Damage in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Medical Surgery Hospital in the Baghdad Street of Damascus, Syria. According to media reports, a shell smashed into the ICU and caused severe damage- it was alleged to have been fired by terrorist groups entrenched in east Ghouta

But most commentators agree the worst of the suffering is in east Ghouta - here wounded children await treatment  in a hospital in the besieged town of Douma, East Ghouta

But most commentators agree the worst of the suffering is in east Ghouta – here wounded children await treatment  in a hospital in the besieged town of Douma, East Ghouta

A local resident is seen in front of a building as the fire breaks out after President Assad's forces carried out an airstrike over the de-escalation zone in Douma town of East Ghouta

A local resident is seen in front of a building as the fire breaks out after President Assad’s forces carried out an airstrike over the de-escalation zone in Douma town of East Ghouta

Wounded children are seen in a hospital in the besieged town of Douma, East Ghouta

Wounded children are seen in a hospital in the besieged town of Douma, East Ghouta

The ceasefire proposal to which it objected would have taken effect within 72 hours in East Ghouta – the Damascus suburb where government aerial and land bombardments of rebel positions appears to be a prelude to a full-force land offensive to retake control. The area has been under siege since 2013.

Hundreds of people have been killed in the last week, many of them civilians. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently described the situation on the ground there as ‘hell on earth’. 

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said that calls for an immediate cease-fire were ‘unrealistic’. In an apparent bid to get Russian support, resolution sponsors Kuwait and Sweden have amended their draft to drop a demand that the ceasefire take effect 72 hours of it being adopted.   

Instead, the new text circulated Friday night ‘demands that all parties cease hostilities without delay’.

Earlier, after six hours of negotiations, Kuwait’s U.N. Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaiba, the current council president, told reporters Friday evening that members ‘are so close’ to agreement’, and negotiations will continue in earnest on Saturday.  

The latest draft resolution says a cease-fire must be followed immediately by access for humanitarian convoys and medical teams to evacuate the critically ill and wounded.

It states that 5.6 million people in 1,244 communities are in ‘acute need,’ including 2.9 million in hard-to-reach and besieged locations.

Smoke billows following a government air strike on the besieged East Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, late on Friday

Smoke billows following a government air strike on the besieged East Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, late on Friday

Firefighters try to extinguish a blaze after President  Assad's forces carried out an airstrike over the de-escalation zone in Douma town of East Ghouta

Firefighters try to extinguish a blaze after President  Assad’s forces carried out an airstrike over the de-escalation zone in Douma town of East Ghouta

Smoke billows following a government air strike on the rebel-held town of Haza, in the besieged East Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus

Smoke billows following a government air strike on the rebel-held town of Haza, in the besieged East Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus

A citizen arrives to extinguish fire after government forces carried out an airstrike over the de-escalation zone in Douma town of East Ghouta 

A citizen arrives to extinguish fire after government forces carried out an airstrike over the de-escalation zone in Douma town of East Ghouta 

Citizens and rescue team members inspect the destroyed buildings after government forces carried out an airstrike over the de-escalation zone in Douma town of East Ghouta

Citizens and rescue team members inspect the destroyed buildings after government forces carried out an airstrike over the de-escalation zone in Douma town of East Ghouta

A Russian-proposed amendment, which the sponsors rejected, would have ruled out an immediate cease-fire. Instead, it would have demanded that all parties ‘stop hostilities as soon as possible’ and work for a ‘humanitarian pause’ for at least 30 days.

Sweden’s U.N. Ambassador Olof Skoog echoed Al-Otaiba, telling reporters that council members have been ‘very, very close’ to agreement – ‘but we have not been able to close the gap completely.’

‘We all agree there needs to be a cease-fire and it has to be urgent, immediately,’ he said. ‘There are still some discussions on exactly how to define that. So that’s what we’re working on.’ 

The continuing deadly assault on a rebel held town in Syria has left nearly 100 children dead and scores of others needing hospital treatment. President Assad and his supporters argue that jihadists are using the enclave to fire rockets at Syrian government positions. 

President Assad’s brutal wave of airstrikes and artillery bombardment has been supported by his Russian allies. On Friday rescuers claimed deadly napalm is being used to incinerate East Ghouta,

Two children - one with blood on her face -  receiving medical treatment in a hospital 

Two children – one with blood on her face –  receiving medical treatment in a hospital 

A nurse washes the face of an injured child inside a hospital in Douma, eastern Ghouta

A nurse washes the face of an injured child inside a hospital in Douma, eastern Ghouta

A sobbing boy with a bloodied face is asked about his father as another nurse treats him in a hospital 

A sobbing boy with a bloodied face is asked about his father as another nurse treats him in a hospital 

Aid volunteers captured images of what they said were missiles loaded with flammable liquid raining down on the city of Hamouria in East Ghouta.

A video, which is mostly dark apart from burning material appeared to fall from the sky, shows missiles ‘loaded with prohibited napalm’ being dropped in ‘residential neighbourhoods’. 

At least 462 people have been killed and many hundreds injured, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group says. 

 

A boy injured by the Syrian regime and Russian assault is lies on a hospital bed awaiting treatment 

A boy injured by the Syrian regime and Russian assault is lies on a hospital bed awaiting treatment 

An injured girl receives medical treatment at a hospital in Douma, in the rebel held area of eastern Ghouta

An injured girl receives medical treatment at a hospital in Douma, in the rebel held area of eastern Ghouta

A wounded Syrian girl is carried by a man at a makeshift clinic following Syrian government bombardments in Douma

A wounded Syrian girl is carried by a man at a makeshift clinic following Syrian government bombardments in Douma

A boy with a bloodied face lying on a hospital bed wrapped in a blanket. So far, 95 children have been killed by the attacks on eastern Ghouta 

A boy with a bloodied face lying on a hospital bed wrapped in a blanket. So far, 95 children have been killed by the attacks on eastern Ghouta 

A wounded Syrian boy sits at a makeshift clinic following Syrian government bombardments in Douma, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus

A wounded Syrian boy sits at a makeshift clinic following Syrian government bombardments in Douma, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus

A White Helmet volunteer carries an injured boy to an ambulance after a bombing raid yesterday

A missile that landed on the town of Douma is inspected by local people as it lies in the street

A missile that landed on the town of Douma is inspected by local people as it lies in the street

The use of napalm is banned in civilian areas by the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. 

Similar claims were made in 2015 after an alleged attack on the besieged city of Darayya.

In 2013 young children and adults suffered horrific burns after being caked in a ‘napalm-like’ substance when a bomb was dropped on a school playground near the country’s capital. 

Fresh bombardments on Eastern Ghouta killed dozens on Thursday, bringing the number of dead civilians in a five-day assault by the Syrian government to more than 400.

Mounting calls for a humanitarian truce in one of the bloodiest episodes of Syria’s seven-year conflict failed to stop  more and more people being killed by air strikes and rocket fire.

People on the ground are huddled in basements while government forces pound the enclave with rockets and bombs, turning towns into fields of ruins and even hitting hospitals.

Aid group Doctors Without Borders said 13 of the facilities it supports in Eastern Ghouta were damaged or destroyed in three days, leaving remaining staff with very little to save the hundreds of wounded brought to them every day.

In the hospital mortuary in Douma, the main town in the enclave just east of Damascus, bodies wrapped in white shrouds were already lined up on the floor, two of them children. 

Rescuers claim deadly napalm is being used to incinerate a rebel-held Syrian town where conditions have been described as 'hell on earth'. Pictured: Rubble after an airstrike in Hamouria on Thursday

Rescuers claim deadly napalm is being used to incinerate a rebel-held Syrian town where conditions have been described as ‘hell on earth’. Pictured: Rubble after an airstrike in Hamouria on Thursday

Syrian children stand by the door of a house as smoke billows in the background durning shelling in Hamouria, in the rebel held besieged Eastern Ghouta region

Syrian children stand by the door of a house as smoke billows in the background durning shelling in Hamouria, in the rebel held besieged Eastern Ghouta region

White Helmet volunteers inside an ambulance helps an injured man after bombing, in the rebel-held Douma

White Helmet volunteers inside an ambulance helps an injured man after bombing, in the rebel-held Douma

Russia has so far denied direct involvement in the assault on Ghouta but the pro-government Syrian newspaper Al-Watan reported on Thursday that Russian warplanes and advisers had joined the battle.

The US said on Thursday Russia had ‘unique responsibility’ for the deaths.  

Regime and allied forces have been massing around the enclave, in which an estimated 400,000 people live, ahead of a likely ground offensive to flush out holdout Islamist and jihadist groups. 

The indiscriminate bombardment and the strikes on medical facilities have sparked global outrage but few concrete options have emerged to stop the bloodletting.

The aid community voiced its frustration as the world appeared once again powerless to stop a conflict that has left almost 350,000 dead in seven years and caused destruction rarely seen since World War II.

Smoke rises in the aftermath of a raid by Assad regime forces on the outskirts of the town of Kafr Batna

Smoke rises in the aftermath of a raid by Assad regime forces on the outskirts of the town of Kafr Batna

The attacks have caused destruction on a scale that has not been seen since World War II

The attacks have caused destruction on a scale that has not been seen since World War II

Fresh bombardment on Eastern Ghouta killed dozens yesterday, bringing the number of dead civilians in a five-day assault by the Syrian government to more than 400. This was the scene over Kafr Batn in Eastern Ghouta yesterday

Fresh bombardment on Eastern Ghouta killed dozens yesterday, bringing the number of dead civilians in a five-day assault by the Syrian government to more than 400. This was the scene over Kafr Batn in Eastern Ghouta yesterday

Earlier Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said jihadist fighters in Ghouta had rejected an evacuation deal.  

The head of the defence committee in Russia’s lower house of parliament said Thursday that more than 200 new types of weapons were tested as part of his country’s military support to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

‘It’s not an accident that today they are coming to us from many directions to purchase our weapons, including countries that are not our allies,’ he said. 



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