Red Cross warns of critical situation in Eastern Ghouta

By Fatih Erel

GENEVA (AA) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned of a humanitarian crisis in Syria's besieged Eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus, due to intensified fighting, food shortages, and blocking of medical evacuations and aid delivery.

"The humanitarian situation in Eastern Ghouta has reached a critical point. As so often in Syria over the last 6 years, ordinary people are once again trapped in a situation where life slowly becomes impossible and where goods and aid are severely limited," the ICRC’s Middle East director, Robert Mardini said in a statement on Monday.

"The sick and injured must not be used as pawns in negotiations between the different parties involved in the fighting. Medical attention must be promptly given to those who need it irrespective of who they are," Mardini added.

Noting that many civilians have been killed or injured since the latest spike in hostilities began on Nov. 14, ICRC said hundreds of sick and wounded people have been deprived from life-saving medical care.

"Some families can afford to eat only one meal a day, an especially sad situation for people with children. As a result, most people have been relying entirely on aid from humanitarian organizations," Mardini said.

The ICRC director called on warring parties “to reach a solution that puts civilians first and allows humanitarian aid to reach the population on a regular basis".

“No military or political gains could justify this amount of suffering, whether in Eastern Ghouta or elsewhere in Syria,” he added.

On Dec. 7, the unified Syrian opposition delegation had urged Russia to put pressure on the regime for a medical evacuation in Eastern Ghouta.

Home to some 400,000 civilians, Eastern Ghouta has been under siege by regime forces since December 2012.

The besieged area falls within a network of de-escalation zones -- set up in Syria by Turkey, Russia and Iran -- in which acts of aggression are forbidden.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN officials.